Final Report Summary - MINERALS4EU (Minerals Intelligence Network for Europe)
Executive Summary:
Minerals4EU is a 2-year project (1.9.2013 – 31.8.2015) under European Commission´s Directorate General for Research & Innovation and 7th Framework Programme, European Union (EU) research and development funding scheme. It is also in the sphere of the activity of DG Growth - Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME´s which has now the responsibility of mineral raw materials sector. Minerals4EU addresses the objectives of the EU raw materials knowledge base action, as part of the European Innovation Partnership Strategic Implementation Plan. It is a strategic action both for the European Commission and the National Geological Surveys of Europe which are the major providers of pan-European mineral data and services.
The main goal of the Minerals4EU is to become the leading European mineral information network structure that will provide tools and expertise to enhance resource efficiency, minerals supply security and support sustainable minerals development for Europe.
Minerals4EU, with 32 partners from 26 countries and a total budget of approximately 2,7 M euro will create a sustainable Minerals Intelligence Network for European non-energy raw materials. The development of the concept of the network and building up the permanent service will guarantee the sustainability in the long-term of Minerals4EU services such as the European Minerals Knowledge Data Platform, the European Minerals Yearbook, and the Foresight Studies on primary and secondary mineral resources. Important beneficiaries are the EU, national, regional and local policy and decision-makers, authorities managing and evaluating cohesion policy programs and projects, mining and mineral downstream industries, traders, financial institutions, European and national associations, NGOs and academics.
Minerals4EU will operate as an interactive, transparent and open source of cross-border intelligence for minerals, easily accessible for all end users. Any stakeholder will be able to collect information on Europe’s resource potential, recycling and resource efficiency. Minerals4EU will develop a responsible, authorized and reliable mineral data source and thus contribute to resource sustainability and supply security.
The Minerals4EU project has achieved all the main goals it set out to achieve. More information is available at: www.minerals4eu.eu .
Project Context and Objectives:
Concept
The Minerals4EU project is designed to meet the recommendations of the Raw materials Initiative (RMI), and will develop a user-centred intelligence network structure for delivering data, information and knowledge on mineral resources in the Europe Union. The network will enable a number of deliverables such as a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and foresight studies. Minerals4EU will deliver a fundamental contribution to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM), seen by the Competitiveness Council as a key component for a successful implementation of the major EU2020 policies needed to secure the wellbeing of European society.
RMI of the Commission requires that the knowledge base of mineral deposits within the EU be improved, comprising a digital geological knowledge base, a transparent methodology for identifying minerals resources (including primary and secondary deposits both on land and in the marine environment, as well as urban mines), long term estimates for regional and local demand and identifying and safeguarding minerals resources (taking into account other land uses) including their protection from the effects of natural disasters, as an aid to better policy management on mineral resources. The Commission proposed to assess with the Member States the scope for increased synergies between national geological surveys, that would allow for economies of scale, reduced costs and increased potential to engage in joint projects (e.g. harmonised minerals database, European Raw Materials Yearbook). In the medium term, any synergies should contribute to an improved European raw materials knowledge base in a co-ordinated way.
The European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials [COM(2012) 082] further underlines the role of geological surveys and of the public data, information and knowledge they deliver, stressing the need to develop their networking towards the development of a 3D/ 4D geological data and knowledge infrastructure. The National Geological Surveys of the EU and adjacent countries hold the expertise in data acquisition, are the national data repositories on known and in some cases, projected mineral deposits. There is no other group of organisations in the EU which can have access to such a comprehensive and geographically diverse set of data as the National Geological Surveys, which make up the majority of the Minerals4EU consortium. The Minerals4EU project includes 26 geological survey organizations as partners, which are the key public acquirers and holders of thematic, geology related data, information, essential expertise and knowledge providers to a wide range of end-users including national/ regional/ local authorities, economic actors, civil society stakeholders and the general public. Thus this consortium comprises the best available mineral and raw material expertise and information for policy, industry, communication and education purposes on the European level.
In addition, a number of EU projects such as the FP7 EU Flagship project, ProMine, have produced the first pan-European database and maps of known and potential mineral deposits, including anthropogenic deposits, and delivered the only pan-EU harmonised, digital public map of known mineral occurrences and deposits of the critical minerals in Europe to the Commission in 2010. The CIP ICT-PSP project EuroGeoResource is developing a distributed system – interoperable with national databases - with information on both energy and non-energy mineral resources, but covers only the 11 participating countries in that project. The FP7 EGDI-Scope project brings together all the National Geological Surveys of Europe with the aim to assess the effort needed to organise in a single system the huge amount of geological data held at country level, including mineral resources, to establish a European geological data infrastructure This Infrastructure can eventually provide a backbone for serving mineral intelligence data interoperable with national databases, but the EGDI-Scope study will only deliver the design rather than the infrastructure itself. The Statistical Information on EU Raw Materials Deposits study, which will map the current situation at EU level with respect to statistical information and will make an analysis of gaps and bottlenecks in harmonising data and interoperability development.
Although the above mentioned projects and initiatives present significant steps in the right direction, there are still a number of barriers and bottlenecks that need to be addressed:
• There currently is no legal framework or EU institution or agency with formal responsibility for mineral - or wider geological – intelligence;
• Although EU geological surveys hold in-depth knowledge of their national mineral resources, and are taking steps to harmonise this knowledge on a European level, their mandate is strictly national.
• The accessibility of national mineral information is governed by national legal frameworks. In some countries data on mineral resources and reserves, license areas, exploration and production results etc. is made freely available – sometimes taking a confidentiality period for industrial data into account. In other countries such data is only available at a cost, or treated as confidential entirely;
• The Raw Materials Initiative (COM(2012) 82) explicitly addresses the need for 3D digital geological knowledge on mineral resources, but this is currently available only in a limited number of EU countries;
• While EU geological surveys have a strong network in place, important information needed to monitor the issues of critical raw materials and to identify priority actions - as called for in COM (2011) 025 - (e.g. global data on mineral deposits; pan-EU and global data and information on topics such as the mining projects pipeline, productions, trade and factors underpinning supply and demand) are held by other organisations (e.g. academic, governmental, financial institutions, NGO’s) that need to be included in the network;
• Foresight studies and Minerals Yearbooks are already being produced by European institutes (e.g. BGS, BRGM), but are not based on official data held at national level.
Mineral intelligence encompasses a broad suite of information, including but not limited to supply and demand data. This data is fundamental to the evaluation of the availability of raw materials within the EU, the EU´s dependence on imports, potential supply risks as well as environmental and social aspects. Based on an EU minerals information knowledge base, policy makers and players in the economy and society can make informed decisions concerning the EU´s competitiveness in this sector. EU member states and the Commission may also use the results to develop suitable instruments to counteract problematic developments.
The Minerals4EU network structure, as formulated in this project, requires a smooth procedure to deliver data and additional knowledge. Efforts will therefore be focused towards developing an INSPIRE compliant data and information system in order to, for example, access and deliver products on mineral statistics, foresight studies and relevant annual reports. All these standardized data, information and deliverables which are collected through Minerals4EU will be made available through a web portal.
Attaining sustainability will require European and/or Member States and/or private funding for the on-going and routine provision of Minerals4EU services tailor-made to all potential stakeholders. However the sustainability of the network structure depends also on the level of, at one hand the integration and harmonization of minerals information at European level, and on the other hand the added value brought to European society and industry. An economic model making the network structure viable will be developed.
Objectives
Much of the partly geo-referenced data on mineral raw materials is already available for the EU, as was noted above. The difficulty is that the data, such as raw material reserves/resources, production, consumption, imports, exports etc, currently reside in numerous different locations, and are captured, collated and disseminated by different institutions. These data are stored mainly in databases of the Geological Surveys, or EU projects, with their own design/architecture, making any attempt at merging difficult and time consuming.
The Minerals4EU project is designed to meet the recommendations of the Raw Materials Initiative and will develop an EU Mineral intelligence network structure delivering a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and foresight studies. The network will provide data, information and knowledge on mineral resources around Europe, through a Brussels based Permanent Body (a not-for-profit company formed as a Foundation under Belgian company law), making a fundamental contribution to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM), seen by the Competitiveness Council as key for the successful implementation of the major EU2020 policies.
Minerals4EU will therefore contribute to and support decision making on policy and adaptation strategies, as well as securing resource efficiency and raw materials supply, by developing a network structure with mineral information data and products, based on a range of information sources.
The Minerals4EU project will develop an INSPIRE compatible infrastructure that enables geological surveys and other partners to share mineral information and knowledge, and the public and private stakeholders to find, view and acquire standardized and harmonized information from:
• National and regional data sources (e.g. mining authorities, surveys)
• Past and ongoing national and EU projects (e.g. ProMine, EuroGeoResource)
• Web portals at partner and stakeholder sites (e.g. EUROMINES, IMA, UEPG)
• National and European statistics (e.g. EUROSTAT)
The target of the Minerals4EU project is to provide the best available mineral expertise and information based on the knowledge base of member geological surveys and other relevant stakeholders, in support of public policy-making, industry, society, communication and education purposes at European and international levels. This will strengthen the position of the European minerals industry towards resource sustainability and competitive growth.
Minerals4EU aims to become the leading European mineral information network structure that will provide tools and expertise to enhance resource efficiency, minerals supply security and support sustainable minerals development for Europe. Mineral information provided will be based on globally comparable standards of excellence for research and development and these standards will be maintained. This will be carried out collaboratively by all participating public organizations that have mineral information and expertise, and with consumers of that information.
The need for a digital geological knowledge base providing information on the composition, structure and dynamics of the subsurface, as well as on the availability of resources, is explicitly stated in the EU’s Raw Materials Initiative and other related EU documents.
The project will have the following verifiable objectives:
• Major objective is to create a Minerals intelligence network to facilitate access for the EU to the raw materials information sources and to promote collaboration among experts.
• A knowledge base, interoperable with national databases, of primary and secondary resources, and identification of the ways and means necessary to develop the pan-EU geological data and knowledge base on land down to 4 km depth, and in the marine environment, and to develop estimations of the resource availability including urban mines (landfills and mining waste, stockpiles in use).
• A forward-looking analysis on the minerals supply and demand situation in Europe with special attention given to the critical minerals programmes described above and various other sources should be prepared on a regular basis.
• A supply and demand foresight on raw materials which will enable a proper policy making to ensure an adequate access to raw materials.
• An investors’ portal, giving information on the mineral resources and deposits within European Union needs to be developed.
• A permanent Minerals4EU network which deals with horizontal activities and harmonization, such as terminology, data interoperability, communication / education, uniform output, promotion, distribution / dissemination etc. has to be set up.
Minerals4EU will use the following approach to achieve its goals:
• Evaluating and exploiting the results of other national and international projects, relevant EU initiatives and policy documents.
• Making an analysis of institutions and organizations involved at different levels, and their activities in providing minerals intelligence information.
• Seeking to involve most relevant parties active in mineral resources R&D, and growth.
• Using as much as possible the already existing databases and network structures.
The Minerals4EU project has been divided into 6 WPs, and 16 tasks in order to effectively carry out the work of the project:
WP1: Project Management
WP2: Minerals Intelligence Network
2.1 Scope of the network
2.2 Membership structure
2.3 Network structure and permanent body
WP3: Knowledge Management
3.1 Communication and Dissemination
3.2 Exploitation Management
WP4: Mineral statistics
4.1 Establish a data gathering network
4.2 Data availability and quality – A gap analysis
4.3 Data harmonisation, validation and certification
4.4 Designing a European Raw Materials Yearbook
WP5 Minerals4EU knowledge data platform
5.1 Data identification
5.2 Definition of the EU-MKDP architecture
5.3 Development of the EU-MKDP system
5.4 Support to geological surveys for web services implementation
WP6 Foresight study
6.1 Foresight study on raw materials supply and demand in the EU
6.2 Strategy for updates of the Foresight study
Project Results:
Within the Minerals4EU project, WP2 has established a European Minerals Intelligence Network providing continental-level, consistent and organised mineral data information on primary and secondary resources on land and offshore. The Network is established under the form of a ‘permanent body’ linking national and European mineral datasets and information. Due to its permanent nature it will be regularly improved and updated, therefore WP2 has also dealt with ensuring the sustainability of the network.
Scope of the Network
The scope of the Network is mainly described in the Deliverable 2.1 “Agreed scope of the Network”, in which the Network is described as intending to be a permanent system with a well-defined organisational structure, as part of, and at least delivering the first building block, and preferably the future hub, of the European Minerals Knowledge Base – as part of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM).
Membership structure
The issue of membership of the network was dealt with in Task 2.2 and in Deliverable 2.2 “Guidelines on Membership Structure”, as well as the operational conditions of the network.
It has been agreed that members are those organizations that participate in the Network by virtue of their competence and willingness to provide it with Relevant Data, intelligence, expertise and foresight. There is often a single Member with pre-existing responsibility at the national level for much of the Relevant Data and that is willing to coordinate any Relevant Data held by other public or research organisations, into a single channel, and to represent those other organisations in its principal dealings within the Network (which does not prevent those other organisations from being Members in their own right). This is normally, but not exclusively, the national Geological Survey. In addition, Members may be public bodies with particular expertise in minerals intelligence, expertise and foresight. According to the Minerals4EU DoW, the initial Membership will be the Partners of Minerals4EU, but this will be widened out to include any suitable organisation that wishes to join after the end of the project.
Network structure and permanent body
The final composition of the Network Structure and the Permanent Body are mainly described in Deliverable 2.3 “Operational Handbook for Managing the Network”, serving as an initial operational handbook for the post-Project sustainable Network and Permanent Body. It sets out the main definitions, structures and conditions, building on and superseding previous reports, within the terms agreed between the Partners and the European Commission in the Description of Work for the Project.
