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ROBOMINERS

ROBOMINERS Consortium Meeting with LPRC in Austria

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The ROBOMINERS Consortium, in which LPRC participates, hosted its first in-person meeting in almost 2 years. Between the 16 and 18 of November 2021, the partners were in Leoben (Austria) to discuss the evolution of the project. LPRC members Luís Lopes and Márcio Tameirão represented the company in this event. ROBOMINERS’ innovative approach combines the creation of a new mining ecosystem with novel ideas from other sectors, in particular with the inclusion of disruptive concepts from robotics.

The first day of the meeting started with the review and updates on the various Work Packages (WPs) of the project. During this session, LPRC presented the work that is being implemented on WP8 – Active Roadmapping and Clustering, which the team leads. The previous work was analyzed and next steps were defined for the months to come. During the afternoon, the consortium was divided into different sessions. In one of this sessions, LPRC hosted an interactive Horizon Scanning Exercise (following a previous one) with the ROBOMINERS experts. This exercise aimed at analysing “hits” – aspects of relevance for the implementation of ROBOMINERS – and study how they can impact and be important for the continuation of the project. The results will now be processed by the LPRC team.

On the second day, the ROBOMINERS partners visited a mine in neighboring Slovenia – Mežica mine – which is under consideration for a test site location for the project’s demonstrations. On the third and final day, and back to Leoben, the project hosted its 2nd Clustering event entitled “The key technological obstacles towards a fully autonomous robotic mining (eco)system”, a Twinning Event organised between Leoben, Brussels and online. LPRC took part in the preparation of this Clustering event.

Follow the project developments on its website and social media channels!

LPRC projects at EGU 2021

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This year, following the company’s tradition to present its projects at the EGU General Assembly – 2017, 2019 and 2020 -, LPRC will present and discuss five projects on this year’s edition. Due to the travel and health restrictions in place the event will be held online.

The EGU 2021 event (#vEGU21) will host presentations in a unique style: each abstract will be given a 2-minute timeslot  to make a quick presentation based on a 1-slide presentation. After that, participants can enter chat rooms to discuss the abstract and the presentations with the authors.

Below you can find the projects and materials that LPRC will present during the EGU 2021 online event:

Feel free to have a look at the projects and materials provided and join the discussion at the given times – science is for everyone!

ROBOMINERS

ROBOMINERS project Review Meeting

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On 29 January 2021, the ROBOMINERS project had its first review meeting with the EC. Our team was present as leaders of Work Package 8 to assess and discuss the main outcomes.

The review meeting, which lasted the whole Friday, was built around presentations of the work done since the beginning of the project until now. Each Work Package leader presented the results and engaged in fruitful discussions with the EC to clarify doubts and employ recommendations for improvement. As a Work Package leader, LPRC (Luís Lopes) made the presentation on Work Package 8 – Active roadmapping and clusters. Luís gave an overview of the clustering activities developed and implemented up to now, as well as the Focus Groups and Horizon Scanning exercises with experts. The presentation of the work was well received and no major doubts or recommendations were put forward.

Work Package 8 presentation (Luís Lopes)

The efforts of clustering and roadmapping will continue in the next months with a series of engaging activities!

Register for the ROBOMINERS project webinar!

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On 18 February 2021 the ROBOMINERS project is organising a webinar on “Small and very-small scale robotic mining: deposit types and opportunities for Europe”.

The aim of this virtual event is to:

  • Provide an overview of abandoned mines in Europe and their potential
  • Discuss the challenges of reopening an old mine
  • Outline the different steps from the discovery of a deposit until the opening of a mine
  • Present expected contributions of the ROBOMINERS technology to resume operations in abandoned mines where the application of conventional technologies is not relevant

The webinar is scheduled for 14:00-16:15 CET and speakers will be announced in the coming days.

To sign up for this free webinar, please register here: https://bit.ly/3cn2i9d

Register and join the discussion on the future mining opportunities in Europe!

