Research and Innovation in Exploration and Mining of Raw Materials: The ROBOMINERS Project

ROBOMINERS is a new project funded under the European Union’s Research and Innovation Programme Horizon 2020, which aims at employing a bio-inspired robot, focused on the prospect of mineral exploration and extraction within Europe. ROBOMINERS’ innovative approach combines the creation of a new mining ecosystem through the development of a bioinspired robotic miner prototype, able to explore and mine mineral deposits which are currently considered uneconomic due to their small size and difficulty of access. The main objectives of the project include the creation of a European database of potentially suitable locations for the deployment of this novel technology. The building of the pan-EU mineral deposits database is considered vital for the development of the project as it will provide essential information related to deposit type and commodities, spatial and temporal distribution, and location of exploration targets. Several deposits have been reviewed and examined in Greece as potential targets suitable for the ROBOMINERS technology, after considering the specific restrictions and requirements of the project. The main targets have been determined and arranged according to the different aspects required by the applicability of the ROBOMINERS innovative technology.

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The ROBOMINERS project: a promising tool for the re-evaluation of “non-economical” deposits. Aiming at the development of a joined European database of potentially suitable ore deposits for the utilization of the Robominers technology.

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-13158 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Eleni Koutsopoulou ◽

Aikaterini Servou ◽

George Aggelopoulos

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

National Level ◽

Ore Deposits ◽

Advanced Technology ◽

Mineral Deposits ◽

Innovative Technology ◽

Exploration And Exploitation ◽

Epithermal Deposits ◽

European Database ◽

The Creation

The ROBOMINERS (Resilient Bio-inspired Modular Robotic Miner) project aims at developing new methods and technologies (prototype automation and robotics technology) to locate and exploit underground mineral deposits and is funded under the European Union&#8217;s Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020. The project targets mineral deposits that are generally considered &#8220;non-economical&#8221; either because they are not accessible anymore for conventional mining techniques, or they have been previously explored but exploitation was considered uneconomic due to the small size of the deposits or the difficulty to access them (abandoned, small, ultra-depth deposits).&#160;The European Federation of Geologists (EFG) is part of the Robominers consortium and its role includes the collection of publicly available data at a national level on mineral deposits which are potential targets on the developed mining technology. The Association of Greek Geologists (AGG) is participating as an EFG Linked Third Party in the project aiming, among others, at the creation of a European database of potentially suitable ore deposits for the utilization of the Robominers technology.&#160;The creation of an ore deposits&#8217; European database is a crucial procedure for the best possible design of exploration and exploitation applying the Robominers innovative approach. The AGG has contributed in the building of a database at a national level (for Greece), of the major and most important mineral deposits, according to the project requirements. A number of ore deposits in which Robominers advanced technology may provide a unique solution to mineral extraction, include porphyry and epithermal deposits and especially vein-like types, but volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS-type) and lense-like or layered orthomagmatic deposits can also be of high importance. From the above mentioned ore deposits the most abundant in Greece are epithermal deposits, deposits in hydrothermal veins, porphyry copper, as well as chromites in ophiolite complexes. Regarding the spatial distribution vein-type or metasomatic deposits are located mostly in Northern Greece (Western Macedonia and Thrace regions) while significant variable-mineralization deposits are related with the Attico-Cycladic belt volcanism (mainly Lavrion, Evia, and islands in the Aegean Sea). Finally, PGE bearing chromite deposits and bauxite deposits, located mainly in Central Greece, may also be significant for the project.&#160;The establishment of a joined European Robominers database is of great significance for the progress of the project since it will provide essential information on key outputs such as the deposit type and commodities, the host rock, and the spatial distribution of the project&#8217;s targeted ore deposits and will provide valuable knowledge regarding the future planning of the exploration and exploitation from the developed Robominers innovative technology approach.Dr Eleni KoutsopoulouCoordinator of the projectOn Behalf of the:Association of Greek GeologistsDidotou 26,10680, Athens, GreeceVAT ID: EL-999600130&#160;&#160;

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Making exploration of underground flooded mines a reality - the UNEXUP solution

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13586 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Márcio Pinto ◽

Norbert Zajzon ◽

Luís Lopes ◽

Balazs Bodo ◽

Stephen Henley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Raw Materials ◽

