The recent European Raw Materials Clustering Event, hosted by the Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster, brought together 27 European projects, fostering collaboration across the raw materials value chain. Organised in four thematic parallel sessions, the event featured keynotes and discussions that provided participants with an opportunity to explore synergies, pose questions, and share insights on the future of raw materials in Europe. One of the highlights was the focus on the Critical Raw Materials Act, a cornerstone for the sector, supporting the projects’ efforts to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy.
The Significance of the Critical Raw Materials Act
Martin Lange from DG GROW delivered a virtual presentation outlining the Act’s state-of-play. Introduced by the European Commission in March 2023, the Act was swiftly adopted, driven by the need to address supply chain disruptions caused by recent crises. It identifies 34 critical raw materials (CRMs) essential for the EU’s economy, with a particular emphasis on 17 strategic materials vital for technologies like batteries, wind turbines, and electric mobility. The Act aims to enhance the EU’s capacity to extract, process, recycle, and substitute these resources, setting, among others, a benchmark to meet at least 10% of its strategic raw material consumption through domestic extraction by 2030.
The Act also emphasises diversification, circularity, and sustainability, with measures to mitigate risks from over-reliance on external suppliers.
GoldenRAM’s Contribution to Exploration and Innovation
During the exploration session, several EU-funded projects presented their latest advances in exploration technologies, addressing the raw material needs across Europe. The session featured perspectives from GoldenRAM, Terravision, EIS, DEEPBEAT, AGEMERA, Multiminer, and S34i. Building on the advances of the GoldenEye project, Marko Paavola, Project Coordinator from VTT presented GoldenRAM’s advanced platform that leverages cutting-edge IT, AI, and cloud technologies to revolutionise raw material exploration. Designed to digest diverse datasets from satellites, drones, aerial sensing, and proximal sensing, the platform enhances the efficiency and precision of exploration, operations, and safety across the mining industry.
The GoldenRAM project presented at the Exploration session by Marko Paavola
GoldenRAM’s multidisciplinary team brings expertise in ICT, AI, geology, and remote sensing, along with market analysis, business modelling and results dissemination. The consortium’s breadth of knowledge aims to ensure that its platform will be a versatile tool for mining companies, academia, and public authorities. Its user-friendly interface, underpinned by AI-driven natural language processing, simplifies access to complex data, removing the need for extensive cloud computing expertise.
The platform’s capabilities are being tested through six field trials across Romania, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, and Ukraine, showcasing its application from initial exploration to site closure.
GoldenRAM Driving Forward the Future of Critical Raw Materials
GoldenRAM’s participation at the European Raw Materials Clustering Event underscores the importance of innovation and collaboration in securing a sustainable future for Europe’s raw materials sector. By offering a platform that integrates data and technology, GoldenRAM is poised to help meet the benchmarks set by the Critical Raw Materials Act, contributing to the diversification and strengthening of the EU’s raw materials value chain.
The event highlighted how projects like GoldenRAM are not just technological advancements but crucial elements in a broader strategy to build resilience, reduce dependency, and drive forward the EU’s ambitions under the Act. As the discussions over the two-day event showed, the journey towards sustainable, secure, and competitive raw material supply chains requires ongoing collaboration across industries and borders, with European projects leading the way.