NEWSROOM

Brussels, Belgium — 7 October 2025 — The Horizon Europe project Exploration Information System (EIS) successfully held its final event today at Comet Louise in Brussels, bringing together experts from geoscience, industry, policy, and innovation to showcase its groundbreaking digital tools and chart a path for sustainable mineral exploration in Europe.

Organised by LGI Sustainable Innovation, in close cooperation with the project coordinator Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) and all consortium partners, the event featured a full-day agenda of technical presentations, panel discussions, and networking sessions with policymakers, industry leaders, and regional stakeholders.

Keynote & Strategic Vision

The event opened with remarks from Hafsa Munia (GTK), Dimitrios Biliouris (HaDEA), and Daniel Cios (DG GROW), underlining Europe’s shared responsibility in building a resilient raw materials value chain. A keynote address by Rolf Kuby, Director General of Euromines, emphasized the importance of innovation, data-sharing, and collaboration.

From Concept to Open-Source Tools

During the technical session, leading experts, including Vesa Nykänen (GTK), Tobias Bauer (LTU), Andreas Knobloch (Beak Consultants), and Guillaume Bertrand (BRGM) unveiled the EIS Toolkit and the EIS QGIS Plugin — accessible, open-source tools that combine spatial data, mineral-system modelling, and machine-learning to enable data-driven and environmentally responsible exploration across Europe.

Fostering Innovation Through Cluster Collaboration

Moderated by Imad Audi (LGI), a cluster session connected EIS with other EU initiatives, including SEMACRET, DEXPLORE, DeepBEAT, and UNDERCOVER. Speakers stressed the value of shared workflows, common data infrastructure, and cross-sectoral cooperation for accelerating discovery.

Regional and Industry Perspectives

Two panel discussions addressed future pathways for mineral exploration:

• Mining Regions in Europe, moderated by Vesa Nykänen (GTK), featured insights from Luís Martins (S3P), Katarina Nilsson (ETP-SMR), Julie Hollis (EuroGeoSurveys), and Saku Vuori (GTK) on aligning regional strategies and strengthening data infrastructure.
• Sustainable Industry Exploration, moderated by Percy Clark (Quest Critical Metals), saw industry leaders like Iana Bacquet (Talga), Thomas Dittrich (Zinnwald Lithium), Luís Martins (Cluster Portugal Mineral Resources), and Laura Quijano (ISMC Iberia Mine) discuss how research can translate into responsible commercial solutions.

Building on a Legacy

In closing remarks, Vesa Nykänen and Hafsa Munia (GTK) reflected on the project’s impact, highlighting the EIS Toolkit and QGIS Plugin as critical legacies. These open-source tools will remain freely available to researchers, industry, and policymakers — ensuring that EIS’s contributions to Europe’s sustainable exploration future continue well beyond the project’s end.

About EIS

Exploration Information System (EIS) is a Horizon Europe project coordinated by GTK, dedicated to building new geomodels and cost-effective spatial data analysis tools to accelerate sustainable mineral exploration. By reducing ecological impacts and promoting open-access data and workflows, EIS supports Europe’s transition to a resource-resilient future.

Media Contacts

• Joy Cremesty, Senior Communication Officer, LGI Sustainable Innovation — joy.cremesty[at]lgi.earth
• Eddo J. da Silva Rosa, Communication Officer, LGI Sustainable Innovation — eddo.dasilvarosa[at]lgi.earth
• Vesa Nykänen, Scientific Coordinator, Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) — vesa.nykanen[at]gtk.fi
• Hafsa Munia, Project Manager, Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) — hafsa.munia[at]gtk.fi

EIS, AN EU PROJECT DELVES INTO A NEW INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR EXPLORING CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS

THE EIS PROJECT WILL PLAY A SUPPORTING ROLE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL AND EUROPE’S LONG-TERM SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS

Kick-off Meeting consortium photo taken on the 8th of June
Rovaniemi, Finland – The Exploration Information System project, in short EIS, had its official kick-off meeting from the 7th to the 9th of June 2022. As part of the Horizon Europe program, EIS will play a critical role in finding new sources of critical raw materials for the EU’s transitioning economy by developing innovative exploration concepts and data analysis tools.

Funded by the European Commission and launched on the 1st of May 2022, , EIS project’s coordinator GTK organized a kick-off meeting in Rovaniemi and gathered 16 partners from six EU countries, South Africa, and one associate partner from Brazil along with world-leading geologists, data analysts, and other experts who discussed their roles in the project and other planning activities. The meeting was followed by a field trip to one of Lapland’s fascinating mafic layered intrusions, a real treat for all geologists out there!

The EIS consortium aims to develop methods and tools that will reduce the current high exploration costs and improve the accuracy of targeting during the early phase of mineral exploration. The project will put into practice open-source tools for all stages of mineral prospectivity analysis. The package will be published in the form of an EIS QGIS Wizard, which is made on an open-source geographic information system (GIS) platform called QGIS. This will promote a more responsible standard in the field of mineral exploration.

Field tests will be held in the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, France, Brazil, and South Africa, to examine the success of the EIS tools to find mineral resources crucial for the European Union climate goals.

The project also aims to increase the awareness of the general public on the importance of critical raw materials for the European Union in our transition to a green future by producing information materials related to primary raw materials.

Juha KAIJA, GTK, Stakeholder engagement leader of the EIS project.

As a Horizon Europe project, EIS will have a triple impact on the EU’s 2050 climate goals. By developing tools and methods to reduce the ecological impact of mineral explorations, finding new sources of raw materials critical for the digitalization of the European Union, and raising awareness of the important role of raw materials. All these impacts play a fundamental role in our transition to a green future.

Partners: GEOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS (GTK) (Coordinator from Finland), BEAK CONSULTANTS GMBH (Germany), BUREAU DE RECHERCHES GEOLOGIQUES ET MINIERES (France), LULEA TEKNISKA UNIVERSITET (Sweden), AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS (Spain), SVERIGES GEOLOGISKA UNDERSOKNING (Sweden), KELIBER TECHNOLOGY OY (Finland), LGI SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION (France), GISPO OY (Finland), UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE (South Africa), TURUN YLIOPISTO (Finland), UNIVERZITA KARLOVA (The Czech Republic), DEUTSCHE LITHIUM GMBH (Germany), COBRE LAS CRUCES SA (Spain), TALGA BATTERY METALS AB (Sweden), GOLDEN PET S.R.O (The Czech Republic).

Associate Partner: UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE CAMPINAS (Brazil).