Report on the Open Days 2017 - IMA Europe · Ebensee - Imerys Carbonates Austria GmbH had a local economic networking event on 29 March 2017. European Minerals Day (2007-2017) This

Report on the Open Days 2017

Participating countries in 2017

1. Austria

2. Belgium

3. Bulgaria

4. Cyprus

5. Czech Republic

6. Estonia

7. Finland

8. France

9. Germany

10. Greece

11. Hungary

12. Italy

13. The Netherlands

14. Poland

15. Portugal

16. Spain

17. Slovenia

18. Sweden

19. Turkey

20. Ukraine

22. United Kingdom

Rest of the world

23. Brazil

24. Malaysia

25. United States of America

“The European Minerals Day 2017 welcomed more than 43.000 visitors to more than 150 events at 118 sites in 25 countries.”

Participating organisations in 2017

AAIPAI - Italian Association of Industrial Archeological PatrimoniumAloys Josef Müller GmbH & Co. KGAmberger KaolinwerkeANIETArno Witgert Michael Liebig

BBKRI - Bundesverband Keramische Rohstoffe und Industrieminerale e.V.

CCaolines de Vimianzo SACarmeuseClariant Produkte Deutschland

DDikili/Filtration EMEA

EEsan EczacibasiEscuela de Ingeniería de Minas y Energía

FFdA - Federación de ÁridosFediexFels-Werke GmbH

GGeological Survey Goerg & SchneiderGroupe MEACGrupo Desarrollo Rural Ribeira Sacra CourelIFF Murat/Filtration EMEA

IImerys AvezzanoImerys CarraraImers Carbonates Austria GmbHImerys Ceramics France/Quartz Dordogne

Imerys Industrial Minerals Greece SAImerys Kaolin BarcarenaImerys Lostock PCC UK LtdImerys Minerals Bulgaria ADImerys Minerals GmbH/Carbonates RheinbergImerys Minerals Ltd UKImerys Minerals MalaysiaImerys Minéraux BelgiqueImerys Minéraux FranceImerys PCC FranceImerys Perlite Sardinia SrLImerys Refractory Minerals AndersonvilleImerys Talc Luzenac FranceImerys VKV UkraineIMI Fabi UikhovenIMI Fabi Brusada PonticelliIMI Fabi BenwoodIMI Fabi Orani (Italy)Instituto Politécnico de Beja (IPBeja)ISPRAmbiente

KKalkwerke H. OetelshofenKemmlitzer KaolinwerkeKunda Nordic Tsement

LLafargeHolcimLhoist Central EuropeLhoist France OuestLochaber Geopark Visitor CentreLQS- Lochaline Quartz Sand

MMinerali IndustrialiMineral Products Association UK

NNordkalk Corporation KurevereNordkalk Corporation PargasNordkalk Corporation Miedzanka

Nordkalk Corporation Sto-rugns & Köping

OOmya Neu PirkaOmya Carrière d’AucraisOmya France - Sainte Croix de MareuilOmya Hungaria KftlOmya Madencilik A.Ş.Omya SAs OrgonOmya Sp.zo.o. Omya SpA Nocera UmbraOmya UK

PPasek Minerals

QQuarzwerke Frechen

SSalonit AnhovoSibelco Dessel/’t KristallijnSibelco Ransbach-BaumbachSibelco UtielSibelco RiodevaSibelco ArijaSibelco ArcosSibelco MoróSibelco CastelletSibelco RobilanteSibelco FossanovaSibelco WinterswijkSibelco ‘t RoothSibelco BukownoSibelco Rio MaiorSibelco BaskarpSibelco CinéSibelco Bent Farm QuarrySibelco Mertsalovo

SMA Mineral OyStephan Schmidt KG

European Partners & Supporting OrganisationsCEMBUREAU - The European Cement AssociationEuroGeoSurveys - The Geological Surveys of EuropeEurogypsum - Association of European Gypsum Industries Eurometaux - European Association of MetalsEuromines - European Mining federationEUSalt - European Salt Producers’ AssociationETP SMR - European Technology Platform on Sustainable Mineral ResourcesIMA-Europe - Industrial Minerals AssociationUEPG - Union Européenne des Producteurs de granulatsEuropean CommissionIndustriAll - European Trade UnionEFG - European Federation oF Geologists

Global PartnersIMA-NA - Industrial Minerals Association North America

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Austria

Neu Pirka - Omya welcomed the local community to an Open Day at their ex-traction and processing facilities in Neu Pirka on 23 September 2017. The visitors were introduced to the complex produc-tion of calcium carbonate fillers which are used mainly in the paper, construc-tion, paint and plastics industries. The European Minerals Day was taken as an excellent occasion to introduce the visitors to the world of mining and provide an insight into the processing of mineral raw materials

Ebensee - Imerys Carbonates Austria GmbH had a local economic networking event on 29 March 2017.

European Minerals Day (2007-2017) This pan-European awareness raisingand educational initiative takes place every two years. It aims to enhance public under-standing on the essential role of minerals in our life, as well as promote dialogue and build trust. Mineral raw materials produc-ers show how the sector cares about health and safety and contributes to a sustainable society by illustrating their role in resource ef-ficiency, innovation, biodiversity and regional development.Companies welcome local communities toexperience the world of minerals via opendays and school projects, while Europeanbranche organisations ensure the coordina-tion, support and visibility at European level.

Lead Coordinator: IMA-EuropePartners: CEMBUREAU, EUSalt, Eurometaux,Euromines, ETP SMR, EuroGeoSurveys, UEPG, IndustriAll (trade union), EFG (EuropeanFederation of Geologists). With support from the European Commission and Member State representatives (MEPs).