LPRC during 2020 – a summary

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The past year was an atypical one, there is no denying it. Despite the many problems posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, LPRC still managed to keep up with its work plans. All team activities – where the EU-funded projects are of most importance – ran successfully. Although not without a certain degree of adaptation. A quick summary of our activities on each of our EU projects during 2020 is given below:

INTERMIN: LPRC participated in the project’s main discussions and contributed with dissemination activities. The team’s biggest workshare was done in 2019 regarding WP2 – Raw Materials Sector Skills, Gaps and Needs.

MACARONIGHT: In 2020, LPRC coordinated the second installment of  the MACARONIGHT project after its success in 2o19. Coordination included preparation and monitoring of activities in different islands as well as analysis of the outcomes.

PRO-ACT: For this space project, LPRC contributed with geological information for the preparation of the lunar analogues where the robotic elements shall be tested during 2021. LPRC also presented the project during the EGU 2020 event.

ROBOMINERS: LPRC leads WP8 – Active clustering and roadmapping – and during 2020 the team contributed to the exchange of information with several projects and initiatives, kickstarted Focus Groups discussions and launched the Horizon Scanning activities. LPRC also contributed with the dissemination of the project at several opportunities.

AGEO: Within AGEO, the team leads communication and dissemination efforts. In 2020, besides the outreach efforts, LPRC also contributed to strengthening the impact of the project by leveraging communication with other EU projects and initiatives.

CROWDTHERMAL: During 2020, LPRC’s role was two-fold. First, the team largely contributed to the communication efforts with the management of social media channels and preparation of material such as factsheets. Second, LPRC kickstarted activities for WP4 – Integrated Development Schemes, which it leads.

ENGIE: LPRC started discussions and prepared ENGIE-related activities for the Researchers Night in 2020. For this task, LPRC hosted a high number of (online) workshops. The team also contributed with dissemination of the project, as seen with its participation on the EGU 2020 event.

UNEXUP: Continuing LPRC’s tasks from UNEXMIN, in UNEXUP the team also leads dissemination efforts. Therefore, LPRC was responsible for the development of all outreach material – both online and physical. Another important task, was the team’s contribution to the market analysis and go-to-market strategy set for the project’s implementation.

MOBI-US: Within this education-based project LPRC had two main tasks. It led outreach efforts during the whole year with the development and implementation of dissemination actions. The other relevant task was the contribution to the major guidelines for the implementation of the MOBI-US network. Here, LPRC contributed with an extensive analysis on the current and future gaps of the raw materials sector.

Besides contributing to EU-projects LPRC was also active in other areas including policy analysis, science communication and use of foresight methodologies.

We hope to have an even better 2021 with more projects and more work!

Final event of the SLIM project

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On 27th October 2020 the SLIM project (www.slim-project.eu) held its Final Event. This project – Sustainable Low Impact Mining – aimed to develop cost-effective and sustainable selective low impact mining solutions, in which several presentations covered the different work packages, achievements and main results of it.

In addition to the achievements of the SLIM project, there was also a clustering event, where other running EU projects of the mineral resources sector presented their projects and shared their opinions. Beside the SLIM project, seven further relevant H2020 projects were introduced. Among these projects, there were two that LPRC is part of: INTERMIN and ROBOMINERS.

The INTERMIN project – specialized portal of global raw materials training – was presented by Manuel María Regueiro González‐Barros (IGME). In his presentation, LPRC was mentioned among the consortium partners under Pillar 3: The Training and Educational Organizations, as the leader of WP2.

After that, the ROBOMINERS project – Resilient Bio‐inspired Modular Robotic Miners – was presented by Claudio Rossi (UPM), and La Palma Research Centre was also mentioned among the partners, as a Geo-scientific SME.

ROBOMINERS e-Consortium meeting, 7th September 2020

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The ROBOMINERS consortium, where LPRC participates and leads one Work Package – based on the application of foresight studies -, got together in an online way to discuss relevant aspects of this innovative project on the 7th of September.

