The Mining and Minerals Hall, which will be held in Seville from 15 to 17 October 2024, already has 71% of its exhibition space reserved one year before its start.
Seville, 20 October 2023 -The fifth International Mining and Minerals Hall, to be held in Seville from 15 to 17 October 2024, has already accepted reservations for 71% of the space occupied by the previous exhibition. This represents a level of interest that leads us to foresee ‘a very fruitful next meeting’, in the words of Enrique Delgado, commissioner of the Mining and Minerals Hall (MMH), who has shared the latest news about the upcoming event.
The MMH 2022 exhibition area occupied a total of 4,464 square metres, and as of today the 2024 event already has commitments for 71% of this same area. With one year to go, there are now more than 53% of the total number of stands seen at the previous MMH, ‘many of them with more square metres than on that occasion’, according to Delgado.
The MMH is a biennial event organised by the Asociación de Empresas Investigadoras, Extractoras, Transformadoras Minero-Metalúrgicas, Auxiliares y de Servicios (AMINER) and the Seville Conference and Exhibition Centre (FIBES, by its Spanish initials). In addition to the commissioner, the presentation was attended by the Andalusian Regional Government’s Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines, Jorge Paradela; the Deputy Mayor for Cartuja Stadium, Innovation Parks, Employment, Economy and Trade of the Seville City Council, Álvaro Pimentel; the Managing Director of Seville Congresses and Tourism (CONTURSA), Antonio Castaño; and the Executive Manager of AMINER, Marta Cerati. The event was also attended by members of the Organising, Communication and Scientific Committees of MMH 2024, as well as several of the sponsoring companies.
Delgado, the MMH commissioner, said that the priority for this year’s event is to raise awareness and highlight the importance of mining to society in general, especially to audiences outside the sector. In this regard, he recalled that Europe needs supply itself with critical raw materials to curb its dependence on other countries and maintain the competitiveness of its industry, as mining is present in countless everyday processes such as the manufacture of mobile phones and electric cars, computers and the aerospace industry.
Similarly, raw materials are essential for the transition towards clean and environmentally sustainable energy sources, which are critical in the current context of climate change and also required by new European regulations. In this way, Delgado explained, ‘the MMH will be a showcase for the sustainability and innovation projects that the sector promotes for the responsible use of natural resources, improved efficiency, the circular economy and the use of renewable energy sources, among others’, which reflects the theme of the upcoming event: ‘MMH 2024: Meeting point towards a sustainable future’.
The second challenge will be to enhance the international element of the meeting. To do so, Poland and Sweden have been invited to participate in 2024, and there has been bilateral work with the two countries for months.
In addition, the MMH commissioner pointed out that the contacts maintained for MMH 2024 ‘have also resulted in His Majesty King Felipe VI agreeing to again chair the Honorary Committee, as in previous years’.
A key industry for the energy and digital transition
In line with the objectives of the meeting, the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines highlighted the key role of Andalusian mining in the energy and digital transition. Andalusia has a leading position, as the region accounts for 90% of the production value of national metal mining, and its subsoil contains 17 of the 30 critical minerals that the EU has identified as essential.
In this regard, the minister pointed out that the Regional Government of Andalusia has launched the Strategy for Sustainable Mining in Andalusia 2030, ‘a roadmap to make the mining sector stronger in its value chain, more competitive internationally and more favourable to innovation and cooperation between companies, promoting safety as a vitally important guide, both for the environment and industry workers, with an emphasis on circular mining projects for the recovery of metals through recycling’. In the same vein, he highlighted that a commission of independent experts to monitor the waste facilities of large mining projects in the region was recently created.
Pimentel highlights the importance of the sector for Seville
In his speech, Álvaro Pimentel, the municipal delegate for Cartuja Stadium, Innovation Parks, Employment, Economy and Trade pointed out that ‘for the upcoming meeting the MMH will be able to count on the close collaboration of the Seville City Council, because Seville cannot look away when it comes to such an important sector for the province and, of course, for Andalusia’. Pimentel stressed that ‘the synergies in terms of employment and business and economic incentives generated by mining are beyond doubt, and it is necessary for the public to be aware of the extraordinary environmental work that mining is doing all over the world’.
A commitment to an economic sector that ‘sets FIBES apart’.
For his part, the managing director of Contursa, Antonio Castaño, in charge of managing the Conference and Exhibition Centre of Seville (FIBES, by its initials in Spanish), highlighted the importance that the International Mining Show holds for FIBES, ‘as it is a benchmark event that sets us apart in our commitment to economic sectors that go beyond tourism’. Castaño also pointed out that ‘it is essential that these very specific events continue to be held, and now we are going to focus our efforts on going beyond the figures of the previous meeting, and on being able to have more than 180 exhibitors, representing more than 39 nationalities, and more than 10,000 visitors, to continue contributing to the local economy as mining does’.
About the MMH
The International Mining Show is an exceptional showcase for exhibiting new products, projects and the latest technological advances in the sector, while at the same time holding a scientific conference of experts and industry professionals to address the great challenges of the future in the field of mineral raw materials.
With 10,000 visitors to the exhibition area and 1,001 congress participants from 39 nationalities coming from around the world, MMH 2022 also saw the participation of 115 speakers from Spain and abroad.
With an economic impact of 5.4 million euros in the city of Seville, 3,000 business meetings were held during the three exhibition days and Spanish and international media were in attendance.
