A joint initiative by the European mineral raw materials industries
Welcomed by the European Commission
"The European Minerals Day is an excellent way to inform, educate and enthuse European citizens about the importance of the minerals sector in providing raw materials that are essential for so many everyday products. The sector is vital to Europe's competitiveness and its success is built on sound principles of sustainability and innovation." (European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, Commissioner for Enterprise & Industry)
European Coordinators (Organisers):
IMA-Europe, the European Industrial Minerals Association
UEPG, the European Aggregates Association
CEMBUREAU, the European Cement Association
EuroGeoSurveys, the European Geological Surveys
European Organisations supporting the initiative:
EMCEF (European Mine, Chemicals and Energy Workers Federation) (http://www.emcef.org/)
The European Minerals Foundation (www.europeanmineralsfoundation.org)
The European Federation of Geologists (www.eurogeologists.eu)
Countdown 2010 (www.countdown.net)
ELO (European Landowners Organisation) (www.elo.org)
EurActiv.com (www.euractiv.com)
Requests from the media should be directed to: Tom O'Connell of OCPR on Mobile: +32 475 69 15 60 or by E-mail.
National coordinators:
Austria
Fachverband der Keramischen Industrie Österreichs e.V. (www.baustoffindustrie.at) (Contact: Mr Wasserbacher / Dr Hennrich)
Belgium
Fortea / FEDIEX / FEBELCEM (Contact: Mr Schelstraete)
Czech Republic
Czech Lime Association (Contact: Mr Prokopec)
France
MI France (Minéraux Industriels France)(www.mi-france.fr) (Contact: Mrs Bonnet)
Germany
Bundesverband der Gips- und Gipsbauplattenindustrie e.V. (www.gips.de)
Bundesverband Keramische Rohstoffe e.V. (www.bkr-industrie.de) (Contact: Mr Schlotmann)
Bundesverband Kalk e.V. (www.kalk.de) (Contact: Mr Kremer)
Greece
Greek Mining Enterprises Association (www.sme.gr) (Contact: Mr Kavalopoulos)
Italy
Assomineraria (www.assomineraria.org) (Contact: Ms Giardia)
Portugal
INETI - The Portuguese Geological Survey (Contact: Ms Santana)
Slovenia
Slovenian Geological Surveys (Contact: Mr Solar)
United Kingdom
Silica and Moulding Sands Association (Member of MPA) (www.mineralproducts.org)
About IMA Europe
The European Industrial Minerals Association, IMA-Europe aisbl, was founded in 1993 to provide sector-based representation for industrial minerals and to promote the interests of its members: CCA-Europe (Calcium carbonates), EBA (borates), EuLA (lime & limestone), ESMA (andalusite, mica, sepiolite & vermiculite), EUBA (bentonite), EUROFEL (feldspar), EUROSIL (silica sand), EUROTALC (talc), IDPA (diatomite), KPC-Europe (kaolin & plastic clays). Under its umbrella, IMA-Europe represents about 500 quarries and 800 plants. IMA-Europe covers all issues related to industrial minerals except commercial ones. Health and safety at the workplace, environmental protection and product safety are some of IMA's top priority issues. IMA-Europe ensures that the industrial minerals industry at large benefits from the sharing of non-sensitive information and plays a supporting role in the promotion of best practices. The European Minerals Day was launched in 2007 at the initiative of IMA-Europe, as a multi-sectoral pan-European awareness raising event. For more information on IMA-Europe, please consult: www.ima-europe.eu.
About UEPG
UEPG stands for "Union Européenne des Producteurs de Granulats" (European Aggregates Association). Since 1987, UEPG has promoted the interests of the European Aggregates Industry by representing its National Member Associations on economic, technical, environmental and health & safety policy. UEPG is committed to sustainable development. Also, UEPG increasingly contributes to curb the trend of loss of biodiversity, by providing appropriate ecosystems for both fauna and flora during and after our extraction activity. UEPG pro-actively identifies EU initiatives and policies that are likely to impact on European aggregates producers. It provides Members with brief and concise information through regular publications and ad-hoc updates, and ensures UEPG positions are considered in EU decision-making. UEPG positively promotes the profile of the European Aggregates Industry and is the voice of 22 national associations, with 3.5 billion tons of aggregates produced yearly, more than 28.000 operating sites involving more than 350.000 employees, included subcontractors. For more information on UEPG, please consult http://www.uepg.eu
About CEMBUREAU
CEMBUREAU, the European Cement Association, based in Brussels, is the representative organisation of the cement industry in Europe. Today CEMBUREAU includes 28 Members (27 Full Members and 1 Associate Member). Currently, its Full Members are the national cement industry associations and cement companies of the European Union (with the exception of Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia) plus Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. Croatia is an Associate Member of CEMBUREAU. In 2008, the production of cement in the CEMBUREAU 28 Member Countries amounted to 310 Mio t, representing about 11% of total world cement production (2.83 billion tonnes). CEMBUREAU Members directly employ approximately 72 000 people. For more information on CEMBUREAU, please consult: http://www.cembureau.eu.
About EuroGeoSurveys
EuroGeoSurveys, the Association of the European Geological Surveys is a legally registered non-profit association. Its Members are 33 national Geological Surveys. It represents the largest collective EU public geological and geology related data and expertise sources and research capacity, covering all the numerous domains of application of public geology, including in the mineral resources sector. EU Geological Surveys also have a long track record of cooperation with developing countries, including in the mineral resources domain, related to data acquisition/ processing/ dissemination; capacity building and institutional strengthening. EuroGeoSurveys provides the contribution of public geology to the EU policy making and implementation process in a number of sustainable development and competitiveness related EU policy sectors (health, development, civil protection, CO2 storage, soils, water, raw materials supply, research, INSPIRE, GMES ...) . For more information on EuroGeoSurveys, please consult www.eurogeosurveys.org.