For the purpose of this meeting, LPRC was responsible to present the status of WP8 – Active clustering and roadmapping. Until now, the team has been working towards clustering with other projects and initiatives with the aim to share knowledge on robotics and raw materials topics alike. After the WP status introductions, LPRC also prepared and hosted a Focus Group exercise with some of the project partners where relevant ROBOMINERS topics were explored and discussed.

The Focus Group exercise ran in a very standard way: the moderator – Luís Lopes – asked the pre-defined questions and each participant was requested to give their own opinions and answers. The exercise run in a way that a series of thoughts from real experts was collected.

Following the results of the exercise and the discussions held, LPRC will now compile and analyse the data collected and proceed with the implementation of this specific task.

 

LPRC presents projects during the online “GeoUtrecht 2020” event

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On the 25th of August, LPRC members Luís Lopes and Márcio Tameirão had the opportunity to show two very innovative raw materials projects to the EU community during GeoUtrecht 2020 – this year online due to the current restrictions on travel. The selected projects were ROBOMINERS and UNEXUP.

The ROBOMINERS and UNEXUP presentations were included within the session “Raw Materials and their societal relevance for Europe” pinpointing what these two EU-funded projects are doing and what is their connection to the European society. The presentations raised interest from the audience which was translated into a few pertinent questions on the implementation of both innovative technologies with the vision to help with the sustainable sourcing of raw materials in Europe.

Call for participation in our projects!

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La Palma Research Centre is a partner in many EU-focused projects. Some of these projects are calling out for stakeholders involvement in their tasks. Find below what projects are open for participation and how you can get involved with them.

MOBI-US – The project will host an online workshop about its future Masters mobility program on the 3oth of June and 1st of July, two hours each day, from 9h to 11h. Participation is free, but requires registration.

UNEXUP – UNEXMIN’s natural follow-up, UNEXUP has an open pilot policy – if you have an underwater structure and have interest in getting it surveyed with top notch technology, then this is your oppportunity. Get in touch with the project through the contact form.

ROBOMINERS – LPRC is leading the Active clustering and roadmapping efforts. Therefore, engagement with stakeholders is a given. At this moment, the team is collecting projects and persons willing to do clustering activities (exchange information, debate) and to participate in focus groups to discuss the ROBOMINERS technology and the future of mining itself. Get in touch through the project’s contact form.

Your participation is always relevant and can shape the future of this projects now and beyond!

EGU 2020 online event from LPRC’s eyes

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Last week, the LPRC team presented some of its projects at the EGU General Assembly 2020, an yearly event that brings together geoscientists from all over the world to discuss several geoscientific topics. This is the third time that LPRC participates in this event, following the years of 2017 and 2019.

Due to the current situation and the restrictions in place, the EGU General Assembly of this year was held online. LPRC presented five of its running projects from Monday (4th May) through Friday (8th May). The corresponding presentation materials can still be seen and commented on until the 31st of May – find more here.

During the many online sessions, LPRC presented projects from different geoscientific related areas including new mineral exploration methods, space technology for moon exploration and citizens observatories for geohazards. The interest in the presented projects was showcased by the questions that the audience – through chat-based interaction – had for the team.

Below are the number of users participating in each of the sessions where LPRC presented its projects:

  • PRO-ACT on the session “Open session on experimental and modelling techniques for the exploration and sustainable utilization of the Moon” – 46 users
  • ROBOMINERS on the session “Energy, Resources and the Environment” – 55 users
  • AGEO on the session “Hydrology, Society and Environmental change” – 168 users
  • ENGIE on the session “Enabling Women in Geoscience: Inspiration, Challenges and Best Practice” – 176 users
  • UNEXUP on the session “State-of-the-art in mineral exploration” – 66 users

LPRC was glad to once more be part of the EGU General Assembly event and able to share innovative mining solutions, how to solve challenges in space exploration, helping to monitor geohazards and bring gender equality to the geoscientific fields. The team aims to participate once again next year with new projects and more innovative ideas!