News of March 23, 2026

New EU Policy Brief highlights Role of Earth Observation and Machine Learning in addressing Critical Raw Material Challenges

As demand for critical raw materials (CRMs) continues to grow, securing reliable access has become a strategic priority for the European Commission. Policies such as the Green Deal and the Critical Raw Materials Act set ambitious targets for increased circularity, resilience and environmental protection. However, achieving these objectives remains a challenge, requiring a combination of regulatory reform and the deployment of robust, operational technologies.

Together with multiple EU-funded projects within the European Sustainable Mining and Innovation Network (ESMIN), MOSMIN contributed to a joint policy brief outlining the potential of Earth Observation (EO) and Machine Learning (ML) to support a more resilient and sustainable mining sector.

The policy brief outlines how Earth Observation enables large-scale and continuous monitoring of mining sites, supporting the early detection of environmental risks, while AI-driven analytics unlock valuable insights from complex geospatial datasets, improving decision-making across the mining lifecycle. It also highlights the role of integrated data platforms in enhancing collaboration between industry, regulators and researchers.

MOSMIN contributes to this brief with the integrated technology solutions developed within the project, which have the potential to enhance the geotechnical monitoring of tailings dams, improve the tracking of contaminant sources and pathways, support land rehabilitation efforts, and assess the valorisation potential of mine waste. Together with the technologies developed by other projects within the ESMIN network, these advances bring Europe one step closer to achieving the circularity, resilience and environmental objectives set out by the European Commission.

Simultaneously, the brief highlights key barriers to wider uptake of these technologies, including  limited awareness, fragmented regulatory frameworks, and unequal access to high-quality data. Addressing these challenges calls for stronger alignment between policy and digital innovation, increased investment in data infrastructure and skills, closer public–private collaboration, and wider access to high-resolution EO data.

Access the full policy brief:
 https://zenodo.org/records/18610989