Consortium

DigiMine is hosted by Wits Mining Institute (WMI) located at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a 21st Century state of the art and one-of-a-kind laboratory that conducts tests, research and development, and innovation, transferring surface digital technologies into the underground mining environment. These technologies will enable a mine’s control system to autonomously observe, evaluate and take action. The ultimate objective is to use technology to put distance between mine workers and the typical risks they are exposed to daily. Mr. M Ahsan Mahboob is the Head of research and innovation at DigiMine.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, Germany is the largest solar research institute in Europe. With a staff of about 1400, we are committed to promoting a sustainable, economic, secure and socially just energy supply system based on renewable energy sources. We contribute to this through our main research areas of energy provision, energy distribution, energy storage and energy utilization. Through outstanding research results, successful industrial projects, spin-off companies and global collaborations, we are shaping the sustainable transformation of the energy system. In the business areas of Photovoltaics, Energy Efficient Buildings, Solar Thermal Power Plants and Industrial Processes, Hydrogen Technologies and Electrical Energy Storage as well as Power Electronics, Grids and Smart Systems, the Institute develops materials, components, systems and processes. For this purpose, we have an excellent laboratory infrastructure at our disposal. In addition, we perform analyses, carry out studies, provide consultations and offer our clients testing and certification procedures.

SUBTERRA, is a private consulting and engineering group that offers consulting and engineering services, specializing in all types of tunnels and underground works, in the Project, Construction Control, Supervision and Inspection, where it has participated in more than 200 tunnels and with a length of more than 700 km. These works are provided seeking technical excellence, such as the maximum safety conditions, respect for the environment and social commitment; Being certified in the management systems ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 37001 and 166002, the SUBTERRA group forms a group of different soil engineering companies in Peru, Spain, Chile, Colombia and India which for functional purposes operate in a coordinated manner, organizing human resources and means, in order to offer an optimal service adapted to the specific characteristics of each project. During Design Engineering our services include the acquisition and interpretation of geological-geotechnical data, sophisticated support and lining calculations, and the functional design and safety facilities, all applied to all phases from feasibility, basic engineering, to value and detail engineering, both in Civil Works and Mining. In the construction phase, our services include supervision, auditing and technical advice.

Terradue is a leading Earth Science Cloud Services provider with current developments focusing on empowering researchers in curating and delivering scientific information, and to create Cloud marketplaces for environmental data analytics. Terradue addresses the Earth Sciences research & education sector, with core competencies aimed at providing Cloud Platform services and interconnecting distributed systems. Terradue supports international organizations, research institutes and commercial companies with cutting-edge tools to integrate Earth Observation services and deploy production-ready apps onto their preferred Cloud. Terradue is the operator of the Geohazards Exploitation Platform and of the Charter Mapper, the processing environment of the International Disasters Charter. Terradue has an international footprint with headquarters in Rome, Italy with a subsidiary in Harwell Oxford, UK), and a flexible modus operandi as a distributed enterprise, that currently offers representations in Paris, France (Business Development and coordination with EC Initiatives and International Institutions).

DigitalTwin Technology GmbH is a software company that specializes in providing digital twin solutions for the construction industry. Their technology allows construction companies to create digital replicas of their buildings or structures, which can be used to simulate and optimize construction processes, as well as to monitor and maintain the building throughout its lifecycle. The company's software helps to reduce construction time, costs and risks, while improving safety and quality. DigitalTwin Technology GmbH aims to bring cutting-edge digital twin technology to the construction industry, enabling companies to enhance their operations and deliver better outcomes for their clients.

ITA is a non-profit technology centre whose main objective is to promote competitiveness in the industrial sector by means of the development, acquisition, adaptation and transfer of innovative technologies. ITAINNOVA offers its services with a clear market orientation, providing real and innovative solutions from its lines of research and development, which transform and accelerate the technological processes of companies or new challenges in our society. ITA is structured into different technological areas: Materials & Components, Mechatronics & Robotics, Power Electronics, and Digital Technologies. We offer a multidisciplinary approach that can help tackle the many technological challenges our society faces, with a very effective cross-sector approach, working on a wide variety of industrial sectors, such as mobility, machinery, automotive, construction, aeronautics, railways, logistics, ICT, health, robotics, agro-industry and materials transformation.

CORE Innovation Centre (CORE IC for short) is a non-profit research organisation, a subsidiary of CORE Group, dedicated to fostering an innovative industrial ecosystem. CORE IC aims to provide individuals, industries and companies with opportunities to reach their true potential, to make industries smarter and greener, more sustainable and more socially inclusive.

Industry 4.0 is where CORE IC chooses to focus its research and innovation efforts, deploying advances in a range of technologies i.e. IoT, big data, machine and deep learning, edge and cloud computing to maximise the potential of both people and entities in multiple sectors.

