EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) is pleased to announce the launching of the Geological Service for Europe (GSEU) project, which will directly support the vision of European Green Deal, focusing on our Earth and what lies within its subsurface – energy, water, minerals. The GSEU’s key objective is to develop and make permanently available a pan-European geological data infrastructure and related information services for the sustainable and safe use of our subsurface and its resources. The GSEU is envisioned as an entry point to a permanent collaborative network of European Geological Survey organisations, the national and regional custodians of subsurface data and information. It will provide European institutions, enterprises, academics and citizens with up-to-date information about the Earth, aggregated at the EU level. The GSEU consortium comprises 48 partner organisations from 36 European countries (including both national and regional Geological Survey Organisations and associated partners). The project will run for five years starting September 1, 2022, and is largely funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe programme, with additional funding from the Geological Surveys of Europe, to a total of €24M. Click here to view/download the press release...

The project “Building EU-Africa Partnerships on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chain”, or AfricaMaVal for short, is funded by the European Commission and is part of the Horizon Europe programme. AfricaMaVal launched on the 1st of June 2022. The project kick-off meeting was held on the 23rd and 24th of June 2022 in Windhoek, Namibia. AfricaMaVal aims to develop EU-Africa partnerships by ensuring responsible mineral sourcing for the European industry, while providing for a sustainable local co-development in the best Environmental, Social, and Governance conditions and creating a long-term business environment for European and African companies. AfricaMaVal is a 42-months project gathering 18 partners from 11 countries. It is coordinated by BRGM, the French Geological Survey, and a worldwide reference for Earth Science Application. The consortium gathers African and European experienced organizations, associations, and networks deeply anchored and involved in the critical raw material domain with specific expertise, and knowledge. For more insights about AfricaMaVal, find the press release...

It was an important week for PanAfGeo-2, enhancing partnerships and future collaborations. On Friday, July 9th, EuroGeoSurveys (EGS), the Organisation of African Geological Surveys (OAGS), and the French Geological Survey (BRGM) jointly met with the African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals, H.E. Albert Muchanga, to strengthen future collaboration. On Monday, July 12th, representatives of PanAfGeo-2 visited the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development of Zambia. Representatives included Céline Andrien, Director of EGS; Phyllis Mbayi Nkhazi, MADI Zambia office representative; Paul C.C. Kabuswe from Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development, Zambia; and Frank Dixon Mugyenyi, Chief Executive Chairman of Minerals Africa Development Institution (MADI). The group presented the PanAfGeo-2 project, alongside the newly launched AfricaMaVal Project, which will develop EU-Africa partnerships to ensure the responsible sourcing of mineral resources for European industry. Discussions were held to support future collaborations for PanAfGeo-2. Click here to view/download this report (PDF). For more information about the meetings, view the press release published on the PanAfGeo...

EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) will be holding its 50th anniversary event in October 2022. The event celebrates the long collaboration between 37 European geological surveys with an overall workforce of several thousand experts, which make up the membership of EGS. During the anniversary celebration events, EuroGeoSurveys will honour their past work and look to the future as they continue to collaborate in developing a path towards a Geological Service for Europe. On the theme of collaboration for the anniversary celebrations, EGS is inviting young geoscientists based in Europe to share their opinions on how they see collaboration in European geoscience in the future. These ideas should be shared in a one-minute video abstract. The winning entry will receive funding to attend the 50th anniversary event on the 27th of October and the opportunity to deliver a ten-minute presentation to industry, political and geoscientific leaders from Europe and beyond. Click here to view/download the EGS 50th Anniversary – Young Geoscientist Competition press...

The annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is the premier event of the world’s mineral exploration and mining industry. The 90th PDAC took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from June 13th-15th. The 17,000 attendees, 1,100 exhibitors and 2,400 investors took part in exhibits, events, and programming. The online convention platform will be open from June 28th – 29th and is available 24 hours a day, providing access to exhibits, sessions, entertainment, and networking platforms. EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) was present in the European Commission’s booth, promoting EGS Member Surveys, Expert Groups and Projects. The European Commission booth also hosted European Commission initiatives and representatives such as the European Raw Materials Alliance and EIT Raw Materials, projects from Horizon Europe (the EU research programme for research and innovation) and EU member states. Click here to view/download the EGS PDAC 2022...

