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.
