Our Trade Mission in Morocco just came to an end after an intense week for MINE.THE.GAP awardees. J&C Bachmann (Germany) and MNLT Innovations PC (Greece) won their tickets for this mission when ranked among the most active SMEs of the two open calls.

The 30 November was a full day packed with institutional sessions and high-level roundtables, providing a detailed portrait of the key mining activities and opportunities in Morocco, but with also interesting interventions about Spain and the EU. We were lucky enough to count with the participation of key academics and authorities, but this day and throughout the mission, the protagonists were the companies. A total of around 80 delegates attended in person and more participated remotely in this first day.

The 31 November was mainly devoted to matchmaking and B2B series. MINE.THE.GAP team facilitated a pitching session with more than 15 companies with oral presentations on-site that were simultaneously translated to English, Spanish and French. There was plenty of time for companies to interact and engage in business conversations.

The 1 and 2 November were dedicated to technical field visits:

1. An underground mine in operation for Pb-Zn-Cu and a research centre, both belonging to the Groupe Managem. We were able to see their mining & extraction processes up close, as well as meet their international team.
2. Turn for the OCP, Groupe Office Cherifien des Phosphates SA, which operates on five continents and covers the entire value chain from mining to education and community development.
3. Finally, we visited the UM6P – Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and its departments of research and valorisation of critical minerals.

In addition, we also visited the Green Energy Park, a platform for experimentation, research and training in renewable energies in collaboration with the IRESEN – Institut de Recherche en Énergie Solaire et Énergies Nouvelles and UM6P.

We are very grateful for all that we have been able to learn and share this week in Marrakech and for the attention given by all the key organisations that make this possible: Fédération De l’Industrie Minérale – FDIM, AMINER, Andalucía TRADE, ICAMCyL Foundation and Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster (ISMC).