¡VAMOS! project aims to boost European mineral extraction

Minerals extracted from within the European Union account for just three per cent of global ore production, yet its member states consume up to 30 per cent of the world’s metal.

Despite efforts to develop recycling technologies, the EU imports 200 million tons of minerals annually, and this dependency is growing every year.

Europe has been mined for centuries, with many of the easy-to-reach mineral deposits now depleted. To increase European mineral production, and lessen its reliance on imports, technology is needed to access inland underwater deposits that are currently unreachable, or too small to be economically viable using existing techniques.

To this end, a European team, funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, is developing an autonomous underwater mining system to reach and extract mineral deposits within inland lakes such as flooded mines, at depths of 500-1000 metres below the surface.

The ¡VAMOS! (Viable Alternative Mine Operating System) project, which is being led by BMT Group and includes 16 other partners, has recently tested this system at the Magcobar flooded mine pit, in Silvermines, Ireland, according to Jenny Rainbird, ¡VAMOS! project lead and managing consultant for EU projects at BMT.