"We are very happy and proud to get the chance to share our expertise, and also be able to embrace the expertise offered by others in the area of exploration of metals and minerals.

"We can work together to accelerate the green transition by securing the metals and minerals necessary to enable this change", Anders Persson, global technology and methods manager, Epiroc, said.

Professor Alireza Malehmir at Uppsala University will lead the project in conjunction with scientists from Lund University, Stockholm University and Gothenburg University.

In addition to this, several companies from the mining and exploration industry will take part. The list of companies includes Epiroc, Nordic Iron Ore, First Quantum Minerals, Tyréns, Smarkand2015, BitSimNow, Eurobattery Minerals och Amkvo. The project is planned to go on for six years and will commence in January 2024.

"For Sweden, The Nordics, Europe and the rest of the world, it is important that we have a long-term strategy to secure the supply of metals, required, for example, to be able to meet the current and future demand for batteries.

We can work together to accelerate the green transition

"As part of the project, we have experts representing the whole process — from exploration, to securing and then developing metal deposits. Academia will contribute with their areas of expertise whilst those of us based directly in the industry will offer our combined knowledge. Both sides are necessary in order to reach our goals. Together we will accelerate the technical transformation for the future," Persson said.

Smart Exploration Research is a consortium of experts in geosciences, nanotechnology, data analytics, engineering, drones and robotic solutions, as well as drilling technology.

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