Advancing Sustainable Mining: OPTIMINER’s M12 General Assembly Meeting in Freiburg

By Eleni Natsi, CORE Innovation Centre (CORE IC)

At the 12-month mark of the OPTIMINER project, consortium partners gathered in Freiburg, Germany, for the Month 12 General Assembly (GA) meeting. Hosted at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE), the meeting provided an important opportunity to review progress, align on next steps, and strengthen collaboration across the consortium.

As Europe’s mining industry faces increasing pressure to efficiently and sustainably recover critical raw materials (CRMs) from complex, low-grade ores, OPTIMINER continues to develop innovative, AI-driven solutions that support both competitiveness and environmental responsibility.

Reviewing Progress: Project Management and Work Package

During the two-day project meeting, project management activities were presented, ensuring alignment on timelines, deliverables, and key milestones achieved during the first year. Clear coordination across partners remains essential as OPTIMINER advances toward its ambitious objectives.

The consortium partners presented updates on technical progress, achievements, and upcoming tasks. These presentations highlighted the strong interconnection between technological development, digitalisation, sustainability assessment, and real-world validation activities.

The Five Pillars of OPTIMINER

A central part of the M12 GA meeting was the presentation and discussion of OPTIMINER’s five core pillars:

REMINER – Developing cutting-edge CRM recovery technologies, including smart ore sorting, bioleaching, and phytomining. These technologies are integrated through an AI-powered CRM Recovery Selector, enabling tailored and efficient resource recovery solutions.

DIGIMINER – Delivering a comprehensive digital platform for smart monitoring and control. Key components include a Decision Support System, the Virtual Miner assistant, and Digital Twins to optimise processes and enhance operational performance.

ECOMINER – Providing tools to optimise energy and water consumption while promoting waste valorisation, strengthening both sustainability and resilience within mining operations.

DEMOMINER – Demonstrating OPTIMINER solutions in real-world pilot cases across Spain, Greece, Poland, Finland, and Chile. These demo sites focus on the recovery of strategic CRMs such as magnesium, tungsten, rare earth elements (particularly neodymium), copper, cobalt, and coking coal.

GLOBEMINER – Promoting global awareness, supporting market uptake, and fostering EU–Chile strategic cooperation to strengthen international collaboration in CRM recovery.

Together, these pillars represent a holistic approach - combining advanced recovery technologies, digital innovation, sustainability optimisation, and international cooperation.

Focus on Demo Cases

A dedicated session provided an overview of the current status of the demo cases. Partners shared insights into technical progress, early findings, and operational challenges encountered at the pilot sites.

An open discussion followed, enabling consortium members to exchange feedback, and refine strategies for the next implementation phase.

Looking Ahead: Next Steps

The consortium also defined the next steps for the coming months, focusing on further integration of technological solutions, validation at demo sites, and continued development of digital and sustainability tools. Strengthening collaboration between technical, digital, and environmental work streams will be key as OPTIMINER moves into its second project year.

Strengthening Collaboration in Freiburg

Beyond the formal sessions, the meeting fostered valuable in-person exchanges. Participants had the opportunity to tour the Fraunhofer ISE laboratories, gaining insight into cutting-edge research infrastructure and discussing how advanced energy and materials research can complement OPTIMINER’s objectives.

The General Assembly concluded with a social dinner in Freiburg, providing a relaxed setting for partners to deepen collaboration and reinforce the strong consortium spirit that drives the project forward.

PAVING THE WAY FOR SUSTAINABLE MINING

By Frauhofer Chile

During November, the Fraunhofer Chile team carried out a technical visit to Minera Hasparren, marking another important milestone for the OPTIMINER project. The visit included an in-depth review of the company’s technical facilities and a detailed inspection of the production workflow to identify the specific areas where preliminary sampling will be performed.

The team also gained valuable insights into the interaction dynamics between Hasparren and the various producers who process their minerals at the plant. This included understanding the range of metals that can currently be recovered and the operational characteristics that shape their extraction processes.

A key focus of the visit was the examination of mineral samples collected at different stages of extraction. These samples will serve as the foundation for upcoming elemental analyses and mineralogical studies, enabling the identification of the structural composition of the elements present.

This work is essential for defining the most suitable extraction pathways - directly influencing recovery yields and the overall economic viability of the project.

As a next step, the collected samples will be sent to laboratories for comprehensive elemental and mineralogical analyses. This marks a significant advance for the OPTIMINER project and an important step toward more efficient and sustainable mining practices.

A Market Observatory in the Mining Industry

By Giorgos Siokas, LIBRA AI Technologies

The mining industry is significantly affected by fluctuations in the prices of raw materials like silver, gold, copper, and cobalt. With market conditions constantly changing, mining companies must stay informed to make smart business decisions. As a tool, the Market Observatory - being developed by LIBRA AI Technologies within the OPTIMINER project - provides real-time data on raw material prices and volatility, offering valuable insights that help mining businesses navigate these fluctuations.

What is the Market Observatory?