See also www.mineralsday.eu

The European Minerals Day 2017welcomed more than 43.000 visitors to more than 150 events at 118 sites in 25 countries.

AustriaTotal visitors: ?Open door days: 2School projects: 0

Themes: biodiversity, resource efficiency, innovation, minerals’ applications

Companies: Omya Neu Pirka, Imerys Carbonates Austria GmbH

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Belgium

Uikhoven - IMI Fabi invited the secondary schools in Uikhoven on 22 September to the EMD open days under the theme ”Recycle & Play”. Pupils created handi-craft representing mining machines with the help of recycled material. Around 64 children attended workshops dedicated to talc production, product application fields, and sustainability.On 23 September, IMI Fabi welcomed its neighbours in both Belgium and Italy at its operations under the theme “10 years together”. At this occasion, IMI Fabi showed the sustainable footprint they adopted, with particular reference to resource efficiency, recycling, innovation, renewable energies and biodiversity. The objective is to demonstrate the company’s on-going commitment over the last 10 years to building a sustain-able business. The open day in Uikhoven included a guided tour of the plant, the production process and talc application fields.

Mol/Dessel - On 21st May Sibelco Dessel organised a Family day at ‘t Kristalijn, sit-uated in between an active and restored quarry. Families could enjoy a non-stop BBQ, live music and kids activities. The families had the chance to learn about exploitation and quarry restoration. On 25 augustus Sibelco organised a nature walk and open air movie out of ‘t Kristalijn. The nature walk took place in the Sibelco quarries in Mol/Lommel and gave the employees the chance to experience Sibelco in a different way and learn more about the company and its history.





BelgiumTotal visitors: 1100Open door days: 10School projects: 2


Companies: IMI Fabi, Sibelco, Carmeuse, Imerys, FEDIEX

Partners: local schools, University of Liège, NGOs, authorities

The family day visit was organized for a second time on 22 October at the Dessel Operations.

Aisemont - On 22 September 2017, Carmeuse welcomed children from local schools (Aisemont & Le Roux) to their limestone operations in Aisemont. The children learned about extraction and processing and discovered the biodiver-sity in the restored quarry.

75 years of Fediex

In the frame of its 75th anniversary and under the high patronage of His Majesty King Philip, the Belgian minerals association FEDIEX held three thematic workshops hosted at different quarries in Belgium. Each event welcomed around 200 people - politicians and representa-tives from local, regional and federal administrations, the quarry sector and national and European associations. Gaurain-Ramecroix - On 21 April 2017, a first workshop around the theme “High-tech at the service of the environ-ment and neighbouring communities” was hosted by CCB and included visits of three cement sites in the region. Malmédy - On 23 June, Nelles-Frères hosted a seminar on « Nature and biodi-versity » at its site Carrières de la Warche. At this occasion, FEDIEX presented the LIFE in Quarries project and its progress.Mol- On 11 October Sibelco hosted a one-day seminar on minerals and their products, a visit of the silica quarry and launch of a new exhibition on the sector at the Sibelco museum area.Brussels - Closing ceremony in the Bozar.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Belgium


Lixhe - Imerys Mineraux organized a site visit and presentation to the occupation-al doctors in formation at the university of Liege. Liege University is close by and Lixhe wants to reinforce its relations with this University. The plan presenta-tion was given by site manager and EHS Coordinator and the plan tour visit was focused on EHS aspects, hygiene and site risks. The occupational doctor of Lixhe made a presentation regarding hygiene program and medical surveillance ac-cording to site risks.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Bulgaria

“Help children learning our minerals!”

Kardjali - On 21 September 2017 Imerys Minerals Bulgaria AD and the Historical Museum of Kardjali organized an open day/guided visit. “Gledka” accommoda-tion centre’s children and six-graders from Otets Paisii School were invited to the Imerys office building. A presentation of Imerys activities was provided and they could enjoy a demonstration of physi-cal parameters‘ tests of Imerys industrial minerals; bentonite, perlite and zeolite. As part of this demonstration they could examine the adsorbent properties of cat litter in a laboratory environment. Chil-dren were given the opportunity to plant flowers in pots using agroperlite produced at the Imerys plant. Participants visited Kardali’s Nature museum and a guided tour was provided at the local minerals exhibition. At the end of the event every-body received a gift bag.

The main objective of this event was to allow the participants to get acquainted with industrial minerals: bentonite, perlite and zeolite. What the minerals’ proper-ties are, their diversity and the minerals’ production technology. In addition, it was important to make them acquainted with the applications of minerals in different aspects of our everyday lives.

Staff members communicated their knowledge regarding minerals and felt satisfied seeing the mass participation of children at both theoretical and the test-ing part.

The whole initiative was a good reason for a new meeting between children from the family centre in the Gledka district and Imerys Minerals Bulgaria AD team. Imerys Minerals Bulgaria AD recognised EMD 2017 as an opportunity to continue supporting the material and educational needs of those children, which go beyond the EMD framework. Also, during the forthcoming European Minerals Days, there is an opportunity for even more and different children to participate at the “Open Days” of Imerys.

Children expressed their feelings and emotions in a thank you letter, saying “Thank you for all your support and lots of presents that you gave us on that day.”Maksum Ramadanov, a kid from the center, surprised and moved the Imerys team with his words and actions “I dedi-cate this drawing, which is one of my favourite, to all of you. It is the least that I can do as a thank you.”Imerys Minerals Bulgaria AD event achieved the goal that it was organised for, within the European Minerals Day context: informing, educating and en-thusing children about the importance of the minerals sector in providing raw materials that are essential for numerous everyday products.





