ICAMCyL represents REMHub at the EIT RawMaterials Expert Forum in Seville

Representing the REM HUB project, our team took part in the Exploration & Mining SIGN Expert Forum, held during Mining Minerals Hall 2026.

From 20 to 22 October, ICAMCyL participated in Mining Minerals Hall (MMH) 2026 in Seville, a trade fair that brought together more than 18,000 attendees from the mining and raw materials sector. As part of the MMH programme, our team represented the REM HUB project at the Exploration & Mining SIGN Expert Forum, organised by EIT RawMaterials.

Drawing on the perspective of a region with a long-standing mining tradition, ICAMCyL contributed to the expert group with four key areas of action to achieve a more competitive European mining sector:

• Streamlining permitting and licensing procedures. Simplifying administrative procedures and making them more predictable is essential to moving new projects forward in Europe.
• Strengthening dialogue with society. Better communication is needed to improve public understanding and acceptance of mining activities.
• Attracting and training young talent. Generational renewal depends on making the sector more visible and attractive to new professionals.
• Fostering collaboration for innovation. Companies, technology centres and public authorities must work together to turn knowledge into competitiveness.

The expert group identified Europe's strengths, the main obstacles and opportunities for collaboration, and outlined a roadmap for the next 12 months.

The forum's expert panels also examined specific examples of the sector's challenges and progress in greater depth.

International Raw Materials Observatory highlighted structural challenges to the development of critical raw materials, including land-use conflicts and fragmented administrative procedures, which contribute to project delays.

Cobre Las Cruces highlighted how the early integration of permitting procedures has halved the time required to start construction on real mining projects.

DOK-ING Mining highlighted the continued reliance on manual labour in mining worldwide and presented technological solutions aimed at reducing human exposure to hazardous underground environments through automation and remote operation.

For its part, Sandvik presented its AutoMine® Fleet automation system, which is already operational at Almina (Portugal) and represents an improvement in productivity and operational efficiency. This success story demonstrates how the challenges of underground mining automation in Europe are being overcome. The main challenge is no longer technological development, but rather its deployment and scaling up in day-to-day operations.