The Market Observatory is an advanced tool that tracks the exchange rates and volatility of key raw materials. By monitoring trends in prices and market fluctuations for metals like gold, silver, copper, and more, mining companies can make more informed decisions regarding production, pricing, and resource management.

Key Benefits for Mining Businesses:

1. Price Forecasting: The Observatory allows businesses to track price trends and volatility, helping them anticipate price changes and make better purchasing and production decisions.

2. Risk Management: Understanding price fluctuations helps mitigate risks associated with sudden market shifts, ensuring mining companies can adapt to external market pressures.

3. Supply Chain Optimization: Real-time insights into material prices enable mining operations to better manage their supply chains and avoid disruptions due to price surges or shortages.

4. Strategic Planning: With data on price trends, mining companies can plan long-term projects, securing the necessary materials at the best possible rates.

In the future, as part of the OPTIMINER project, we aim to take this step further by utilizing advanced forecasting techniques to predict price trends and volatility more accurately. By leveraging AI and data analytics, we will strive to provide more precise predictions, helping mining companies stay ahead of the market and optimize their operations even further.

CONCLUSION

For mining companies, staying ahead of market trends is essential for success. The Market Observatory provides the tools needed to monitor prices and volatility, enabling smarter, more informed business strategies.

‍ ‍ Tracking trends and volatility in raw material prices

Whether optimizing production costs or planning future investments, the Observatory helps mining professionals navigate the complexities of the raw materials market with confidence.

Hannukainen Mining Explores the Beneficiation Potential of Cobalt and Rare Earth Elements

By Elina Friman, Hannukainen Mining

Hannukainen Mining participates in the OPTIMINER project, which aims to explore the beneficiation potential of cobalt and rare earth elements (REEs) from IOCG-type ore. The project as a whole plays a key role in developing innovative methods for recovering critical raw materials essential to Europe’s industrial and technological resilience.

During the current phase of OPTIMINER, the focus has been on preparing for pilot beneficiation and test mining.

This stage involves a comprehensive review of existing mineralogical data on cobalt and REEs, alongside the exploration of theoretical beneficiation possibilities for these elements. In addition, samples have been provided to OPTIMINER consortium partners for further studies.

A major aspect of the project centers on optimizing water circulation and minimizing waste, with particular attention to tailings management. By optimizing the beneficiation process, the goal is to improve overall process efficiency and reduce the generation of waste streams.

Hannukainen Mining is currently in the permitting phase for the Kolari Mine project in northern Finland.

The operation aims to produce iron concentrate as well as copper-gold concentrate — contributing to Europe’s supply of critical and strategic raw materials.

The potential recovery of cobalt and REEs adds a valuable dimension to this goal, further advancing the region’s self-sufficiency in critical resources and contributing to the responsible development of the European mining sector.

Learn more about the use cases of the OPTIMINER project by visiting the dedicated project page. 

OPTIMINER Consortium Charts a Clear Path Forward During Online Month 6 Meeting

By Eleni Natsi, CORE Innovation Centre (CORE IC)

Following the successful kick-off meeting in Athens hosted by project coordinator I-SENSEGroup/ICCS, the OPTIMINER consortium reconvened virtually for its Month 6 meeting to assess progress, align on next steps, and solidify plans for the months ahead.

This online session served as a comprehensive check-in on all project activities and demo cases, offering each partner the opportunity to present updates from the past six months and outline planning for the next phase. Central to the agenda was a detailed review of each Work Package (WP), highlighting both the methodologies applied and the specific milestones set for the remainder of the year.

As the meeting drew to a close, proposals from the Steering Committees were discussed and  the consortium outlined clear conclusions and key takeaways for all partners. Planning for the next six months was consolidated, with a focus on coordination between work packages, streamlined reporting, and enhanced communication across teams.

The wrap-up session emphasized continued alignment with OPTIMINER’s mission: advancing sustainable and digital mining operations in Europe through innovation, data-driven tools, and cross-sector collaboration.

Stay tuned for more updates as the project continues to evolve!

OPTIMINER project kicks off in Athens to advance sustainable mining

By Eleni Natsi, CORE Innovation Centre (CORE IC)

The OPTIMINER project officially launched with a two-day kick-off meeting in Athens, Greece, hosted by coordinator I-SENSE Group/ICCS. The event brought together 21 partners from 8 countries to align on goals and strategy for this ambitious initiative aimed at revolutionising Europe’s mining sector.

OPTIMINER focuses on the sustainable and efficient recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) like magnesium, tungsten, neodymium, copper, and cobalt through five innovative modules: REMINER, DIGIMINER, ECOMINER, DEMOMINER, and GLOBEMINER. These cover everything from AI-powered CRM recovery and smart digital monitoring to real-world pilots and global outreach.

With a €7.29 million budget over four years, OPTIMINER will combine advanced technologies and real-use case implementations across Europe and Chile to support greener, more resilient mining practices.

Dive into more details about this exciting project in this blog post by one of our consortium partners, CORE Innovation Centre (CORE IC).