Horizon 2020 Programme to Develop Underwater Mining System
As part of the Horizon 2020 programme, a new 42-month research & development project has been launched to provide an opportunity to tap into the wealth of unexploited European mineral resources. The aim of the ¡VAMOS! (Viable Alternative Mine Operating System) project is to design and build a robotic, underwater mining prototype with associated launch and recovery equipment, which will be used to perform field tests at four EU mine sites. The estimated cost of the project is approximately EUR12.6 mlllion.
Three of the mine sites are inland inactive submerged mineral deposits and the fourth is offshore. Building on successful deep-sea excavation techniques, this prototype will provide a safer and cleaner option for extracting currently unreachable and/or uneconomic mineral deposits.
¡VAMOS! will also look to enhance currently available underwater sensing, spatial awareness, navigational and positioning technology, as well as providing an intergrated solution for efficient real-time monitoring of the parameters associated with potential environmental impacts.
17 Project Partners
Under the coordination of BMT Group and the technical management of Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD), a consortium of 17 project partners from nine EU countries will collaborate, including: Soil Machine Dynamics; Damen Shipyards Group; Instituto de Engenharia Sistemas e Computadores; Fugro EMU; Zentrum für Telematik e.V.; Montanuniversität Leoben; Minerália, Lda; Marine Minerals Ltd; Empresa de Desenvolvimento Mineiro SA; Sandvik Mining and Construction G.m.b.H; Geological survey of Slovenia; La Palma Research Centre for Future Studies; European Federation of Geologists; Trelleborg Ede Bv; Federalni zavod za Geologijo and Fondacija za obnovu I razvoj regije Vareš.
Damen Dredging Equipment designs and builds a wide range of dredging equipment. As a member of the Damen Shipyards Group, it offers a large range of standard dredgers and dredging-related components. The Research and Development department plays a major role in the project, and has 4 FTE, regularly assisted with bachelor and master students. Damen Dredging Equipment will lead the system-specification and architecture phase where the specifications and integration of the mining vehicle prototype and the launch and recovery system will be defined. Damen will be responsible for the design and manufacturing of components that are in breaking up the rock, form the slurry, transfer power and control the flow of the slurry. Another task is to manufacture the vessel from which the mining machine will be deployed. In the testing phase of the project Damen will log and evaluate the performance of all slurry related components. Damen Dredging Equipment will also be the quality manager of the project.
Image courtesy: Nautilus Minerals.
