START Consortium Meeting, 6 & 7 June 2024, Oslo, Norway

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The 2024 annual START meeting was held during the 6th and 7th June 2024 in Oslo, Norway, with partner SINTEF hosting the meeting. The meeting was dedicated to the status and future steps of the work being developed under the seven work packages, which include Work Package 7 – Innovation and Exploitation strategy, led by La Palma Research Centre. The main goal of START is to build an innovation ecosystem in the European Union (EU) related to the development of sustainable and economically viable tellurium-free thermoelectric (TE) energy harvesting systems based on innovative mine waster recycling, to be applied in heavy industry for waste heat recovery and also as primary power source for energy harvesting for wearables, buildings, off-grid sensors and IoT devices.

The first day was dedicated to technical presentations, which were complemented with a workshop hosted by LPRC for data collection on commercial and feasibility aspects of the START technological developments. Collected parameters will feed into development of Task 7.2 – Industrial viability and economics.

The second day had technical presentations, the 5th START webinar, and another workshop hosted by LPRC, this time dedicated to sustainability of the START project after the funding period. First, LPRC presented the status and future steps in WP7, then the workshop was hosted connected to Task 7.4 – Sustainability and Deployment. During this workshop exercise, participants (project partners and advisory board representative) were asked to provide their ideas for the “START Service Company” in a Lean Canvas (a tool used for business planning purposes).

This was a great meeting and the perfect opportunity for LPRC to prepare its future work in Work Package 7.

Stay tuned for upcoming news on the project. Meanwhile, follow the project news on the website, Twitter and LinkedIn channels!

PERSEPHONE Meeting, 10 & 11 April 2024, Brussels, Belgium

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The La Palma Research Centre team met for the first time the PERSEPHONE Project Consortium on the 10 and 11 April 2024, in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting was dedicated to discussions on WP 1 – Specifications and requirements for enabling sustainable deep mining. PERSEPHONE aims to address current and future mining challenges by developing pioneering technologies for pushing the limits of EU mining industry and embodiment of autonomous and integrated mine exploration capability to access deep deposits of critical raw materials through hard-to-reach deep and abandoned mines. Within this project LPRC acts as a Associated Partner of INTRAW.

The two-day meeting focused on analysing the tasks of WP 1, which involve the definition of the specifications and requirements that the project team needs to take into account for sustainable deep mining operations in the future. Therefore, discussions involved potential end-user requirements for technologies for exploration and extraction of raw materials, framework conditions and evaluation scenarios for implementation of the new technologies.

The role of LPRC in this project will be the development of technology roadmaps and regulatory frameworks for the future development and implementation of the PERSEPHONE technologies.

Follow the project news on the website and social media.

LPRC co-hosted the recent CRM-geothermal webinar

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LPRC, partner in the CRM-geothermal project, co-hosted a webinar between this project and RAWMINA, entitled “Frontier technologies for sustainable extraction of critical raw materials”. Both projects are working towards critical raw materials recovery from mine waste and geothermal fluids, a recent trend in the raw materials field.

Marcio Tameirao Pinto, Project Manager of LPRC, was the co-organizer and co-host of the webinar session. He also presented the ClusterHub ‘Materials for batteries’, where CRM-geothermal is a member. Recording can be seen here.

This webinar was an excellent opportunity to bring together the research and industry communities working on the recovery of critical raw materials, to discuss the innovation in the field.  The recordings of the presentations given are available online.

INVESTIGO Research Fellows 2024

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LPRC welcomes the new 3 INVESTIGO Research Fellows!

Three young researchers have joined our multidisciplinary team during the past month of February and will be working with us in our office in Los Llanos de Aridane, La Palma. They have been selected thorough a series of interviews conducted as part of the INVESTIGO Program, funded under the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which belongs to the European Union’s “Next-Generation EU” scheme.