The PanAfGeo community is delighted to announce the official launch of the second phase of the PanAfGeo project, at an online meeting on 25th – 26th November 2021. PanAfGeo Phase 2 builds on the success of Phase 1, a training programme implementing the transfer of knowledge between European and African Geological Surveys and institutional strengthening of African national administrations in charge of geology and mining. The project will continue to serve as a reference of a continental scale partnership and development project in the field of geosciences. PanAfGeo-2 is implemented through a project consortium, coordinated by BRGM, the Geological Survey of France, including 11 European Geological Surveys and EuroGeoSurveys (EGS), together with the Organisation of African Geological Surveys (OAGS) and national Geological Surveys of Africa. The project supports the training of geoscientific staff from African Geological Surveys through a diverse range of innovative training methods on a variety of geoscientific and governance related topics. The opening meeting, held online on 25th – 26th November 2021, included approximately 70 representatives from across Europe and Africa, representing some 50 African and European countries. Attendees included some of the main contributors to the project work packages, representatives of Geological Surveys in Europe and Africa, UNESCO, the African Union Commission, the European Union, and other stakeholders. The panel reiterated the need for ongoing strong partnership between the EU and the African national geological surveys, and were united in their praise for the community that has been created and the advances that have been made during Phase 1 of the project. The many successes of the project so far were highlighted, as well as the urgency required in tackling many of the issues that still remain in the continent, in particular the participation of women and children in the...

From 15th to 19th November 2021, key policy makers, industrial players, and a wide range of stakeholders engaged in discussions during the “Raw Materials Week” 2021 edition, hosted yearly by the European Commission. In this context, and as a partner of the H2020 project SCRREEN2, EuroGeoSurveys took part in the “4th EU Critical Raw Materials” event, organized in collaboration with DG GROW on 15th November. The event aimed at raising awareness about the necessity of critical raw materials, reducing dependencies on strategic raw materials with improvements in their circularity which should be reflected in a far more robust European Circular Economy agenda and the inclusion of sustainable raw materials into the Just Transition agenda. In the same week, SCRREEN 2 kicked off a communication campaign to disseminate key messages  and reach wider audiences and networks. For more insights about the events hosted, the activities and objectives behind, please read the following...

The EU funded SCRREEN2 project has recently launched a multilingual campaign aiming at raise awareness on raw materials. The “Raw Materials for Future” campaign will address the EU institutions, industries, professionals and the general public, and inform them about the benefits these materials possess and the key role they play for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 by the United Nations along with EU climate and energy policy objectives. The campaign will explore the variety of raw materials, with special regard to the critical ones, and explain how they will contribute to the SDGs and the green transition. It will be available in six languages and the main messages and graphics will be published in the SCRREEN website and on its social media channels ( LinkedIn SCRREEN, and Twitter accounts @SCRREEN_EU) using the #RawMaterials4Future tag. More information is available in the press release. The SCRREEN2 EU funded project SCRREEN2 is an EU-funded project that aims to support the European CRM strategy and bring expert advice to assist decision-making at the EU level covering all the raw materials and their value chains screened in the CRMs 2020 assessment. The project, launched on 1 November 2020 and coordinated by CEA, comprises 29 recognised key actors, including EIT RawMaterials, on the topics of primary and secondary CRMs as well as on the substitution of...

The final review meeting of the International Network of Raw Materials Training Centres (INTERMIN) Horizon 2020 Project took place virtually on 24th September 2021. The INTERMIN Consortium gathered online to meet up with their European Commission (EC) Project Officer and Reviewer for a final evaluation of the project work and results. The meeting marked the end of the fourty-two months long project, which was officially closed in August this year. In an open atmosphere, the different INTERMIN work package leaders presented work package progress, results, and proposals for future development of the topics, and discussed them with the EC representatives. Additionally, the sustainability plan of the INTERMIN Project and the INTERMIN Portal were deliberated during the meeting. Therefore, despite the official project end, the INTERMIN Portal will still be maintained and will remain accessible to everyone for free. The outcomes of the INTERMIN Project: The INTERMIN Project has developed a roadmap for enhancing education and the development of skills and knowledge in the raw materials sector. Through its Portal, INTERMIN has created an international qualifications framework for the raw materials education and training sector – the first of its kind worldwide – defining knowledge and skills levels for different courses on exploration, extraction, processing and recycling of raw materials. The project covers a global audience of approximately 550,000 professionals from 5 continents. As an added value, the project created two networks of post grade training and educational centers, a European one (GUIDE) and a global one (INTERMIN), both accessible online for free. Prof. Manuel Regueiro y González Barros, Coordinator of the INTERMIN Project, commented that “the INTERMIN portal allows users to perform easy searches of the more adequate training through the widely available study programs”. More key findings of the project are available in...

EuroGeoSurveys is pleased to announce the start of Dr. Julie Hollis’ mandate as Secretary General today. In this role, Julie takes over the day-to-day operational management and administration of EGS and its Secretariat, increasing contact and collaboration with the European Union Institutions and agencies, particularly the European Commission, and representing the best interests of the EGS Members, the national Geological Surveys of Europe. Upon her arrival at the EGS Secretariat, Julie held an introduction speech and concluded: “I am very happy to be in person in the Brussels office and I look forward to diving into the business of EGS”. Julie is passionate about both geology and about communicating science. For the past twenty years, she has worked in leading roles in government geoscience in Greenland, Denmark and Australia, managing geological mapping and regional geoscience programs to promote mineral exploration investment. She has a PhD in Geology and a Masters in Science Communication and Public Engagement from the University of...