LPRC gives RaVeN students the “Business training and general trends in the raw materials value chain” course

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Last week the LPRC team went to Krakow, Poland, to provide a course for the  EIT-Labelled RaVeN Master’s at AGH University of Science and Technology. The course, which was provided during the 20 and 21 November, was entitled “Business training and general trends in the raw materials value chain”.

During the two days of the course, students listened to lectures and took part in seminars that provided fundamental knowledge and practical skills that young entrepreneurs and innovators must possess. Students also obtained knowledge on future trends and scenarios of the raw materials value chain, allowing them to scan and think ahead for innovative solutions.

To complement their theoretical learning, the MSc students implemented their gained knowledge on practical exercises, drafting lean canvases, outlining business plans and giving their first business pitches based on their own business ideas.

The LPRC team enjoyed the experience and would like to wish all the best to the RaVeN – Raw Materials Value Chain Master’s course!

LPRC’s projects at the EU SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference

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LPRC participated in the EU’s Supercluster Lapland Geoconference representing the TRIDENT project, seeking to create synergies and future collaborations among other raw materials related projects. The project was presented in the “New Frontiers For Exploration” session, in which the coordinator explained the innovative approach of the project addressing knowledge gaps and uncertainties regarding the environmental and social impacts of deep-sea mining. LPRC also prepared a poster to draw attention from projects dealing with similar goals and build future clustering opportunities.

CIRAN co-organized and actively participated in the EU SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference, which took place on 30 and 31 October. This event served as a dynamic stage for the CIRAN project, allowing CIRAN’s partners to interact with industry experts, environmental advocates and fellow innovators. The SuperCluster meeting went beyond a simple meeting and became a hub for knowledge sharing, collaboration and inspiration. Together with 11 other EU-funded projects – EIS, AGEMERA, GOLDENEYE, GREENPEG, SEMACRET, M4MINING, MaDiTraCe, MinExTarget, MultiMiner and SEMACRET.

Besides TRIDENT and CIRAN, three other projects in which LPRC is involved were presented: CRM-Geothermal, ROBOMINERS, and START. In total, the conference was the biggest EU’s clustering event on raw materials, gathering up to 23 different EU-funded projects, with 142 registered participants coming from 52 countries and representing 69 expert organisations.

The EU SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference stands out as a platform that promotes synergies between projects in the raw materials sector. This collaborative environment allowed us to delve into the challenges and latest developments within the industry. At the heart of the conference was an atmosphere of cooperation.

Credit: SLB website (https://www.slb.com/)

LPRC is helping to organise a FluidNET workshop

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La Palma Research Centre is providing local support to the organization of a series of training workshops that the FLUIDNET project will celebrate in La Palma between the 19th and the 24th November 2023.
The goal of this training event is to provide the FluidNET early stage researchers tools for their careers both on the academic and industry fields, including the preparation of CVs, cover letters and job interviews, as well as testimonies and guidance from industry and academy. The event will also include two field trips to discover the geology of La Palma and, in particular, the new Tajogaite volcano.

SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference, Rovaniemi, Finland (30 & 31 October 2023)

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The SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference will take place on the 30th and 31st Octobre 2023 in Rovaniemi, Finland. This clustering event represents a significant effort to address the EU’s dependency on critical raw materials and promote self-sufficiency in mineral supply value chain. Some of the key points about the event are:

  • Dependency on Critical Raw Materials. The EU relies heavily on a limited number of countries for critical raw materials, which are essential for strategic industries like e-mobility, batteries, and renewable energy.
  • Opportunity for Self-Sufficiency. Europe has the potential to become self-sufficient, resilient, sustainable, and responsible in its supply of critical minerals due to its geological resources and significant mineral endowment.
  • Multi-Element Mining. Critical raw materials are often obtained as by-products from primary commodity mines. Transitioning to a multi-element mining approach is necessary, requiring new exploration methods and concepts.
  • EU-Funded Projects. Thirteen EU-funded raw materials projects and the University of Queensland (Australia) are collaborating to organize the European Union SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference. These projects focus on research and development in the raw materials sector.