Total visitors: 35Open door days: 1School projects: 1

Themes: Getting acquainted with in-dustrial minerals; bentonite, perlite and zeolite, Minerals’ properties and their diversity, Minerals’ production technol-ogy, Application of minerals in daily life

Companies: Imerys Minerals Bulgaria ADPartners: Historical Museum of Kardjali

Media coverageNumber of articles: 2Local television coverage: 1

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Cyprus

Lefkosia - From 22 until 24 September the Geological Survey Department organized an Open Day at the A.L. Bo-tanical Garden and the Troodos Geopark Visitors Center and Amiantos Mine. The event welcomed 267 visitors and was or-ganised in partnership with the Depart-ment of Forests and ANET Tro0dos. The purpose of the event was to give the opportunity to the public to visit the Botanical Garden and the Troodos Geopark Visitors Center developed in the premises of the Asbestos mine and learn about the mineral resources of Cyprus. At the same time it was important to show the visitors the biodiversity of the area and show them the restoration works ex-ecuted so far at the Amiantos (Asbestos) Mine. Relative information leaflets were distributed to the visitors.





Total visitors: 267Open door days: 3School projects:

Themes: Biodiversity, mineral resources, restoration works for a closed/aban-doned mine.

Organisation: Geological Survey Depart-mentPartners: Department of Forests, ANET Troodos, Botanial Garden, Troodos Geopark, Amiantos Mine

Media coverageLocal radio coverage: 1Web publications: 3

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Czech Republic

Beroun - The lime plant (Vapenka Certovy schody), the limestone quarry (Velkolom Certovy schody) and the Museum of the Czech Karst (Muzeum Ceskeho krasu), in Beroun, prepared an interesting program for the public in the frame of European Min-erals Day 2017 on September 22-23, 2017. It was a two-day event. Friday was reserved for high school students and teachers and Saturday was dedicated to the general public.

For transportation and touring capacity as well as safety reasons there were three groups limited to 50 people per group per day. The program for each group took about 5 hours and was divided into two parts.

Participants started the program at the Czech Karst Museum. The first part was a commented tour of Geopark Barrandien in the courtyard of the museum, where participants, through the exhibits could discover ancient environments, recognizing not only the diversity of local stones but also the dramatic geological development of the Bohemian Karst and Barrandien. The second part was followed by a com-mented tour of the permanent geological and palaeontological exposition located in the main building of the museum. The tour was focused on the summary of the evolution of life during the geological past and the introduction of interesting fossils from the collections of the museum. The EMD participants benefitted from the professional comments provided by the museum’s geological and paleontological experts. They could directly discuss and ask questions concerning the expositions

and the geological past which made the whole tour much more interesting and instructive than usual. Even children did not come in short, they were actively involved in discovering the ancient past or could enjoy the tasks of a museum box - such as colouring books or puzzles of ancient organisms. As in 2015, some participants brought their fossils, rocks and minerals and the staff of the Czech Karst Museum tried to identify all of them and even find out the collectible value of their findings or their potential scientific significance.

After visiting the exhibitions the partici-pants boarded a bus to cover the 15 km distance to the Certovy Schody Quarry.The first stop was at the East quarry. Par-ticipants got the chance to see the over-all view of the active quarry and the lime plant behind it. Lhoist experts explained to them the process of stone drilling, blasting and loading as well as the further treatment of the stone required for all the high quality end-products. The history of lime manufacturing and envi-ronment protection were also explained and discussed here.

After a short walk the participants found themselves in a completely different location full of vegetation with a small lake. It is a small quarry after reclama-tion. The visitors could marvel at nature’s success in taking back what was tem-porarily borrowed by humans in order to extract valuable mineral deposits. People could observe and easily imagine here the active quarry and its eventual final image and features after its closure






Themes: geology & paleantology, limestone operations and processing, quarry restoration, and environmental protection.

Companies: Lhoist Central EuropePartners: Museum of the Czech Karst in Beroun, Local Schools, Pyrotechnical service of the police

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Czech Republic


and reclamation. Land reclamation processes and the quarry’s successful co-operation with the Landscape pro-tected area authorities were explained and discussed during this stay.The next stop was to the upper edge of the West quarry, which enabled the visitors to watch real stone han-dling – loading and hauling with huge equipment, the dumpers and loaders. The four hundred and ten million year history of the stone deposit and also the final purpose of the land after rec-lamation were outlined by the quarry manager. It initiated a lively discussion about the land brought back to nature and possible public use.

After a short walking tour around a big limestone sorting machine, participants reached the quarry “main square” in the middle of the technical facilities where the workshops and mining realization office were located. An exhibition was set up around which people could discuss and interact with representa-tives of the Pyrotechnical service of the Czech Police, who were taking part for the first time this year. It was possible to see real ammunition findings as well as to try the pyrotechnical protective field suit. Each session was always concluded by a small pyrotechnical show with a colourful smoke cartridges perfor-mance.

After that visitors were invited to snacks and small refreshments. Here, they could explore hands-on the giant min-ing machinery – dumper and loader - feeling the comfort of the cabin, taking

pictures inside the loader shovel and understanding better the relative size and operation of these huge vehicles.Finally, within these limestone surround-ings, close to the tremendous machinery, people enjoyed lunch and the overall atmosphere. Full of positive impres-sions and new actual information about the quarry, its purpose and the future, people left having lost any former trepi-dation about the “terrible hole” in the Czech Karst area and thanking the Lhoist guides for a great experience. They only regret that this event is only biennial. The basic idea of the European Minerals Day was successfully fulfilled again.