A considerable amount of time and multiple email discussions ensued, with a further video conference held on 6th March 2015, in an attempt to resolve these issues. An important breakthrough emerged following a proposal by the TNO (Netherlands), which built upon the various comments provided by other WP2 partners.
This model was presented to the meeting of WP2 held at Bled on 17th March 2015, where it was generally agreed on, and was further put to the General Assembly at Bled, for endorsement in principle, which was achieved by a large majority of those present and voting, although it was recognised that some partners had reservations.
According to the Dow, the Minerals4EU Project should, by its conclusion, have developed an EU Mineral Intelligence Network structure delivering an INSPIRE compliant Pan-European set of mineral resource data, a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and a foresight study. The Network provides Relevant Data, information and knowledge on mineral resources across Europe.
The Network is a system that will continue these functions beyond the end of the Project and in the long term. Its objective is to connect a diverse and distributed set of providers of Relevant Data and expertise with an operating system that provides such data and related services to a broad base of stakeholders, including but not limited to the EC, the minerals sector (both producers and consumers), academia, other interest groups and the public, who will access the data and services through a “one-stop-shop” website and an office of the Network referred to as the Permanent Body.
Guiding Principles for the Network
The Network is a group of Members who agree to work with each other and though the Permanent Body towards meeting the objectives of this initiative. Its collective function is to provide Relevant Data, services, ideas and intelligence capacity to stakeholders and others.
The Network includes knowledge of the sources and understanding of the Relevant Data as well as the underpinning expertise, research, intelligence and foresight.
The principal point-of-contact with the Network for its stated purpose is through the Permanent Body. Existing relationships between Members will be respected.
Guiding Principles for the Permanent Body
The Permanent Body is the central co-ordinating body for the Network. It is addressed at a physical bureau, initially co-located at the offices of EuroGeoSurveys, but operating independently. The Permanent Body represents a single point of contact (a “one-stop-shop”) to the Stakeholders whereby they may obtain Relevant Data, information and expertise directly or from the wider Network. In fulfilling this role, it does not attempt to prevent separate bilateral links between members of the Network and individual Stakeholders that may exist, nor does it imply that the Permanent Body should operate all of its functions locally from its bureau. For the avoidance of doubt, current or future bilateral relationships, which may include commercial activities, between members of the Network and their clients or associates, will be fully respected and regarded as independent of any Network activities.
The Permanent Body will have the legal form of a not-for-profit Foundation under Belgian law, and its Trustees will be Geological Surveys and/or EuroGeoSurveys. The EGS Directors have not yet taken a decision at the time of writing this Report.
Mineral statistics
The aim of Work Package 4 (WP4) was to develop the structure and datasets required for a new European Minerals Yearbook containing statistical information for non-energy, non-agricultural raw materials in Europe. This aim and objectives have been met during the project.
The main challenges that arose during the preparation of the European Minerals Yearbook are outlined below and described more fully in the WP4 deliverable 4.3 report. The new digital Yearbook that has been delivered brings together a wider range of statistical data than ever before attempted. Delivering the Yearbook digitally has allowed a range of interactive graphs and maps to be developed which are innovative, attractive and easy to use.
Although the data contained in the Yearbook are not ‘perfect’ in the sense that some parts are not as complete or standardised as would be ideal, the Yearbook represents an important step towards the ultimate goal of a comprehensive and consistent dataset covering all the countries of Europe.
Primary minerals
For the purposes of this report, the term ‘primary’ minerals means minerals and metals extracted from mines or quarries. For some data types and certain commodities, the data also includes the initial materials produced from the extracted resources. For example, the production data for lead includes extracted ores and concentrates but also refined lead in unwrought form.
Production
Production data for all 40 countries are included in the Yearbook. These cover more than 65 mineral commodities and are included for a 10 year period from 2004 to 2013. These data are standardised to ensure that, wherever possible, they are comparable between countries. Data gaps are few because they have been filled, where possible, by experienced staff from the British Geological Survey (BGS) using additional data sources as necessary. As an organisation, BGS (and its predecessors) has been conducting this work for more than a century and has developed and refined the procedures required to ensure the figures are as accurate and complete as possible, whilst acknowledging there is always room for further improvement. Other WP4 partners have had the opportunity to examine the data during the testing phase of the Yearbook and corrections or improvements have been identified.
Trade – imports and exports
Data relating to imports and exports have been included in the Yearbook for 35 of the 40 countries. For the remaining 5 countries (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Greenland, Kosovo and Ukraine) data are available but insufficient time has prevented them from being collated into a suitable format for loading to the Yearbook. The data are included for the majority of the commodities covered by the production data, where the statistics are obtainable using the Harmonised System (Combined Nomenclature) of trade codes. In some cases the trade data include a greater number of sub-commodities representing the different forms in which the materials are traded. The figures are also included for a 10 year period from 2004 to 2013.
As with production data, BGS (and its predecessors) has been collating trade statistics for more than a century and has developed and refined the procedures required to collect, analyse and present the data as accurately as possible. The experience of BGS staff has been utilised to keep data gaps to a minimum but there will always be a greater quantity of data gaps in trade data than for production due to the variable nature of minerals trade. Other WP4 partners have had the opportunity to examine the data during the testing phase of the Yearbook and corrections or improvements have been identified.
Resources and reserves
Statistics and/or related information for these data types were collected for the first time during the project using a questionnaire designed specifically for the purpose. In total 33 of the 40 countries returned the resources and reserves questionnaire, of these 30 questionnaires contained some statistical data. Even where statistical data are not available, the related information and metadata are still useful for the Yearbook and are included as text. The return rate for the resources and reserves questionnaire was 82.5% which is considered to be excellent for a completely new survey of this type. This high return rate is a reflection of the effort expended by all WP4 partners in collecting and chasing the forms.
No attempt has been made to ‘standardise’ or ‘harmonise’ the resources and reserves data collected during the project. This is for two reasons: firstly, there is no consistency with regards to the use of the terms ‘resources’ and ‘reserves’ between countries; and secondly there is a wide range of systems of reporting used to record these figures. The standardisation of these statistics would require the negotiation and agreement of a common standard, the attention of several ‘competent persons’ and other experts to convert existing figures to the agreed standard and the training of key staff within several countries. Consequently it would require considerably more time than was available within the Minerals4EU project.
Exploration
Data and/or related information were also collected for exploration activities for the first time during the project, again using a questionnaire designed specifically for this purpose. Of the 40 countries contacted, 29 returned the exploration questionnaire; a return rate of 72.5%. Although this is slightly less than for the resources and reserves questionnaire, it is considered to be an excellent return rate for this type of survey and again the WP4 partners have been very active in collecting and chasing these forms.
During the preparation phase for the survey, six different metrics were identified as possible measures for exploration activity and all six were requested within the questionnaire, these are:
• The expenditure incurred, converted to Euros, during calendar year 2013
• The number of active exploration licences in calendar year 2013
• The number of new exploration licences issued in calendar year 2013
• The total area covered by exploration licences at the end of 2013
• The number of companies involved in exploration during 2013
• An activity summary (this was a free text box enabling any information to be provided even if the other metrics were not available)
Secondary raw materials
For the purposes of this report, the term ‘secondary’ raw material means materials produced by the recycling of waste.
Data for the production of individual commodities from waste are not available in a format that is comparable to the data for primary minerals. Consequently, the Yearbook includes the figures that are available for mineral-based waste generation, trade and treatment in broad waste categories, together with the number of facilities located in each country. Case studies for a small selection of commodities have also been carried out to indicate the quantities that could be recovered from key waste streams.
Although there are limitations to the statistics presented, it is the first time that an attempt has been made to include mineral-based waste data alongside figures for primary minerals. This is considered to be an important step forward and highlights where improvements to the availability of data are most required.
Mineral-based waste flows
These data were collected by BGS staff from publically available sources and include:
• Types and quantities of mineral-based waste generated and treated by category;
• Waste treatment routes and quantitative flows of materials in different treatments;
• Trade data on identified mineral-based waste categories;
• Number and capacity of treatment facilities;
• Waste generated from mining and quarrying activities.
Currently waste statistics are published according to categories rather than individual mineral commodities. The waste categories identified as being mineral-based, and therefore shown in the Yearbook, include: ‘metallic waste, ferrous’, ‘metallic-waste, non-ferrous’, ‘metallic-waste, mixed’, ‘glass waste’, ‘discarded vehicles’, ‘discarded electrical and electronic equipment’, ‘batteries and accumulators wastes’, ‘mineral waste from construction and demolition’, ‘other mineral wastes’, ‘combustion wastes’, ‘dredging spoils’ and ‘mineral wastes from waste treatment and stabilised wastes’.
The waste statistics presented in the Yearbook are also broken down by source or ‘production activity’ and these include, for example: ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’, ‘mining and quarrying’ and various manufacturing processes. Further details of the sources and compilation of these statistics for the Yearbook can be found in the WP4 deliverable 4.3 report.
Case studies for the supply of secondary raw materials
This part of the work, conducted largely by the Wuppertal Institute with input from BGS, examined the potential for the supply of raw materials from the recycling of waste, using 8 mineral commodities as case studies. The selected commodities are: iron and steel, aluminium, copper, palladium, platinum, indium, yttrium and dysprosium.
The analysis required the identification of the application fields (i.e. the uses) for each commodity and from these a selection of the key products was chosen for further consideration. The quantity of these products currently in use and entering the market each year was estimated, as was the quantity of the selected commodities contained within each product, the lifespan of the product (and hence when it might be available for recycling) and the proportion of the commodity that is actually recovered during recycling processes. The analysis then calculated the percentage of the European Union’s requirement for each commodity that could potentially be covered by the supply from secondary sources and the percentage that is actually covered by this supply.
Electronic delivery of the Yearbook
It has always been the intention of the Work Package that the Yearbook would be delivered electronically rather than on paper. A significant achievement of the project has been the collaboration between BGS and the French Geological Survey (BRGM) which has ensured that the electronic European Minerals Yearbook is innovative and interactive.
WP5 Minerals4EU Knowledge data platform
The development of the EU-MKDP (Minerals Knowledge Data Platform) aims to give a simplified, user-friendly and efficient access to all available and new data related to mineral resources from national geological surveys, scientific institutes and universities, relevant industries and professional organizations, as well as from former European projects such as ProMine (information on both mineral deposits and anthropogenic concentrations resulting from mining and downstream activities - Serrano et al., 2010 ; Cassard et al., in press) and EuroGeoSource (information on energy and mineral resources, extraction locations, production, reserves - Gruijters and Fruijtier, 2011; EuroGeoSource, 2013). The system is also designed to accommodate and manage semi- and non-structured data (e.g. syntheses and statistics in the form of graph charts, time-series related to exploration and primary reserves and resources, secondary resources, exploitation technologies including ore beneficiation, extraction technologies, end product development and waste management practices, European market survey and raw material demand...).
The role of the EU-MKDP is to provide the end user with a seamless access to data related to the whole value chain from deposit exploration, mining and extraction of ore, exploitation technologies to treatment of end-of-life products and the generation of "new" materials, consumption and demand, with the ability to combine all spatial and non-spatial pertinent information in a single reference system.
EU-MKDP general architecture
The principles of the EU-MKDP architecture follow the Implementing rules of the European INSPIRE Directive (2007) to make data and services interoperable across Europe over a distributed infrastructure. These have been described in detail in relevant WP5 deliverables.
Development of the EU-MKDP system
Principle: Participating surveys have set up their National Provider databases and populated them with data. Each database contains the data of the geological survey, transformed from their own original format to the INSPIRE data model and semantically harmonised using commonly agreed terminology resulting in 50+ code lists. The data are then transformed into an INSPIRE compliant WFS format using the Deegree3 framework.
► The harvesting system consists of a harvesting application and a database. The harvesting application retrieves WFS formatted data from each provider, harvests data from it, transforms it into proper form and then stores it in the Central Harvesting database.
NOTE: The harvesting system has been developed and implemented by the Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoZS) and it is currently running on GeoZS servers for both Minerals4EU and EURare projects.
► The Diffusion Database is a copy, specialized for data delivery and computations based on the data stored in the Harvesting Database. This database is kept updated with the Harvesting Database using database synchronization. This synchronization relies on SQL scripts forwarded from the Harvesting Database to the Diffusion Database. The specialization of this database aims to optimize the response time of the services proposed to the users.
► Besides the Diffusion database, an additional interface allows experts to feed the knowledge base with non-structured data (reports, synthesis notes, time series... in various formats). This interface allows the expert either to add a document (the document will be part of the EU-MKDP and retrievable within the EU-MKDP) or a link to an existing document in some (perennial) place accessible via the Internet. To be able to integrate it into the knowledge base, the expert will have to include metadata to this document. These metadata are based on Standard Dublin Core. The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set has 15 so-called "mandatory" elements covering the most important properties to describe a document (title, creator, subject, coverage – temporal or geographical...). These metadata are then used in the search facilities to retrieve the documents. The metadata application is operational (more than 70 documents with their metadata have already been entered at mid-July 2015).
►The Minerals4EU Metadata Catalogue (for structured data) is the central access point to metadata concerning European mineral resources and related topics. It has been developed by CGS based on similar principles as MIcKA metadata catalogue, serving to the OneGeology-Europe Metadata Catalogue. It is fully operational at CGS: http://m4eu.geology.cz/metadata/. It provides tools for compilation of those metadata in a standardized format that will allow users to effectively search through the database.
In order to make the data discoverable in the most efficient way, the catalogue is fully compliant with international standards and supports the distributed system of metadata administration. Only digital and structured information (spatial datasets or dataset series and spatial data services - WMS, WFS) related to the mineral resources and relevant topics should be described by metadata in this catalogue. In order to display a metadata record for which an on-line map service is available, the metadata will be used in the search facilities. The catalogue has enabled systematic discovery, viewing and use of data on mineral resources across Europe.
