Raw Materials Students Internships
Duration: 07/2019 – 12/2022
RAISE gives access to secondary school students at internships within research laboratories/companies operating in the Raw Materials sector. RAISE tackles a carrier guidance demand originated within the schools, making youngsters aware of the career opportunities in the field, offering them tools allowing an informed university studies engagement into Raw Materials related disciplines. Motivated pupils access two/three week internships focused on exploration, circular economy, substitution of critical raw materials and recycling.
This project is offering pupils a first but immersive direct contact with the raw materials sector, giving them a flavor of its real world in order to facilitate their informed and committed engagement into studies of raw materials related disciplines.
Partner: Montanuniversität Leoben (RIC Leoben), Alma Mater Studiorum – Universita di Bologna, Bay Zoltan Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), ERION, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, KTH (Royal Institute of Technology), TREEE Srl, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), Università degli Studi di Milano – Bicocca
Revitalising Post-Mining Regions: Problems and Potential in RIS Europe
Mining by its very nature disturbs the land and has a significant influence on what the post-mining landscape and land use becomes. Traditional reclamation practices have been, in the case of formally rehabilitated sites, to return the land to as much of an original condition as possible. In cases of abandoned or mine sites that received minimal or no formal rehabilitation efforts, this becomes more problematic. The locally affected community has the closest attachment to these landscapes and it is their best interest to be part of the decision-making process; one that considers the social, economic and biophysical implications of any closure and rehabilitation plan. For example, the local community may want to retain some of the man-made aspects of the mine site (e.g. pits or waste dumps) for their aesthetic or recreational value and to promote tourism as secondary land use. The key is the active participation and the extension of the Social Licence to Operate through mine closure and site rehabilitation and for them to play an active role in the ultimate post-mining landscape and land use.
Project website: https://www.taltech.ee/en/post-mining-regions
01/2020 – 12/2021
EIT RawMaterials – RM Academy
Montanuniversität Leoben (Partner), AGH University of Science and Technology, AMPHOS21 Consulting SL, ECHMES Ltd., KGHM, National Technical University of Athens, Tallinn University of Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
RIC Leoben – Susanne Feiel
Total: € 1.025.770
Montanuniversität Leoben: € 133.006
Raw Materials Students Internships in East South-East Europe
Duration: 07/2018 – 12/2021
RAISESEE “Raw Materials Students Internships in East South-East Europe” project is the extension of RAISE project with special focus on countries in East and South-East Europe. The goal is to develop hands-on internships in working environments for secondary schools students. The mix of basic training in lab/industry safety rules, Raw Material related themes and of hands-on stages in “real world” research institutes, universities and industries will help students toward an informed choice of their university studies, allowing pupils to match their expectations and talents with the opportunities offered by the stakeholders in different Raw Materials sectors. A specific task of RAISESEE will also be the inclusion of several partners from ESEE area as active actors in training activities.
Partner: Montanuniversität Leoben (RIC Leoben), Dnipro University of Technology (NMU Ukraine), Association of Technology Engineers of Republic of Srpska, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, HYdrogen for Development of Environmental Projects, Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, BAS (IOCCP BAS), National Institute of Materials Physics Bucharest, Politecnico di Milano, Tallinn University of Technology, University of Banja Luka, University of Oulu
ESEE Scholarships
Duration: 01/2020 – 12/2021
TrainESEE v.2 is a capacity building project focused at six Universities of East and South Eastern Europe. Targeted universities lack modern teaching methodology, and areas of training that need to be further developed include project development and management, innovative and entrepreneurial skills and science to business competences. These are some of the main reasons for lower performing in science and teaching and lower ranking of the Universities at the World University Rankings. Final consequences are that graduates from those Universities have lower innovation and entrepreneurial skills, and have weaker impact and starting positions in the industry compared to the European average.
The 2-year project is focused on the academic staff of these universities. Four training modules will be developed: Teaching methodology; Project preparation and management; Innovation and entrepreneurial and Science to Business. Each participating RIS university will collaborate in preparation of the acceleration programmes. These programmes are planned to last continuously for minimum of 3 years after the implementation, increasing the percentage of the trained academic staff to >50% at each of the “Training” universities.
Partner: Montanuniversität Leoben (RIC Leoben), Aalto University, AGH University of Science and Technology, Dnipro University of Technology, Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation, KGHM Cuprum Ltd. Research & Development Centre, National Technical University of Athens, Technical University of Kosice, Technische Universität Wien, University of Mining and Geology St. Ivan Rilski, University of Miskolc, University of Zagreb
Learning the uses of minerals through non-conventional and digital tools
Duration: 01/2020 – 12/2021
The 3D BRIEFCASE Project seeks to bring mineral raw materials and mining closer to society. Its ultimate goal is that citizens from an early age and students, get to know and understand from where the mineral products they use in daily life come from, what minerals can be found in their environment, and how our daily purchasing decisions affect the social environment of the people who live in countries with mineral resources exploitation.
