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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!

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.

SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference, Rovaniemi, Finland (30 & 31 October 2023)

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The SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference will take place on the 30th and 31st Octobre 2023 in Rovaniemi, Finland. This clustering event represents a significant effort to address the EU’s dependency on critical raw materials and promote self-sufficiency in mineral supply value chain. Some of the key points about the event are:

  • Dependency on Critical Raw Materials. The EU relies heavily on a limited number of countries for critical raw materials, which are essential for strategic industries like e-mobility, batteries, and renewable energy.
  • Opportunity for Self-Sufficiency. Europe has the potential to become self-sufficient, resilient, sustainable, and responsible in its supply of critical minerals due to its geological resources and significant mineral endowment.
  • Multi-Element Mining. Critical raw materials are often obtained as by-products from primary commodity mines. Transitioning to a multi-element mining approach is necessary, requiring new exploration methods and concepts.
  • EU-Funded Projects. Thirteen EU-funded raw materials projects and the University of Queensland (Australia) are collaborating to organize the European Union SuperCluster Lapland Geoconference. These projects focus on research and development in the raw materials sector.

The main objective is to bring together a diverse range of stakeholders, including the European Commission, EU projects, regional authorities, industrial representatives, exploration companies, and other interested parties in order to discuss technological challenges and topics related to the raw materials sector.

This initiative represents a crucial step in addressing the EU’s raw materials challenges and fostering cooperation among stakeholders to enhance the region’s self-sufficiency in critical minerals. It provides a platform for sharing ideas and innovations in raw materials exploration and supply.

Event Structure and schedule:

The event will include 20-minute oral sessions, poster presentations, and dedicated discussion time to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration. There are no planned keynote talks, as the focus is on hearing from as many EU-funded project participants as possible.

Oral presentations are divided into five sessions between October 30th and 31st:

  • Session 1: Innovative mineral exploration: 30th at 10.15 – 12.00
  • Session 2: Earth observation in exploration and mining: 30th at 13.15 – 15.00
  • Session 3: Environmental, Social and Governance in exploration and mining: 30th at 15.30 – 17.30
  • Session 4: Critical Raw Materials supply: 31st at 08.30 – 10.00
  • Session 5: New frontiers for exploration: 31st at 10.30 – 11.45

This event will be the biggest clustering event for the EU-funded raw materials-related projects and other projects ever. Around 130-140 people will attend, representing 28 projects. LPRC will participate representing 5 of those projects: CIRAN, CRM-Geothermal, ROBOMINERS, START and TRIDENT.

 

EPMA

START Project Annual Meeting, Madrid, May & June 2023

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The LPRC team joined its counterparts in the START project for the Project Annual Meeting, hosted in Madrid by IGME-CSIC. This meeting was held on the 30th, 31st May and 1st June 2023.

This was the first time that the START consortium met in person after last year’s Kick-off meeting. The meeting agenda for this 2023 event involved discussions on the status of the project (by Work Package), a Focus Group session on the future of thermoelectics and the hosting of the 3rd START webinar. The main topics of discussion during these 3 days were the selection and preparation of tetrahedrites (an abundant mine waste mineral that will be used in the project), materials modelling, processing and characterisation, and the sustainable device production, validation and demonstration.

LPRC was responsible for the Work Package 7 presentation on Innovation and exploitation strategy where the team discussed the current and future efforts for designing a new thermoelectrics value chain adapted to the START technological developments, as well as for hosting the Focus Groups session that counted with project technological leaders and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board – Doug Crane (DTP Thermoelectrics).

During the Focus Groups sessions, the LPRC team asked questions related to the current and future possibilities of the START project and of the scientific fields of relevance – thermoelectrics, materials and mining. Each participant answered to the questions with their own views. Data was collected by the moderators and will now be used to further define the future START value chain.

START

START Kick-off meeting, Lisbon, 20-21 June 2022

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We are very proud to announce the official beginning of the START project, which took place on June 1st, 2022, with the Kick-off meeting held on June 20 and 21 in LNEG, Lisbon, Portugal. START, which stands for “Sustainable Energy Harvesting Systems Based on Innovative Mine Waste Recycling”, with the concept of transforming mining waste into materials for waste heat recovery, will create a sustainable supply chain and a corresponding business-innovation ecosystem for tellurium-free thermoelectric green energy harvesting products based on secondary raw materials responsibly sourced from within the European Union (EU).

START is an Innovation Action project supported by the EU and its Horizon Europe programme (HORIZON-CL4-2021-RESILIENCE-01-07). The Consortium comprises 15 multidisciplinary institutions with large experience in international innovation projects: LNEG (coordinator), 3drivers, ASGMI, BGR, EPMA, GeniCore, GEO-U, GBA, LPRC, MBN, RGS, SGUDS, SINTEF, TEGnology and IGME-CSIC. The START project have a total duration of 48 months and 9 194 441.25 € of total eligible costs.

The project partners – including LPRC represented by Luís Lopes – discussed the implementation of the seven Work Packages throughout the meeting days. The Work packages are:

  1. Coordination and management
  2. Selection of mine waste sites; physical minerals separation and concentration
  3. Materials modelling and processing
  4. Materials characterization
  5. Device production, validation and demonstration
  6. Dissemination and communication
  7. Innovation and exploitation strategy

LPRC is the leader of Work Package 7 and all its four tasks. In this part of the project, LPRC will implement a foresight exercise for the development of a flexible, scalable and adaptable business case design for the START value chain, document industrial viability and economics, develop a business focused roadmap and develop sustainability plans. LPRC also participates in Work Packages 2, 5 and 6.

START started in June 2022 and will end in May 2026 (48-month project duration). There is a long way to go, full of work ahead.

Keep informed by following the project website and social media channels.