83 public records had been inserted into the database until July 21, 2015
The code lists for the metadata based on INSPIRE Data Specification Mineral Resources code lists have been amended for the needs of the Minerals4EU project as published in Schubert et al., 2014. Therefore the Metadata Keywords application has been amended http://m4eu.geology.cz/codelist/#. Any keyword is coded as URI (semantic web) according to the latest INSPIRE Metadata Technical Guidelines (October 2013).
To support the metadata authorized editors, the Cookbook has been updated and is available at http://m4eu.geology.cz/metadata/?ak=cookbook. The guidelines on how to use the Metadata Catalogue Application and Metadata Keywords Code List Application are described in detail so metadata editors from any data provider can easily insert, maintain and search for the metadata.
The EU-MKDP Web Portal and dedicated services
The EU-MKDP Web portal (http://minerals4eu.brgm-rec.fr/) is finalized and functional (July 2015).
Foresight Study
WP6 developed a demo version of a Foresight study on raw materials supply and demand in the EU (deliverable D6.1). A focus was put on critical minerals, but other materials were to be addressed, too.
Beside the Foresight Study (deliverable D6.1) the targets of WP6 comprised the development of a concept for regular updates and reviews (deliverable D6.2) and the organisation of a “network of institutions with various backgrounds to ensure the integration of all supply and demand changing topics/developments” (deliverable D6.4). For this purpose, the experiences from the development process of the Foresight Study were exploited for developing such a concept, and a network, respectively.
Foresight study on raw materials supply and demand in the EU
The main aim was to produce a foresight study (demo) on raw materials supply and demand in the EU with special attention given to critical minerals.
Firstly, in order to ensure efficient cooperation within the WP6 team, a comprehensive list was set up that contains all contact persons of the partners involved in WP6, including email addresses and phone numbers.
The preliminary final list of topics was agreed at the meeting and presented at the First Progress Meeting on 13.03.14. In addition, the leaders of WP5 and WP6, BRGM and BGR, met on 13.03.14 and explored in more detail how these two work packages depend on each other, and can profit from each other during the project lifetime.
Following the Internal Planning Meeting, BGR contacted those partners, who were not able to attend the meeting, and agreed on additional topics that should fill remaining gaps, and/or allow backing of the topical teams.
In order to reach proper complementarity between the different topics, partners were encouraged to provide first (brief) abstracts that allow to outline the limitations of the individual topics, and to manage the degree of overlapping between them.
In this context, Fh-ISI and BGR met for a Conceptual Meeting in Karlsruhe on 11.04.14. The causal loop diagram, which was developed by Fh-ISI and presented in Cyprus, was transformed into a topic-relationship-map charting relevant topics for WP6 both on the supply and demand sides of raw material markets. The topics and the relationship between them are mapped schematically. The figure aims to reveal how selected “factors” act to determine the current and future market balance.
It is the general aim of the Foresight Study to cover as many of these topics as possible. However, it is obvious that many of them cannot be covered by the first draft of the Foresight Study – for capacity and other reasons. Therefore, this first draft reflects a selection of important topics, while the other ones need to be addressed in future versions of the Foresight Study, i.e. after the lifetime of the Minerals4EU project.
Furthermore, a graphical overview of the topics of the Foresight Study was developed, referencing the topics to a general material life cycle chain and enforcing the sequencing of topics.
On the basis of conceptual steps, BGR worked out a structure for the Foresight Study and a topical guide to all contributing partners of WP6. The Foresight Study abstracts the insight gained from the topic reports and presents them in a unified, compact version. Topics that cannot be addressed for capacity reasons within the project lifetime appear anyway, and thus indicate gaps for future investigation. The case studies, however, illustrate the topics by specific country or other cases. A topic can be illustrated by one or more case studies, but not necessarily needs to be so. This depends on the actual needs, and the capacity of the WP6 team.
In order to make best use of the results of the case studies and topics, “templates” were developed by BGR for the case study papers, for the topic reports, and for the general Foresight Study reports. The template files show in each case the index of contents and some further specifications of what contents are expected for each entry. The template files were distributed for internal discussion on 15.05.14. As a result of this consultation within the WP6 team, a revised version was distributed on 24.06.14.
Concurrently, the individual partners started to advance the planning, the data collection, and the literature research for the individual topical chapters, and case studies, either bilaterally in exchange with BGR, or in groups according to the topic teams. For practical reasons, four internal working groups were formed in order to enable more effective consulting between partners responsible for neighbouring topics, and case studies, respectively, and increased efficiency regarding the communication among partners. These are:
• the so-called “Nordic Group” dealing with the European Mineral Raw Material Potential, Marine Deposits, the Legislative and Governmental Challenges in mining of European Countries and Associated Territories, and the Societal Challenges in mining of European Countries and Associated Territories,
• the “Recycling, Demand, Resource Efficiency Group“dealing with recycling and demand issues
• the „Market and Technology Group“dealing with trends in exploration investments, trends in mining technology, and concentration trends in the mining sector,
• the “Future Potential Group” dealing with the potential of mine wastes.
Following a process of identifying suitable topics/case studies and their definition, the topic and case study list was advanced while aiming for a high degree of complementarity between them, respectively. The partners started to plan the individual topics and case studies, respectively, to draft contributions and to structure the individual topical chapters and/or case studies.
Potential Impact:
The project has delivered a wide range of outcomes with significant impacts and benefits for the EU. It has also contributed to more informed policy formulation, enhanced networking between key institutions in EU and knowledge base through the identification and acquisition of raw materials statistics across Europe.
Minerals and metals are essential inputs to the EU economy. Europe is already highly dependant on mineral resources imports, essentially for metallic minerals and for certain industrial minerals. Global competition for access to these resources is going to grow significantly in the coming decades, and Europe is not yet properly prepared to face this competition. This weakness is likely to threaten the viability of downstream European industries and the overall EU competitiveness. Preliminary studies conclude that Europe has over 2-3 times more metal resources available in the currently known greenfields and brownfields projects than has been historically produced. The challenge is to use these resources with the best available technical know-how and environmental standards and to assist the developing world, on which the EU will remain dependent for part of its minerals and metals supplies, in strengthening their geological/ environmental data/ information infrastructure and their human/ institutional capacities. A holistic EU strategy on sustainable minerals and metals supply and the competitiveness of the related industries, with a balanced approach to economic, environmental and social matters is called upon in view of the current challenges faced by the EU. Having these developments in mind Minerals4EU has contributed to:
• Raising public awareness on the vital need of minerals and metals to the European Society
• Integration of geology, mineral resources competences in the various advisory bodies advising the EU in various domains such as competitiveness, sustainable development or research
• Better integration of geological knowledge and data in EU policymaking
• Fostering better knowledge of European mineral resources, of the geological constraints of their worldwide distribution, the technical constraints for their exploitation and the sustainability consequences of their use;
• Support to renewed modern exploration of Europe’s domestic mineral resources;
• Protection of the access to this non-movable, geology conditioned, resources
• Development of a European Minerals Statistics and Information capacity on a par with the global capacity
The outcomes of this project have impacted on various current policies which are embodied in the Raw Materials Initiative, and might also result in new policy development. The following policy areas are seen as being of direct impact:
• Industrial and economic related policies, which address raw materials issues and aim to improve competitiveness and economic growth;
• Foreign policies, which recognises the importance of access to raw materials;
• Defence policies, which acknowledge the role of raw materials in national security and defence matters;
• Environmental policies on resource efficiency and the sustainable use of resources and raw materials in EU
With the Minerals4EU Intelligence Network, there will be more ready access to reliable and accurate data on all aspects of raw materials, both primary and secondary. This will support a more secure and sustainable supply of raw materials for the EU manufacturing sectors. Improved knowledge on supply disruption issues will assist in developing robust and consistent risk assessment methodologies, as well as better research, policy and investment decisions.
Minerals4EU has also contributed to the Raw Materials Initiative by:
• Improved the standardization of geological data and mineral resources data across the participating European Geological Surveys,
• Improved the progress of the EIP building blocks by participating to the pilot plant planning and execution, following closely European and global minerals exploration and exploitation trends, the EIP progress, which seems now to control and govern any developments in minerals R&D, and any foresight and outlook studies dedicated to extractive industries.
• Supported the implementation of the INSPIRE Directive for Geology and Mineral Resources themes,
• Improved the Mineral Resources common data model across Europe, together with OGC-IUGS/CGI work, by adding new harmonized / standardized mineral information and properties related to potential at depth and offshore/marine resources,
Creating a sustainable network at the EU level with competence in collecting and providing information on raw materials
Minerals4EU has lead directly to an improved understanding and access to data related to raw materials resources availability in Europe. This will allow identifying and managing risks associated with resources. It will also allow businesses to quantify the likelihood of disruption to supply, giving them the opportunity to develop appropriate mitigation strategies.
In particular the Minerals4EU Intelligence Network will be the driver for addressing the EIP issues on “Improving EU's raw materials regulatory framework, knowledge and infrastructure base”, by facilitating the:
• Building of an innovative knowledge base of EU resources, including exploration of primary and secondary raw materials (on land and in the marine environment) and estimations of the resource availability including urban mines (land fills and mining waste);
• Enabling identification and exchange of best practices in defining a minerals policy in the Member States based on principles of sustainable development and on a strict enforcement of the existing legislation notably for what concerns the safety of mining waste facilities, the prevention of mining waste generation and the reduction of their impact on the environment;
• Identifying best practices in terms of land-use planning for minerals in the Member States and to incorporate the consideration of minerals in marine spatial plans;
• Identifying different instruments (such as one-stop-shop or parallel assessment) in order to facilitate the process for authorisation of minerals exploration and extraction in the Member States;
• Improving environmental impact assessment methodologies and identifying good practices in their use to facilitate the access to and the smooth supply of primary and secondary raw materials;
• Developing standardisation of geological data including by-products and coherence on the relevant terminology, such as common terminology related to mineral and metals classification and production statistics.
Improving harmonisation, standardisation and certification of national primary and secondary raw materials data
Several economic, policy, environmental and other impacts are foreseen from gaining extensive knowledge on resource availability across Europe, following harmonisation rules which are developed in a dedicated task in WP4:
• Standardised and harmonised data will assist to identify supply disruption issues in Europe following a consistent methodology;
• Enhance current policy framework;
• Manage resources more efficiently and sustainably;
• Support businesses through the provision of consistent data to quantify resource availability and to develop resilience strategies for addressing supply and demand issues.
• Promote European raw materials resources to the rest of the world
Identifying needs for future research & exploration, and green public procurement
One result of the project was to ensure that research is relevant and focussed on the requirements of the Raw Materials Initiatives. Through the network and the dissemination activities, there has been an improved dialogue between stakeholders engaged at different points in the life cycle of raw materials. An improved multidisciplinary understanding, knowledge and expertise across the stakeholder community was one of the major positive impacts from Minerals4EU. This can shape future directions for both R&D and exploration for new resources, with adequate attention to the important aspects of green public procurement. Support to better communication with the general public and specific stakeholders within mineral sector in order to facilitate balanced and well-informed debates and decisions related to raw materials (and notably critical ones) non-energy extractive industry.
Improving coordination in research and innovation actions in the field of raw materials intelligence
Several areas have benefitted from the improvement of coordination in R&D and innovation, in the field of Raw Materials Intelligence. Examples are cooperating with EU projects related to minerals such as ProMine, EuroGeoResource, EO-Miners, EURARE etc. Minerals4EU has underpin the EIP roadmap and provided an improved coordination with:
• Implementation of the RMI, taking into account any relevant documentation and reporting, such as the ones on Criticality
• Progress of the EIP building blocks by participating to the pilot plant planning and execution, such as the one on “New exploration technologies for defining the European deep mineral resources”
• Enhancement of minerals role and related industrial technologies for competitive growth as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy
• Incorporation of mineral resources topics to be addressed as thematic priorities called under the Horizon 2020 and other EU R&D programs and funding schemes
• Cooperating with EU project related to minerals e.g. ProMine, EuroGeoResource, EO-Miners, EURARE, FAME, ProSUM, MICA etc
• Strengthening the relations with other relevant bodies or institutions or events by improved communication and coordination e.g. ETP-SMR, EGS, JRCs, etc
• Improving the links and joint efforts with European Mining Industry representative bodies e.g. EUROMINES, IMA, UEPG, EUROMETAUX etc
• Introducing the Green Mining conceptual and practical approaches starting from exploration to continue throughout the entire value chain of minerals
• Promoting and further developing International Cooperation issues
• Following closely European and global minerals exploration and exploitation trends, the EIP progress, which seems from now on to control and govern any developments in minerals R&D, and any foresight and outlook studies dedicated to extractive industry.
Formulating the ideas for possible novel actions with high European common interest and increased efficiency and effectiveness of the EU research activities in this field.
Minerals4EU opened a range of new possibilities in the field of raw materials research and innovation, which can lead to increased efficiency and application in this field. Some areas of research which can benefit from input from Minerals4EU include:
• Enhancement of minerals role and related industrial technologies for competitive growth as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy, and
• Developing an integrated approach to 'value chains' from extraction and process of raw material, product design and use to end of life;
• Extending co-operation between national research organisations to avoid fragmentation of the European Research Area in the field of mineral resources;
• Enhancing an EU geopolitical role in ensuring access for European companies to raw materials in the world while respecting as far as possible European environmental standards;
• Networking of Research, Education and Training Centres on Sustainable Mining and Materials Management, whilst ensuring appropriate coordination with the possible European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) - Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) on sustainable exploration, extraction, processing and recycling;
• Improving efficiency in material use and in prevention, re-use and recycling of valuable raw materials from waste streams, with a specific focus on materials having a potentially negative impact on the environment;
Contribution to the economics of raw materials and recycling
The Minerals4EU project enables the heavy industry and manufacturing in Europe, but also any developers of national and European policies, to access reliable data on the exploitation of new European mineral reserves, from both primary and secondary resources (“geological mining” and so-called “urban mining”), satisfying industrial demand. The geographic nature of the data needed for such evaluations means only a Pan European project can deliver the required results.
