PARTNERS

The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) has been a leading international centre for research and consulting within the engineering-related geosciences since 1953. NGI’s main office and laboratory is in Oslo, with a branch office in Trondheim and daughter companies in Houston (USA) and Perth (Australia). NGI has a long history of applied research working with stakeholders through Joint Industry Projects and EU research projects. With support from industry, the Research Council of Norway and the EU’s research programs, and in collaboration with others, NGI works to solve the major societal challenges related to the environment and sustainability, infrastructure at sea and on land, as well as the assessment and mitigation of geohazards. Role in project: NGI is the Coordinator of DINAMINE and is also responsible for the scientific coordination of the project.

Skaland Graphite AS is a small company on the island Senja in Northern Norway. Skaland is the only graphite mine in Scandinavia, the biggest crystalline graphite producer in Europe and accounts for around 2% of the global annual natural graphite production. The operation is presently the world’s highest-grade operating graphite mine with mill feed grade average 25%C. The graphite is mined, processed and packed at Skaland and shipped out to customers by boat. Graphite has been mined at Skaland since 1917 and today employs a total of 40 workers in the mine, plant and administration. Role in the project: in the DINAMINE project will Skaland Graphite AS be one of demonstration sites for the end-product.

FELMICA S.A. (Portugal) is a mining company belonging to the Mota© Ceramic Solutions Group and was founded in 1967. FELMICA is a company with vast experience in the extraction and processing of raw materials for the ceramic industry. FELMICA is dedicated to mining activities and currently holds exploration licences on more than 30 mining concessions of quartz, feldspar and lithium (granitic pegmatites, mineralized in spodumene, petalite, lepidolite and Li-phosphates) located on the five main pegmatite fields in Portugal. FELMICA produces ceramic feldspar and numerous raw material products for special markets such as abrasives, welding electrodes, container glass, landscaping and gardening, and heavy ceramics. FELMICA also produces high grade silica and mica products. The abundance and diversity of the quartz-feldspar deposits and the versatility of the Mangualde-based transformation plant allows for the preparation of feldspathic compositions with physicochemical characteristics suitable for the most varied and demanding industrial conditions. Role in the project: FEL’s role is to advise the consortium in the development of technologies to make sure they match with the reality of the needs of the mining industrials, and therefore ensure the impact of the project results.

Worldsensing is a global expert of Internet-of-Things (IoT) monitoring solutions in the mining industry. Its core expertise is in providing sensing and machine- to-machine technologies and services to specific industry verticals, including solutions for Smart Traffic and Heavy-Industry monitoring. Within DINAMINE, Worldsensing will provide the architecture of the Integrated Smart Mine Planning and Managing Platform and the other digital solutions developed. Worldsensing also oversees the design and installation of sensors in the demonstration sites, ensuring communication between the sensors and the data platforms, and will be responsible for the visualization of the data.

SINTEF (Norway) is one of Europe’s largest independent research organizations with the vision of technology for a better society. Every year SINTEF carries out several thousand projects for customers large and small. With more than 2,000 employees, SINTEF provides services from ocean space to outer space. In DINAMINE, SINTEF participates within a broad spectrum of activities. Geologists and mining engineers will work hand in hand to characterize the mine face and the rock mechanical characteristics; environmental science and materials specialists will work on monitoring and mitigation solutions developed for waste and tailings and in life cycle assessments (LCA); data scientists work on mathematical models and algorithms developed to further analyze the knowledge generated throughout all stages of the mining value chain. Additionally, as a research institute SINTEF is to foster the development of valuable scientific and technical knowledge and its transfer to the scientific community. SINTEF is represented by SINTEF NORD AS, SINTEF AS and SINTEF HELGELAND AS.

The National Institute of Chemistry (Slovenia) employs over 300 researchers in 9 departments and two infrastructure centers. The Department of Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering is primarily involved in chemical (process) engineering, reactor and unit operation design and construction, as well as multi-scale process modelling. Research topics include carbon dioxide and natural gas conversion, hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, biomass valorisation to bio-based compounds, and (bio)pharmaceutical processes. Role in the project: NIC will lead the Work package on Reclamation, specifically having the role of characterisation, extraction and valorisation of minerals, while it will also contribute to the decarbonisation, electrification and hydrogen in possible mining utilities, which will be duly explored within DINAMINE.

Andersen Mekaniske Verksted AS (AMV) is a privately-owned Norwegian company established in 1860. The company has grown to become a leading manufacturer of specialized machinery, known for its innovation and efficiency, and specializes in designing and manufacturing custom solutions for various industries, including industry, mining, and tunneling. The company is committed to providing innovative solutions to the unique challenges presented by these industries, helping their clients to increase efficiency, safety, and productivity. AMV’s highly skilled team provide the best possible solutions to their clients while adhering to the company's values of quality, safety, and sustainability. Role in the project: AMV’s main role in the DINAMINE project is to provide a semi-autonomous drilling jumbo to aid in development and testing of a more efficient and sustainable mining operation.

The PNO Group (aka PNO Consultants), established in 1984, is a European group, made up of a pool of more than 400 professionals across 9 Member States. Every year, PNO supports more than 3.000 clients in their R&D processes, realizing original data-driven and expert-driven analysis and creating over 300 cutting-edge R&D projects – changing the world for the better. PNO has drafted and successfully executed dissemination and exploitation plans for a great number of European projects in various sectors. In this project, PNO is represented by CIAOTECH S.r.l., the Italian branch of PNO Consultants, specializing in R&D Advisory, Innovation Management and funding procurement, providing consultancy services to private and public organizations. Role in the project: CIAOTECH is the leader of Work Package 7, Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation of Results, to support the identification and implementation of tailored strategies capable of raising and maximizing stakeholders’ awareness (including industry, academia, general public…), to disseminate and communicate information about the project, and to optimise the go-to-market potential of the KERs, while setting up and maintaining an effective and ambitious Exploitation Plan and IPR Management.

SPECTRAL Industries is a high-tech company that manufactures optical sensors based on the LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) technology for robust and real time chemical sensing. SPECTRAL offers tailor-made solutions for demanding industrial applications ranging from mining to recycling to material processing. A big part of SPECTRAL's work is dedicated to the mining sector where the combination of robustness, high speed and accuracy is of paramount importance. SPECTRAL's LIBS-based sensors offer such features for an inline and real-time multi-element characterization of the materials without using any sample preparation. The possibility of performing in-situ chemical analysis without any sample preparation makes these sensors a perfect candidate for a more sustainable mining process and therefore a useful tool for their incorporation among the chain of sensors detailed for DINAMINE. To this end, SPECTRAL will manufacture and install a dedicated sensor at the feldspar mining operation (FEL, Portugal) to develop quantitative models for an early elemental characterization of the crushed rocks. This will also provide information to evaluate the benefits of in-pit crushing in terms of environmental and economic aspects.