During the first part of the project, BRIEFCASEs are developed covering sensitive aspects of the mining activities and focusing on primary school pupils to students (6-14 years old) and their teachers, including virtual material (web) compiling all these materials to offer an interactive tool that can be self-used by pupils.
The second part of the project, 3D BRIEFCASE, proposes to improve the virtual tool into an augmented reality (AR) application to attract students up to 18 years old and to adapt the tool for a 3D-application for permanent use in science museums and educational centres, and for private use of the general public.
Partner: Montanuniversität Leoben (RIC Leoben), CSIC (Spanish National Research Council), Coventry University, European Association of Mining Industries, Metal Ores & Industrial Minerals (EUROMINES), Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Gomez Pardo Foundation, Magnesitas Navarras S.A., Monolithos Ltd, Technical University of Kosice, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Università degli Studi di Milano – Bicocca, ZAG (Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute)
Teaching raw materials to primary schools with gamification
Duration: 01/2020 – 12/2021
As increasing world demand for raw materials is facing stronger public concerns on health and environmental issues there arises the need for a better targeted dissemination of knowledge and information, thus enforcing public awareness of the problem. To work towards public awareness, we must start early by increasing knowledge and interest about raw materials and geology – already in primary school. By targeting primary schools we also reach the public as a whole – through children, their parents and their teachers.
BetterGeoEdu 2.0 is a project that targets primary schools to work with wider society learning for raw materials. BetterGeoEdu will develop educational material about raw materials using BetterGeo – a modification of the immensely popular game Minecraft. Cooperation with teachers, museums, geoparks, and activity centres will result in train-the-trainer programmes as well as freely available exercises and instructions for teachers. BetterGeoEdu brings a unique and innovative way of teaching raw materials to primary schools using an already well-known and loved game.
Partner: Montanuniversität Leoben (RIC Leoben), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Geological Survey of Slovenia, Geological Survey of Sweden, Tallinn University of Technology, Trinity College Dublin, Technical University of Madrid, Université de Liège
Certification of Raw Materials
Unlike other sectors such as forestry, the food sector or the textile sector, there is no general and comprehensive certification of mineral resources. The up-scaling project CERA is developing a new certification scheme for mineral raw materials. CERA consists of eight work packages in which the DMT and its partners (LTU Business, University of Leiden, Montanuniversität Leoben and TÜV Nord CERT) form a close working group.
The following characteristics are required for the certification of raw materials:
• Competence in exploration, production and processing of mineral resources
• Experience in the certification process
• Management of a network to enterprises in the value chain of mineral resources
The knowledge and skills gained at DIM aim at increasing the employability of mining engineers. In the long run, the program will lead to an increase in sustainable mining and processing activities, which will result in economic growth and the creation of employment in respective countries.
Output
The targeted output of this innovation work can best be described by means of, for example the certification of coffee or tea. It is known that certified producers showed substantial improvements in performance in comparison with non-certified producers. Coffee producers named main benefits of certification such as the reduction in production costs, a better price for the product, quality improvements of the product, access to new markets, environmental improvements, better cost management of the production, traceability of the production process, and most importantly improvements of working conditions. These benefits, amongst others, are also the focus of the certification of mineral resources. Additionally, an improvement in the image of certified producers as well as increasing sales could be possible advantages of a label for mineral resources.
https://www.cera-standard.org/
Duration: 01/2017 – 06/2021
Partner: Montanuniversität Leoben (Chair of Geology and Economic Geology), DMT, Leiden University, LTU Business, CONFEDEM (Mining and Metallurgical Company Association), RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), TüV Nord Cert, Savannah Resources
Enhancing the skills of ESEE RM students towards the AchievemenT of SDGs
Duration: 01/2020 – 12/2021
The project consortium of “ENhancing the skills for the AChievemenT of SDGs”, EnAct-SDGs, will cooperate in order to develop an Action Plan that will act as a driver to modernize the RM education practices to ensure the incorporation of the Sustainable Development principles in the educational programmes of the ESEE Universities, strengthen the skills and increase the capacity of University graduates and RM professionals.
During the project a number of actions will take place and methodological tools will be adopted so as: (a) to build a dynamic self-sustained network between the Industry, Academia, Researchers and Professionals of the RM sector; (b) to initially assess the existing Educational programmes of the Beneficiary Universities; (c) to take into account the needs and views of the stakeholders from the RM network, Policy makers and NGOs; (d) to identify the areas that need improvement; (e) propose a road map for the modernization of the educational programs of the Beneficiary Universities that could be then transferred as a Best practice to other Universities of the ESEE Region; (f) to organize pilot activities for the implementation of the new proposals.