In addition, national initiatives in the field of estimating secondary resources are still in the beginning. While certain countries and studies have started estimating secondary resources, these studies are still explorative and data acquisition not sufficiently harmonised between each other. Minerals4EU can take inventories on this issue, and formulate recommendations where focus of research and data acquisition shall be put on.
Spreading of excellence
The Minerals4EU Mineral Intelligence Network is a pan-European organisation bringing together the National Geological Surveys and other organisations with the aim of delivering high quality data on mineral resources, both primary and secondary, down to depths of 4km on land, and also in the marine environment. Not only will the network provide data, it will provide an analysis and interpretation of the data for use by the Commission, as well as academics, platforms, stakeholders, industries, regulators, and the general public. The data will cover both primary and secondary resources. Creating the database which is behind the delivery of such data service is the key to the success of the network. While the INSPIRE based architecture will be developed in WP5, ensuring the quality of the data is essential in order to gain credibility for the service being offered. If the quality of the data, or the interpretation of that data, is called into question, the network will fail. The responsibility for the standardisation and validation of the data, in other words the quality control, is with WP4. The output from WP6, the foresight study, will also be critically evaluated, since it will be the first study making use of the database developed in WP4 and WP5.
The founding members of the network are convinced that they can deliver top quality, and have impressive track records as Geological Surveys to back this up. The network intends to expand its membership within the lifetime of the project, and will invite other organisations of proven quality to join. The conditions for membership will be elaborated in WP2. In this way the network itself will become a clear symbol of quality for European mineral and raw materials data. Links will be made to existing networks and fora, by which the network will gain added value and spread the excellence with which it will be associated across the EU.
Exploitation of the project results
The Minerals4EU project is designed to meet the recommendations of the Raw Materials Initiative and will develop an EU Mineral intelligence network structure delivering a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and foresight studies. The network will provide data, information and knowledge on mineral resources around Europe, through a Brussels based Permanent Body (a not-for-profit company formed as a Foundation under Belgian company law), making a fundamental contribution to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM), seen by the Competitiveness Council as key for the successful implementation of the major EU2020 policies. As such, the foreground comprises the bringing together of pre-existing data and information (background) that are, mainly, in the public domain in EU Member States, with the principal foreground being the harmonization of data, the knowledge data platform and the foresight studies. These are described in more detail below.
The “Minerals Knowledge Data Platform” which is compliant with INSPIRE is an operational pan-European raw material management network that enables the EU geological surveys and other partners to make available their geological data covering mineral resources on land, down to 4 km depth, and in the marine environment. This knowledge base constitutes a unique tool to help users to develop up-to-date estimations of the resources availability of primary and secondary raw materials, including urban mines (landfills and mining waste, stockpiles in use) across Europe.
Along with this knowledge base, Minerals4EU has produced a “European Mineral Raw Materials Yearbook” covering for the first time primary and secondary resource data, from continental and offshore extraction sites in Europe.
Thirdly, the project has developed a forward-looking analysis (“Foresight Study”) on the minerals supply and demand situation in Europe, supply and demand foresight studies on Raw Materials. These studies support robust policy making to ensure an adequate access to raw materials for the European industry sector and to de-risk dependence on imports.
Exploitation of the foreground is primarily through the sustainable minerals intelligence network, which comprises initially the partners in Minerals4EU together with a Permanent Body acting as an access hub. This comprises a small not-for-profit Company of the Belgian legal category “Foundation” that will be co-located with, but not be part of, EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) in Brussels. Its principal trustee is EGS, but its management board is formed of six directors elected by EGS (1), geological survey partners in Minerals4EU (2), non- geological survey partners in Minerals4EU (1) and industry bodies (2), together with the non-voting Foundation manager. The partners of Minerals4EU who together form the wider minerals intelligence network will cooperate with the Foundation, and with each other, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The Foundation itself will eventually employ directly up to three staff, including its manager. These may be secondees from Minerals4EU partners. Their main function will be to act as a single point of contact for European minerals data knowledge and intelligence, by referring requests through the data portals or directly to appropriate partners. The principal tasks of maintaining the data portals, minerals yearbook and foresight studies will be contracted back to partners through service level agreements following tendering.
Further exploitation has been, and will continue as, engagement with stakeholders through media briefings, web sites, presentations and exhibitions at conferences and workshops, all of which emphasise the facilities and services being made available and their societal and economic value (see 4.2 Section A for details).
The nature of the foreground is such that it is not appropriate for patents or trademarks. This is because the foreground is publicly available and free-of-charge to users but is based on, and underpinned by, public data and information (background) belonging to Member States in a way that would be impractical to disentangle from foreground. However, it is subject to international rules of copyright with the understanding that the data and information may be reproduced in limited quantities with acknowledgment of source.
The role of the Exploitation Manager is to support the consortium in developing a strategy for exploitation of intellectual property (IP). The Exploitation Manager has prepared, and updated as the project progressed, in consultation with the partners, a plan for the use and exploitation of IP, which is described in this report. The coordination of exploitation, which is closely linked with dissemination, is the responsibility of Work Package 3, led by the RBINS, although each partner is responsible for protecting and exploiting its own background and any foreground IP that it has produced. Exploitation of the results is optimised by the involvement of the EuroGeoSurveys network, which brings together the Geological Surveys of 33 European countries.
The overriding purpose of Minerals4EU is to provide specialist knowledge to answer the questions and needs of the European Commission, as well as academics, industries, regulation and legislation authorities. In this respect, the project differs from those whose purpose is to develop a product or technology that can be easily patented. The dissemination and subsequent exploitation of this knowledge (methods, procedures, metrics, recommendations, etc.) will mainly take place through a sustainable minerals intelligence network, comprising a permanent body and numerous network members. This is fully described in Deliverables D2.1 through D2.5.
Thus the principal exploitation route for the outputs of Minerals4EU will be through the sustainable network, rather than by patented and other protection rights.
There is significant economic potential contained in the data which forms the core of the network that is likely to be exploited in various ways by end-users and third parties. The strategy adopted in the project is to make the data and related information available freely and at no charge, as a public good, with the costs of sustaining the network being met from public sources. Thus there will not be any direct financial or other material benefit to the members of the network as a result of, for example, revenue from sales or licensing of the data or related products. There may be a number of indirect gains for the members derived from the use of the project deliverables. These are described and, as far as possible quantified, in section 3 of this report.
IPR management has been an integral element of Minerals4EU. The main part of the data to be supplied by the National Geological Surveys is pre-existing, in other words it is background information, and so the sharing of this, its availability and rights by other partners to use that data is a very complex issue. In general, the approach taken has been that all the rights to background IP remain with its owner, usually a national or state government, who may set whatever conditions on its dissemination or use as are appropriate. In some cases this may restrict or limit further exploitation, including of foreground IP derived from the background.
Exploitation Strategy
Project outputs
The main outputs of the Minerals4EU project are
▪ a web portal,
▪ a European Minerals Yearbook
▪ and foresight studies
The network will provide data, information and knowledge on mineral resources around Europe, making a fundamental contribution to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM), seen by the Competitiveness Council as key for the successful implementation of the major EU2020 policies. The Minerals4EU project will therefore 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 of information sources. The Minerals4EU project is built around an INSPIRE compatible infrastructure that enables EU geological surveys and other partners to share mineral information and knowledge, and stakeholders to find, view and acquire standardized and harmonized geo-resources and related data.
The exploitation strategy is to make these outputs a public good, that is to say they will be freely available and without charge with access through the web portal.
Background IP
It is recognised that most of the components that make up the project outputs, especially of the data, are pre-existing materials supplied, and/or updated, by the national geological surveys, whose ownership and rights (as background IP) are extremely complicated but are generally with the national or state governments concerned, who also control access conditions. No transfer of IP is anticipated from the owners to the network. None of the data or materials accessible through the web portal will be sold by the network per se for material gain, although the owners or suppliers of the components reserve the rights to sell, licence or otherwise disseminate their property (background IP) with or without material gain and subject to their own terms and conditions.
Foreground IP
The project will, by its conclusion, have generated foreground IP mainly in the form of the tools and procedures used to build and operate the web portal, additional data prepared for the yearbook and in the commissioning of studies used in the foresight. The strategy is to protect these assets through copyright declarations but not to exploit these commercially through sales or licensing.
Direct utilisation of the results
It is envisaged that there will be considerable economic and public good gain from the direct utilisation of the results, which is described in deliverables D3.3 through D3.7. These include:
▪ Cost savings from more efficient and more accurate decision making by policy makers at all levels and scales, from the EU to local government.
▪ Improving the attractiveness of investments in the European natural resources sectors with concomitant job creation, tax revenues and import substitution.
▪ De-risking investment decisions in the natural resources sectors.
▪ Providing materials for research purposes, enabling better use of resources.
The strategy is to promote and encourage such exploitation through the effective and sustainable operation of the network and, in particular, its permanent body. This will require continuing dissemination activities including, but not limited to, newsletters, web sites, presence at academic conferences and trade exhibitions (for example Mining Indaba, PDAC, Mines and Money, etc.) and published papers. In addition, users of the project outputs will be asked to acknowledge the source in their own materials.
Indirect utilisation of the results
The strategy is to encourage third parties to utilise the results in various ways. These may include:
▪ Adding value to the results by combining them with external data or expertise, for example in producing investment planning advice by combining information in the Yearbook with economic data and social from other sources.
▪ Extracting information from the foresight studies for example in reducing the 500+ pages of information into a simple answer to the probable future commodity price of a particular metal in a given market.
There are many innovative ways in which third party organisations may exploit the project’s outputs. Such organisations are likely to include research institutes, including geological surveys, but particularly private sector SMEs, which form an important part of the economy in terms of employment and tax revenues in most EU member states.
Third party use of the products is a very complicated subject. In general, the project outputs are protected by copyright and in some cases there are usage restrictions on the background IP. Thus in the case of indirect utilisation, if the data or content are to be included verbatim, a licence to do so must be obtained from the data owner, which will sometimes involve a fee payment arrangement bilaterally between the user and the owner, outside of the network. If, however, the data are being consulted only, with a third party interpretation made, then in most cases the copyright regulations will allow for such limited use, with appropriate acknowledgement. The permanent body (core) of the network will seek legal advice on a case-by-case basis as these situations arise and will take reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised exploitation.
Exploitable Economic Values
Direct utilisation
It is extremely difficult to quantify the economic value of direct exploitation of the project outputs. A recent estimate of Eurostat, Mining and quarrying statistics states that “There were 20 thousand enterprises operating with mining and quarrying (Section B) as their main activity in the EU-27 in 2010. Together they employed 615 thousand persons, equivalent to 0.5 % of all persons employed in the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95); while they generated €84.2 billion of value added which was 1.4 % of the non-financial business economy total.”
Of this, it is conservatively assumed that 1% of turnover (as an order of magnitude) in the sector is expended on data, information, fund raising and decision making. If the outputs from Minerals4EU contribute to an efficiency gain of only 1% of this amount (0.01% of the sector total), this would equate to an annual exploitation value of over €8 million from the direct utilisation of the project outputs.
Indirect utilisation
It is likely that most of the take up of the project outputs with a view to adding value and re-selling will be by the SMEs (defined by the European Commission as businesses employing 250 or fewer people), although other organisations, including large corporations and public sector bodies, may participate. EU SMEs contribute over €3.39 trillion to GDP. SMEs providing services to the EU mining and quarrying sector are estimated to have a combined turnover of over €3 billion (EU-27, 2010). On a conservative assumption that utilisation of project outputs could grow the size of these activities by 0.1%, this has a potential value of €3 million with an employment growth of 86,000 jobs.
Dissemination
There were altogether 65 dissemination events during the 2-year project. These are listed in the Dissemination Activities part of the Final Report. The objective of the dissemination strategy was to promote Minerals4EU on an European and international level using a specific project identity in presentations, publications, to disseminate information on the website and with newsletters, to gain intensive exchange by communicating with experts all over the world, and to integrate different views from stakeholders. Development of a detailed dissemination plan for all project results was one of the major issues within WP3. The goal of the dissemination plan was to provide information about major project achievements and their impact on raw materials bodies as well as Minerals4EU’s contributions to EC societal objectives.
Special attention was given to the communication of results to different target groups such as geoscientific organizations, academics, platforms, policy makers, standardisation bodies, as well as extractive and production industries. To provide adequate information to each target group, clear dissemination channels and modalities was:
• A public website provides information about the scientific background of Mines4EU, list profiles of all participants, describe progress and major achievements, regularly post scientific and popularised information about Minerals4EU, and additionally provide links to relevant conferences and other events where Minerals4EU representatives will be available to discuss the project.
• A regular electronic newsletter published on the website and distributed to subscribers free of charge via email, cooperating with other FP7 initiatives, and also with other interested international communities/organisations.
• The specific project identity (logo, label, etc.) for Minerals4EU was used as a identity for all public communication and on templates for all dissemination activities. EU funding was acknowledged in all dissemination activities.
• Publications in relevant journals, industry flyers, CDs were standard dissemination tools.
• International and European conferences and symposia, where Minerals4EU’s latest achievements were presented as posters and oral presentations, were an important mode of dissemination.