The main objective is to bring together a diverse range of stakeholders, including the European Commission, EU projects, regional authorities, industrial representatives, exploration companies, and other interested parties in order to discuss technological challenges and topics related to the raw materials sector.

This initiative represents a crucial step in addressing the EU’s raw materials challenges and fostering cooperation among stakeholders to enhance the region’s self-sufficiency in critical minerals. It provides a platform for sharing ideas and innovations in raw materials exploration and supply.

Event Structure and schedule:

The event will include 20-minute oral sessions, poster presentations, and dedicated discussion time to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration. There are no planned keynote talks, as the focus is on hearing from as many EU-funded project participants as possible.

Oral presentations are divided into five sessions between October 30th and 31st:

  • Session 1: Innovative mineral exploration: 30th at 10.15 – 12.00
  • Session 2: Earth observation in exploration and mining: 30th at 13.15 – 15.00
  • Session 3: Environmental, Social and Governance in exploration and mining: 30th at 15.30 – 17.30
  • Session 4: Critical Raw Materials supply: 31st at 08.30 – 10.00
  • Session 5: New frontiers for exploration: 31st at 10.30 – 11.45

This event will be the biggest clustering event for the EU-funded raw materials-related projects and other projects ever. Around 130-140 people will attend, representing 28 projects. LPRC will participate representing 5 of those projects: CIRAN, CRM-Geothermal, ROBOMINERS, START and TRIDENT.

 

EMPORIA4KT Final Event, Gran Canaria, Spain (21st and 22nd June 2023)

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The EMPORIA4KT project, funded by the INTERREG Atlantic Area programme, held its final event in Gran Canaria, Spain on June 21st and 22nd, 2023, organised and hosted by La Palma Research Centre. This event, titled Fostering Innovation through the Blue Economy: from the Canary Islands to the Atlantic Area perspective, counted with almost 100 participants.

Over the two days, the EMPORIA4KT event sought to highlight the project’s key outputs, summarise how the EMPORIA4KT methodology has been applied to the Canary Island case study, provide a platform for the final sales pitch of the Canary Islands’ Blue Economy Technology Transfer programme and explore ideas for carrying on the legacy of the project through follow-on actions, initiatives and collaboration.

The two days featured many interactive sessions that aimed to foster a debate regarding the application of EMPORIA4KT methodologies and findings to the advancement of innovation practices for overcoming challenges and meeting opportunities in the Blue Economy. The success of the event was elevated by the invited speakers, representing a variety of Blue Economy stakeholder sectors, who provided their unique insights through two roundtables.

Another important part of this event was the conclusion of the second iteration of the EMPORIA4KT Blue Economy Technology Transfer (BETT) programme. The audience first heard testimonies from former researchers of the programme Júlia Terra, Ken Russell and Sergio Santorio, and later Rozenn Le Vaillant, TQC, hosted an interview session with developers of early-stage technologies Alain Dinis, Ocean Streamer/Virtual Dive, Alexandre Paiva, NOVA and Ana Armanda Bras, LJMU. Three teams from the Canary Islands’ BETT programme presented their ideas:

  • Floating Bubble Hotel – Joselin S. Rodríguez-Alcántara (ULL) & Chaitanya Suárez Rojas (ULPGC)
  • Fast and Fishious! – Inma Herrera (ULPGC), Ángel Rivero Falcón (ITC) & Yolanda M. Lemes (AU)
  • Use of Metabolites from Marine Algae for Anti-Parasitic Treatments – Tasnim Allaoui Dahlou (ITC) & Oliver Soliveres Acuyo (ITC)

After the event, the project partners were taken on a tour of key research infrastructures feeding into the Canarian Blue Economy, the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN), the aquaculture research centre of the University of Las Palmas Gran Canaria (ULPGC) and the Spanish Bank of Algae (BEA).