Mineral Exploration ◽

Business Case ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Economic Feasibility ◽

Mineral Deposits ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Design Development ◽

Horizon 2020 ◽

Mine Development

The UNEXUP project, funded under EIT Raw Materials, is a direct continuation of the Horizon 2020 UNEXMIN project. While in UNEXMIN efforts were made towards the design, development and testing of an innovative exploration technology for underground flooded mines, in UNEXUP the main goal is to push the UNEXMIN technology into the market, while further improving the system&#8217;s hardware, software and capabilities. In parallel, the aim is to make a strong business case for the improved UNEXUP technology, as a result of tests and data collection from previous testing. Improvements to the UX-1 research prototypes will raise technology readiness levels from TRL 6, as verified at the end of the UNEXMIN project, to TRL 7/8 by 2022. A "real service-to-real client" approach will be demonstrated, supporting mineral exploration and mine surveying efforts in Europe with unique data from flooded environments that cannot be obtained without high costs, or risks to human lives, in any other ways.The specific purpose of UNEXUP is to commercially deploy a new raw materials exploration / mine mapping service based on a new class of mine explorer robots, for non-invasive resurveying of flooded mines. The inaccessibility of the environment makes autonomy a critical and primary objective of the project, which will present a substantial effort in resurveying mineral deposits in Europe where the major challenges are the geological uncertainty, and technological / economic feasibility of mine development. The robot&#8217;s ability to gather high-quality and high-resolution information from currently inaccessible mine sites will increase the knowledge of mineral deposits in Europe, whilst decreasing exploration costs &#8211; such as the number of deep exploration drillholes needed. This can potentially become a game changing technology in the mining panorama, where the struggle for resources is ever increasing.On the technical side, a fourth robot, modular in nature, will be added to the current multi-robot platform, providing additional functionalities to the exploration system, including better range and depth performance. Hardware and software upgrades, as well as new capabilities delivered by the platform will greatly extend the usefulness of the platform in different environments and applications. Among these: rock sampling, better data acquisition and management, further downsizing, extended range, improved self-awareness and decision making, mature post-processing (such as the deployment of 3D virtual reality models), ability to rescue other robots, and interaction with the data will be targeted during the next years. Upgrading the overall technology with these tools, and possibly additional ones, will allow the system to operate with more reliability and security, with reduced costs.These added functions arise from different stakeholders&#8217; feedbacks from the UNEXMIN project. UNEXUP targets parties from the mining, robotics and mineral exploration sectors, as well as all other sectors that have any kind of underwater structure that needs to be surveyed &#8211; caves, underground reservoirs, water pipelines and fisheries are among them. For the purpose of exploitation of the technology, a joint company was founded, &#8220;UNEXMIN GeoRobotics Ltd&#8221;, which is part of the UNEXUP consortium, and is responsible for selling the service to the market.

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A new mining life for non-feasible mineral deposits?

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12115 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Balazs Bodo ◽

Luis Lopes ◽

Claudio Rossi ◽

Giorgia Stasi ◽

Christian Burlet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Raw Materials ◽

