Monthly Archives: October 2019

ISMC projects’ platform


Last Tuesday, October 8 the ISMC members came together at the Technological Park of León to launch a new platform dedicated to promoting new innovation projects and technological services for the sustainable mining value chain. Néstor Coronado, Business Development Director of EIT RawMaterials, was invited to the event, as representative of one of the main European institutions in the field of raw materials and mining. ISMC plans to engage in several innovation, training and entrepreneurship projects with this institution in the short term.

In the last few months, the different work groups of the Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster (ISMC) have been drafting the main lines of research and topics in which the cluster industrial members are more interested. With this event, all these interests come together and configure the future collaborations and common projects of the cluster.

The projects’ platform will contribute to advance in the cluster objective of boosting competitiveness and sustainable growth among its members. Special guests in this event were Nestor Coronado, Business Development Director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology for Raw Materials (EIT RawMaterials), Sergio Torres, Sales Manager and blockchain specialist at the blockchain technology company SIGNE_Block, and Juan Suárez, GMV Business Development Director.

The EIT RawMaterials representative talked about current business opportunities in Europe in the field of mining and raw materials, including projects promoted by the EIT itself under the so-called Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC). These communities bring together key stakeholders such as SMEs, large companies, public and private investors, technology centres, universities and governments to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship around various priority topics, including raw materials.

The cluster managing board will ensure that all the resources needed will be mobilized so that ISMC members become part of these Knowledge and Innovation Communities, particularly promoting the participation of SMEs in the key forums of the European ecosystem. The event was an excellent opportunity to share the main needs, challenges and technologies at stake and the strategy to materialise these ideas in concrete short-term projects.

The invited companies, SIGNE_Block, expert in integral digital solutions for the industry based on blockchain technology, and GMV, a leading business group in technological and engineering solutions for sectors as diverse as aeronautics, finance and defence, will also contribute to set up many of these future projects. Both companies showcased their technological services and the opportunities these services entail for the entire mining and raw materials value chains.

The event was key to promote multidisciplinary collaboration and cooperation between ISMC members, as well as with important European actors and entities through the EIT RawMaterials and KIC Communities. Santiago Cuesta, ISMC general director, pointed out the relevance of this day for the objectives of the cluster: “The cluster’s project platform will have an essential role in the development of new technological and innovation capabilities for the ISMC companies, especially for SMEs in the sector. Our solid international presence will be key to position the cluster members among the most important European networks on mining and raw materials.”


The ISMC attended the Mining and Minerals Hall

The Mining and Minerals Hall (MMH) is the world meeting that gathers the present and future knowledge of mining. Seville Conference and Exhibition Centre (FIBES) hosted this meeting for professionals of the mining industry from all over the world between October 15 and 17. It was an excellent opportunity to share experiences and the latest trends in raw materials and mining. ICAMCyL team attended this event with a two-fold goal: represent the Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster (ISMC) and showcase the ISMC’s members activities in the development of new technologies for sustainable mining.

Our colleagues Marta Alonso, mining engineer and researcher at ICAMCyL, Elena Fernández, project manager at ISMC and Santiago Cuesta, general director of both ICAMCyL and ISMC travelled last month to Seville. They could exchange experiences and knowledge with many attendees who approached our booth and also attended some of the many parallel sessions organised around the latest advances in mining, innovation, sustainability and latest news in the sector.


The day before the start of MMH, the OECD held the ‘Workshop of the OECD Regions and Mining Cities’, an event that also involved the Regional Government of Andalusia and MIREU project partners. The objective of this event was to provide an adequate platform for national and regional governments, industry, universities and other organizations to develop better regional policies addressed to the extractive industry. In this workshop, ISMC’s director, Santiago Cuesta, was part of a panel dedicated to exchange international experiences of local and regional pilot projects and programmes. He talked about the relevance of the Smart Specialization Strategies (RIS3), as well as the main strategies and objectives of MIREU, the H2020 project for building cooperation between the mining and metallurgy regions of the EU.

During the MMH events, we actively participated in the roundtable ‘Circular Economy Opportunities for the mining industry’ held on Wednesday, October 16 as part of the technical conferences within MMH. This session, moderated by Vicente Gutiérrez, CEO at CONFEDEM, highlighted the essential role of the extractive industry as a supplier of key raw materials for resource efficiency, energy transition and sustainable development. In this regard, the integration of the circular economy in extractive activities was pointed out as crucial for mining waste management, reduction of hazardous waste; development of new processing technologies; and optimisation of water consumption thanks to increased recycling rates.


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