It was a packed three hours when Swedish Mining Research and Innovation day kicked off for the sixteenth time on Tuesday. During this year’s conference, society’s green transition was on the agenda and representatives from industry, academia and politics were faced with the question of whether we meet society’s needs and whether we do it quickly enough. In the afternoon, Swedish Mining Innovation also took the opportunity to release its largest investment ever, 45 million for resource efficiency and sustainable production in the mining and metal extraction industry, and the just-granted 160-million project NEXGEN SIMS was presented for the first time.
Sweden is a world leader in research and innovation, as the conference showed examples of when it offered a selection of exciting mining innovation projects with great breadth in both theme and actors. Among other things, they got to follow when the high-profile project NEXGEN SIMS was presented for the first time.
– It was, as always, inspiring to take part in the other speakers’ presentations and input, there is really a lot going on right now. What a wonderful feeling to have the privilege of presenting our NEXGEN SIMS project for the first time for the Swedish mining cluster. It is fun that so much attention and interest is already being given, says project manager Jan Gustafsson, Senior Project manager, Epiroc.
During the two panel debates, industry leaders, authorities and politicians gathered to discuss how we can increase the pace of innovation in the light of the mining industry as an important enabler for the societal challenges that exist, both linked to the green transition but also to the global sustainability goals. A recurring theme was the supply of skills and knowledge, which is critical for achieving the ambitious goals, and whose real responsibility it is.
– The industry is currently undergoing a historic transformation and will be carbon neutral and autonomous, and for this to succeed, politicians and authorities must support and enable development through their decisions and efforts, says Jenny Greberg, program director of Swedish Mining Innovation.
During the conference, Swedish Mining Innovation took the opportunity to release the news of 45 million for resource efficiency and sustainable production in the mining and metal extraction industry. Through Vinnova’s investment in sustainable industry, extra funds have been obtained over the next three years for research and innovation projects.
– This is the largest investment the program has ever made and it provides increased opportunities to support even slightly larger projects, something that has been requested by the actors, says Jenny Greberg.
Even though the conference took on a modern suit, a traditional award ceremony from the Bergforsk Foundation was on the agenda. The three prize winners received a greeting from Bergforsk’s chairman Staffan Sandström, CEO of Zinkgruvan and gave a short presentation of their dissertations.
Swedish Mining Research and Innovation day (formerly Bergforsk), is a collaboration between the strategic national innovation program for the mining and metal-producing industry Swedish Mining Innovation and the mines’ industry organization Svemin.
Did you miss Swedish Mining Research and Innovation day? See it here (in Swedish)
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Swedish Mining Research and Innovation day
Bergforsk prisutdelning
- Bästa examensarbete 2021 – Filip Simán, Luleå tekniska universitet, ”Assessment of Machine Learning Applied to X-Ray Fluorescence Core Scan Data from the Zinkgruvan Zn-Pb-Ag Deposit, Bergslagen, Sweden”
- Bästa licentiatuppsats 2021 – Parisa Semsari, Luleå tekniska universitet, ”Effects of loading mechanisms and texture on ore breakage: A multidimensional study”
- Bästa doktorsavhandling 2021 – Pratama Istiadi Guntoro, Luleå tekniska universitet, ”X-ray microcomputed tomography (µCT) as a potential tool in particle-based geometallurgy”
