On 27 September 2021, all SMEs that are funded under the first open call of MINE.THE.GAP came together in an online Welcome Event organised by AXELERA and ACPMR. This first get together offered the opportunity to learn about the 14 awarded projects and to get to know the different companies from all over Europe.

Official welcome

Milena Stoyanova, Policy Officer at EISMEA, European Commission, opened the session with a warm welcome to all participants and highlighted the important role of small and medium-sized enterprises in the European economy. She encouraged the participants to make full use of the innovation voucher and the extra services offered by MINE.THE.GAP.
Santiago Cuesta Lopez, MINE.THE.GAP coordinator from ICAMCyL, congratulated all companies for their successful applications and stressed the enthusiasm of the participants to implement their ideas. The projects promise a high level of innovation for the mining and raw materials sector.

Project presentations

After the welcome, the coordinators and company representatives from the 14 awarded projects took the microphone and gave an overview of their respective objectives and expected results. The projects address a wide range of different mining challenges. The digitisation of the sector, the reduction of waste, the increase in efficiency, and the optimisation of processes and monitoring are key priorities that are dealt with in very different and interesting approaches.

Read about the projects in detail.

Additional services for the projects

Laetitia Curty from AXELERA presented the Business Hub Services, which are additional services offered to the awarded SMEs by MINE.THE.GAP. Over the project duration, the companies can access these additional services under three different so-called “Business Hubs”. The hubs focus on innovation support, technology transfer, and internationalisations.

Watch the video from the Welcome Event!