Descrizione del progetto
I minerali pegmatitici sepolti possono aumentare le risorse di materie prime europee
La produzione di dispositivi per la produzione e lo stoccaggio di energia verde in Europa è un settore in rapida crescita. Tuttavia, il 95 % delle principali materie prime necessarie per i dispositivi di energia verde viene importato. Affinché lo sviluppo industriale sia sostenibile, devono essere garantiti dei depositi nazionali. Le pegmatiti a litio-cesio-tantalio e niobio-ittrio-fluoro sono abbastanza comuni in Europa, ma sono difficili da esplorare perché molte di esse sono sepolte, piccole e a grappolo. Il progetto GREENPEG, finanziato dall’UE, mira a sviluppare e testare tecnologie e algoritmi di esplorazione di alto livello che saranno integrati e convertiti in set di strumenti flessibili e pronti all’uso per l’identificazione dei minerali di pegmatite sepolti. I risultati del progetto aumenteranno le risorse di materie prime europee, miglioreranno le loro banche dati e rafforzeranno la competitività delle aziende dell’UE.
Obiettivo
The manufacture of devices for green energy production and storage in Europe is a strategic, fast-growing sector which is essential in ensuring that the EU meets its energy and climate targets for 2030. It is worth an estimated €30 Bn in turnover, with investments of €4 Bn in the EU27, and is likely to create c.a. 100,000 jobs over the next 10 years. A major limitation to this is that 95% of the key raw materials for green energy devices are currently imported from outside the EU. Securing domestic deposits is therefore urgent for sustainable industrial development, mainly in retaining a large part of the added value, reducing supply risks and ensuring EU environmental standards for the production of raw materials. Exploration investment in Europe has declined in recent years due to increased technical demand and socio-political debate. Private sector engagement will increase only when technical solutions allow economically viable and environmentally friendly exploration and mining. Geologically, lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) and niobium-yttrium-fluorine (NYF) pegmatites are relatively common in Europe, enriched in many CRM needed for energy technologies but difficult to explore because most are buried, small and clustered. The GREENPEG approach will develop and test a set of high-level exploration technologies and algorithms to be integrated and upscaled into flexible, ready-to-use (TRL 7) toolsets for the identification of buried pegmatite ores. Validation of the new approach will be ensured from industry-led trials at locations in Austria, Ireland and Norway, while application studies will also be done in Finland, Portugal and Spain. Many of these target areas have established downstream processing industry, thus extending their value chains. The data acquired will enhance European databases, e.g. adding new petrophysical properties for pegmatite ores, making the toolsets also important for geological surveys and increasing the competitiveness of EU companies.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
IA - Innovation actionCoordinatore
0313 Oslo
Norvegia