The three selected candidates constitute a complementary team of professionals that will work on the project “ABCanarias – Literacy of the population of La Palma on sustainable development, innovation and technology and experiences of local and regional cooperation”. The project aims at understanding local perspectives and knowledge on the ocean and on renewable energies, hence contributing to boosting La Palma and Canary Islands’ citizens engagement in sustainable development. Besides, through a participatory science approach, the project aims at collecting experiences of local and regional cooperation, to better perceive the strengths, weaknesses, needs, demands, and successes of these actions, and map the crucial role of EU Outermost Regions in the context of European and global transformation of our societies towards sustainability.

LPRC would like to thank all the applicants (even if not selected) for showing interest and motivation in working with us and encourages all of them and, generally, young people, to keep pursuing a career in research.

Do you wish to learn more about the INVESTIGO Program and the ABCanarias Project?

A project website will soon be publicly available, which will outline the project’s concept and objectives, and will be regularly updated with project developments and public announcements. Follow LPRC on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, & stay tuned for more news!

CIRAN

CIRAN Consortium Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal, 22-25 January 2024

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The CIRAN project held its annual physical meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, between the 22nd and 25th of January 2024. This event was attended by representatives of the partners as well as members of the Group of Experts. La Palma Research Centre joined the event with five members and hosted a data collection workshop. 

The first day of the CIRAN consortium meeting was dedicated to the partners’ presentations on the different Work Packages that make the project, from the technical to the less technical ones, where partners discussed their work towards the responsible sourcing of critical raw materials in protected zones through a plan for sustainable resource extraction. LPRC presented its work on Task 3.3 – Nexus between policy decisions and drivers of change. 

The second day was dedicated to two data collection workshops. LPRC was responsible for organizing and hosting the first workshop of the day, which was dedicated to scenarios planning. The second workshop was dedicated to policy making. For its workshop the LPRC team created four unique stations to discuss future scenarios for CIRAN based on the assessment of the Drivers of Change, the results from the Delphi Survey and the previously-developed INTRAW geopolitical scenarios. This was a great opportunity to engage with project partners and experts to collect unique views and opinions that will help the LPRC team to create CIRAN Scenarios for 2035. 

On the third day the meeting participants went on a field trip to the municipality of Porto de Mós, where they were given presentations on the conciliation between mining activities and nature conservation, as represented by the quarrying activities within the boundaries of the Serras de Aire and Candeeiros Nature Park, relevant examples for CIRAN’s work. The participants had the chance to visit such quarrying activities and to understand what drives the balance between economic interest and nature protection. 

The final day was dedicated to management aspects, including the planning for the coming year’s activities, where engagement with experts and stakeholders will be a crucial aspect. 

Follow the project on its social media channels and website to keep up-to-date!

FIREFLY Project Consortium Meeting, Tenerife, January 2024

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The LPRC team hosted the recent FIREFLY Consortium Meeting in Tenerife, Canary Islands, one year after the start of the project. Partners from all over Europe flew to the Tenerife to engage in two days of discussions on the status of the project and the next steps for the year 2024.

The two days were dedicated to discussions on the work packages that represent the project’s design and implementation towards a flexible, predictive and renewable electricity-powered electrochemical toolbox for a sustainable transition of the catalyst-based European chemical industry. The group discussed topics such as development and validation of AI-based tools, R&D of flexible technologies and Life-cycle sustainability Assessment. La Palma Research Centre, leader of Work Package 2 – Supply of waste catalyst and mapping of relevant resources – and Task 2.2 – Material flow analysis and GIS inventory of relevant resources, presented the work done in 2023.

Sites visits to Tenerife’s recycling industry complemented the meeting with an important technical aspect that can help the FIREFLY partners to develop and implement their tasks.

It was a pleasure to prepare and host the FIREFLY’s project Consortium Meeting. See you next time!