European Minerals Day 201 Events in Estonia

European Launch Event

Talinn - The 2017 European Minerals Day Launch took place on 21 and 22 Septem-ber under the Estonian EU Presidency, kindly hosted by Nordkalk and Kunda Nordic Tsement at their operations in Kurevere and Kunda respectively. Representatives from the European Com-mission, Estonian government, partner-ing sectors, academia, NGOs, media and local administrations attended the 10th Anniversary event. The launch event told the story of how the minerals indus-try contributes to sustainable regions and the well-being of the local communi-ties while making the link to the EU 2020 policy agenda. The balanced and insight-ful presentations by the guest speakers were complemented by visits of the limestone quarry operations in Kurevere and Kunda, as well as the cement plant and port in Kunda. The participants had the opportunity to witness a blasting in Kurevere and to be introduced to the local biodiveristy projects on birds and orchids. The launch event welcomed the follow-ing guest speakers: From the European Commission: Peter Handley (DG GROW) and Micheal O’Briain (DG ENVI); Ando Leppiman and Kalev Kallemets from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Com-munications of Estonia; Marko Pomerants (Member of Parliament and previous Environment Minister of Estonia), Neeme Suur (Governor, Lääne County), Prof. Alar Rosentau (University of Tartu), Kaido Veski (Mayor of Kunda), and Ms Liis Keer-berg (Birdlife International). IMA-Europe, EuroGeoSurveys and UEPG introduced the European Minerals Day initiative.

Quotes by key note speakers:

“We need to keep jobs, growth, invest-ment and innovation in Europe”, stated Peter Handley (DG GROW), “The Com-mission’s recent Communication on a renewed EU Industrial Policy Strategy recognises the essential role of raw ma-terials for the EU industrial value chain, and their contribution to a low carbon economy. European Minerals Day plays an invaluable role in enhancing public awareness, acceptance and trust and promoting the sector’s sustainable practices and value to society.”

“European Minerals Day also promotes the importance of addressing biodi-versity conservation at extractive sites. There is increasing good practice to be shared and very significant opportuni-ties to create high nature value areas though careful planning “, stated Mr Micheal O’Briain (DG ENVI).

Ando Leppiman, Deputy Secretary General for Energy, Ministry of Eco-nomic Affairs and Communication of Estonia, announced: “The Estonian industrial strategy foresees the building of 400.000 new homes, a high speed train between Tallinn and Warsaw and a tunnel connecting Tallinn with the Finn-ish mainland – substantially increasing demand for minerals. Initiatives such as the European Minerals Day help to enhance public understanding of those essential minerals that constitute our modern life.”

*Nordkalk participates in the European Minerals Day since its launch in 2007.





Total visitors: 54Site visits & conferences: 2Official dinner: 1

Themes: community relations, biodi-versity, resource efficiency, innovation, minerals’ applications, health and safety

Companies: Nordkalk, Kunda Nordic Tsement Partners: Estonian EU Presidency, Birdlife International, University of Tartu, European Partners: European Commis-sion, IMA-Europe, EUSalt, CEMBUREAU, EuroGeoSurveys, UEPG, EFG, Euromines, Eurometaux, IndustriAll, ETP SMR

Media coverageNumber of articles: 5 Social media campaign on twitter @mineralsday & Facebook

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Finland

“Kalkkimaa Open Days and 100 years celebration”

Kalkkimaa - SMA Mineral Oy welcomed the public to celebrate its 100th anniver-sary of industrial minerals production in Kalkkimaa. The CEO of SMA Mineral Group, Daniel Juvél, opened the event welcoming the visitors. The history of Kalkkimaa was presented by Karoliina Kemppainen, who wrote the history book of Kalkkimaa - 100 years of mining in Tornio.

Interviews were conducted during the day by the host Jari Vesa. All stakeholders, such as the former employees, customers and landowners were invited to speak and illustrate part of their history and experi-ence with the company during the event. A bus tour was organised to the mines as well as a stone and history exhibition. The participants could also visit the technol-ogy laboratory, simulators and machines. Afterwards the visitors were treated to the local salmon soup and coffee table.

The participants explored the practice of mining and processing minerals, with special emphasis on the environmentally friendly production methods, with non-chemicals and the utilization of side stone. The participants could experience what it was like to operate a wagon drill and excavator through simulators and a mini excavator challenging the driving skills of the participants. Laboratory work and and quality control was shown in a mobile-laboratory.

Pargas - Nordkalk Corporation wel-comed 140 interested stakeholders for guided bus tours in the Pargas lime-stone quarry on 23 September 2017.





Finland Total visitors: 1040Open door days: 2 School projects:

Themes: 100 years celebration, Increas-ing knowledge of products and material efficiency – circular economy products

Companies: SMA Mineral Oy, Nordkalk Corporation Partners: Kallion Maarakennus (local transport and construction firm) Lappia vocational school

Media coverageNumber of articles: 7 Local television coverage: 1Local radio coverage: 2Web publications: 6

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in France

Erbray - On 22 September, Group MEAC hosted three workshops to two local schools at their plant. The 10-year old pupils and their teachers got acquainted with the company activities, the quarry, lime kilns (with Écomusée) and the re-markable geology. The day ended with a treasure hunt game. All participants much enjoyed the event. Groupe MEAC intends to repeat this activity every two years, to allow all children in town to know the site.

