Marcoule, 19 December 2014 – An international group of leading actors in the mining and recycling sector met in Marcoule, France, on 16-17 December to sign the formal constitution for the creation of PROMETIA: the Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy and Recycling Innovation Association.
The initial 18 members that came together comprise industry, SMEs, research organisations and academic bodies:
1. Amphos 21 (Spain)
2. BRGM (France)
3. CEA (France)
4. Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden)
5. Delft University (the Netherlands)
6. ENSCP Paristech (France)
7. GTK (Finland)
8. ICSM (France)
9. IDENER (Spain)
10. IMN (Poland)
11. INP Toulouse (France)
12. Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland)
13. National Technical University of Athens (Greece)
14. Swerea MEFOS AB (Sweden)
15. Tasman Metals (Sweden)
16. University of Kaiserslautern (Germany)
17. Vale (Brazil)
18. VTT (Finland)
Launched at the initiative of the CEA, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, this international non-profit association is focused on strengthening European technical skills and industrial know-how in raw materials processing and on supporting industrial and economic development through collaboration.
Raw materials are essential elements in today’s industrial production and are crucial for the sustainable functioning of our economy. Used in microprocessors, smartphones, LCD screens, batteries, low energy light bulbs and alternative energy production tools such as solar panels or windmills, raw materials are an intrinsic part of our daily lives and the industry demand is growing at impressive rates. Strategic economic sectors in Europe, such as the automotive, aerospace and renewable energy industries highly depend on them.
They are called critical when their high economic importance is combined with a high risk associated with their supply. This is mainly due to the fact that a great share of the worldwide production is concentrated in a few countries.
For the past decade, many European countries have realised how dependent they have become on foreign imports to access these raw materials, which represents a major threat to Europe’s industry and global competitiveness. Today’s challenge lies in securing its supplies at affordable prices to maintain manufacturing industries and supporting the necessary development of technologies in a sustainable way.
PROMETIA has been created to provide a single, coherent body to promote technical skills and industrial know-how in raw materials processing, and support industrial and economic growth. It gathers in the same association diverse players from industry, research organisations, academia, and technology demonstration platforms involved in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy for clean and affordable mining and recycling of raw materials.
By enhancing the link between its members, the Association aims to stimulate the development of innovative, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable technological solutions to optimise and improve raw materials and waste treatment. It will also contribute to enhance EU skills in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy of ores and industrial residues, and in the longer term, boost the innovation capacity of the EU raw materials sectors through building a knowledge base and training the future generation.
PROMETIA is open to any research or industrial organisation interested in critical raw material issues and aiming to improve the link between R&D, industry and demonstration platforms in order to efficiently answer industrial needs and therefore support the development of the European industry and economy.
The CEA’s Marcoule research centre in the south of France, chosen for this first PROMETIA meeting, is a reference in the field of separative chemistry for nuclear and non-nuclear applications. The construction of a European Institute of Hydrometallurgy in Marcoule is due in 2015. This unique tool will address the industry’s needs for pre-industrial testing of innovative extracting and recycling processes.
PROMETIA background
PROMETIA is the result of the EUROPEM Commitment, an initiative selected by the EC European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials, which aims to raise industry’s contribution to the EU GDP to around 20% by 2020. The EIP on Raw Materials will also play an important role in meeting the objectives of the EC flagship initiatives ‘Innovation Union’ and ‘Resource Efficient Europe’, by ensuring the sustainable supply of raw materials to the European economy whilst increasing benefits for society as a whole.