ICAMCyL represents REMHub at the EIT RawMaterials Expert Forum in Seville

  • Written by ICAMCyL (International Center for Advanced Materials and Raw Materials of Castilla y León)

Representing the REM HUB project, our team took part in the Exploration & Mining SIGN Expert Forum, held during Mining Minerals Hall 2026.

From 20 to 22 October, ICAMCyL took part in Mining Minerals Hall (MMH) 2026 in Seville, a fair that brought together more than 18,000 attendees from the mining and raw materials sector. As part of the MMH programme, our team represented the REM HUB project in the Exploration & Mining SIGN Expert Forum organised by EIT RawMaterials.

Four key areas of action

Speaking from a region with a long-standing mining tradition, ICAMCyL contributed to the expert group with four key areas of action addressed to achieve a more competitive European mining sector:

  • Streamlining permitting and licensing. Simpler, more predictable administrative procedures are essential to bring new projects forward in Europe.
  • Strengthening dialogue with society. Better communication is needed to improve public understanding and acceptance of mining activities.
ICAMCYL Team.
  • Attracting and training young talent. Generational renewal depends on making the sector visible and attractive to new professionals.
  • Fostering collaboration for innovation. Companies, technology centres and public authorities must work together to turn knowledge into competitiveness.

Highlights from the expert panels

The Expert Group identified Europe’s strengths, the main obstacles and opportunities for collaboration, and outlined a roadmap for the next 12 months.

The forum’s expert panels also examined in depth specific examples of the sector’s challenges and progress. The International Raw Materials Observatory highlighted the existence of structural challenges to critical raw materials development, including land-use conflicts and fragmented administrative processes that contribute to project delays.

Cobre Las Cruces pointed out how early permitting integration has halved the time required to start construction of mining projects. DOK-ING Mining highlighted the continued reliance on manual labour in mining worldwide while presenting technological solutions aimed at reducing human exposure to hazardous underground environments through automation and remote operation.

DOK-ING Mining.
Sandvik.

Sandvik presented its AutoMine® Fleet automation system, which is already in operation at Almina (Portugal) and represents an improvement in productivity and operational efficiency. This is a success case showing that the challenge for underground mining automation in Europe is no longer technological development, but its deployment and scaling into daily operations.