List of Websites:
http://www.minerals4eu.eu/
Minerals4EU is a 2-year project (1.9.2013 – 31.8.2015) under European Commission´s Directorate General for Research & Innovation and 7th Framework Programme, European Union (EU) research and development funding scheme. It is also in the sphere of the activity of DG Growth - Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME´s which has now the responsibility of mineral raw materials sector. Minerals4EU addresses the objectives of the EU raw materials knowledge base action, as part of the European Innovation Partnership Strategic Implementation Plan. It is a strategic action both for the European Commission and the National Geological Surveys of Europe which are the major providers of pan-European mineral data and services.
The main goal of the Minerals4EU is to become the leading European mineral information network structure that will provide tools and expertise to enhance resource efficiency, minerals supply security and support sustainable minerals development for Europe.
Minerals4EU, with 32 partners from 26 countries and a total budget of approximately 2,7 M euro will create a sustainable Minerals Intelligence Network for European non-energy raw materials. The development of the concept of the network and building up the permanent service will guarantee the sustainability in the long-term of Minerals4EU services such as the European Minerals Knowledge Data Platform, the European Minerals Yearbook, and the Foresight Studies on primary and secondary mineral resources. Important beneficiaries are the EU, national, regional and local policy and decision-makers, authorities managing and evaluating cohesion policy programs and projects, mining and mineral downstream industries, traders, financial institutions, European and national associations, NGOs and academics.
Minerals4EU will operate as an interactive, transparent and open source of cross-border intelligence for minerals, easily accessible for all end users. Any stakeholder will be able to collect information on Europe’s resource potential, recycling and resource efficiency. Minerals4EU will develop a responsible, authorized and reliable mineral data source and thus contribute to resource sustainability and supply security.
The Minerals4EU project has achieved all the main goals it set out to achieve. More information is available at: www.minerals4eu.eu .
Project Context and Objectives:
Concept
The Minerals4EU project is designed to meet the recommendations of the Raw materials Initiative (RMI), and will develop a user-centred intelligence network structure for delivering data, information and knowledge on mineral resources in the Europe Union. The network will enable a number of deliverables such as a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and foresight studies. Minerals4EU will deliver a fundamental contribution to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM), seen by the Competitiveness Council as a key component for a successful implementation of the major EU2020 policies needed to secure the wellbeing of European society.
RMI of the Commission requires that the knowledge base of mineral deposits within the EU be improved, comprising a digital geological knowledge base, a transparent methodology for identifying minerals resources (including primary and secondary deposits both on land and in the marine environment, as well as urban mines), long term estimates for regional and local demand and identifying and safeguarding minerals resources (taking into account other land uses) including their protection from the effects of natural disasters, as an aid to better policy management on mineral resources. The Commission proposed to assess with the Member States the scope for increased synergies between national geological surveys, that would allow for economies of scale, reduced costs and increased potential to engage in joint projects (e.g. harmonised minerals database, European Raw Materials Yearbook). In the medium term, any synergies should contribute to an improved European raw materials knowledge base in a co-ordinated way.
The European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials [COM(2012) 082] further underlines the role of geological surveys and of the public data, information and knowledge they deliver, stressing the need to develop their networking towards the development of a 3D/ 4D geological data and knowledge infrastructure. The National Geological Surveys of the EU and adjacent countries hold the expertise in data acquisition, are the national data repositories on known and in some cases, projected mineral deposits. There is no other group of organisations in the EU which can have access to such a comprehensive and geographically diverse set of data as the National Geological Surveys, which make up the majority of the Minerals4EU consortium. The Minerals4EU project includes 26 geological survey organizations as partners, which are the key public acquirers and holders of thematic, geology related data, information, essential expertise and knowledge providers to a wide range of end-users including national/ regional/ local authorities, economic actors, civil society stakeholders and the general public. Thus this consortium comprises the best available mineral and raw material expertise and information for policy, industry, communication and education purposes on the European level.
In addition, a number of EU projects such as the FP7 EU Flagship project, ProMine, have produced the first pan-European database and maps of known and potential mineral deposits, including anthropogenic deposits, and delivered the only pan-EU harmonised, digital public map of known mineral occurrences and deposits of the critical minerals in Europe to the Commission in 2010. The CIP ICT-PSP project EuroGeoResource is developing a distributed system – interoperable with national databases - with information on both energy and non-energy mineral resources, but covers only the 11 participating countries in that project. The FP7 EGDI-Scope project brings together all the National Geological Surveys of Europe with the aim to assess the effort needed to organise in a single system the huge amount of geological data held at country level, including mineral resources, to establish a European geological data infrastructure This Infrastructure can eventually provide a backbone for serving mineral intelligence data interoperable with national databases, but the EGDI-Scope study will only deliver the design rather than the infrastructure itself. The Statistical Information on EU Raw Materials Deposits study, which will map the current situation at EU level with respect to statistical information and will make an analysis of gaps and bottlenecks in harmonising data and interoperability development.
Although the above mentioned projects and initiatives present significant steps in the right direction, there are still a number of barriers and bottlenecks that need to be addressed:
• There currently is no legal framework or EU institution or agency with formal responsibility for mineral - or wider geological – intelligence;
• Although EU geological surveys hold in-depth knowledge of their national mineral resources, and are taking steps to harmonise this knowledge on a European level, their mandate is strictly national.
• The accessibility of national mineral information is governed by national legal frameworks. In some countries data on mineral resources and reserves, license areas, exploration and production results etc. is made freely available – sometimes taking a confidentiality period for industrial data into account. In other countries such data is only available at a cost, or treated as confidential entirely;
• The Raw Materials Initiative (COM(2012) 82) explicitly addresses the need for 3D digital geological knowledge on mineral resources, but this is currently available only in a limited number of EU countries;
• While EU geological surveys have a strong network in place, important information needed to monitor the issues of critical raw materials and to identify priority actions - as called for in COM (2011) 025 - (e.g. global data on mineral deposits; pan-EU and global data and information on topics such as the mining projects pipeline, productions, trade and factors underpinning supply and demand) are held by other organisations (e.g. academic, governmental, financial institutions, NGO’s) that need to be included in the network;
• Foresight studies and Minerals Yearbooks are already being produced by European institutes (e.g. BGS, BRGM), but are not based on official data held at national level.
Mineral intelligence encompasses a broad suite of information, including but not limited to supply and demand data. This data is fundamental to the evaluation of the availability of raw materials within the EU, the EU´s dependence on imports, potential supply risks as well as environmental and social aspects. Based on an EU minerals information knowledge base, policy makers and players in the economy and society can make informed decisions concerning the EU´s competitiveness in this sector. EU member states and the Commission may also use the results to develop suitable instruments to counteract problematic developments.
The Minerals4EU network structure, as formulated in this project, requires a smooth procedure to deliver data and additional knowledge. Efforts will therefore be focused towards developing an INSPIRE compliant data and information system in order to, for example, access and deliver products on mineral statistics, foresight studies and relevant annual reports. All these standardized data, information and deliverables which are collected through Minerals4EU will be made available through a web portal.
Attaining sustainability will require European and/or Member States and/or private funding for the on-going and routine provision of Minerals4EU services tailor-made to all potential stakeholders. However the sustainability of the network structure depends also on the level of, at one hand the integration and harmonization of minerals information at European level, and on the other hand the added value brought to European society and industry. An economic model making the network structure viable will be developed.
Objectives
Much of the partly geo-referenced data on mineral raw materials is already available for the EU, as was noted above. The difficulty is that the data, such as raw material reserves/resources, production, consumption, imports, exports etc, currently reside in numerous different locations, and are captured, collated and disseminated by different institutions. These data are stored mainly in databases of the Geological Surveys, or EU projects, with their own design/architecture, making any attempt at merging difficult and time consuming.
The Minerals4EU project is designed to meet the recommendations of the Raw Materials Initiative and will develop an EU Mineral intelligence network structure delivering a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and foresight studies. The network will provide data, information and knowledge on mineral resources around Europe, through a Brussels based Permanent Body (a not-for-profit company formed as a Foundation under Belgian company law), making a fundamental contribution to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM), seen by the Competitiveness Council as key for the successful implementation of the major EU2020 policies.
Minerals4EU will therefore contribute to and support decision making on policy and adaptation strategies, as well as securing resource efficiency and raw materials supply, by developing a network structure with mineral information data and products, based on a range of information sources.
The Minerals4EU project will develop an INSPIRE compatible infrastructure that enables geological surveys and other partners to share mineral information and knowledge, and the public and private stakeholders to find, view and acquire standardized and harmonized information from:
• National and regional data sources (e.g. mining authorities, surveys)
• Past and ongoing national and EU projects (e.g. ProMine, EuroGeoResource)
• Web portals at partner and stakeholder sites (e.g. EUROMINES, IMA, UEPG)
• National and European statistics (e.g. EUROSTAT)
The target of the Minerals4EU project is to provide the best available mineral expertise and information based on the knowledge base of member geological surveys and other relevant stakeholders, in support of public policy-making, industry, society, communication and education purposes at European and international levels. This will strengthen the position of the European minerals industry towards resource sustainability and competitive growth.
Minerals4EU aims to become the leading European mineral information network structure that will provide tools and expertise to enhance resource efficiency, minerals supply security and support sustainable minerals development for Europe. Mineral information provided will be based on globally comparable standards of excellence for research and development and these standards will be maintained. This will be carried out collaboratively by all participating public organizations that have mineral information and expertise, and with consumers of that information.
The need for a digital geological knowledge base providing information on the composition, structure and dynamics of the subsurface, as well as on the availability of resources, is explicitly stated in the EU’s Raw Materials Initiative and other related EU documents.
The project will have the following verifiable objectives:
• Major objective is to create a Minerals intelligence network to facilitate access for the EU to the raw materials information sources and to promote collaboration among experts.
• A knowledge base, interoperable with national databases, of primary and secondary resources, and identification of the ways and means necessary to develop the pan-EU geological data and knowledge base on land down to 4 km depth, and in the marine environment, and to develop estimations of the resource availability including urban mines (landfills and mining waste, stockpiles in use).
• A forward-looking analysis on the minerals supply and demand situation in Europe with special attention given to the critical minerals programmes described above and various other sources should be prepared on a regular basis.
• A supply and demand foresight on raw materials which will enable a proper policy making to ensure an adequate access to raw materials.
• An investors’ portal, giving information on the mineral resources and deposits within European Union needs to be developed.
• A permanent Minerals4EU network which deals with horizontal activities and harmonization, such as terminology, data interoperability, communication / education, uniform output, promotion, distribution / dissemination etc. has to be set up.
Minerals4EU will use the following approach to achieve its goals:
• Evaluating and exploiting the results of other national and international projects, relevant EU initiatives and policy documents.
• Making an analysis of institutions and organizations involved at different levels, and their activities in providing minerals intelligence information.
• Seeking to involve most relevant parties active in mineral resources R&D, and growth.
• Using as much as possible the already existing databases and network structures.
The Minerals4EU project has been divided into 6 WPs, and 16 tasks in order to effectively carry out the work of the project:
WP1: Project Management
WP2: Minerals Intelligence Network
2.1 Scope of the network
2.2 Membership structure
2.3 Network structure and permanent body
WP3: Knowledge Management
3.1 Communication and Dissemination
3.2 Exploitation Management
WP4: Mineral statistics
4.1 Establish a data gathering network
4.2 Data availability and quality – A gap analysis
4.3 Data harmonisation, validation and certification
4.4 Designing a European Raw Materials Yearbook
WP5 Minerals4EU knowledge data platform
5.1 Data identification
5.2 Definition of the EU-MKDP architecture
5.3 Development of the EU-MKDP system
5.4 Support to geological surveys for web services implementation
WP6 Foresight study
6.1 Foresight study on raw materials supply and demand in the EU
6.2 Strategy for updates of the Foresight study
Project Results:
Within the Minerals4EU project, WP2 has established a European Minerals Intelligence Network providing continental-level, consistent and organised mineral data information on primary and secondary resources on land and offshore. The Network is established under the form of a ‘permanent body’ linking national and European mineral datasets and information. Due to its permanent nature it will be regularly improved and updated, therefore WP2 has also dealt with ensuring the sustainability of the network.
Scope of the Network
The scope of the Network is mainly described in the Deliverable 2.1 “Agreed scope of the Network”, in which the Network is described as intending to be a permanent system with a well-defined organisational structure, as part of, and at least delivering the first building block, and preferably the future hub, of the European Minerals Knowledge Base – as part of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM).
Membership structure
The issue of membership of the network was dealt with in Task 2.2 and in Deliverable 2.2 “Guidelines on Membership Structure”, as well as the operational conditions of the network.
It has been agreed that members are those organizations that participate in the Network by virtue of their competence and willingness to provide it with Relevant Data, intelligence, expertise and foresight. There is often a single Member with pre-existing responsibility at the national level for much of the Relevant Data and that is willing to coordinate any Relevant Data held by other public or research organisations, into a single channel, and to represent those other organisations in its principal dealings within the Network (which does not prevent those other organisations from being Members in their own right). This is normally, but not exclusively, the national Geological Survey. In addition, Members may be public bodies with particular expertise in minerals intelligence, expertise and foresight. According to the Minerals4EU DoW, the initial Membership will be the Partners of Minerals4EU, but this will be widened out to include any suitable organisation that wishes to join after the end of the project.
Network structure and permanent body
The final composition of the Network Structure and the Permanent Body are mainly described in Deliverable 2.3 “Operational Handbook for Managing the Network”, serving as an initial operational handbook for the post-Project sustainable Network and Permanent Body. It sets out the main definitions, structures and conditions, building on and superseding previous reports, within the terms agreed between the Partners and the European Commission in the Description of Work for the Project.