ICCS, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, is a non-profit Academic Research Body established in 1989 by the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs to carry applied Research and Development activity in the areas of telecommunications, computer systems and their application in a variety of research themes. ICCS is linked to the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and is the research arm of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). ICCS consists of more than 50 labs, research groups and teams, dealing with all aspects of Electrical and Computer Engineering and employs approximately 800 researchers and scientists including Faculty Members, permanent or long-term Researchers. In MASTERMINE project, ICCS is represented by one of its Research Groups, the I-SENSE Group. I-SENSE Group consists of more than 100 researchers of various ranks and is very active in a number of scientific and research areas with main application areas the Intelligent Transportation Systems, the Virtual Environments, the Assistive Technologies and the Smart Integrated Systems & Communication. I-SENSE has coordinated and participates in more than 150 Research Projects, both EU funded and National ones, the last 20 years, and has worked with several industry leaders since its establishment in 2002, serving currently as the Coordinator of the following ones: HYPERION, Cyber-MAR,5G-IANA, IN-PREP, eCharge4Drivers, CitySCAPE and DIONE projects.

GIG Research Institute provides expert, consulting and advisory services to public administration bodies, local government as well as diversity branches of industry and international partners in the field of mining, geoengineering and environmental engineering. GIG focuses on work safety issues, modern technologies and mining techniques as well as environmental challenges with industrialized and urbanized areas. In addition to the mentioned attributes include individual approach to contractors, customized solutions, reliability, responsibility and timeliness. GIG has a modern research infrastructure, including 4 research centers: The Clean Coal Technology Centre, Silesian Centre for Environmental Radioactivity and the Environmental Engineering Centre and Research Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Climate. One of the most important research facilities in GIG is the testing range of the Experimental Mine "Barbara", where tests on a large scale may be carried out.

The Laboratory of Robotics and Automation at Democritus University of Thrace(DUTH) performs and promotes research in application problems that rise in the area of robotics for industrial and service applications, as well as industrial automation. Looking ahead towards the ongoing 4th industrial revolution the laboratory members utilize state of the art tools to expand the scientific and technological front in their research areas of expertise, which include robotics, artificial vision, intelligent systems and pattern recognition, and seeks ways to integrate them seamlessly with other Industry 4.0 technologies that include internet of things, cybersecurity, cloud computing, big data analytics, simulation, additive manufacturing and augmented reality.

Tampere University (TAU) is Finland's second-largest university in engineering sciences. The research, conducted by staff of 1800 and faculty members, focuses on both basic and applied research and often has close ties to industry. TAU is one of the only two Finnish universities which operate as foundation. The Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (ENS) in TAU brings together extensive expertise in natural sciences and the major branches of engineering. We are renowned for our cutting-edge research activities that not only encompass basic research in natural sciences and applied research in the fields of engineering but also bring measurable added value to our industry partners. The Automation Technology and Mechanical Engineering (ATME) unit is one of the three units in the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (ENS) at Tampere University . The mission of Mechatronics Research Group (MRG) in ATME is to conduct research in close cooperation with industry in intelligent machines and systems. The objective is to create new knowledge in the area mechatronics and mechanical engineering which can be applied in real products and processes and also to be published in high level scientific journals and conferences Engineering lifecycle managent, reliability engineering, condition monitoring and mathematical modelling of complex machine systems are all key areas of MRG. Furthermore also advanced analytics needed in development of prognostic tools and methods belong to research groups key interests.

The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh, https://www.auth.gr) is the largest University in Greece, with 41 Faculties and Schools covering all disciplines and more than 70,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. AUTH gives the opportunity to more than 4,000 scientists, researchers and academics to work in their fields, to cooperate with other organizations and to present the results of their research activity to the international scientific community. The university will participate in MASTERMINE project with two distinctive laboratories, the Datalab and the Earth Observation and Geospatial Applications Laboratory (EO.Lab).

AuroraGeo Consulting is an SME founded in January 2020 and is based in Athens/Hellas. AuroraGeo’s Mission is to provide a holistic approach to the Management of Geohazards by fulfilling three inelastic conditions:
1) Safety of people and equipment;
2) Sustainable continuation of operation/production;
3) Best possible budget allocation and planning.
In the era of Big Data, it is easier than ever to acquire a vast amount of data in a short time. Strangely enough, is often challenging to get clear answers. Thus AuroraGeo has established collaboration with professionals that can cover the field of Geohazards in Civil and Mining in combination with Data Analytics. Our team is comprised of an Engineering Geologist, a Hydrogeologist, a Mining Engineer, and a Data Engineer. AuroraGeo has projects in the mining and civil protection sectors. Since 2020, AuroraGeo has completed projects in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Norway, and Sweden.

LIBRA AI Technologies is a Boutique Data Science Agency aiming to bring advanced Machine Learning and AI Business Intelligence into real-life applications. The company is focusing on R&D activities to stay up to date with the latest advances in Machine Learning and Computer Vision. As a research-intensive SME, LIBRA AI pioneers in various cutting-edge ML technologies, including streaming/online Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing, multiple time-series forecasting, anomaly detection, recommender systems and distributed ML. Application areas vary from Indoors positioning to audio-visual data classification and from question/answering in text data to AI-enabled Business Intelligence.