Mineral Exploration ◽

Mining Industry ◽

Innovative Approach ◽

Mineral Deposits ◽

Biological Inspiration ◽

Social License To Operate ◽

Social License ◽

New Vision ◽

And Control

ROBOMINERS is developing an innovative approach for the exploitation of currently non-feasible mineral deposits. The approach entails the use of a robot-miner - a bio-inspired reconfigurable robot with a modular nature - in a new mining setting where the activities are nearly invisible and where mining presents less socio-environmental constraints, thus contributing to a more safe and sustainable supply of mineral raw materials.The main aim is to design and develop a robotic prototype that is able to perform mining related tasks in settings including both abandoned, currently flooded mines not accessible anymore for conventional mining techniques; or places that have formerly been explored, but whose exploitation was considered as uneconomic due to the small-size of deposits, or their difficulty to access.ROBOMINERS&#8217; innovative approach combines the creation of a new mining ecosystem with novel ideas from other sectors, particularly robotics. At this point, work has been done to understand the best methods for the robotminer&#8217;s development in 1) biological inspiration, 2) perception and localisation tools, 3) behaviour, navigation and control, 4) actuation methods, 5) modularity, 6)autonomy and resilience, and 7) the selective mining ability. All these aspects combined aim to provide the robotminer XXI Century tools for mineral exploration and exploitation of (currently) unfeasible deposits.At the same time, for the vision of a new vision of a mining ecosystem, work is involving studies on 1) developing computer models and simulations, 2) data management and visualisation, 3) rock-mechanical and geotechnical characterisation studies, 4) analysing ground/rock support methods, bulk transportation methods, backfilling types and methods, and 5) sketching relevant upstream and downstream mining industry analogues for the ROBOMINERS concept.&#160;&#160;After design and development, based on the previously mentioned studies, the robot-miner is set to be tested at targeted areas representatives which include abandoned and/or operating mines, small but high-grade mineral deposits, unexplored/explored non-economic occurrences and ultra depth, not&#160; easily accessible environments. Possible candidates for testing purposes include mines in the regions of Cornwall (UK), mines in the Kupferschiefer Formation (e.g. Poland) or coal mines in Belgium.When compared to usual mining methods the ROBOMINERS approach shows: 1) no presence of people in the mine, 2) less mining waste produced, 3) less mining infrastructure, 4) less investment, 5) possibility to explore currently uneconomic resources and 6) new underground small-sized mines, practically &#8220;invisible&#8221;. Altogether, ROBOMINERS can contribute to solve some of the main issues that make mining&#8217;s social license to operate so difficult to get in Europe: land-use, environmental limitations, and socio-economic aspects.

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Mintell4EU – Mineral Intelligence for Europe – a GeoERA project to improve and sustain the European raw materials knowledge base.

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-16935 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

David Whitehead ◽

Lisbeth Flindt Jørgensen ◽

Mikael Pedersen ◽

Teresa Brown ◽

Špela Kumelj ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

Spatial Data ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Raw Material ◽

Joint Research ◽

Data Infrastructure ◽

Horizon 2020 ◽

Research And Innovation ◽

Spatial Coverage ◽

The United Nations

There is a need for comprehensive, up-to-date, reliable and harmonised cross-border information on raw materials to improve resource efficiency across Europe. The Mintell4EU project builds on the achievements of previous projects such as Minerals4EU, ProSUM and Minventory to deliver data on the spatial distribution, production, trade, resource potential and levels of exploration activity to support decision making in government and industry.The project has four principle components. The first component involves updating production, trade and exploration statistical data within the electronic European minerals yearbook. The second component includes extending the spatial coverage and improvement of spatial data quality within the Minerals4EU database. The third component will demonstrate how the application of the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) will provide a tool that can be used to more accurately assess European mineral inventories. The final component involves consolidating the electronic European minerals yearbook into the Minerals4EU database used for external systems such as the European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI) and the Joint Research Center&#8217;s Raw Materials Information System (RMIS). Another important goal of the project is to create a sustainable platform for raw materials.The project works in collaboration with other GeoERA projects within the theme of raw materials such as FRAME and the GeoERA Information Platform Project (GIP-P). This collaboration is critical in ensuring data harmonisation across projects, regions and focus areas. Improvements in the quality and availability of data that are available through the web portal on the project home page https://geoera.eu/projects/mintell4eu7/ have already been achieved. Work will continue on improving the availability and relevance of raw material data throughout the remainder of the project. This will lead to improved foresight of the raw material supply situation and potential of Europe within the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166

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ROBOMINERS – Developing a bio-inspired modular robot-miner for difficult to access mineral deposits

Advances in Geosciences ◽

10.5194/adgeo-54-99-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 99-108

Author(s):

Luís Lopes ◽

Balazs Bodo ◽

Claudio Rossi ◽

Stephen Henley ◽

Gorazd Žibret ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impacts ◽

Mineral Deposits ◽

Innovative Technology ◽

Modular Robot ◽

The Future ◽

Mining Methods ◽

The Creation ◽

Social And Environmental Impacts

Abstract. Within the ROBOMINERS project an innovative technology for the future exploitation of small and difficult to access mineral deposits is being studied. The project has two main objectives. First, the development of a bioinspired reconfigurable robotic miner prototype, able to navigate, explore and mine selectively with a certain degree of autonomy. The robot-miner will be able to work under different conditions, making the exploitation of many mineral deposits economically feasible, while reducing social and environmental impacts associated with conventional mining methods. The second objective is the creation of a vision of a new mining ecosystem, its function, parts, research roadmaps and visions for years 2030 and 2050, including creation of novel ideas from other sectors, particularly robotics. The robotic ecosystem concept will be tested in representative sites across Europe with simulations, showcasing the different mining environments and conditions where it can be applied.

