Imagine trying to find a needle in a haystack, but the needle is buried deep underground. Instead of digging random holes, this project uses high-tech drones and cosmic particles to 'X-ray' the earth. It helps find essential metals for batteries and electronics without damaging the landscape.
Finding critical raw materials in Europe is slow and often faces public opposition. Traditional exploration is invasive and expensive, leading to high financial risks for mining companies.
A drone-based survey system (magnetic, radiometric, electromagnetic), a passive seismic survey system, and a muon-based density detection system.
If you are a mineral exploration firm dealing with high costs of unsuccessful drilling — this project developed a multi-sensing drone system that identifies lithium and cobalt deposits. This reduces the risk of drilling in the wrong spots across 4,700 km2 of terrain.
If you are a sustainability auditor dealing with local community opposition to mining — this project developed a SoftGIS database of social and environmental concerns. This allows you to create socio-economic potential maps to ensure mining is socially accepted.
If you are a surveying company dealing with outdated seismic equipment — this project developed a passive seismic survey system. This provides a non-invasive way to map underground density and mineral structures.
Based on available project data, specific commercial pricing for the systems is not provided; however, the project received an EU contribution of EUR 7,494,657 for development.
The project demonstrates scalability by mapping a total of ~4,700 km2 across 6 EU countries and Zambia.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not mentioned, but the project emphasizes open-access databases and SoftGIS analysis.
The project period runs from 2022-08-01 to 2025-07-31.
The system integrates data from open-access sources like the European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI) with new field data.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward commercial application, with a 60% industry ratio consisting of 12 companies, including 7 SMEs. This strong industrial presence, spanning 11 countries, suggests that the developed tools are being designed with direct market needs and commercial viability in mind.
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