Murat - Imerys Filtration Murat organized the European Minerals Day on 22 Septem-ber and provided a whole day of activities. The participants could discover what the Murat Plant had to offer. Presentations were given about European Minerals Day, deposit features, quarry exploitation and rehabilitation, the production process and the applications of those products.

Saint Jean de Côle - On 22 September, Imerys Ceramics France / Quartz de Dordogne opened their doors to the public. The opportunity was given to visit the quarry and have a look at the exploita-tion, geological specificities and rehabili-tation.

Trimouns mine - Imerys Talc Luzenac organized Open Doors on 23 September under the theme “Talc, a whole environ-ment...”. The event welcomed more than 400 people from the local communities. The company hosted guided bus tours to the quarry as well as information booths on Talc, the extraction of Talc and the economic activities they are involved in. Visitors got acquainted with the applica-tions and the markets of talc, the produc-

tion process, the geological formation of the Trimouns deposit and the Imerys sustainability good practices. A very important part of this open door event was to show the public and local com-munities the integration of the quarry in the environment.

Le Fieu - The LafargeHolcim quarry located in Le Fieu (Aquitaine) welcomed groups of scholars and the general public on September 21 and 22. The two open days were an opportunity for their stakeholders to know more about aggregate quarrying and to discover how aggregate producers have become experts on biodiversity, the environ-ment and/or archeology. Free guided bus tours took the people through the quarry operations.

Sainte Croix de Mareuil - Omya France held Open Days on 22 and 23 Septem-ber welcoming local schools to discover the calcium carbonate quarry, the processing unit and all jobs involved in this process.

Orgon - On 23 September, Omya SAS opened its doors to show the public how calcium carbonate is manufac-tured. Product from the quarry to plant.

Pouzilhac - Provençale SA organised an open door event on 23 September. Through a guided tour of the quarry, visitors learned more about calcium carbonate.





FranceTotal visitors: 1017Open door days: 11School projects: 3

Themes: Quarry rehabilitation & biodiversi-ty, jobs, geology, exploitation, production process and applications, HSE

Companies: Groupe MEAC, Omya France, Omya SAS, Imerys Filtration, Imerys Ce-ramics, Imerys Talc Luzenac, Lhoist France Ouest, Provençale SA, LafargeHolcimPartners: Eco-musée, Local Schools, Nature organisations, pastors, Tourism offices, firebrigade, mineralogy association, city councils, France 3, Montataire Video Club

Media coverageNumber of articles: 3 Local radio coverage: 13TV coverage: 1

Urville (Normandie) - Omya planned a whole day for people who are interested in the quarry of Aucrais. Visitors could visit the quarry, installations and witness a demonstration of a mine firing / blasting.

Salin de Giraud - Imerys PCC France focused on the exchange with local authorities and had several meetings from February to May with elected representatives of the town hall of Salin de Giraud, the Arles Mayor, the Sous-Préfet and township repre-sentatives. Topics discussed included economic issues such as real estate, Health, Safety and Environment, and the risk of flooding.

Villers-sous-Saint-Leu - On 30 May Imerys Mineraux France shot a video explaining the process in Villers Plant. The purpose of this video is to present Imerys activities locally within local schools and within Precy’s Township. The video and filming was realized by the leader of the video club, Precy Sur Oise Major’s deputy. The video will be diffused at the Montataire Video Club annual movie presentation and in lo-cal schools. Imerys gave a presentation of their activities in Villers for a major French television channel on 3 and 4 June. This reportage showed the Imerys activities in the quarry and plant.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in France


European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Germany

Kemmlitz - Kemmlitzer Kaolinwerke welcomed students and teachers from a local secondary school to their site and showed the open pit and the mechanical processing of kaolin. The students were introduced to the career possibilities and training opportunities.

Hirschau - In the weekend of 22-23 September 2017, Amberger Kaolinwerke opened its plant to the public and provided plant tours and excursions to the open pit mine. Among the visitors were graduate students and teachers, interested neigbours and customers. The visitors could explore some of the final applications of the minerals quartz, kaolin, feldspar in an exhibition. In addition, the students learned about professional apprenticeships opportunities.

Wuppertal - Kalkwerke H. Oetelshofen GmbH & Co. KG organized a major open door event from 20-21 May 2017, welcom-ing more than 20.000 visitors. People could visit the quarry with a bus shuttle or book a seat on a helicopter and explore biodiversity during and after extraction. There were special activities for children, bird watching of eagle owls, a trade market for Art, food, tools and gardening. Even a church service was held at the oc-casion of Luther’s 500th anniversary. The main objective of the two-day event was to let people experience the world of lime production and to make them aware of the fact that minerals are an essential part of our daily life.

Frechen - Quarzwerke GmbH Frechenorganized a family tour through the renatured area on 22 September 2017.

Afterwards, the families had the oppor-tunity to build insect houses and take them home.

Rheinberg - Imerys Minerals GmbH set up a whole day of activities for their employees and contractors on 28 September 2017. The themes addressed for this day: Health and Well-being. As part of the program employees could participate in individual health checks, a forklift training focussing on driving stability, train on RC-Models and height training - PPE training for a climbing competition. In addition they provided a free bicycle check with small safety related repairs for free. Visitors could also participate in a quiz and lottery.

Ransbach‐Baumbach - Sibelco organ-ized a graffiti event in their quarry Hohewiese on 22 September 2017. Sibelco Deutschland and a local school class initiated an Art initiative consisting of the planning, design and realization of a graffiti wall on a large clay stor-age building at the Sibelco site “Hohe Wiese”. The educational part of this project was managed by the organisa-tion “Atelier mobil” in close cooperation with the international graffiti sprayer Kai Niederhausen (alias “Semor”). By the end of August the students together with the artist realized this outstand-ing piece of art and the official “grand opening” took place during European Minerals Day 2017.