STRATAGEM Energy Ltd is an independent Research & Innovation SME committed to work on sustainable development projects mainly in the areas of Renewable Energy Sources, Energy Efficiency, Sustainability, Urban Mobility, Environment, Tourism, Maritime, Buildings, Health and Agrifood. STRATAGEM provides insightful, timely and focused research and technical work on Engineering solutions along with Business services. STRATAGEM is comprised by an expert team of high qualified Researchers, Engineers and Innovation Managers focusing to provide and offer first class R&D&I services.

DARES was founded in 2015 and since then we have successfully monitored lot of mining complexes around the world, making our company one of the leading providers worldwide of ground deformation monitoring and early warning based on InSAR and Remote Sensing technology. We believe that this success is the result of loving what we do. InSAR technology can help avoid events that may compromise people’s life or the environment. Our mission is to deliver the highest quality and most affordable surface displacement information with radar technology. We are experts in SENTINEL-1 and many other radar satellites. Thanks to our unique and extensive experience we provide optimal solutions that fit best with our clients’ needs.

LINKS Foundation is a non-profit private foundation founded in 2018 with the aim to boost the interaction between research and the business world towards the internationalization of the local socio-economic system. LINKS promotes, conducts, and strengthens innovation and research projects processes, improving products implementation as well as the study of new approaches and models. LINKS is the result of the merge of two distinguished research and innovation institutions: ISMB (Istituto Superiore Mario Boella), focusing on ICT, and SiTI (Istituto Superiore sui Sistemi Territoriali per l'Innovazione), focusing on Territorial Systems and Smart Cities. Similarly, to ISMB and SITI, LINKS Foundation has been founded by Compagnia di San Paolo and Politecnico di Torino, inheriting the existing background of ISMB and SiTI in term of personnel-knowledge, facilities, goods, and premises. LINKS works in close cooperation with companies, academia and Public Administration relying on competences of around 160 researchers organized in research domains.

Tapojarvi is a global pioneer of the industrial circular economy. Tapojarvi utilizes large amounts of industrial side-stream materials, which are processed into recycled by-products in a continuous process. Tapojarvi produces circular economy services for the steel, forestry, construction, chemical, electronics and mining industries. Concrete economic, environmental, climatic and social benefits are achieved by utilizing industrial side streams. By separating and returning the metals back to processing, Tapojarvi saves the entire mining process, from removing the soil to transporting the concentrate. With a circular economy, Tapojarvi saves natural resources by reducing the number of new mines to be opened and concentrates the increased technical, environmental and welfare information on currently operating mines and the utilization of already closed mines. By creating products from side streams and utilizing recycled materials, Tapojarvi replaces products and solutions made from virgin natural resources and minimizes waste going to the landfill.

Tharsis Mining is the only 100% Andalusian capital company dedicated to the metal mining sector in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, an area in which Tharsis Mining has more than 4,500 hectares granted and more than 5,000 requested. Tharsis Mining owns the exploitation rights of the mines of Tharsis, La Zarza and San Telmo, all of them located in the province of Huelva. This company was created in 2018 and with the aim to put the Andévalo municipalities of Tharsis, Alosno, La Zarza and Cortegana back on the mining map. Tharsis Mining will make an investment of around 46 million euros from 2019 to 2024 to carry out the necessary research for the development of the projects. It is focused on strengthening its mining domain and developing research projects to manage environmental liabilities and discover new resources that ensure the future of the com pany based on a solid culture of Safety and Environment. These mines were exploited from the ancient days to the mid 20th century. Tharsis having started exploration since 2020 envisions to start operating in 2029. They are multi-metal mines, with deposits of Copper (Cu), Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), Cobalt (Co), Zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb).

TERNA MAG is a mine company member of GEK TERNA GROUP. It exploits magnesite deposits in the northern part of Evia Island, producing magnesite and magnesia. The area of northern Evia is known from the late 50s for its magnesite deposits, consisted of high purity, boron free, low iron, cryptocrystalline magnesite. The main products of TERNA are raw magnesite, caustic calcined magnesite, dead burned magnesite and mineral flame-retardants. Currently, there are two magnesite exploitations, the first one is an underground mine that is located in Gerorema area and the other one is an open pit mine located in Kakavos area, moreover both areas have beneficiation plants on site.

JSW SA is the largest producer of high-quality hard coking coal in the European Union, which is on the list of critical raw materials for the EU economy, and one of the leading producers of coke used for smelting steel. The core business of JSW is the production and sale of coking coal as well as the production and sale of coke and coal derivatives. In 2021, plants belonging to JSW SA produced 13.8 million tonnes of coal and 3.7 million tonnes of coke. In addition, JSW is at the forefront in developing techniques for capturing and industrial use of coal mine methane for the production of electricity, heat and cold in cogeneration and trigeneration systems. In 2021, in the mines of JSW S.A. 170.7 million m3 of methane was captured, of which 98.6 million m3 were used.

Eticas came into existence 10 years ago funded by Gemma Galdón Clavell, with a clear mission: to protect people and the environment in technology processes. Since then, Eticas has joined countless projects as an ethics partner analysing the social impact, desirability and acceptability of AI systems and data processes, as well auditing algorithms for risks and biases, and suggesting mitigation measures and recommendations to make sure new technologies are deployed with responsibility.