As the project coordinator Aneesh Zutshi noted in his concluding remarks, throughout the two-day event, it was clear that the EMPORIA4KT programme has delivered on its goal of developing new knowledge transfer tools and methods for promoting research innovation in the Atlantic Area Blue Economy. Furthermore, there was recognition among all the participants in attendance that even as the project concludes, there are plenty of opportunities for future collaboration and networking to build on the foundation that has been laid by this highly successful project.

The project might be over, but work will continue! Follow and engage with the project via the website, LinkedIn group and Twitter account.

PNO

FIREFLY Online Consortium Meeting (June 2023)

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After the FIREFLY Kick-off meeting back in January 2023, the FIREFLY team got together online to discuss the mid-year status of the different project tasks. The 16 partners joined online on the 19th and 20th of June to present and discuss the 9 Work Packages that range from technical to administrative topics. La Palma Research Centre as leader of WP2 was represented with two members.

The FIREFLY project aims to electrify a large part of the chemicals value chain in a sustainable way (environmental, economic and social): power-to-catalyst and chemicals fostered via electrochemical catalyst recycling.

Work Package 2 – Supply of waste catalyst and mapping of relevant resources, which is led by LPRC, has two main tasks: 1) Detailed characterization, supply and pre-conditioning of samples  and 2) Material flow analysis and GIS inventory of relevant resources. LPRC is also the leader of Task 2.2. The presentation of WP2 focused on non-technical (risks, milestones, reports) and technical aspects of the work done. As part of the technical aspects, the presentation covered the selection and characterisation of catalyst samples and the Material Flow Analysis for the catalyst-related resources (metals).

LPRC will now continue its work on Task 2.2 with the development and implementation of the Material Flow Analysis for the selected elements (including gold, silver and other metals) and on the creation of Geographical Information System to map the identified catalyst-related resources.

CRM-Geothermal 1st Progress Meeting, Falmouth, UK (June 2023)

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The recent CRM-Geothermal event brought together consortium members in Falmouth, UK, to conduct the 1st Progress Meeting of the project, from 13 to 15 June 2023.

The agenda included Work Package presentations, strategic breakout sessions to discuss several topics, pilot site visits, and a remarkable geological field trip in Cornwall:

  • Experts presented the achievements and future plans of various Work Packages, providing insights into research advancements and exciting prospects.
  • Partners engaged in productive discussions during breakout sessions, aligning thoughts and developing coordinated plans to address challenges and leverage collective expertise.
  • Pilot site visit led by Geothermal Engineering Ltd and Cornish Lithium, showcasing the local potential for research in a pilot plant.
  • A geological field trip in Cornwall that revealed valuable observations, including granite-sediment contact, mineralization processes (Cu & Sn), and fracture zones, enhancing understanding of the geological features in the region.

In this opportunity, LPRC took part in the presentations related to Work Package 6 on communication and dissemination of CRM-geothermal. LPRC leads Task 6.6 – Clustering, in which it was highlighted the recent efforts to cluster with projects with common topics and challenges, fostering collaboration and accelerating progress.

Futures Conference 2023 – Empowering Futures, 14-16 June 2023, Turku, Finland

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The La Palma Research Centre team joined a community of futures academics and researchers in Turku, Finland, for the Futures Conference 2023, entitled “Empowering Futures – Long-term Governance, Democracy and Futures Research”. This edition was dedicated to discussions on the use of foresight and futures thinking to drive future aspects of our world, especially on ESG topics – Environmental, Social and Governance.

LPRC submitted an abstract (see page 13) based on the foresight and strategic work done for the ROBOMINERS project and it was granted a presentation slot on the 14th June 2023 for the session “Foresight and Futures Research for Sustainable Transitions”, where there were around 20 people attending. The title of the LPRC presentation was “Application of Foresight Tools in Research of a Low-Impact Mining Ecosystem” and intended to show to the session participants the work done towards the creation and development of a future strategic plan for further development of the ROBOMINERS technology for the years 2030 and 2050, based on a series of foresight methodologies: Horizon Scanning, Focus Groups, Delphi Survey, Visioning, Preparation for Pilots and Roadmapping. The presentation was well received and got a few questions regarding the methodology and the results of these exercises.