European Minerals Day 2017 welcomed more than 43.000 visitors to more than 150 events at 118 sites in 25 countries.

GermanyTotal visitors: 21.136Open door days: 13School projects: 6

Themes: health and well-being, minerals in everyday life, biodiversity during and after exploration

Partners: Ceramics Museum, Kai Nieder-hausen, local schools, local businesses, Realschule Nabburg

Companies: Kalkwerke H. Oetelshofen, Quarzwerke, Amberger Kaolinwerke, Imerys Minerals, Sibelco Deutschland, Kemmlitzer Kaolinwerke, BKRI, Arno Witgert, Stephan Schmidt Gruppe, Aloys Josef Müller, Goerg & Schneider

Media coverageNumber of articles: 12 Local television coverage: 1

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Germany


BKRI & MembersThe German Association for Ceramic Raw Materials and Industrial Miner-als and its members took part in the European Minerals Day initiative on 20 October. During the EMD closing ceremony in the Ceramics Museum, the project “Tonkisten für Grundschulen” was presented by BKRI and Arbeitsgemein-schaft Westerwald-Ton eV. The ‘Tonkiste für Grundschulen” contains educational and visual materials for primary school children. The school kit was developed together with the help of primary school teachers and professionals. The objective of the boxes is to get children acquainted with the many facets of clay as a raw material. The boxes will be made available to selected schools in the Westerwald region.

Hohr-Grenzhausen - On 20 October 2017 a “Clay Oscar” event was held by Sibelco in the Ceramics Museum. Mem-bers of the clay association, schools and authorities were invited. During the event, boxes with clay samples were given to teachers in order to use them at school to teach students about clay and its applications.

Herschbach/OT Wahnscheid - All people interested in the business of Arno Witgert were welcome to visit the production site of clay blends and ready-made bodies on 20 October.

Wallmerod - The Aloys Josef Mueller GmbH & Co. KG, Siershahn invited chil-dren from several kindergardens to visit

the clay mine “Richard” on 20 October. The children were introduced to the clay mining operations - from the extraction of clays by means of excavators, the re-duction of clay clippings in the shredder plant to the loading of the raw material on trucks and train wagons.

Maienburg - On 27 October 2017 a school class with mentally handicapped children received a guided tour in the facilities and preparations plants from Stephan Schmidt KG.

Siersahn - Goerg & Schneider GmbH u. Co. KG took part in the European Minerals Day 2017 by inviting people to a symposium including a factory tour.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Greece

“All the time I play, minding anyway!”

Milos - In the framework of European Minerals Day 2017 celebrating ten years of activities, the children of the 2nd and 3rd Grades of Adamas and of the 3rd Grade of Milos Primary Schools partici-pated on Friday, 22 September 2017 in an educational activity focusing on safety at school, at home, at play and, in general, everywhere in our lives. Scene of action was the Imerys plant nursery at Pollonia, arranged with appropriate care to host the educational program featuring a theater and a musical event.

The program was based on Aesop’s fable “The Ant and the Cicada” and aimed at raising children’s awareness on safety issues in a way to urge them to watch out and take care of themselves and those around them while they play. Everyone has the right to play and have fun under certain conditions, terms and rules!

The 65 participating children, divided into two groups, put on their safety vests and their team’s insignia, and, under Efpalinos’ educational organization ani-mators’ guidance, watched The Ant and the Cicada theatrical performance, and loaded their little loaders with various materials, wearing their Personal Protec-tion Equipment! The motto was «All the time I play, minding anyway»!The action continued with other games related to the use of Personal Protection Equipment, like helmets and kneepads, working with safety, and topics related to minerals, mining, and the flora of Milos island.





GREECETotal visitors: 235Open door days: 2 School projects: 2

Themes: Safety, cycling safely, traffic, biodiversity

Companies: Imerys Industrial Minerals Greece S.A.Partners: SOS Children Village, Milos Pri-mary Schools, Efpalinos Art & Education Lab,Road Safety Institute (R.S.I.) “Panos Mylonas”

Media coverageNumber of articles: 5 Local television coverage: 1

IMERYS’ Milos Operations Director Ioannis Sanoudos thanked the kids, accompanied by their teachers, for their participation, while the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Milos, Mr. G. Damou-lakis and Mrs. Z. Tourlou, respectively, addressed their greeting messages. The event closed with a rich buffet, and all participants were offered commemora-tive gifts.

“Take Safety Home”

Kifissia - Within the same framework, a Road Safety educational program took place on Sunday, 23 September 2017 at the company’s headquarters in Kifissia, addressed to 100 children aged 5-17 years, designed by the Road Safety Specialists (pedagogues and Traffic Engineers) of the “Panos Mylonas” Road Safety Institute. The activities in order to “take safety home” were addressed to employees’ children from “SOS Children Village” at Vari, an NGO pro-tecting children’s interests and rights. The event included the following three initiatives:

1. Pedestrians Educational Programs “Be a Knight of Road Safety” and “In Traffic with Safety” for 300 children 5-8 years old. Children learnt about traffic safety through experiential learning games: walking safely on the pavement, stop at the edge of the pavement, crossing the road and playing safely in the neigh-bourhood.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Greece

2. Bike educational program “Cycling Safely” for 35 children 9-12 years old, designed in cooperation with the Deutsche Verkehrswacht (German Road Safety Organization). They learnt about safe cycling, under the guidance and supervision of RSI educators, while it was promoted the team spirit and the active participation in a playful way.