A considerable amount of time and multiple email discussions ensued, with a further video conference held on 6th March 2015, in an attempt to resolve these issues. An important breakthrough emerged following a proposal by the TNO (Netherlands), which built upon the various comments provided by other WP2 partners.
This model was presented to the meeting of WP2 held at Bled on 17th March 2015, where it was generally agreed on, and was further put to the General Assembly at Bled, for endorsement in principle, which was achieved by a large majority of those present and voting, although it was recognised that some partners had reservations.
According to the Dow, the Minerals4EU Project should, by its conclusion, have developed an EU Mineral Intelligence Network structure delivering an INSPIRE compliant Pan-European set of mineral resource data, a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and a foresight study. The Network provides Relevant Data, information and knowledge on mineral resources across Europe.
The Network is a system that will continue these functions beyond the end of the Project and in the long term. Its objective is to connect a diverse and distributed set of providers of Relevant Data and expertise with an operating system that provides such data and related services to a broad base of stakeholders, including but not limited to the EC, the minerals sector (both producers and consumers), academia, other interest groups and the public, who will access the data and services through a “one-stop-shop” website and an office of the Network referred to as the Permanent Body.
Guiding Principles for the Network
The Network is a group of Members who agree to work with each other and though the Permanent Body towards meeting the objectives of this initiative. Its collective function is to provide Relevant Data, services, ideas and intelligence capacity to stakeholders and others.
The Network includes knowledge of the sources and understanding of the Relevant Data as well as the underpinning expertise, research, intelligence and foresight.
The principal point-of-contact with the Network for its stated purpose is through the Permanent Body. Existing relationships between Members will be respected.
Guiding Principles for the Permanent Body
The Permanent Body is the central co-ordinating body for the Network. It is addressed at a physical bureau, initially co-located at the offices of EuroGeoSurveys, but operating independently. The Permanent Body represents a single point of contact (a “one-stop-shop”) to the Stakeholders whereby they may obtain Relevant Data, information and expertise directly or from the wider Network. In fulfilling this role, it does not attempt to prevent separate bilateral links between members of the Network and individual Stakeholders that may exist, nor does it imply that the Permanent Body should operate all of its functions locally from its bureau. For the avoidance of doubt, current or future bilateral relationships, which may include commercial activities, between members of the Network and their clients or associates, will be fully respected and regarded as independent of any Network activities.
The Permanent Body will have the legal form of a not-for-profit Foundation under Belgian law, and its Trustees will be Geological Surveys and/or EuroGeoSurveys. The EGS Directors have not yet taken a decision at the time of writing this Report.
Mineral statistics
The aim of Work Package 4 (WP4) was to develop the structure and datasets required for a new European Minerals Yearbook containing statistical information for non-energy, non-agricultural raw materials in Europe. This aim and objectives have been met during the project.
The main challenges that arose during the preparation of the European Minerals Yearbook are outlined below and described more fully in the WP4 deliverable 4.3 report. The new digital Yearbook that has been delivered brings together a wider range of statistical data than ever before attempted. Delivering the Yearbook digitally has allowed a range of interactive graphs and maps to be developed which are innovative, attractive and easy to use.
Although the data contained in the Yearbook are not ‘perfect’ in the sense that some parts are not as complete or standardised as would be ideal, the Yearbook represents an important step towards the ultimate goal of a comprehensive and consistent dataset covering all the countries of Europe.
Primary minerals
For the purposes of this report, the term ‘primary’ minerals means minerals and metals extracted from mines or quarries. For some data types and certain commodities, the data also includes the initial materials produced from the extracted resources. For example, the production data for lead includes extracted ores and concentrates but also refined lead in unwrought form.
Production
Production data for all 40 countries are included in the Yearbook. These cover more than 65 mineral commodities and are included for a 10 year period from 2004 to 2013. These data are standardised to ensure that, wherever possible, they are comparable between countries. Data gaps are few because they have been filled, where possible, by experienced staff from the British Geological Survey (BGS) using additional data sources as necessary. As an organisation, BGS (and its predecessors) has been conducting this work for more than a century and has developed and refined the procedures required to ensure the figures are as accurate and complete as possible, whilst acknowledging there is always room for further improvement. Other WP4 partners have had the opportunity to examine the data during the testing phase of the Yearbook and corrections or improvements have been identified.
Trade – imports and exports
Data relating to imports and exports have been included in the Yearbook for 35 of the 40 countries. For the remaining 5 countries (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Greenland, Kosovo and Ukraine) data are available but insufficient time has prevented them from being collated into a suitable format for loading to the Yearbook. The data are included for the majority of the commodities covered by the production data, where the statistics are obtainable using the Harmonised System (Combined Nomenclature) of trade codes. In some cases the trade data include a greater number of sub-commodities representing the different forms in which the materials are traded. The figures are also included for a 10 year period from 2004 to 2013.
As with production data, BGS (and its predecessors) has been collating trade statistics for more than a century and has developed and refined the procedures required to collect, analyse and present the data as accurately as possible. The experience of BGS staff has been utilised to keep data gaps to a minimum but there will always be a greater quantity of data gaps in trade data than for production due to the variable nature of minerals trade. Other WP4 partners have had the opportunity to examine the data during the testing phase of the Yearbook and corrections or improvements have been identified.
Resources and reserves
Statistics and/or related information for these data types were collected for the first time during the project using a questionnaire designed specifically for the purpose. In total 33 of the 40 countries returned the resources and reserves questionnaire, of these 30 questionnaires contained some statistical data. Even where statistical data are not available, the related information and metadata are still useful for the Yearbook and are included as text. The return rate for the resources and reserves questionnaire was 82.5% which is considered to be excellent for a completely new survey of this type. This high return rate is a reflection of the effort expended by all WP4 partners in collecting and chasing the forms.
No attempt has been made to ‘standardise’ or ‘harmonise’ the resources and reserves data collected during the project. This is for two reasons: firstly, there is no consistency with regards to the use of the terms ‘resources’ and ‘reserves’ between countries; and secondly there is a wide range of systems of reporting used to record these figures. The standardisation of these statistics would require the negotiation and agreement of a common standard, the attention of several ‘competent persons’ and other experts to convert existing figures to the agreed standard and the training of key staff within several countries. Consequently it would require considerably more time than was available within the Minerals4EU project.
Exploration
Data and/or related information were also collected for exploration activities for the first time during the project, again using a questionnaire designed specifically for this purpose. Of the 40 countries contacted, 29 returned the exploration questionnaire; a return rate of 72.5%. Although this is slightly less than for the resources and reserves questionnaire, it is considered to be an excellent return rate for this type of survey and again the WP4 partners have been very active in collecting and chasing these forms.
During the preparation phase for the survey, six different metrics were identified as possible measures for exploration activity and all six were requested within the questionnaire, these are:
• The expenditure incurred, converted to Euros, during calendar year 2013
• The number of active exploration licences in calendar year 2013
• The number of new exploration licences issued in calendar year 2013
• The total area covered by exploration licences at the end of 2013
• The number of companies involved in exploration during 2013
• An activity summary (this was a free text box enabling any information to be provided even if the other metrics were not available)
Secondary raw materials
For the purposes of this report, the term ‘secondary’ raw material means materials produced by the recycling of waste.
Data for the production of individual commodities from waste are not available in a format that is comparable to the data for primary minerals. Consequently, the Yearbook includes the figures that are available for mineral-based waste generation, trade and treatment in broad waste categories, together with the number of facilities located in each country. Case studies for a small selection of commodities have also been carried out to indicate the quantities that could be recovered from key waste streams.
Although there are limitations to the statistics presented, it is the first time that an attempt has been made to include mineral-based waste data alongside figures for primary minerals. This is considered to be an important step forward and highlights where improvements to the availability of data are most required.
Mineral-based waste flows
These data were collected by BGS staff from publically available sources and include:
• Types and quantities of mineral-based waste generated and treated by category;
• Waste treatment routes and quantitative flows of materials in different treatments;
• Trade data on identified mineral-based waste categories;
• Number and capacity of treatment facilities;
• Waste generated from mining and quarrying activities.
Currently waste statistics are published according to categories rather than individual mineral commodities. The waste categories identified as being mineral-based, and therefore shown in the Yearbook, include: ‘metallic waste, ferrous’, ‘metallic-waste, non-ferrous’, ‘metallic-waste, mixed’, ‘glass waste’, ‘discarded vehicles’, ‘discarded electrical and electronic equipment’, ‘batteries and accumulators wastes’, ‘mineral waste from construction and demolition’, ‘other mineral wastes’, ‘combustion wastes’, ‘dredging spoils’ and ‘mineral wastes from waste treatment and stabilised wastes’.
The waste statistics presented in the Yearbook are also broken down by source or ‘production activity’ and these include, for example: ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’, ‘mining and quarrying’ and various manufacturing processes. Further details of the sources and compilation of these statistics for the Yearbook can be found in the WP4 deliverable 4.3 report.
Case studies for the supply of secondary raw materials
This part of the work, conducted largely by the Wuppertal Institute with input from BGS, examined the potential for the supply of raw materials from the recycling of waste, using 8 mineral commodities as case studies. The selected commodities are: iron and steel, aluminium, copper, palladium, platinum, indium, yttrium and dysprosium.
The analysis required the identification of the application fields (i.e. the uses) for each commodity and from these a selection of the key products was chosen for further consideration. The quantity of these products currently in use and entering the market each year was estimated, as was the quantity of the selected commodities contained within each product, the lifespan of the product (and hence when it might be available for recycling) and the proportion of the commodity that is actually recovered during recycling processes. The analysis then calculated the percentage of the European Union’s requirement for each commodity that could potentially be covered by the supply from secondary sources and the percentage that is actually covered by this supply.
Electronic delivery of the Yearbook
It has always been the intention of the Work Package that the Yearbook would be delivered electronically rather than on paper. A significant achievement of the project has been the collaboration between BGS and the French Geological Survey (BRGM) which has ensured that the electronic European Minerals Yearbook is innovative and interactive.
WP5 Minerals4EU Knowledge data platform
The development of the EU-MKDP (Minerals Knowledge Data Platform) aims to give a simplified, user-friendly and efficient access to all available and new data related to mineral resources from national geological surveys, scientific institutes and universities, relevant industries and professional organizations, as well as from former European projects such as ProMine (information on both mineral deposits and anthropogenic concentrations resulting from mining and downstream activities - Serrano et al., 2010 ; Cassard et al., in press) and EuroGeoSource (information on energy and mineral resources, extraction locations, production, reserves - Gruijters and Fruijtier, 2011; EuroGeoSource, 2013). The system is also designed to accommodate and manage semi- and non-structured data (e.g. syntheses and statistics in the form of graph charts, time-series related to exploration and primary reserves and resources, secondary resources, exploitation technologies including ore beneficiation, extraction technologies, end product development and waste management practices, European market survey and raw material demand...).
The role of the EU-MKDP is to provide the end user with a seamless access to data related to the whole value chain from deposit exploration, mining and extraction of ore, exploitation technologies to treatment of end-of-life products and the generation of "new" materials, consumption and demand, with the ability to combine all spatial and non-spatial pertinent information in a single reference system.
EU-MKDP general architecture
The principles of the EU-MKDP architecture follow the Implementing rules of the European INSPIRE Directive (2007) to make data and services interoperable across Europe over a distributed infrastructure. These have been described in detail in relevant WP5 deliverables.
Development of the EU-MKDP system
Principle: Participating surveys have set up their National Provider databases and populated them with data. Each database contains the data of the geological survey, transformed from their own original format to the INSPIRE data model and semantically harmonised using commonly agreed terminology resulting in 50+ code lists. The data are then transformed into an INSPIRE compliant WFS format using the Deegree3 framework.
► The harvesting system consists of a harvesting application and a database. The harvesting application retrieves WFS formatted data from each provider, harvests data from it, transforms it into proper form and then stores it in the Central Harvesting database.
NOTE: The harvesting system has been developed and implemented by the Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoZS) and it is currently running on GeoZS servers for both Minerals4EU and EURare projects.
► The Diffusion Database is a copy, specialized for data delivery and computations based on the data stored in the Harvesting Database. This database is kept updated with the Harvesting Database using database synchronization. This synchronization relies on SQL scripts forwarded from the Harvesting Database to the Diffusion Database. The specialization of this database aims to optimize the response time of the services proposed to the users.
► Besides the Diffusion database, an additional interface allows experts to feed the knowledge base with non-structured data (reports, synthesis notes, time series... in various formats). This interface allows the expert either to add a document (the document will be part of the EU-MKDP and retrievable within the EU-MKDP) or a link to an existing document in some (perennial) place accessible via the Internet. To be able to integrate it into the knowledge base, the expert will have to include metadata to this document. These metadata are based on Standard Dublin Core. The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set has 15 so-called "mandatory" elements covering the most important properties to describe a document (title, creator, subject, coverage – temporal or geographical...). These metadata are then used in the search facilities to retrieve the documents. The metadata application is operational (more than 70 documents with their metadata have already been entered at mid-July 2015).
►The Minerals4EU Metadata Catalogue (for structured data) is the central access point to metadata concerning European mineral resources and related topics. It has been developed by CGS based on similar principles as MIcKA metadata catalogue, serving to the OneGeology-Europe Metadata Catalogue. It is fully operational at CGS: http://m4eu.geology.cz/metadata/. It provides tools for compilation of those metadata in a standardized format that will allow users to effectively search through the database.
In order to make the data discoverable in the most efficient way, the catalogue is fully compliant with international standards and supports the distributed system of metadata administration. Only digital and structured information (spatial datasets or dataset series and spatial data services - WMS, WFS) related to the mineral resources and relevant topics should be described by metadata in this catalogue. In order to display a metadata record for which an on-line map service is available, the metadata will be used in the search facilities. The catalogue has enabled systematic discovery, viewing and use of data on mineral resources across Europe.
