01 Dec PROMETIA’s 12th Scientific Seminar : A Two-Day Snapshot of Europe’s Thriving Raw Materials Research Community
Hosted in Naples, the seminar gathered researchers and industry experts from across Europe and beyond, showcasing the breadth of innovation happening within our community. Get a snapshot of the key discussions in the article below:
Day 1: Understanding the Raw Materials Landscape and Preparing for What Comes Next
The first day provided a wide-angle view of the challenges and opportunities in the raw materials ecosystem.
After a couple of opening remarks by our board and local hosts, the programme openedwith Nicola Mondillo (UNINA) offering insights into how Europe can better identify and characterise critical mineral resources. This perspective seamlessly connected to a pressing societal issue: mineral waste management. Stefano Puricelli (POLIMI), took the floor to highlight how future waste flows will contain significant critical raw materials (CRMs) that Europe must be ready to recover, taking the example of waste generation from the Italian energy transition.
A strong policy and international dimension followed. PROMETIA’s President, Stéphane Bourg (OFREMI), dissected the EU Raw Materials Value Chain challenges and the CRM Act, stressing the urgency of strengthening strategic autonomy. From across the Atlantic, Konstantin Volchek (Natural Resources Canada) presented Canada’s strategic vision for its raw materials ecosystem, opening our perspective to new possibilities. His presentation was followed by Witold Kurylak (IMN), outlining EIT RawMaterials current upscaling and piloting activities.
Education was also at the heart of the discussions: Maria Sinche-Gonzalez (OULU) presented PROMISE, an initiative tackling the shortage of skilled mineral processing engineers in Europe.
The day closed with a forward-looking session on Europe’s by-product potential, an area where innovative processing and recycling can unlock strategic resources. Insights from the 2025 Raw Materials Week were shared by Patrick d’Hugues (BRGM) and Stéphane Bourg (OFREMI), underlining the momentum building around circularity and industrial symbiosis.
Day 2: A Deep Dive into Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem
Scaling Up with METNET:
Day 2 opened with a focus on METNET’s role in advancing pilot-scale mineral and metallurgical processes
Alberto Olivo (ELKEM) shared results from the QUEEN project, showing how alternative raw materials can be agglomerated for more sustainable silicon production. Laurent Fraikin (CRM) introduced CRM Group’s new upscaling capabilities supporting industrial symbiosis in the steel and zinc sectors. Anne-Gwenaëlle Guezennec (BRGM) followed with insights into pilot-scale work on innovative biohydrometallurgical approaches for reprocessing mining waste.
Together, these presentations illustrated METNET’s ambition: to serve as a bridge between research excellence and industrial deployment.
Building Synergies with LabNET:
The programme then moved to a session dedicated to LabNET. Tadeusz Gorewoda (IMN) revisited the origins of the LabNET platform and its goal of strengthening cooperation among analytical laboratories.
This reminder set the scene for concrete examples of LabNET’s impact, and Christa Nimbona (ELKEM) showcased the SilRef project as an example of tangible benefits from the LabNET collaboration. Then, Witold Kurylak (IMN) presented ongoing work within the LabCEED project focused on advancing quality control.
The session concluded with Tadeusz Gorewoda (IMN) returning on stage to invite members to build the next chapter of LabNET : proposing to engage in new joint research proposals to expand LabNET’s collaborative activities.
A Snapshot of PROMETIA Thriving Research Community:
The final part of the day celebrated PROMETIA’s scientific vitality. Through a series of short but dense presentations, members shared research breadth within PROMETIA.
Contributions included Lena Sundqvist-Öqvist (LTU) on strengthening research on critical and strategic metals; Anne-Gwenaëlle Guezennec (BRGM) on hydrometallurgical processes within the PROMETHEE network; Thomas Abo Atia (KUL) on lithium recovery and zinc recovery routes; Christiana Oyinloye (OULU) on selective fragmentation; Andrzej Chmielarz (IMN) on recovering CRMs from low-grade sources; Reka Hajdu-Rahkama (VTT) on tailings valorisation; Gian Andrea Blengini (UNITO) on cobalt and magnet-material projects (METALLICO and NEOCYCLE); Eduardo Mateus (NOVA FCT) on electrodialytic lithium recovery; Nand Peeters (KUL) on solvent extraction of lithium; Anne-Sophie Gay (IFPEN) on high-throughput leaching; and Xianfeng Hu (SWERIM) on recovering CRMs from batteries.
These presentations offered a concise snapshot of the scientific dynamism driving the PROMETIA network forward.
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