3. Traffic Educational Program “Do it Right” for teenagers. The program taught, through experiential learning, 35 teenagers about road safety and safe behaviours on traffic under the guid-ance of RSI scientific stuff. They had the opportunity to experience the sense of risk and the importance of seat belt during collision (Belt sledge simula-tor) as well as the risk of driving under the influence of alcohol (Alco goggles).


European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Hungary

Explore the world of Minerals!

Heves - Omya Hungaria Kft opened the doors of their quarry to the public. Visi-tors could explore the quarry and the minerals with a guided tour and find out more about calcite.







Companies: Omya Hungaria

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Italy

Brusada-Ponticelli (Lanzada)- On 22 & 28 September IMI Fabi organized the event “Recycle & Play” for the primary schools of Torre di Sa.Maria (SO) to celebrate the European Minerals Day 2017. On this occasion IMl Fabi promoted a brand new event and invited pupils to create an artefact using materials that can be recycled like plastic caps, milk cartons, etc. representing the operating machines and/or facilities used in the mining indus-try. Individual classes and/or singular pu-pils could even reproduce the whole pro-duction process with a diaporama made with these materials. These “works” will be the starting point to introduce pupils into specific workshops dedicated to the talc production processes and related application fields, getting then into the core message of this Minerals Day 2017 concerning sustainability.On 23 September IMI Fabi held an open day “10 years together” for people inter-ested in visiting the Brusada-Ponticelli-Valbrutta mine. The 60 visitors were shown the sustainable footprint adopted by IM Fabi, with particular reference to resource efficiency, recycling, innovation, renewable energies and biodiversity. A guided tour showed the visitors the plant and production process as well as the talc applications. During the event all visitors could enjoy nice refreshments.

Orani - On 23 September, IMI Fabi wel-comed 101 visitors to its open day at the Sa’Matta mine in Orani. Under the theme “10 Years together”, IMI Fabi illustrated the company’s growth and progress in terms of sustainable activities.

Cacciano - Open day Minerali Indus-triali was held on 23 September 2017. It was dedicated to the families of their employees and authorities, to show them the mine and the environmental restorations of mines exhausted in Cac-ciano/Curino.

Carrara & Avezzano - From 22-24 Sep-tember, Imerys took part in a sponsor-ship event with the local International Art Academy in an Outdoor Symposium of Sculpture “Scolpire all’aperto – Sim-posio di Scultura” for 12/15 students selected by tutor. Aim was to give them the opportunity to work on a real project, to improve their professionali-zation and to inspire next generation to promote sculpture and Art as a cultural tool. Themes will be given to the Acad-emy to develop ideas for sculptures to realize using marble powder provided by Imerys Carrara. The same event was organized by Imerys on 21 and 22 Sep-tember in Avezzano.

Fossanova - On 1st May, Sibelco hosted the sixth edition of the “Trial in Mini-era”, the annual 10 km cross-country challenge embracing the perimeter of Fossanova quarry. In addition to the main marathon challenge, a lot of other collateral events were planned: a non competitive walk (5 km), a baby-family walk (3 km), live music, fun for children and gourmet food stands with typical local products and dishes. The Fos-sanova site team worked hard to make this event possible, together with local AVIS Group (Blood Donors).






Themes: art,sustainability, rehabilitation, biodiversity, Companies: IMI Fabi, Imerys, Omya SpA, Minerali Industriali, Sibelco, ISPRAmbi-entePartners: Acciano Country Community, Bagnara Country Community, Nocera Umbra high school, Carabinieri, Mr. Pierantoni Vincenzo (Agronomist), Mr. RosiStefano (Chemist), Mr. Biscontini Francesco (Mining Director), Primary School of Torre di Santa Maria

Media coverageNumber of articles: 4 Local television coverage: 1Local radio coverage: 1

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Italy


Nocera Umbra - Omya SpA organized an open day and guided visit on 22 September 2017 for a class from a local high school and the local authorities. They had the opportunity to visit the quarry, learn about the excavation plan and plant some trees normally used in rehabilitation process. A presentation of carbonate use in daily life was provided. This day was dedicated to meet local students and authorities to present them the plant and the quarries and to explain the importance to rehabili-tate the natural environment after the excavation and to show how Omya SpA replants the autochthonous trees.

Robilante - Sibelco Robilante held an open day on 21 September. 30 students had the possibility to take a glance at all of the machines that they use to study at university, and all of them were really interested in the business and impressed by the scale of the Robilante plant, as well as by the exceptional safety standards. On 22 September Sibelco hosted the event “Clean up the world”. Clean up the world is a com-munity based environmental campaign that inspires and empowers communi-ties from every corner of the globe to clean up, fix up and conserve their envi-ronment. The external area adjacent the plant, the river and the river bank were cleaned up in agreement with the local municipality.

IX Italian Minerals DayRome - Numerous quarries opened their doors to the public at the occa-sion of the IX Giornata Nazionale delle

Miniere, which took place on 27 and 28 May. Synergies were created with Euro-pean Minerals Day. The national initia-tivewas organized by AIPAI – the Italian association of the industrial archeologi-cal patrimonium, in collaboration with ANIM – the National Association of Min-ing Engineers, ASSOMINERARIA – the Italian Association for the Minerals and Petrochemicals Industries, and G&T – The Italian Association for Geology and Tour-ism. Under the patronage of ISPRA, ReMi and the Consiglio Nazionale dei Geologi.