83 public records had been inserted into the database until July 21, 2015
The code lists for the metadata based on INSPIRE Data Specification Mineral Resources code lists have been amended for the needs of the Minerals4EU project as published in Schubert et al., 2014. Therefore the Metadata Keywords application has been amended http://m4eu.geology.cz/codelist/#. Any keyword is coded as URI (semantic web) according to the latest INSPIRE Metadata Technical Guidelines (October 2013).
To support the metadata authorized editors, the Cookbook has been updated and is available at http://m4eu.geology.cz/metadata/?ak=cookbook. The guidelines on how to use the Metadata Catalogue Application and Metadata Keywords Code List Application are described in detail so metadata editors from any data provider can easily insert, maintain and search for the metadata.
The EU-MKDP Web Portal and dedicated services
The EU-MKDP Web portal (http://minerals4eu.brgm-rec.fr/) is finalized and functional (July 2015).
Foresight Study
WP6 developed a demo version of a Foresight study on raw materials supply and demand in the EU (deliverable D6.1). A focus was put on critical minerals, but other materials were to be addressed, too.
Beside the Foresight Study (deliverable D6.1) the targets of WP6 comprised the development of a concept for regular updates and reviews (deliverable D6.2) and the organisation of a “network of institutions with various backgrounds to ensure the integration of all supply and demand changing topics/developments” (deliverable D6.4). For this purpose, the experiences from the development process of the Foresight Study were exploited for developing such a concept, and a network, respectively.
Foresight study on raw materials supply and demand in the EU
The main aim was to produce a foresight study (demo) on raw materials supply and demand in the EU with special attention given to critical minerals.
Firstly, in order to ensure efficient cooperation within the WP6 team, a comprehensive list was set up that contains all contact persons of the partners involved in WP6, including email addresses and phone numbers.
The preliminary final list of topics was agreed at the meeting and presented at the First Progress Meeting on 13.03.14. In addition, the leaders of WP5 and WP6, BRGM and BGR, met on 13.03.14 and explored in more detail how these two work packages depend on each other, and can profit from each other during the project lifetime.
Following the Internal Planning Meeting, BGR contacted those partners, who were not able to attend the meeting, and agreed on additional topics that should fill remaining gaps, and/or allow backing of the topical teams.
In order to reach proper complementarity between the different topics, partners were encouraged to provide first (brief) abstracts that allow to outline the limitations of the individual topics, and to manage the degree of overlapping between them.
In this context, Fh-ISI and BGR met for a Conceptual Meeting in Karlsruhe on 11.04.14. The causal loop diagram, which was developed by Fh-ISI and presented in Cyprus, was transformed into a topic-relationship-map charting relevant topics for WP6 both on the supply and demand sides of raw material markets. The topics and the relationship between them are mapped schematically. The figure aims to reveal how selected “factors” act to determine the current and future market balance.
It is the general aim of the Foresight Study to cover as many of these topics as possible. However, it is obvious that many of them cannot be covered by the first draft of the Foresight Study – for capacity and other reasons. Therefore, this first draft reflects a selection of important topics, while the other ones need to be addressed in future versions of the Foresight Study, i.e. after the lifetime of the Minerals4EU project.
Furthermore, a graphical overview of the topics of the Foresight Study was developed, referencing the topics to a general material life cycle chain and enforcing the sequencing of topics.
On the basis of conceptual steps, BGR worked out a structure for the Foresight Study and a topical guide to all contributing partners of WP6. The Foresight Study abstracts the insight gained from the topic reports and presents them in a unified, compact version. Topics that cannot be addressed for capacity reasons within the project lifetime appear anyway, and thus indicate gaps for future investigation. The case studies, however, illustrate the topics by specific country or other cases. A topic can be illustrated by one or more case studies, but not necessarily needs to be so. This depends on the actual needs, and the capacity of the WP6 team.
In order to make best use of the results of the case studies and topics, “templates” were developed by BGR for the case study papers, for the topic reports, and for the general Foresight Study reports. The template files show in each case the index of contents and some further specifications of what contents are expected for each entry. The template files were distributed for internal discussion on 15.05.14. As a result of this consultation within the WP6 team, a revised version was distributed on 24.06.14.
Concurrently, the individual partners started to advance the planning, the data collection, and the literature research for the individual topical chapters, and case studies, either bilaterally in exchange with BGR, or in groups according to the topic teams. For practical reasons, four internal working groups were formed in order to enable more effective consulting between partners responsible for neighbouring topics, and case studies, respectively, and increased efficiency regarding the communication among partners. These are:
• the so-called “Nordic Group” dealing with the European Mineral Raw Material Potential, Marine Deposits, the Legislative and Governmental Challenges in mining of European Countries and Associated Territories, and the Societal Challenges in mining of European Countries and Associated Territories,
• the “Recycling, Demand, Resource Efficiency Group“dealing with recycling and demand issues
• the „Market and Technology Group“dealing with trends in exploration investments, trends in mining technology, and concentration trends in the mining sector,
• the “Future Potential Group” dealing with the potential of mine wastes.
Following a process of identifying suitable topics/case studies and their definition, the topic and case study list was advanced while aiming for a high degree of complementarity between them, respectively. The partners started to plan the individual topics and case studies, respectively, to draft contributions and to structure the individual topical chapters and/or case studies.
Potential Impact:
The project has delivered a wide range of outcomes with significant impacts and benefits for the EU. It has also contributed to more informed policy formulation, enhanced networking between key institutions in EU and knowledge base through the identification and acquisition of raw materials statistics across Europe.
Minerals and metals are essential inputs to the EU economy. Europe is already highly dependant on mineral resources imports, essentially for metallic minerals and for certain industrial minerals. Global competition for access to these resources is going to grow significantly in the coming decades, and Europe is not yet properly prepared to face this competition. This weakness is likely to threaten the viability of downstream European industries and the overall EU competitiveness. Preliminary studies conclude that Europe has over 2-3 times more metal resources available in the currently known greenfields and brownfields projects than has been historically produced. The challenge is to use these resources with the best available technical know-how and environmental standards and to assist the developing world, on which the EU will remain dependent for part of its minerals and metals supplies, in strengthening their geological/ environmental data/ information infrastructure and their human/ institutional capacities. A holistic EU strategy on sustainable minerals and metals supply and the competitiveness of the related industries, with a balanced approach to economic, environmental and social matters is called upon in view of the current challenges faced by the EU. Having these developments in mind Minerals4EU has contributed to:
• Raising public awareness on the vital need of minerals and metals to the European Society
• Integration of geology, mineral resources competences in the various advisory bodies advising the EU in various domains such as competitiveness, sustainable development or research
• Better integration of geological knowledge and data in EU policymaking
• Fostering better knowledge of European mineral resources, of the geological constraints of their worldwide distribution, the technical constraints for their exploitation and the sustainability consequences of their use;
• Support to renewed modern exploration of Europe’s domestic mineral resources;
• Protection of the access to this non-movable, geology conditioned, resources
• Development of a European Minerals Statistics and Information capacity on a par with the global capacity
The outcomes of this project have impacted on various current policies which are embodied in the Raw Materials Initiative, and might also result in new policy development. The following policy areas are seen as being of direct impact:
• Industrial and economic related policies, which address raw materials issues and aim to improve competitiveness and economic growth;
• Foreign policies, which recognises the importance of access to raw materials;
• Defence policies, which acknowledge the role of raw materials in national security and defence matters;
• Environmental policies on resource efficiency and the sustainable use of resources and raw materials in EU
With the Minerals4EU Intelligence Network, there will be more ready access to reliable and accurate data on all aspects of raw materials, both primary and secondary. This will support a more secure and sustainable supply of raw materials for the EU manufacturing sectors. Improved knowledge on supply disruption issues will assist in developing robust and consistent risk assessment methodologies, as well as better research, policy and investment decisions.
Minerals4EU has also contributed to the Raw Materials Initiative by:
• Improved the standardization of geological data and mineral resources data across the participating European Geological Surveys,
• Improved the progress of the EIP building blocks by participating to the pilot plant planning and execution, following closely European and global minerals exploration and exploitation trends, the EIP progress, which seems now to control and govern any developments in minerals R&D, and any foresight and outlook studies dedicated to extractive industries.
• Supported the implementation of the INSPIRE Directive for Geology and Mineral Resources themes,
• Improved the Mineral Resources common data model across Europe, together with OGC-IUGS/CGI work, by adding new harmonized / standardized mineral information and properties related to potential at depth and offshore/marine resources,
Creating a sustainable network at the EU level with competence in collecting and providing information on raw materials
Minerals4EU has lead directly to an improved understanding and access to data related to raw materials resources availability in Europe. This will allow identifying and managing risks associated with resources. It will also allow businesses to quantify the likelihood of disruption to supply, giving them the opportunity to develop appropriate mitigation strategies.
In particular the Minerals4EU Intelligence Network will be the driver for addressing the EIP issues on “Improving EU's raw materials regulatory framework, knowledge and infrastructure base”, by facilitating the:
• Building of an innovative knowledge base of EU resources, including exploration of primary and secondary raw materials (on land and in the marine environment) and estimations of the resource availability including urban mines (land fills and mining waste);
• Enabling identification and exchange of best practices in defining a minerals policy in the Member States based on principles of sustainable development and on a strict enforcement of the existing legislation notably for what concerns the safety of mining waste facilities, the prevention of mining waste generation and the reduction of their impact on the environment;
• Identifying best practices in terms of land-use planning for minerals in the Member States and to incorporate the consideration of minerals in marine spatial plans;
• Identifying different instruments (such as one-stop-shop or parallel assessment) in order to facilitate the process for authorisation of minerals exploration and extraction in the Member States;
• Improving environmental impact assessment methodologies and identifying good practices in their use to facilitate the access to and the smooth supply of primary and secondary raw materials;
• Developing standardisation of geological data including by-products and coherence on the relevant terminology, such as common terminology related to mineral and metals classification and production statistics.
Improving harmonisation, standardisation and certification of national primary and secondary raw materials data
Several economic, policy, environmental and other impacts are foreseen from gaining extensive knowledge on resource availability across Europe, following harmonisation rules which are developed in a dedicated task in WP4:
• Standardised and harmonised data will assist to identify supply disruption issues in Europe following a consistent methodology;
• Enhance current policy framework;
• Manage resources more efficiently and sustainably;
• Support businesses through the provision of consistent data to quantify resource availability and to develop resilience strategies for addressing supply and demand issues.
• Promote European raw materials resources to the rest of the world
Identifying needs for future research & exploration, and green public procurement
One result of the project was to ensure that research is relevant and focussed on the requirements of the Raw Materials Initiatives. Through the network and the dissemination activities, there has been an improved dialogue between stakeholders engaged at different points in the life cycle of raw materials. An improved multidisciplinary understanding, knowledge and expertise across the stakeholder community was one of the major positive impacts from Minerals4EU. This can shape future directions for both R&D and exploration for new resources, with adequate attention to the important aspects of green public procurement. Support to better communication with the general public and specific stakeholders within mineral sector in order to facilitate balanced and well-informed debates and decisions related to raw materials (and notably critical ones) non-energy extractive industry.
Improving coordination in research and innovation actions in the field of raw materials intelligence
Several areas have benefitted from the improvement of coordination in R&D and innovation, in the field of Raw Materials Intelligence. Examples are cooperating with EU projects related to minerals such as ProMine, EuroGeoResource, EO-Miners, EURARE etc. Minerals4EU has underpin the EIP roadmap and provided an improved coordination with:
• Implementation of the RMI, taking into account any relevant documentation and reporting, such as the ones on Criticality
• Progress of the EIP building blocks by participating to the pilot plant planning and execution, such as the one on “New exploration technologies for defining the European deep mineral resources”
• Enhancement of minerals role and related industrial technologies for competitive growth as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy
• Incorporation of mineral resources topics to be addressed as thematic priorities called under the Horizon 2020 and other EU R&D programs and funding schemes
• Cooperating with EU project related to minerals e.g. ProMine, EuroGeoResource, EO-Miners, EURARE, FAME, ProSUM, MICA etc
• Strengthening the relations with other relevant bodies or institutions or events by improved communication and coordination e.g. ETP-SMR, EGS, JRCs, etc
• Improving the links and joint efforts with European Mining Industry representative bodies e.g. EUROMINES, IMA, UEPG, EUROMETAUX etc
• Introducing the Green Mining conceptual and practical approaches starting from exploration to continue throughout the entire value chain of minerals
• Promoting and further developing International Cooperation issues
• Following closely European and global minerals exploration and exploitation trends, the EIP progress, which seems from now on to control and govern any developments in minerals R&D, and any foresight and outlook studies dedicated to extractive industry.
Formulating the ideas for possible novel actions with high European common interest and increased efficiency and effectiveness of the EU research activities in this field.
Minerals4EU opened a range of new possibilities in the field of raw materials research and innovation, which can lead to increased efficiency and application in this field. Some areas of research which can benefit from input from Minerals4EU include:
• Enhancement of minerals role and related industrial technologies for competitive growth as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy, and
• Developing an integrated approach to 'value chains' from extraction and process of raw material, product design and use to end of life;
• Extending co-operation between national research organisations to avoid fragmentation of the European Research Area in the field of mineral resources;
• Enhancing an EU geopolitical role in ensuring access for European companies to raw materials in the world while respecting as far as possible European environmental standards;
• Networking of Research, Education and Training Centres on Sustainable Mining and Materials Management, whilst ensuring appropriate coordination with the possible European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) - Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) on sustainable exploration, extraction, processing and recycling;
• Improving efficiency in material use and in prevention, re-use and recycling of valuable raw materials from waste streams, with a specific focus on materials having a potentially negative impact on the environment;
Contribution to the economics of raw materials and recycling
The Minerals4EU project enables the heavy industry and manufacturing in Europe, but also any developers of national and European policies, to access reliable data on the exploitation of new European mineral reserves, from both primary and secondary resources (“geological mining” and so-called “urban mining”), satisfying industrial demand. The geographic nature of the data needed for such evaluations means only a Pan European project can deliver the required results.
