More communication is needed on minerals-related projects and policy to encourage a broader debate, according to feedback from stakeholders at an event in November at which the FP7 project Minerals4EU was presented.
Minerals4EU, which is designed to meet the recommendations of the EU Raw Materials Initiative (RMI), will develop an EU Mineral intelligence network structure delivering a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and foresight studies.
The stakeholder event served as a forum for a fruitful private-public debate on the potential for exploiting the EU’s rich mineral resources, and was attended by leading managers from major companies involved with the mining sector The event brought investors, brokers, financial officers and advisors together with high-level representatives from EU institutions and the project’s scientific staff.
The Minerals4EU network will provide data, information and knowledge on mineral resources around Europe, based on an accepted business model, making a fundamental contribution to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM).The project will firstly establish the EU minerals intelligence network structure, comprising European minerals data providers and stakeholders, and transform this into a sustainable operational service.
In this way, Minerals4EU will contribute to and support decision making on the policy and adaptation strategies of the Commission, as well as supporting the security of EU resource and raw materials supply, by developing a network structure with mineral information data and products, based on authoritative information sources.
Speaking at the event, Mattia Pellegrini, Head of Unit for Raw Materials, Metals, Minerals and Forest-based Industries at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said that harmonizing data and information from different EU sources in a Raw Materials Knowledge Base is fundamental to fulfil the RMI’s 3 pillars: access to raw materials from global markets, sustainable supply of raw materials within the EU, and boosting resource efficiency and promoting recycling.