The EnAct-SDGs project will cooperate with the existing and developing ecosystems of different EIT RM Innovation (RC Leoben and RC Freiberg) and RIS (RCGREECE and RCKOSICE) HUBs represented by the Consortium. The RM industry has already expressed their interest in the project implementation through their Letter of Intent.
Partner: Montanuniversität Leoben (RIC Leoben), AGH University of Science and Technology, Employers’ Organization of Polish Copper, GREEK MINING ENTERPRISES ASSOCIATION (GMEA), Hub Innovazione Trentino – Fondazione (HIT), MYTILINEOS S.A., National Technical University of Athens – NTUA, Panhellenic Association of Graduate Mining and Metallurgical Engineers ( PSDMMM), Technical University of Kosice, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), The National Technology Platform for Research, Development and Innovation of Raw Materials, Università degli Studi di Trento
Initiated by the EIT RawMaterials Regional Center Leoben at Montanuniversität Leoben in Austria, the ESEE Dialogue Conferences aim to foster an international community in the raw materials sector by converging relevant stakeholders from industry, research and education in East and South East Europe. The ESEE Dialogue Conferences is a major raw materials conference series for East and South East Europe, which has successfully addressed issues in the raw materials sector in eight countries in the last four years. Integration into the EIT RawMaterials community, policy framework, education development, resource efficiency and innovation along the raw materials life cycle are the main topics of the conferences.
Raw materials are vital for future technologies and will continue to play a major role in the development of solutions for present challenges. For example, great challenges such as the shift to renewable energy can only be reached via innovative technologies dependent on the use of materials. Rising demand and need for sustainable supply in Europe are to be balanced. The aim of the EIT RawMaterials is to take action and develop raw materials into a major strength for Europe.
In this context, the region East and South East Europe (ESEE) is of particular interest to the EIT RawMaterials, due to its unique geological potential and unique potential on secondary raw materials, which also makes it highly relevant with regard to the European Raw Materials Strategy. Furthermore, a significant number of business idea holders relevant to the overall objectives of EIT RawMaterials are coming from this region.
Outlook
With many successful conferences and an established network of ESEE partners, we will continue our efforts and use our experience of the last years to enhance the involvement of the ESEE region. Albania is planned as the next ESEE DC location. In the course of the last conferences the organisational team has worked hard to create and organize top networking opportunities for future collaboration within the EIT RawMaterials. For example, more and more interactive activities such as real-time voting, workshops and round tables where included into the agenda to enhance the conference experience. We will pursue these efforts further and are sure that we are on the right track to generate inspiring and successful conferences.
Furthermore, we have widened our target group and now generally plan an education workshop with hands-on experiments for students. To connect young minds to raw material related topics is extremely valuable for the development of the sector. If we do not have interested bright minds, the chances of developing innovation for the raw material sector is low. Therefore, we actively include students and hope to spark interest in them to become engineers of the future, who will drive innovation and the development of the sector.
Duration: 1/2017 – 12/2020
Montanuniversität Leoben (RIC Leoben, Lead), Geological Survey of Slovenia, Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, University of Zagreb;
Rare earth reduction in high performance permanent magnet electric machines
The highest torque densities for motors in EV vehicles are obtained with Neodymium (Nd) magnets. But Nb is considered to be a critical material for Europe due to two reasons:
• The forecast of the demand predicts that it will exceed the production in the following years
• The production is out of Europe
This is why it is extremely interesting to look for alternatives to these magnets based on material which are not as critical as Nd. In this context, implementation of Cerium (Ce) substituted alloys could alleviate the need for Nd raw material up to 6-10 %. However, Ce-based magnets are known to be less performant than Nd magnets, therefore, it becomes mandatory to redesign electrical machinery in order to optimize the implementation of these new magnets.
In LowReeMotors projects, two different electrical machines will be designed, manufactured and tested based on Ce magnets that will substitute an existing equivalent Nd based motors.
The design will be developed focusing for mass production. In that way, the aim of the project is to develop two new motor products based on that topology,
Duration: 01/2020 – 12/2022
Partner: Montanuniversität Leoben (Chair of Polymer Processing), French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, KU Leuven, Magneti Ljubljana d.d., MONDRAGON GOI ESKOLA POLITEKNIKOA S. COOP., Valeo Powertrain Systems
Mining and Metallurgy Regions of EU
MIREU aims to establish a network of mining and metallurgy regions across Europe. As mining projects are carried out at regional and local levels, regions are key actors in ensuring a continued supply of mineral raw materials to the European economy. The MIREU project will bring together mining and metallurgy regions from across Europe to work together on improving the conditions for sustainable access and supply of raw materials in the EU.
