Use Cases

OPTIMINER will demonstrate its applicability through real-world pilot demonstrations in Spain, Greece, Poland, Finland, and Chile, focusing on CRMs such as magnesium, tungsten, REEs (especially neodymium), copper, cobalt, and coking coal.  

TERNA MAG

Greece

Courtesy of TERNA MAG

TERNA MAG S.A. is a mining company member of GEK TERNA GROUP. It exploits magnesite deposits in the northern part of Evia Island, producing magnesite and magnesia. 

    • Optimising  ore sorting, using the self-trained ore sorting mechanism.

    • Bioleaching at a lab scale to assess recovery rates.

    • Exploiting 3-10mm tailings and using optimised machinery for smarter energy dissipation.

JSW

Poland

Courtesy of JSW

JSW demo site is a cluster of entities including Łukasiewicz Research Network - Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals (IMN), Główny Instytut Górnictwa-Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (GIG) and Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa S.A. (JSW).

IMN is a Polish research center focusing on the non-ferrous industry. It handles all aspects of metallic material production, from ore treatment to creating environmentally compliant products.

    • Introducing coking coal enrichment technology.

    • Replacing of wet methods by dry sorting techniques.

SALORO

Spain

Courtesy of Saloro

SALORO is a Spanish company dedicated to the production and marketing of tungsten, an industrial metal with a wide range of applications, which the European Union recognizes as a 'critical mineral resource'.

    • Tungsten recovery using bioleaching and phytomining.

    • Reduction in the contamination of soil, water, atmosphere, using phytocorrection.

    • Phytostabilization techniques in mining waste.

Tapojärvi

Finland

Courtesy of Tapojärvi

Tapojärvi Oy, which fully owns Hannukainen Mine in operation from 1975 to 1992, is preparing to reopen and utilise it again, with production commencing in 2028. Hannukainen Mine holds significant unexploited copper reserves in Europe and is the second-largest cobalt reserve in Finland.

    • Efficient recovery of Cobalt and REEs.

    • Circular water use, waste reduction, bioleaching.

Leonore

Spain

LEONORE specialises in the development of industrial projects in mining sector from exploration to marketing and financing.

    • Digitilisation of the iron ore process with the help of a digital twin.

    • Efficient REE recovery using REMINER technologies.

Minera Hasparren SpA

Chile

Minera Hasparren is a small-scale mining company founded in 2010, which provides copper, gold and silver sulfide mineral processing services to small producers in the area.

    • Increased Copper, Gold and Silver recovery.

    • Increase in water recovery.

    • Precipitation and flotation improvement by membrane-based technologies.