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Late Cretaceous short-lived magmatism and related metallogenesis in the Carpathian area (Romania): connections with Balkans

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-6452 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mihai Tatu ◽

Elena Luisa Iatan

Keyword(s):

Upper Cretaceous ◽

Porphyry Copper ◽

Temporal Distribution ◽

Massive Sulfide ◽

Mineral Deposits ◽

The Balkans ◽

The Carpathians ◽

Research And Innovation ◽

Adopted Model ◽

Thin Crust

The first magmatic event that post-dates the Meso-Cretaceous orogeny in the Carpatho-Balkan area took place in the Upper Cretaceous at the same time and after the formation of Gosau-type molasses basins, the whole being controlled by an extensional tectonic transpressive-transtensive type (Schuller, 2004; Schuller et al., 2009; Drew, 2006; Georgiev et al., 2009). This tectonic regime controlled the spatial and temporal distribution of both magmatites and metallogenesis associated with the main feature discontinuity.This aspect is suggested by gravimetry and magnetism studies (Andrei et al., 1989), and also structural studies (Schuller et al., 2009; Drew, 2006; Georgiev et al., 2009).The age data attest to the temporal sequentially of Upper Cretaceous magmatism's evolution in the Carpathians and the Balkans. The most accurate age data (using geochronometers of zircon U-Pb and molybdenite Re-Os) suggest a very narrow evolutionary range (70.2-83.98 Ma, after Nicolescu et al., 1999; Galhofer, 2015 and 72.36-80.63 Ma, after Ciobanu et al., 2002; Zimmerman et al., 2008), which is characteristic to short-lived magmatism. In contrast, the same magmatism exists between 84-86 Ma in Serbia (Bor-Madjanpek district) and between 86-92 Ma and 67-70 Ma in Bulgaria (Srednogorie massif) in the Rhodope massif (von Quadt et al., 2007).The magma volumes have been significant several times, so much so that we have circumstances such as that in Vl&#462;deasa (Apuseni Mts), and not only, in which sedimentary deposits of the Gosau type are "suspended" at high altitude, "behind" the granodiorite intrusions. According to Lin & Wang (2006), there are two approaches to explain this situation in the Carpathians during Upper Cretaceous: (1) mechanical convective ablation of the lithosphere, as suggested by Bird (1979) for North American mountain ranges, or (2) detachment of a large piece of the lithospheric mantle, as suggested by Houseman et al. (1981). The thin crust can be explained in an extensional context, regardless of the adopted model, which facilitates rapid ascents of magmas induced by adiabatic detente at the base of the lithosphere and/or in the asthenosphere.Irregular variations in LaN/YbN, Eu/Eu*, Ce/Ce*, and initial 87Sr/86Sr, and 143Nd/144Nd ratios that are in the range between 0.704957-0.706774 and 0.512456-0.512538 respectively, suggest that the banatites were generated by partial melting of the LCC, with the involvement of mantle-derived magmas.The metallogenesis associated with banatitic&#160;magmatism is characterized by a great typological variety of metalliferous accumulations forming mineral deposits with main commodities of Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, &#177; Au, Ag, W, Mo, B, Mg, Te, Bi, Sb, spatially dominated by transpressive-transtensive tectonics. The most common forms of mineralization is skarn, porphyry copper, massive sulfide, and veins. These mineral deposits exibit complex paragenesis of more than 200 minerals, some of which were first described: ludwigite, szaibelyite, dognacskaite, rezbanyite, veszelyite and csiklovaite. The main mineral deposits associated with the Romanian banatites are Baita Bihor (Mo-Bi-W-Cu-U-Pb-Zn-B), Baisoara (Fe-Zn-Pb), Ocna de Fier-Dognecea (Fe-Cu-Pb-Zn-Bi), Moldova Noua (porphyry Cu&#177;Au-Ag-Mo), Oravita-Ciclova (Cu-Mo-W-Bi) and Sasca (Cu-Mo).&#160;&#160;Acknowledgments This work was supported by two PNCDI III grants of the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation, PN-III-P1-1.2-PCCDI-2017-0346/29 and PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-4-0014.&#160;

