The MINEYE (Earth Observation techniques for MINe lifE cYclE monitoring using ML-based data fusion approaches) consortium consists of 13 partners from nine European countries and aims to strengthen EU autonomy in primary and secondary raw materials, at the same time as reducing environmental impact. This is done by development of innovative cost-effective, time-efficient and competitive Earth Observation (EO) based methodologies and technologies for the entire mining value chain. MINEYE will integrate EO data with other data sources such as EuroGeoSource, ProMine, EGDI and will collect new EO, remote sensing, geophysical and in-situ data. MINEYE aims at developing novel data fusion and processing algorithms for EO technologies for the mineral exploration, operational, closure and post-closure stages. MINEYE unlocks the potential of EO data, including Copernicus, commercial satellites, upcoming hyperspectral missions, airborne as well as in situ data. This is achieved by creating generic innovative machine learning algorithms tailored to solve specific needs within the mining value chain. MINEYE’s overall objective and ambition is to increase the access to critical and strategic minerals and metals in Europe with full consideration of environmental and social aspects, by providing the mining industry with proven and validated solutions for uptake of EO data and technology. MINEYE's final product is a web-interface, IPOP (Interfacing, Programming and Optimisation Platform) for providing data and result. IPOP has three outputs each covering a specific part of the mining value chain: (1) methods for Mineral Prospectivity Mapping (2) EO plugin for LiquidEarth software for 3D modelling, (3) evaluation and maps of re-mining potential and tailings characterization. In addition, ground stability assessment and environmental monitoring are included to support the development of a socially responsible mining. IPOP further serves as a multi-criteria decision-making tool.

The EU imports 80% of its industrial raw materials making European supply chains highly vulnerable to disruption and threatening the EU's ability to manufacture raw material-intensive technologies, such as electric cars, wind turbines, and ICT hardware, that are essential to the green and digital transformations. Europe possesses significant mineral potential but development is limited by the lack of sustainable, low-impact exploration methods and by social opposition to mineral projects. With VECTOR we will generate new knowledge to overcome these technical and social barriers, unlocking Europe's raw material potential and improving the resilience of EU raw materials supply chains. Overcoming issues will require major changes of the business models in the extractives industry and to integrate a more human-centred approach. The VECTOR project is based on the premise that a prerequisite to any sustainable human activity is to minimize the environmental and social costs and include all the stakeholders in the decision making processes around this. VECTOR's overall objective is to deliver evidence-based and accessible knowledge that integrates the scientific and social pathways to successful mineral exploration and mining. The first pillar of our approach is a geological prospectivity toolkit based on an entirely new workflow using machine learning-based integration of less invasive geological, geochemical and geophysical measurements. The workflow will be validated in three European sedimentary basins and will be transferable worldwide. The second pillar is a social acceptance procedure that identifies, for the first time, the values that the European public invokes when deciding about mineral development. This will result in a Social Acceptance index and a new body of knowledge that reflects diverse values-based perspectives. The third pillar is an integrated toolkit consisting of a unique, distributed, multimodal, self-learning, and interactive platform that will consider both geological exploration potential and socio-economic factors to yield a data-driven, quantitative and integrative assessment of regions more suitable for exploration and, eventually, mining. The results will be freely available via an engaging, web-based interface designed to support evidence-based decision making and the UNFC and UNRMS.