The mining of the future meets at Fibes for the next three days
Seville, 15 October 2024.- The mining industry is a strategic sector that supplies minerals, the basic raw materials present in our daily lives that are essential to maintaining our lifestyle and guaranteeing the transition to a green economy. The industry does so according to high standards of innovation, sustainability, health and safety and environmental care. With this message, the 5th Mining and Minerals Hall (MMH 2024) opened today in Seville. For a few days the city will be a showcase of the best practices that characterise mining in the 21st century.
The conference opening was attended by the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Jorge Paradela; the mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz; the Director General of Energy Policy and Mines of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Manuel García Hernández; and the commissioner of the MMH 2024, Enrique Delgado.
The mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz, made welcoming remarks at the event, recalling that the MMH makes Seville the undisputed capital of European mining for the next few days. Specifically, this year’s conference has already registered ‘a record increase in the number of exhibitors, at 257, 50% more than the previous conference, and 6,432 square metres of exhibition area, which will be complemented by a wide-ranging Scientific Congress and an outreach area for students and families.’ This meeting, which is expected to bring together more than 10,000 visitors, takes place ‘at a critical moment’ for mining, due to the new framework established by the recent Critical Raw Materials Act to encourage the production and processing of minerals within Europe.
For his part, the commissioner of the MMH, Enrique Delgado, stressed that ‘today more than ever the need for metals is crucial and we must transmit this to society, because the cars we drive, the mobile phones we use, the computers we work with, even the dishwashers in our homes, everything is possible thanks to mining. It is essential to push back against the discourse of those who, with a certain populist tinge, oppose mining projects while, paradoxically, enjoying the products that only mining can offer.’
Growing energy needs, and the transition to clean production systems ‘leads to an inescapable conclusion: the demand for metals will skyrocket, and this demand can only be met by mines: those that are in production, those that are in development and those that are yet to be discovered. To do this, we must explore, research, innovate and do so in compliance with the highest environmental standards, and building an increasingly sustainable future for our industry’, concluded the commissioner.
The Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Jorge Paradela, has taken advantage of the conference opening ceremony to announce 40 million euros in incentives to foster research and development in the fields of mining exploration, waste treatment, mineral processing, and for work aimed at energy efficiency improvements and decarbonisation in mining.
Jorge Paradela has reported that, after the update of the Andalusia map of critical minerals, there are indications of up to 22 raw materials considered critical by the EU in the Andalusian subsoil, with Andalusia being ‘a benchmark producer in the international copper and strontium markets’.
The Minister has also shared that the Regional Government of Andalusia has begun processing a Government Decree that seeks to maximise the economic, social and labour impact of sustainable mining in Andalusia.
Furthermore, the Director General of Energy Policy and Mines at the Ministry, Manuel García Hernández, stressed that in recent years the strategy on raw materials has been ‘turning around’, with the approval of the Roadmap for the Sustainable Management of Critical Mineral Raw Materials of 2022. This is the first initiative of its kind at the national level since 1987, and it was conceived alongside the European Raw Materials Act; Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan; and related EU regulations. ‘In Spain we have understood the need and opportunity for strategic autonomy, to promote environmental protection tools in the extractive sector, foster recycling and rethink how administrations and companies can contribute to knowledge in people’s daily lives’, he said.
The Seville International Mining Exhibition, organised by the Association of Mining-Metallurgical, Auxiliary and Service Research, Extraction, Transformer and Service Companies (AMINER) and the Seville Conference and Exhibition Centre (Fibes), will run until Thursday, 17 October at Fibes.
With the slogan ‘MMH 2024: Meeting point towards a sustainable future’, the event includes a Scientific Congress with more than 60 presentations and round tables to exchange knowledge about a sector that has research, innovation and sustainability as its hallmarks.
The Innovation Hub will also play a prominent role at this year’s conference. This space features a series of talks given by representatives of companies and scientific and research institutions to address the latest developments in energy and digital transformation, sustainability, talent and tools in the sector, social licencing, plus innovation and digitalisation in mining, business and commercial management.
Exhibition area with the main companies in the sector
The conference exhibition area welcomes the participation of leading mining-metallurgical companies, such as Atalaya Mining, Sandfire MATSA, Cobre Las Cruces, Atlantic Copper, Minera Los Frailes, Tharsis Mining, Alto Minerals, Minas de Estaño, Pan Global Resources, Calgovsa and Minas de Alquife; and auxiliary companies and companies working in engineering, renewables or services such as ABB, Insersa, Mecwide, Subterra, Liebherr Ibérica, Metso, Maxam, Orica, Sandvik and Finanzauto, among others.
The more than 6,000 square metres of exhibition space include stands from institutions and entities such as the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Regional Government of Andalusia, the Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster, the Mining and Quarry Restoration Network, the Official Association of Technical Engineers and Graduates in Mines and Energy, the Official Association of Mining Engineers of the South and the Mining and Life Foundation, among other organisations.
In addition, several companies are sponsors of the 5th MMH, starting with ABB and Atalaya, as Gold sponsors. They are joined by Silver sponsors Alto Minerals, Atlantic Copper, Cobre Las Cruces, Insersa, Innomotics, Maxam, Metso, Minera Los Frailes, Orica, Pan Global Resources, Shell, Sehivipro, Sandfire MATSA, Tharsis and Técnicas Reunidas, and Bollfilter, Official Association of Mining Engineers of the South, Epiroc, Explomin, Leapman, Montero Aramburu, Somincor, Savilcon, Tolsa and Xcalibur, as Copper sponsors.
About the MMH
The International Mining Exhibition is an exceptional showcase of the latest developments, projects and technological advances in the sector. The exhibition is complemented by a Scientific Congress featuring professionals and experts in the industry to address the great challenges of the future in the field of mineral raw materials.
In its previous edition, held in 2022, this biennial meeting welcomed 10,000 visitors to the exhibition area and more than 1,000 congress participants from 39 nationalities from all continents. More than 115 speakers from Spain and abroad also gave talks, and these participation figures will be widely exceeded this year. Over three days, 3,000 commercial meetings were held, Spanish and international media were accredited, and it is estimated that there was an economic impact of 5.4 million euros.
