Objectives of the commitment
The overall objective of SAFEMIN is to improve the safeguarding of non-energy mineral deposits of public importance (MDoPIs) by means of their integration in national and regional land use planning and mineral policies. The extraction of such mineral resources may or may not take place in a near future; however, accessibility to the area holding them should remain unimpeded, or at least, extraction should be considered before any form of sterilising development can go ahead. A specific objective of the Commitment is to encourage European countries to develop and include in their national mineral policies (or mineral resource strategies) land use plans regulating land uses and mineral resources. SAFEMIN will review and seek harmonization of mineral planning policies in order to achieve a balanced land use planning in which MDoPIs are treated in parity with other land uses.
Description of the activities
SAFEMIN supports and enhances the work developed within the MINATURA2020 project which seeks to bring forward the concept of MDoPI and their implementation in land use planning processes for non-energy minerals. The consortium members are actively involved in the development of concepts, methodologies and instruments for this, and SAFEMIN ensures a continuation and an upgrade of the knowledge collected with the MINATURA2020 project.
The planned activities involve the implementation of pan-european, national and regional workshops for the exchange and analysis of how the areas with (or with potential for) MDoPI are integrated in national mineral and land use planning (LUP) policies in different European countries and at all levels of implementation (national, regional, local). Some of these workshops have already taken place (e.g. pan-european workshop in Cardiff in March 2016) or are planned to take place (e.g. Scandinavian workshop in Sweden, September 2016).
Participants at meetings and workshops are expected to be EC representants, experts, urban development, energy and other land use planning authorities, mining authorities, industry representatives, and the civil society. Some worskhops will be targeted to public authorities in order to promote cooperation between them.
Workshops will give room to analyse good examples of LUP policies and case studies will be investigated via practical exercises. Such exercises will develop and test concepts and instruments that enable the safeguarding of areas with valuable mineral deposits (or potential for discovery). Some workshops will discuss conceptual approaches, methodologies and recommendations of how best to link LUP policies and national mineral policies while others will serve testing purposes. The latter will be based on exercises using digital geological and land use INSPIRE-compliant databases. If data is available, first experiences with 3D spatial planning (e.g. ore body depth) will be conducted. In the frame of Minatura2020 competent institutions collaborated on the 2D modelling of suitable excavation zones using the QUICKScan software. For SAFEMIN, software known to be useful for 2D analysis, e.g. QUICKScan, will be tested to evaluate if it works properly and/or how it can be adapted for 3D spatial analysis so as to identify areas with no or minimal conflict for the safeguarding of mineral resources.
SAFEMIN will maintain a close collaboration with other relevant projects in the field funded by Horizon 2020 in support of the EIP on Raw Materials such as MINATURA2020 (coordinated by MinPol), MICA (Minerals Intelligence Capacity Analysis), MIN-Guide (policy benchmarking of relevant policy and legislation in Europe), MINLEX (permitting study in the EU28), INTMET (innovative metallurgical system to benefit efficiently polymetallic, complex and low grade ores and concentrates), EURare (Sustainable exploitation scheme for Europe's Rare Earth ore deposits). For instance, the MINLEX project (coordinated by MinPol) is a logical connection to SAFEMIN as the advancement towards the integration of the MDoPIs into land use planning will result in simpler permitting procedures. Finalised relevant H2020 projects will also be considered (e.g. Minerals4EU, ProMine, SARMa, EuroGeoSource).
SAFEMIN will be supervised by a pan-european Steering Committee of experts. SAFEMIN will reinforce and expand the team engaged in the Advisory Board of MINATURA2020 which includes representatives from Finland, Sweden, France, Germany, Greece, Poland, Spain, Ireland, Croatia, Czech Republic.
Description of the expected impacts
SAFEMIN will help achieving the objectives of the EU Raw Materials Initiative and the EIP on Raw Materials, particularly in terms of improving conditions of access to land with relevance for non-energy minerals extraction. It will disseminate and foster the inclusion of mineral deposits of public importance and mineral potential areas on national mineral and land use planning policies. It is expected that the ongoing work of all partners involved will reinforce the importance of the EU mineral resources for its society and the possible compatibility of extraction areas with other land uses via land use planning processes and sustainable extraction. The actions of SAFEMIN will contribute to bringing mineral resources in parity with other competing land uses.
It is expected that transparent methodologies to identify MdoPIs will be developed for existing or potential mineral resources, allowing incentives and geological evidence to the public authorities for their integration into land use planning plans and national mineral policies. Therefore it is expected that SAFEMIN will facilitate access to land for exploration, contribute to a more efficient permitting procedure and contribute towards making European prospective areas more attractive for investors (mining and quarrying, onshore and offshore).
It is expected that SAFEMIN will promote local capacity building and cooperation of public authorities in charge of minerals extraction and land-use planning as well of other involved authorities. It will also enhance awareness of the importance of European mineral deposits for different authorities. Ultimately, it is expected that SAFEMIN will contribute to the promotion of investments into the minerals sector and increase the sustainable supply from European sources.
