FAME aims to increase the competitiveness of the mining of European mineral resources and to stimulate more private engagement and investment and thus business development with the potential to maintain and create high quality jobs within the EU28. The focus and a principal aim is to enhance mineral processing and mining skills within Europe. A medium to long term aim is to reduce the reliance of European Industry and consumers on raw materials that currently have to be imported from outside EU28. FAME will contribute to the more efficient exploitation of European domestic mineral resources including previously undeveloped resources that have the potential to contribute to the securing of raw material supply by optimising the extraction and processing of ores that include raw materials critical to the economic development of the EU (“critical raw materials”, CRM) and which occur in widespread deposits across the EU. This project specifically addresses primary ore deposits with skarn, pegmatite and greisen ores as they offer the most promising potential for this purpose. This proposal will consider the flexibility (and to an extent the mobility) of the processing concept, in particular, by ensuring the modularity of individual project components. FAME will consider flexible and modular processing technology demonstrated in relevant operational environments (industrially relevant environments in the case of key enabling technologies (TRL). TRL6 is envisaged feasible for processing of pegmatites, whereas TRL5 is considered more realistic for other types of ore body. The consortium has 17 partners from 7 European countries and includes industry, academia and governmental institutions. The consortium has a strong industrial background and involves strategically important reference deposits operated or/and accessible to the project partners and, additionally, associated partners within the EU28 nations and Greenland.

XTRACT seeks to introduce the novel concept of the Zero Emission Mine of the Future, introducing innovative technologies for sustainable and decarbonised extraction. The XTRACT technological pathways to a lower mining emission future are addressing well-identified emission intensive points of the current mining value chain. XTRACT will add a highly innovative new alternative to the toolbox of how stockpiles and tailings are assessed, relieving the pressure on resources and contributing to the realization of EU Climate Neutrality Goals, with a significant benefit of emission reduction. XTRACT will scale remote sensing systems and analytical resources to allow the systematic and remote monitoring of “hard-to-access” mining sites and waste deposits. XTRACT targets the reduction of ore losses and mining waste, through a novel system for the control of the ore loss and dilution, reducing overall mine emissions and economic loss. The trend towards declining orebody grades and continued development of the pursuit of existing operation to exploit lower grade deposits is likely to continue, in the absence of high-grade project discovery. XTRACT will develop and validate innovative microinvasive technologies and solutions to extract high-tech elements from minerals and wastes, specifically tailored to remote, “hard-to-reach” locations and small quantities, where extraction is unprofitable. The in-situ bioleaching process and membrane treatment will be applied and optimized with the aim to achieve enhanced microbial activity, catalyst production, and therefore, maximum metal recovery from the source. XTRACT will introduce low-TRL green technologies of phytoextraction and phytoremediation, particularly appropriate for mining waste piles and abandoned sites, that represent a solution for mine waste remediation but also for the extraction and recovery of various precious metals. XTRACT will be validated in 5 case studies in Germany, Sweden, Portugal and Greece.