Best wishes to everyone from the La Palma Research Centre team

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🇬🇧 La Palma Research Centre team wishes you a very merrychristmas and happy new year full of collaborations, accepted proposals, shared beers after events and face to face kick-offs. We would not be who we are without our colleagues and collaborators and that’s why we are so grateful to have you all in our lives. Season Greetings to all!
🇪🇸 El equipo de La Palma Research Centre quiere desearles a todo una Feliznavidad y un próspero año nuevo lleno de colaboraciones, de propuestas aceptadas, de cervecitas después de los congresos y de kick-offs donde podamos vernos las caras. No seríamos quienes somos sin nuestros colegas y colaboradores y por eso estamos tan agradecidos de tenerlos a todos en nuestra vida. ¡Felices Fiestas!
La Palma Research Centre

FluidNET final training event in La Palma (November 2023)

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During the last week of November, the FluidNET (Fluids driving the evolution of the continental crust: influence of pathway networks, fluxes, and time scales) Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN project team visited La Palma to host the final training event for the 12 early-stage researchers involved in the project. 

During the one-week training, the early-stage researchers received advice, among other things, on career pathways available after concluding their PhD, funding opportunities in science and industry, and tips and hints on how to apply to research and industry positions. The programme also included two field visits, one to the Laurisilva forest and the other to the Tajogaite volcano. 

LPRC contributed to the training sessions, provided logistical assistance, and helped organizing the field trip to Tajogaite (in collaboration with GeoTenerife). 

We hope they enjoyed their stay on the island as much as we enjoyed supporting the organizing team! We wish good last months to the project and the best of luck to the 12 early-stage researchers in finishing their PhDs and navigating to the next steps in their careers!

La Palma offers a lot of possibilities for celebrating training events, workshops, and team retreats and LPRC can help your organization to make the most of your stay.

La Palma Research Centre

LPRC gives RaVeN students the “Business training and general trends in the raw materials value chain” course

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Last week the LPRC team went to Krakow, Poland, to provide a course for the  EIT-Labelled RaVeN Master’s at AGH University of Science and Technology. The course, which was provided during the 20 and 21 November, was entitled “Business training and general trends in the raw materials value chain”.

During the two days of the course, students listened to lectures and took part in seminars that provided fundamental knowledge and practical skills that young entrepreneurs and innovators must possess. Students also obtained knowledge on future trends and scenarios of the raw materials value chain, allowing them to scan and think ahead for innovative solutions.

To complement their theoretical learning, the MSc students implemented their gained knowledge on practical exercises, drafting lean canvases, outlining business plans and giving their first business pitches based on their own business ideas.

The LPRC team enjoyed the experience and would like to wish all the best to the RaVeN – Raw Materials Value Chain Master’s course!

La Palma Research Centre

LPRC’s projects at the EU SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference

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LPRC participated in the EU’s Supercluster Lapland Geoconference representing the TRIDENT project, seeking to create synergies and future collaborations among other raw materials related projects. The project was presented in the “New Frontiers For Exploration” session, in which the coordinator explained the innovative approach of the project addressing knowledge gaps and uncertainties regarding the environmental and social impacts of deep-sea mining. LPRC also prepared a poster to draw attention from projects dealing with similar goals and build future clustering opportunities.

CIRAN co-organized and actively participated in the EU SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference, which took place on 30 and 31 October. This event served as a dynamic stage for the CIRAN project, allowing CIRAN’s partners to interact with industry experts, environmental advocates and fellow innovators. The SuperCluster meeting went beyond a simple meeting and became a hub for knowledge sharing, collaboration and inspiration. Together with 11 other EU-funded projects – EIS, AGEMERA, GOLDENEYE, GREENPEG, SEMACRET, M4MINING, MaDiTraCe, MinExTarget, MultiMiner and SEMACRET.

Besides TRIDENT and CIRAN, three other projects in which LPRC is involved were presented: CRM-Geothermal, ROBOMINERS, and START. In total, the conference was the biggest EU’s clustering event on raw materials, gathering up to 23 different EU-funded projects, with 142 registered participants coming from 52 countries and representing 69 expert organisations.

The EU SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference stands out as a platform that promotes synergies between projects in the raw materials sector. This collaborative environment allowed us to delve into the challenges and latest developments within the industry. At the heart of the conference was an atmosphere of cooperation.