The Future of Mining

The 2025 cohort of the EMC (European Mining Course) have arrived in Aachen for their 2nd semester. They share their insights into the program and thoughts on the future of mining in Europe.If your interested in learning more about the program please visit https://femp.org/about-the-european-mining-course/

2025 has been an important year for the mining industry in Europe, the critical raw material act starts to gain some real results, so I'm looking back on 2025 and thinking about what it might mean for the future.Sources / reading for show notes (key references):·       JRC / Raw Materials Information System (RMIS) — supply/demand analysis and battery raw-materials commentary. RMIS - Raw Materials Information System+1·       IEA — Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 (supply-demand figures for lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, rare earths). iea.blob.core.windows.net·       European Commission / Critical Raw Materials pages and policy targets (CRMA 2030 targets context). Internal Market and SMEs+1·       Representative project stories (Vulcan Energy / Greenland Amitsoq graphite) for concrete production examples. European Commission — list of 47 Strategic Projects (March 25, 2025). European Commission+1Sandvik press release and European Investment Bank loan (November 2025, €500m). Sandvik Group+1Vulcan Energy financing announcement (December 2025 reporting). Financial TimesGreenland’s Amitsoq graphite permit / GreenRoc (December 2025). Reuters·       EIT RawMaterials — ERMAcademy and education initiatives (May 2025). eit.europa.eu+1

Dr Ben Wilson is a senior Scientist at Aalto Universities School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering.We discuss article he recently co-write with Professor Mari Lundström title "Five things everyone should know about the materials powering the green Transition" and he share his insights into the critical raw material processing, recycling and into how BATCircle 3.0 is impacting the industry. We also discuss the future of the industry and importance of education.If you want to read the article please use this link https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/five-things-everyone-should-know-about-the-materials-powering-the-green-transition

Prof. Rodrigo Serna is the head of department for the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at Aalto University, and also chair of FEMP so has a unique perspective share with us on how mining education is evolving to better suit the needs of both industry and students.We also discuss innovation and what is driving the future of mining within the critical raw material processing sector.If you are interested in learning more about Aalto University school of Chemical and metallurgical engineering you can use this link https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-chemical-and-metallurgical-engineering

I always have to laugh when I hear that Tesla are going to be launching their autonomous taxi, I think Musk has been says it’s just around the corner for the last 10 years.Meanwhile Autonomous haul trucks have already moved billions of tons of material at mines in multiple continents. So this week I’ve been think about how Autonomy will impact potential students entering the industry.I start of by looking the status of Autonomous equipment and vehicles in the industry today and what is around the corner. Also think about how this will impact the labour market which has its own constraints here in Europe. I’m confident the increase in use and the sophistication of these technologies will help revitalise the industry in the EU, creating enormous opportunities the next generation of Mining Engineers, as they develop the future of mining in Europe.

Recently geopolitical tension has really highlighted the need for action to secure our supply of critical raw materials and reindustrialise Europe.  I was encouraged by my recently visit to the Raw Material Summit in Brussels, where the call to action is gaining momentum. So this week I’ve been think about how the act will impact potential students entering the industry. I’m confident the introduction of the Act will help revitalise the industry in the EU, creating enormous opportunities the next generation of Mining Engineers, as they develop the future of mining in Europe.

The Future of Mining podcast episode 1. Mining Education for the future: Attracting new talent to the industry.Thinking about how Academia and Industry can work together to attract the next generation of Mining Engineers?For more information about FEMP click here https://femp.org