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ROBOMINERS - Resilient Bio-inspired Modular Robotic Miners

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11727 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Balazs Bodo ◽

Luis Lopes ◽

Claudio Rossi ◽

Giorgia Stasi ◽

Stephen Henley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Third Party ◽

Harsh Environments ◽

Innovative Technology ◽

Future Research ◽

Production Methods ◽

Horizon 2020 ◽

Research Challenges ◽

Selective Mining

The Horizon 2020 ROBOMINERS project (Grant No. 820971) studies the development of an innovative technology for the exploitation of small and difficult to access mineral deposits. A bio-inspired reconfigurable robot with a modular nature will be the target of the research efforts. The goal is to develop a prototype that will be able to mine under different conditions, such as underground, underwater or above water. ROBOMINERS&#8217; innovative approach combines the creation of a new mining ecosystem with novel ideas from other sectors, particularly robotics. This covers both abandoned, currently flooded mines not accessible anymore for conventional mining techniques; or places that have formerly been explored, but whose exploitation was considered as uneconomic due to the small-size of deposits, or their difficulty to access.&#160;The ROBOMINERS concept follows a 5-step approach: 1) Robot parts (modules) are sent underground via a borehole; 2) Self-assemble to form a fully functional robot; 3) Robot detects the ore deposit via sensing devices; 4) Using ad-hoc production devices, it produces slurry that is pumped out; 5) Ability to re-configure on-the-job.&#160;Specifics include: 1) Construction of a fully functional modular robot miner prototype following a bioinspired design, capable of operating, navigating and performing selective mining; 2) Designing a mining ecosystem of expected future upstream/downstream raw materials processes via simulations, modelling and virtual prototyping; 3) Validation of all key functions of the robot-miner to a "Technology Readiness Level" of TRL4; and &#160;4) To use the prototypes to study and advance future research challenges concerning scalability, resilience, re-configurability, self-repair, collective behavior, operation in harsh environments, selective mining, production methods, as well as for the necessary converging technologies on an overall mining ecosystem level. These specific goals will deliver a new mining concept, proven in laboratory conditions, capable of changing the scenario of mineral exploitation.Powered by a water hydraulic drivetrain and artificial muscles, the robot will have high power density and environmentally safe operation. Situational awareness and sensing will be &#160;provided by novel body sensors, such as artificial whiskers that will merge data in real-time with real-time production mineralogy &#160;sensors that, together with specific production tools, will enable selective mining, optimising the rate of production and selection between different production methods. The produced mineral concentrate slurry is pumped to the surface, where it will be processed. The waste slurry could then be returned to the mine where it will backfill mined-out areas.ROBOMINERS will deliver proof of concept for the feasibility of this technology line, which can enable the EU to have access to mineral raw materials from otherwise inaccessible or uneconomic domestic sources, decreasing European dependency on imports from third-party sources, as envisaged by the raw materials policy. Laboratory experiments will confirm the Miner&#8217;s key functions, such as modularity, configurability, selective mining ability, and resilience under a range of operating scenarios. The Prototype Miner will then be used to study and advance future research challenges concerning scalability, swarming behaviour and operation in harsh environments.

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Innovating surface and in-mine seismic exploration solutions

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11129 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alireza Malehmir ◽

Lars Dynesius ◽

Paul Marsden ◽

Stefan Buske ◽

Nelson Pacheco ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Iron Ore ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Mineral Exploration ◽

