We had the scheduled project review of the MinExTarget project in early summer on behalf of the EIT RawMaterials. The review was made by Business Development Manager Dr Théo Berthet, who is the new officer assigned to the MinExTarget project by the EIT RawMaterials. Dr Théo Berthet has educational background in geosciences as well as working experience on the mineral exploration sector which makes it easy to communicate on project technical and scientific matters. I had a pleasure to interview him for our Newsletter.

Dr Berthet, could you tell me about your background as a geoscientist and your work in EIT RawMaterials?

I joined EIT RawMaterials about 3 years ago as an education manager for the regional hub North. Now, I work as a business development manager and we are getting the North and Baltic Sea regional hubs closer. It facilitates collaboration and matchmaking for the Nordic countries.

I have a background in geosciences and a Doctorate in Geodynamics done in France working on young orogens in Taiwan and the Himalayas. I moved to the North of Europe 8 years ago thanks to Uppsala University and stayed in Sweden thanks to the Geological Survey of Sweden. It is also in Sweden that I got closer to the exploration and mining ecosystem and realised how innovative and responsible it was compare to what I thought.

I have a long history with mining since I am born in a French coal city where the leftovers of the industry are the slag heaps, a museum and the football fans. I guess that is partly why I enjoyed working for Europe and innovations in the field of minerals and metals.

How do you see the significance of MinExTarget project to the mineral sector?

First of all let me underline the fact that minerals and metals have been key for our societal (r)evolutions and that it is not going to end especially if we want to achieve our climate and energy goals. We do recycling, and we must and will do it better but it will not cover 100% of our needs. It means that we need more primary minerals and metals and we need to find them with innovative methods more efficient and less capital intensive. This is why MinExTarget is significant!

At EIT RawMaterials, we strive for supporting new techniques and products that benefits the minerals and metals sector and in turn the society. What we like about MinExTarget is the combination of know-hows and expertise from the partners building an innovative service. Now the focus should be given on providing this service to companies in search for new deposits in order to build a track record by making them successful.

What are the main things projects should focus on to gain best results?

I would say that the technical and scientific part is usually not the issue. Mainly because the consortiums are filled with competent professionals and experts. However for the project to be successful, its result, the new service in that case, need to be used by other people. In other terms, finding companies will to use the services and pay for it. Pilots are a first good step, especially with paying customers, this might represents the first takers that will help finding the next users. It is like bowling, if you hit the first keel, the other ones usually follow. So the focus should be on hitting the first keel and make sure it is the right one!

There is a strong educational aspect on MinExTarget project. We have MSc and PhD students working with their thesis and working on project, and also several short courses and webinars on our topics for students and professionals. How do you see the importance of the educational aspect on the MinExTarget project and in general?

Education is key for EIT RawMaterials because it is key for innovation in Europe. We are very happy to see upscaling projects where the educational aspect is not left aside, especially for two reasons:

The first one is that there is an strong link between education and innovation. Innovations come often from technological breakthrough based on ideas of curious individuals raised in our educative systems.

The second one is that young students are a fresh pool of out-of-the-box thinkers. When they are in contact with specialists from upscaling projects, not only they will question their approach but they will also learn how to apply they knowledge and have an impact on our society.

I would even add that these students and professionals involved in educational activities of the MinExTarget project, will be the future users of the innovative services. If few years’ time, they will be involved with junior or major mining companies in Europe and in the world, spreading the word about MinExTarget to accelerate its uptake by the sector!

How do you see the importance of clustering with other related projects?

Exchanging knowledge with colleagues in different fields from the raw material sector is key to improve the way we are producing and using mineral resources. Maybe the idea behind this project was born in a clustering event? It is essential to cluster with other related projects to be up to date in terms of research and development, sparkle new ideas (projects) and spread the word about MinExTarget!

What about communication and dissemination activity regarding the MinExTarget Ltd spin-off company? Do you have recommendations for channels to use and on which kind of audience we should focus on and how should we communicate with the general public?

When it comes to communication activities regarding the MinExTarget Ltd spin-off company, I would say that it needs to be focused on finding new customers for these services. We invited the MinExTarget spin-off to picth at the EuroMineExpo in Skellefteå this year. This is one step, but it will take more than that, it is a sales job!

It is different than what we are doing here, in this interview. This is about telling the general public about the project, about how scientists saw the opportunity to create a set of services out of innovative approaches and making it available for anyone to use. It is a story of explorers coupled with entrepreneurs. MinExTarget project is a story about improving the ways of finding metals and minerals that we need for our society, and it is important to tell it to people. The rest of the story will be written by the spin-off: best of luck with that!