For the remaining of the conference, the LPRC team attended other sessions and presentations to learn more about the implementation of foresight methodologies and engaged in discussions and networking with the other participants.

This was a fruitful experience by the LPRC team, following a previous participation in 2019 to present the results of the implementation of foresight methodologies on the CHPM 2030 project. Hopefully, we will be back to the Futures Conference in the upcoming years to present the results from other projects.

START Project Annual Meeting, Madrid, May & June 2023

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The LPRC team joined its counterparts in the START project for the Project Annual Meeting, hosted in Madrid by IGME-CSIC. This meeting was held on the 30th, 31st May and 1st June 2023.

This was the first time that the START consortium met in person after last year’s Kick-off meeting. The meeting agenda for this 2023 event involved discussions on the status of the project (by Work Package), a Focus Group session on the future of thermoelectics and the hosting of the 3rd START webinar. The main topics of discussion during these 3 days were the selection and preparation of tetrahedrites (an abundant mine waste mineral that will be used in the project), materials modelling, processing and characterisation, and the sustainable device production, validation and demonstration.

LPRC was responsible for the Work Package 7 presentation on Innovation and exploitation strategy where the team discussed the current and future efforts for designing a new thermoelectrics value chain adapted to the START technological developments, as well as for hosting the Focus Groups session that counted with project technological leaders and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board – Doug Crane (DTP Thermoelectrics).

During the Focus Groups sessions, the LPRC team asked questions related to the current and future possibilities of the START project and of the scientific fields of relevance – thermoelectrics, materials and mining. Each participant answered to the questions with their own views. Data was collected by the moderators and will now be used to further define the future START value chain.

LPRC organised and hosted the 1st ROBOMINERS Roadmapping Workshop in La Palma

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The LPRC team organised the 1st ROBOMINERS project Roadmapping Workshop on the 4th of May 2023 as part of the foresight efforts to map the future of the innovative mining technology. Participants from inside ROBOMINERS as well as external experts from robotics and raw materials-related fields had the chance to contribute with their ideas and visions for the 2030 ROBOMINERS Roadmap, which aims at future research and development towards real pilot implementation. On the 5th of May, the participants enjoyed a well deserved field trip.

The Workshop day started with introductory presentations to bring all the experts up-to-date with the project activities and goals. The three presentations focused on the project, on the efforts of Work Package 8 (Active Roadmapping and Clustering) and finally, on the Roadmapping itself, the main expected outcome of the day’s work. Then, the participants were divided into two groups, led by LPRC members, working parallelly on 4 similar exercises throughout the day. These exercises made use of a handmade canvas specifically developed for this Workshop, with post-its containing the relevant inputs from experts.

The first of these exercises aimed at bringing the participants in line with previous activities (Clustering, Focus Groups, Horizon Scanning, Delphi Survey, Visioning and Preparation for Pilots) with a review and validation exercise. To achieve this, participants were asked to approve and comment on previously collected targets gathered for ROBOMINERS, while at the same time suggesting new valid targets to take into consideration.

Exercises 2 and 3 worked in tandem. During exercise 2, participants were asked to suggest actions and pathways relevant for the main areas of ROBOMINERS: Exploration, Development, Operation, the Robot-miner and PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal). During exercise 3 participants were asked to prioritise the actions and ideas that were on the canvas, through a “funding” exercise, where each participant was allocated funds to invest in specific areas.

For the last exercise, participants worked towards a specific pilot site where ROBOMINERS could be implemented in 2030. Two mines were chosen for this exercise, one in Estonia, one in Hungary. During this exercise participants identified what actions need to be implemented for the ROBOMINERS technology to be ready for pilots in 7 years.

The working day was completed with a business workshop, led by the European Federation of Geologists.

The second day was dedicated to a field trip to two main atractions of La Palma: the astronomical observatories and the Roque de los Muchacos, both above 2000m, and to recent lava fields, a landscape made by the 2021 volcanic eruption.

The LPRC team will now process the results of this fruitful Workshop!