In addition, national initiatives in the field of estimating secondary resources are still in the beginning. While certain countries and studies have started estimating secondary resources, these studies are still explorative and data acquisition not sufficiently harmonised between each other. Minerals4EU can take inventories on this issue, and formulate recommendations where focus of research and data acquisition shall be put on.
Spreading of excellence
The Minerals4EU Mineral Intelligence Network is a pan-European organisation bringing together the National Geological Surveys and other organisations with the aim of delivering high quality data on mineral resources, both primary and secondary, down to depths of 4km on land, and also in the marine environment. Not only will the network provide data, it will provide an analysis and interpretation of the data for use by the Commission, as well as academics, platforms, stakeholders, industries, regulators, and the general public. The data will cover both primary and secondary resources. Creating the database which is behind the delivery of such data service is the key to the success of the network. While the INSPIRE based architecture will be developed in WP5, ensuring the quality of the data is essential in order to gain credibility for the service being offered. If the quality of the data, or the interpretation of that data, is called into question, the network will fail. The responsibility for the standardisation and validation of the data, in other words the quality control, is with WP4. The output from WP6, the foresight study, will also be critically evaluated, since it will be the first study making use of the database developed in WP4 and WP5.
The founding members of the network are convinced that they can deliver top quality, and have impressive track records as Geological Surveys to back this up. The network intends to expand its membership within the lifetime of the project, and will invite other organisations of proven quality to join. The conditions for membership will be elaborated in WP2. In this way the network itself will become a clear symbol of quality for European mineral and raw materials data. Links will be made to existing networks and fora, by which the network will gain added value and spread the excellence with which it will be associated across the EU.
Exploitation of the project results
The Minerals4EU project is designed to meet the recommendations of the Raw Materials Initiative and will develop an EU Mineral intelligence network structure delivering a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and foresight studies. The network will provide data, information and knowledge on mineral resources around Europe, through a Brussels based Permanent Body (a not-for-profit company formed as a Foundation under Belgian company law), making a fundamental contribution to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM), seen by the Competitiveness Council as key for the successful implementation of the major EU2020 policies. As such, the foreground comprises the bringing together of pre-existing data and information (background) that are, mainly, in the public domain in EU Member States, with the principal foreground being the harmonization of data, the knowledge data platform and the foresight studies. These are described in more detail below.
The “Minerals Knowledge Data Platform” which is compliant with INSPIRE is an operational pan-European raw material management network that enables the EU geological surveys and other partners to make available their geological data covering mineral resources on land, down to 4 km depth, and in the marine environment. This knowledge base constitutes a unique tool to help users to develop up-to-date estimations of the resources availability of primary and secondary raw materials, including urban mines (landfills and mining waste, stockpiles in use) across Europe.
Along with this knowledge base, Minerals4EU has produced a “European Mineral Raw Materials Yearbook” covering for the first time primary and secondary resource data, from continental and offshore extraction sites in Europe.
Thirdly, the project has developed a forward-looking analysis (“Foresight Study”) on the minerals supply and demand situation in Europe, supply and demand foresight studies on Raw Materials. These studies support robust policy making to ensure an adequate access to raw materials for the European industry sector and to de-risk dependence on imports.
Exploitation of the foreground is primarily through the sustainable minerals intelligence network, which comprises initially the partners in Minerals4EU together with a Permanent Body acting as an access hub. This comprises a small not-for-profit Company of the Belgian legal category “Foundation” that will be co-located with, but not be part of, EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) in Brussels. Its principal trustee is EGS, but its management board is formed of six directors elected by EGS (1), geological survey partners in Minerals4EU (2), non- geological survey partners in Minerals4EU (1) and industry bodies (2), together with the non-voting Foundation manager. The partners of Minerals4EU who together form the wider minerals intelligence network will cooperate with the Foundation, and with each other, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The Foundation itself will eventually employ directly up to three staff, including its manager. These may be secondees from Minerals4EU partners. Their main function will be to act as a single point of contact for European minerals data knowledge and intelligence, by referring requests through the data portals or directly to appropriate partners. The principal tasks of maintaining the data portals, minerals yearbook and foresight studies will be contracted back to partners through service level agreements following tendering.
Further exploitation has been, and will continue as, engagement with stakeholders through media briefings, web sites, presentations and exhibitions at conferences and workshops, all of which emphasise the facilities and services being made available and their societal and economic value (see 4.2 Section A for details).
The nature of the foreground is such that it is not appropriate for patents or trademarks. This is because the foreground is publicly available and free-of-charge to users but is based on, and underpinned by, public data and information (background) belonging to Member States in a way that would be impractical to disentangle from foreground. However, it is subject to international rules of copyright with the understanding that the data and information may be reproduced in limited quantities with acknowledgment of source.
The role of the Exploitation Manager is to support the consortium in developing a strategy for exploitation of intellectual property (IP). The Exploitation Manager has prepared, and updated as the project progressed, in consultation with the partners, a plan for the use and exploitation of IP, which is described in this report. The coordination of exploitation, which is closely linked with dissemination, is the responsibility of Work Package 3, led by the RBINS, although each partner is responsible for protecting and exploiting its own background and any foreground IP that it has produced. Exploitation of the results is optimised by the involvement of the EuroGeoSurveys network, which brings together the Geological Surveys of 33 European countries.
The overriding purpose of Minerals4EU is to provide specialist knowledge to answer the questions and needs of the European Commission, as well as academics, industries, regulation and legislation authorities. In this respect, the project differs from those whose purpose is to develop a product or technology that can be easily patented. The dissemination and subsequent exploitation of this knowledge (methods, procedures, metrics, recommendations, etc.) will mainly take place through a sustainable minerals intelligence network, comprising a permanent body and numerous network members. This is fully described in Deliverables D2.1 through D2.5.
Thus the principal exploitation route for the outputs of Minerals4EU will be through the sustainable network, rather than by patented and other protection rights.
There is significant economic potential contained in the data which forms the core of the network that is likely to be exploited in various ways by end-users and third parties. The strategy adopted in the project is to make the data and related information available freely and at no charge, as a public good, with the costs of sustaining the network being met from public sources. Thus there will not be any direct financial or other material benefit to the members of the network as a result of, for example, revenue from sales or licensing of the data or related products. There may be a number of indirect gains for the members derived from the use of the project deliverables. These are described and, as far as possible quantified, in section 3 of this report.
IPR management has been an integral element of Minerals4EU. The main part of the data to be supplied by the National Geological Surveys is pre-existing, in other words it is background information, and so the sharing of this, its availability and rights by other partners to use that data is a very complex issue. In general, the approach taken has been that all the rights to background IP remain with its owner, usually a national or state government, who may set whatever conditions on its dissemination or use as are appropriate. In some cases this may restrict or limit further exploitation, including of foreground IP derived from the background.
Exploitation Strategy
Project outputs
The main outputs of the Minerals4EU project are
▪ a web portal,
▪ a European Minerals Yearbook
▪ and foresight studies
The network will provide data, information and knowledge on mineral resources around Europe, making a fundamental contribution to the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM), seen by the Competitiveness Council as key for the successful implementation of the major EU2020 policies. The Minerals4EU project will therefore 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 of information sources. The Minerals4EU project is built around an INSPIRE compatible infrastructure that enables EU geological surveys and other partners to share mineral information and knowledge, and stakeholders to find, view and acquire standardized and harmonized geo-resources and related data.
The exploitation strategy is to make these outputs a public good, that is to say they will be freely available and without charge with access through the web portal.
Background IP
It is recognised that most of the components that make up the project outputs, especially of the data, are pre-existing materials supplied, and/or updated, by the national geological surveys, whose ownership and rights (as background IP) are extremely complicated but are generally with the national or state governments concerned, who also control access conditions. No transfer of IP is anticipated from the owners to the network. None of the data or materials accessible through the web portal will be sold by the network per se for material gain, although the owners or suppliers of the components reserve the rights to sell, licence or otherwise disseminate their property (background IP) with or without material gain and subject to their own terms and conditions.
Foreground IP
The project will, by its conclusion, have generated foreground IP mainly in the form of the tools and procedures used to build and operate the web portal, additional data prepared for the yearbook and in the commissioning of studies used in the foresight. The strategy is to protect these assets through copyright declarations but not to exploit these commercially through sales or licensing.
Direct utilisation of the results
It is envisaged that there will be considerable economic and public good gain from the direct utilisation of the results, which is described in deliverables D3.3 through D3.7. These include:
▪ Cost savings from more efficient and more accurate decision making by policy makers at all levels and scales, from the EU to local government.
▪ Improving the attractiveness of investments in the European natural resources sectors with concomitant job creation, tax revenues and import substitution.
▪ De-risking investment decisions in the natural resources sectors.
▪ Providing materials for research purposes, enabling better use of resources.
The strategy is to promote and encourage such exploitation through the effective and sustainable operation of the network and, in particular, its permanent body. This will require continuing dissemination activities including, but not limited to, newsletters, web sites, presence at academic conferences and trade exhibitions (for example Mining Indaba, PDAC, Mines and Money, etc.) and published papers. In addition, users of the project outputs will be asked to acknowledge the source in their own materials.
Indirect utilisation of the results
The strategy is to encourage third parties to utilise the results in various ways. These may include:
▪ Adding value to the results by combining them with external data or expertise, for example in producing investment planning advice by combining information in the Yearbook with economic data and social from other sources.
▪ Extracting information from the foresight studies for example in reducing the 500+ pages of information into a simple answer to the probable future commodity price of a particular metal in a given market.
There are many innovative ways in which third party organisations may exploit the project’s outputs. Such organisations are likely to include research institutes, including geological surveys, but particularly private sector SMEs, which form an important part of the economy in terms of employment and tax revenues in most EU member states.
Third party use of the products is a very complicated subject. In general, the project outputs are protected by copyright and in some cases there are usage restrictions on the background IP. Thus in the case of indirect utilisation, if the data or content are to be included verbatim, a licence to do so must be obtained from the data owner, which will sometimes involve a fee payment arrangement bilaterally between the user and the owner, outside of the network. If, however, the data are being consulted only, with a third party interpretation made, then in most cases the copyright regulations will allow for such limited use, with appropriate acknowledgement. The permanent body (core) of the network will seek legal advice on a case-by-case basis as these situations arise and will take reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised exploitation.
Exploitable Economic Values
Direct utilisation
It is extremely difficult to quantify the economic value of direct exploitation of the project outputs. A recent estimate of Eurostat, Mining and quarrying statistics states that “There were 20 thousand enterprises operating with mining and quarrying (Section B) as their main activity in the EU-27 in 2010. Together they employed 615 thousand persons, equivalent to 0.5 % of all persons employed in the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95); while they generated €84.2 billion of value added which was 1.4 % of the non-financial business economy total.”
Of this, it is conservatively assumed that 1% of turnover (as an order of magnitude) in the sector is expended on data, information, fund raising and decision making. If the outputs from Minerals4EU contribute to an efficiency gain of only 1% of this amount (0.01% of the sector total), this would equate to an annual exploitation value of over €8 million from the direct utilisation of the project outputs.
Indirect utilisation
It is likely that most of the take up of the project outputs with a view to adding value and re-selling will be by the SMEs (defined by the European Commission as businesses employing 250 or fewer people), although other organisations, including large corporations and public sector bodies, may participate. EU SMEs contribute over €3.39 trillion to GDP. SMEs providing services to the EU mining and quarrying sector are estimated to have a combined turnover of over €3 billion (EU-27, 2010). On a conservative assumption that utilisation of project outputs could grow the size of these activities by 0.1%, this has a potential value of €3 million with an employment growth of 86,000 jobs.
Dissemination
There were altogether 65 dissemination events during the 2-year project. These are listed in the Dissemination Activities part of the Final Report. The objective of the dissemination strategy was to promote Minerals4EU on an European and international level using a specific project identity in presentations, publications, to disseminate information on the website and with newsletters, to gain intensive exchange by communicating with experts all over the world, and to integrate different views from stakeholders. Development of a detailed dissemination plan for all project results was one of the major issues within WP3. The goal of the dissemination plan was to provide information about major project achievements and their impact on raw materials bodies as well as Minerals4EU’s contributions to EC societal objectives.
Special attention was given to the communication of results to different target groups such as geoscientific organizations, academics, platforms, policy makers, standardisation bodies, as well as extractive and production industries. To provide adequate information to each target group, clear dissemination channels and modalities was:
• A public website provides information about the scientific background of Mines4EU, list profiles of all participants, describe progress and major achievements, regularly post scientific and popularised information about Minerals4EU, and additionally provide links to relevant conferences and other events where Minerals4EU representatives will be available to discuss the project.
• A regular electronic newsletter published on the website and distributed to subscribers free of charge via email, cooperating with other FP7 initiatives, and also with other interested international communities/organisations.
• The specific project identity (logo, label, etc.) for Minerals4EU was used as a identity for all public communication and on templates for all dissemination activities. EU funding was acknowledged in all dissemination activities.
• Publications in relevant journals, industry flyers, CDs were standard dissemination tools.
• International and European conferences and symposia, where Minerals4EU’s latest achievements were presented as posters and oral presentations, were an important mode of dissemination.
List of Websites:
http://www.minerals4eu.eu/