Seismic Source ◽

Mine Planning ◽

Seismic Exploration ◽

Technological Advancement ◽

The European Union ◽

Horizon 2020 ◽

Legacy Data

Mineral exploration industry needs to push its technological advancement towards finding the so-called critical raw materials. These materials are fundamental for our green technologies and help accelerate the energy transition towards decarbonisation. While in-mine and near-mine exploration will be more convenient in the short term, providing fresh raw materials and mines in greenfield or brownfield areas must not be forgotten in the longer term. As the chase for mineral deposits becomes deeper, seismic methods play a greater role for exploring at depth. Through a series of experiments conducted within the EU-funded Smart Exploration project, we have innovated a number of hardware and methodological solutions for in-mine as well as brownfield seismic exploration. Along with these, legacy data have also been recovered, reprocessed and their values for mineral exploration illustrated. The legacy data examples are from the Ludvika Mines (Nordic Iron Ore AB) of central Sweden and Neves-Corvo (Somincor-Lundin Mining) of southern Portugal.In particular, through the development of a GPS-time system, we have managed to acquire a globally unique semi3D in-mine and surface seismic dataset at the world-class Neves-Corvo mine. This helped to utilize four exploration tunnels at 600 m depth and two receiver lines on the surface allowing over 1000 recorders to be synchronized for down-tunnel exploration. A broadband electromagnetic-based seismic source (7 kN or 1.5t), developed also in the project, was used as the seismic source.In central Sweden, at an iron-oxide mining site of Nordic Iron Ore company, 2D seismic profiles helped to suggest potential resources in the down-dip continuation of the known deposits but also in their footwall. A follow-up and more recent survey employed over 1250 seismic recorders and a 32t vibrator to acquire a sparse 2 by 2 km seismic dataset. The data show great quality and allow to image lateral extent of the deposits and crosscutting reflections that may be important factors for mine planning and understanding structural evolution of the deposits. The broadband seismic source was also tested at the site along the existing 2D profiles with raw data already showing a number of reflections interpreted to be from the mineralization. This survey further illustrates that the seismic source functions well and has a great potential for hard rock seismic applications.&#160;Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Smart ExplorationTM project.&#160;Smart Exploration&#160;has received funding from the European Union&#8217;s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 775971.

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DRIvE Project Unlocks Demand Response Potential with Digital Twins

Proceedings ◽

10.3390/proceedings2020065014 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 14

Author(s):

Laura Pérez ◽

Juan Espeche ◽

Tatiana Loureiro ◽

Aleksandar Kavgić

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Transfer ◽

Demand Response ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Distribution Grid ◽

Horizon 2020 ◽

Research And Innovation ◽

Digital Twins ◽

Future Workshop ◽

Innovative Solutions ◽

Innovation Project

DRIvE (Demand Response Integration Technologies) is a research and innovation project funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Program, whose main objective is unlocking the demand response potential in the distribution grid. DRIvE presented how the use of digital twins de-risks the implementation of demand response applications at the “Flexibility 2.0: Demand response and self-consumption based on the prosumer of Europe’s low carbon future” workshop within the conference “Sustainable Places 2020”. This workshop was organized to cluster and foster knowledge transfer between several EU projects, each developing innovative solutions within the field of demand response, energy flexibility, and optimized synergies between actors of the built environment and the power grid.

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The Critical Raw Materials Issue between Scarcity, Supply Risk, and Unique Properties

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14081826 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (8) ◽

pp. 1826

Author(s):

Mihaela Girtan ◽

Antje Wittenberg ◽

Maria Luisa Grilli ◽

Daniel P. S. de Oliveira ◽

Chiara Giosuè ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Scientific Community ◽

Chemical Elements ◽

Raw Materials ◽

The Other ◽

Innovation Networks ◽

Supply Risk ◽

European Cooperation ◽

Research And Innovation ◽

The Earth ◽

Critical Raw Materials

This editorial reports on a thorough analysis of the abundance and scarcity distribution of chemical elements and the minerals they form in the Earth, Sun, and Universe in connection with their number of neutrons and binding energy per nucleon. On one hand, understanding the elements’ formation and their specific properties related to their electronic and nucleonic structure may lead to understanding whether future solutions to replace certain elements or materials for specific technical applications are realistic. On the other hand, finding solutions to the critical availability of some of these elements is an urgent need. Even the analysis of the availability of scarce minerals from European Union sources leads to the suggestion that a wide-ranging approach is essential. These two fundamental assumptions represent also the logical approach that led the European Commission to ask for a multi-disciplinary effort from the scientific community to tackle the challenge of Critical Raw Materials. This editorial is also the story of one of the first fulcrum around which a wide network of material scientists gathered thanks to the support of the funding organization for research and innovation networks, COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

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