Coordinating organisation & role
Name of the coordinating organisation: MinPol - Agency for International Minerals PolicyCountry: AustriaEntity profile: Private sector - SMERole within the commitment:
MinPol will: 1) Coordinate all actions within SAFEMIN; 2) Ensure a permanent good communication among all partners, with the European Commission and with external stakeholders; 3) Supervise and guide the organization of meetings and workshops; 4) Delineate framework conditions and recommendations for different best ways of integration of land use planning policies into national mineral policies and their harmonization across European countries
Other partners
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Angewandten Forschung e.V.
Name of the organisation: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Angewandten Forschung e.V. Country: Germany Entity profile: Governmental/public body
Role within the commitment: Fraunhofer will lead the CFRP and GFRP recycling research.
Fraunhofer will perform corrosion tests on the developed materials.
Fraunhofer will work with CIDAUT on the implementation, validation and refinement of LCCA tools for the project. Fraunhofer is the Quality Manager of the Consortium and will oversee deliverables and general reporting are produced with the best possible quality following agreed review standards.
Fundacion Cidaut
Name of the organisation: Fundacion Cidaut Country: Spain Entity profile:
Role within the commitment: CIDAUT will lead the research activities on materials recycling and compounding, implementing lab scale demonstrators of each process at its premises and, later, supporting end-users upscale the processes.
CIDAUT will perform mechanical tests, microstructural analyses, injection moulding capability studies on the developed materails, and will work with Fraunhofer on the implementation, validation and refinement of LCCA tools for the project.
RWTH Aachen University (Institute of plastic processing (IKV)
Name of the organisation: RWTH Aachen University (Institute of plastic processing (IKV) Country: Germany Entity profile: Governmental/public body
Role within the commitment: RWTH will implement the novel 3D Generative Preforming process (3D Fibre Spraying) that enables to create high-value long fibre-reinforced 3D preforms for thermoplastic and thermoset composites at low process costs (different kinds of yarn as a raw material, low tooling costs due to low cavity pressures). This cost effective technology allows to align the sprayed fibres in order to produce high-performance, engineered anisotropic products.
Universita' di Cagliari
Name of the organisation: Universita' di Cagliari Country: Italy Entity profile:
Role within the commitment: University of Cagliari is one of the leading European organization in the resin design and coupling with thermoplastic and thermose materials. University of Cagliari will support in the definition of the composite materials, both from CFRP/GFRP, ABS and Rare Earth composite material.
Relight
Name of the organisation: Relight Country: Italy Entity profile: Private sector - SME
Role within the commitment: RELIGHT will work with ITRB to provide the research partners with residues for the recycled ABS supply and the REE recovery processes, including their HydroWEEE process as part of the processes to be studied and analyzed.
Piaggio Aerospace
Name of the organisation: Piaggio Aerospace Country: Italy Entity profile: Private sector - large company
Role within the commitment: Piaggio Aerospace is one of the project End Users (Aeronautics Industry): as such it will provide requirements and further applications that could be developed with the Consortium Materials. Piaggio will assist in the compounds selection, provide Fraunhofer with specific corrosion requirements on business jet size aircraft, and will assess that the developed materials performance fits the selected applications desired improvements.
Blackshape Aircrafts
Name of the organisation: Blackshape Aircrafts Country: Italy Entity profile: Private sector - SME
Role within the commitment: Blackshape Aircrafts is one of the project End Users (Aeronautics Industry): as such it will provide requirements and further applications that could be developed with the Consortium Materials. Blackshape will support to fulfill the requirements of the aeronautics industry on ultra light jet, light jet and trainer for Syllabus, and will assess that the developed alloys performance fits the selected applications desired improvements.
KU Leuven
Name of the organisation: KU Leuven Country: Belgium Entity profile: Academia
Role within the commitment: KUL will collaborate on the balance problem studies and will lead the rare earth recovery research with the solvometallurgical and ionometallurgical processes.
KUL will also contribute to the final compounding selection.
KUL is the Dissemination Manager of the project, promoting that all partners are active on the project Dissemination.
FIDAMC
Name of the organisation: FIDAMC Country: Spain Entity profile: Governmental/public body
Role within the commitment: FIDAMC is going to lead the Work Package on Compression Moulding with CFRP-enhanced materials. As part of the AIRBUS Group, FIDAMC will also be able to provide the input material.
FIDAMC successfully developed a 3D Printer of own design to serve the Aerospace Industry and will be supporting Smart Lab 3D Industries in its 3D printer design.
COMPOSITE INNOVATION CENTER
Name of the organisation: COMPOSITE INNOVATION CENTER Country: Canada Entity profile: Governmental/public body
Role within the commitment: Composite Innovation Center is one of the world leading organization in the field of Composite materials, both from carbon fiber and vegetal-based fibers.
Composite Innovation center has successfully implemented, at lab-scale, recycling processes for CFRP and GFRP.
Existing EU Contribution: No
Period to implement the commitment: from 01-04-2016 to 31-12-2019