The MIREU consortium is comprised of 30 partners of which 17 are regions from all around Europe.
The project outcomes will be gathered in an online MIREU Knowledge Portal, that will be freely accessible during the lifetime of the project. To guarantee the continuation of the network, a Council of Mining and Metallurgy European Regions is established to carry on the activities.
Duration: 01/2018 – 04/2021
Partner: Montanuniversität Leoben (RIC Leoben), AGH Krakow, Business Joensuu, CCDR, Cornwall Council, Energy Management Agency of Maramures, ERRIN, Exploration and Mining Division of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, NOVA University of Lisbon, GKZ Freiberg, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, General Directorate of Energy and Mine-Spain, et.al.
Advanced Rock Engineering Education for Deep Mines
Duration: 01/2018 – 03/2021
The continuing education programme “Advanced Rock Engineering for Deep Mines” addresses the shortage of rock engineering personnel in the European mining industry. The emphasis of the education programme is on the application of rock engineering principles in the mining industry in order to make deep mining operations safer and more efficient. It provides the participants with the basic knowledge and skills required to address and solve practical rock engineering problems.
This education programme is directed at mines, governmental organizations responsible for supervision of mining activities, consulting companies in the field of mining, having to deal with rock pressure problems, and personnel employed in the mining industry. The programme comprises eight compulsory and four elective modules.
Montanuniversität Leoben (Chair of Mining Engineering and Mineral Economics, Lead), GEODATA Ziviltechnikergesellschaft mbH, KGHM Cuprum Ltd. Research & Development Centre, Silesian University of Technology, SANIRE South African National Institute of Rock Engineering, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), TU Clausthal, University of Queensland, Veitsch-Radex GmbH & Co KG, Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten AG, Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik Wien
Im Gegensatz zu anderen Sektoren wie der Forstwirtschaft, dem Lebensmittelsektor oder der Textilbranche besteht noch keine allgemeine und umfassende Zertifizierung mineralischer Rohstoffe. Das up-scaling Projekt CERA befasst sich mit der Entwicklung eines neuen Zertifizierungsschemas für mineralische Rohstoffe. CERA besteht aus acht Arbeitspaketen, in denen die DMT und ihre Partner (LTU Business, Universität Leiden, Montanuniversität Leoben und der TÜV Nord CERT) eine enge Arbeitsgemeinschaft bilden.
Bei der Zertifizierung von Rohstoffen sind die folgenden Eigenschaften erforderlich:
CERA
CERA – Certification of Raw Materials
01/2017 – 12/2020
EIT RawMaterials – Upscaling
MUL (Partner), DMT, TÜV NORD CERT, University Leiden, Advisory Board, Joint Research Centre, Fairphone, University of British Columbia, University of Southern Denmark, Euromines
Lehrstuhl für Geologie und Lagerstättenlehre – Frank Melcher
Total: € 1.444.178
MUL: € 261.963
SLIM plant die Entwicklung kosteneffektiver und nachhaltiger selektiver Bergbaumethoden basierend auf nichtlinearen Gesteinslösungsmodellen mittels Sprengtechnik. Die Lösung soll mithilfe neuer Sprengstoffe und einer neuen Spreng-Software welche auf Daten aus Gesteinsanalyse-Fragmentierungsmodellen zurückgreift optimale Fragmentierung, minimale Sprengschäden am Gestein und geringe Vibrationen erreichen. Die Weiterentwicklung der Lösungsmethoden wird über lange Sicht die Kosten und den Umwelteinfluss senken und die Akzeptanz in der Bevölkerung erhöhen. Die MUL war wesentlich an der Projekterstellung beteiligt, was sich auch über den größten Anteil an der Gesamtförderung zeigt und ist zudem Projektleiter des Arbeitspaketes „Umweltverträglichkeit und Sicherheit“, aber auch in den anderen Arbeitsgebieten des Projektes maßgeblich beteiligt.
Slim
Slim – Sustainable Low Impact Mining solution for exploitation of small mineral deposits based on advanced rock blasting and environmental technologies
11/2016 – 10/2020
H2020
MUL , Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 3GSM Gmbh, Benito Arno E Hijos Sa, Bureau De Recherches Geologiques Et Minieres, Va Erzberg Gmbh, Investornet-Gate2growth Aps, Lulea Tekniska Universitet, Maxamcorp International Sl, Minpol Gmbh, Minera De Orgiva Sl, Technische Universitaet Graz, Zabala Innovation Consulting, S.A.
Lehrstuhl für Bergbaukunde – Finn Ouchterlony
Total: € 6,979,200.00
MUL: € 1,173,812.50