EuroGeoSurveys at the PDAC 2021 Virtual Convention

The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) has wrapped up its first-ever virtual convention that happened between March 8-11, 2021, receiving positive feedback and industry accolades. The annual PDAC Convention is the premier event of the world’s mineral exploration and mining industry that brings together mining executives, geologists, government officials, investors, analysts, and students from around the globe. With over 7,200 members around the world, PDAC’s mission is to promote a globally responsible, vibrant and sustainable mineral sector that encourages leading practices in technical, operational, environmental, safety and social performance.

At the PDAC 2021 Virtual Convention, attendees had access to a customized platform where they could visit exhibit halls, network with colleagues, and join. This new virtual format allows attendees to continue networking by sending direct messages to other participants, engaging through text lounges, and watching educational sessions and newly added content for three months post-convention, until June 1, 2021.

EuroGeoSurveys virtual booth at the PDAC 2021:

EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) was present within the European Commission’s virtual booth. The European Commission booth also hosted European Commission initiatives and representatives as the European Raw Materials Alliance and EIT Raw Materials, and projects from H2020 (the EU research programme for research and innovation), EU countries, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The EGS booth presents information in different formats (video and presentations) concerning EGS Members and H2020 projects related to the Raw Materials sector (INTERMIN and GeoERA Raw Materials). Interested attendees could interact with the project leaders and representatives of EGS Secretariat through polls, one-on-one meetings and live text-based chats to raise awareness about EGS activities and to be engaged into discussions.

Background message from the EU

Responsible mining sourcing and sustainable management and consumption of mining resources is key for Europe’s resilience in relation to supply raw materials. In September 2020, the European Commission (EC) presents an Action Plan to make Europe's raw materials supply more secure and sustainable. The EC adopted the Communication Critical Raw Materials Resilience: Charting a Path towards greater Security and Sustainability:

Access to resources is a key issue for Europe’s ambition to deliver the Green Deal. The new industrial strategy for Europe proposes to reinforce Europe’s open strategic autonomy, warning that Europe’s transition to climate neutrality could replace today’s reliance on fossil fuels with one on raw materials, many of which we source from abroad and for which global competition is becoming more fierce. The EU’s open strategic autonomy in these sectors will therefore need to continue to be anchored in diversified and undistorted access to global markets for raw materials. At the same time, and to decrease external dependencies and environmental pressures, the underlying problem of rapidly increasing global resources demand needs to be addressed by reducing and reusing materials before recycling them.

Raw materials, in particular scarce critical raw materials, keep European industrial value chains competitive for sectors such as automotive, machinery, electrical engineering, ICT, and defence. For this reason, achieving resource security requires actions at European level to diversify supply from both primary and secondary sources, reduce dependencies and improve resource efficiency and circularity, including sustainable product design. Raw materials' availability is a prerequisite for the transition to a climate-neutral economy with e-mobility and renewable energy.

For more information, visit the EGS News: http://egsnews.eurogeosurveys.org/?p=1208.
The full press release is available here: http://egsnews.eurogeosurveys.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/EGS-PDAC-2021_Final-version.pdf.

For more information, visit www.eurogeosurveys.org and contact the EGS Secretariat: krishnan.subramani@eurogeosurveys.org.

EuroGeoSurveys
36-38, Rue Joseph II
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Krishnan Subramani
krishnan.subramani@eurogeosurveys.org.

EuroGeoSurveys (EGS), The Geological Surveys of Europe, is a not-for-profit organisation representing 38 National Geological Surveys and some regional Surveys in Europe, an overall workforce of several thousand experts.

EuroGeoSurveys members, the National Geological Surveys, are public sector institutions carrying out operations and research in the field of geosciences. These organisations have a long tradition, in many cases more than 100 years, in collecting data, preparing information and conducting research focused on their national subsurface.

This release was published on openPR.