Sa’ Matta (Orani) - Imerys Sardinia organ-ized an event on 21 October. During the event an educational path through the biodiversity of Monte Arci (plants, flowers vegetation and wild animals) and through the Geological story was followed. The formation of Perlite and the application of Perlite as “ecologi-cal” mineral was inaugurated with the presence of local authorities and primary school students.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Poland

Bukowno - This year’s European Minerals Day was held together with a Safety Day and was organized specifically for Sibel-co employees only. Employee represent-atives from the Gdańsk and Tomaszów Mazowiecki sites were also invited. Attendees participated in a simulated rescue operation with later analysis and assessment of the operations outcome. A presentation about the different ap-plications of Sibelco minerals was given. The last part of the programme was an audio-visual performance “painting on glass with sand” aimed at encourag-ing spectators to look at sand from a different perspective and to experience an artistic example of the usage of silica sand straight from Bukowno. The event ended with a joint supper.

Miedzanka - Nordkalk School ProjectOn Friday 29 September, Nordkalk provided 5 workshops at local schools, welcoming around 90 children aged between 7 and 16 years and their teach-ers to “The story of life on earth written in the rocks” run by Blazej Blazejowski from Association “Phacops”. There is a growing interest from local schools to visit quarries and learn about minerals and geology on site.On Saturday 30 September, Nordkalk welcomed the local communities to an open day at its quarry operations in Miedzianka. 42 people seized this op-portunity and took part in the guided visit of the Mining Museum to learn more about the history of mining in the local area and to meet with the paleontolo-gist at the Library in Piekoszow. They could also enjoy a guided bus tour in the






Themes: history of mining, artistic use of silica, minerals’ applications, health and safety

Companies: Nordkalk Corporation, Sibelco, OmyaSp.zo.o

Partners: Mining Museum in Miedzianka, Public Library in Piekoszow, Geoscience Friends Association ‘Phacops’, local schools

Media coverageNumber of articles: 2Web publications: 2 (including video)

quarry. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the event and lots of people mentioned that the quarry is really something worth seeing. The event was covered on the local news portal (including a video) as well as in the regional gazet.

Ołdrzychowice Kłodzkie - Omya held an open mine day in Romanowo on 23 September. A mine and production plant tour was provide to the visitors.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Portugal

Rio Maior - On 21 April 2017, Sibelco Rio Maior participated in the Trees, Aggre-gates and Biodiversity initiative. ‘El Día de los Arboles’ is an open day by aggregates companies inviting nearby schools to a visit to a quarry or a gravel pit where children learn how to care for the en-vironment, planting trees, know which machines are used to extract rocks and produce aggregates and discover the im-portance of the aggregates in everyday lives. During this event Sibelco explained their activities and mineral applications. All participants had the chance to plant a tree and label the trees or to visit the quarry or restored area. Participation of the DAAB drawing award. In addition they provided the participants with infor-mation about nest boxes, explained their activities, applications and risk. Visitors got the chance to visit the area of the quarry that is restored.

19 and 20 October 2017 Sibelco Rio Maior organized a second event. This event consisted of a visit to one of Sibelco’s glass customers, an industrial glazier. This was an opportunity for employees to learn more about the importance of minerals, their quality, customers appli-cations and the glass production process. A nice lunch was part of the event.

ANIET is once again, the Portuguese en-tity which is coordinating the celebration of the European Minerals Day in Portugal.

Ílhavo - At the occasion of European Minerals Day, MOTA Ceramics organised a Business summit welcoming 250 par-ticipants from across the EU and business





Total visitors: 327Open door days: School projects: Conferences: 1Technical visits: 4

Themes: Mineral applications, Biodiver-sity, Environment

Companies: Sibelco, Instituto Politécnico de Beja (IPBeja), MOTA, ANIET

partners as far as from Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, Brazil. The focus of the meeting was to present business trends and also the innovation from the downstream users in technol-ogy and breakthrough developments for a more sustainable extraction and manufacturing sector. The Business Summit which took place on 21 September, was followed the next day by four site visits to MOTA quarry and plant operations combined with visits to the transformation plants for tile, sani-taryware and tableware manufacturing of the local ceramics producers.

Visit 1: Kaolins Mine & Preparation Plant in Ovar and Oliveira de Azemeis (MOTA®) + Sanitaryware ProducerVisit 2: Feldspars and Quartz Mine & Preparation Plant in Mangualde (MOTA®) + Tiles ProducerVisit 3: Ball Clays Mine & Spray Dried Body Plants in Pombal (MOTA®) + Tiles ProducerVisit 4: Ceramic Body Plants (MOTA®) + Tableware & Stoneware Producer

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Slovenia

“European Minerals Day 2017: Let’s explore minerals in the cement industry!”

Anhovo - On 22 and 23 September 2017, cement producer Salonit Anhovo hosted a guided visit of an educational trail in the abandoned quarry Lastivni-ca. This year, the company cooperated with the Institute of the Republic of Slo-venia for Nature Conservation (IRSNC), preparing special educational panel on the geological profile of the Lastivnica quarry as natural heritage. A guided visit was prepared for all interested groups: employees from companies in Salonit Group), children, students, neighbours and locals. The visitors had chance to learn more about past and current processes of raw material extraction on site. With project, Salonit Anhovo wanted to introduce minerals that are present in the region of the plant and to learn about minerals that are formed during the production of cement clinker and during hydration of cement in concrete.





Total visitors: 300Open door days: 2School projects:

Themes: Geology and formation of Soča valley, quarrying and cement production and processing

Companies: Salonit Anhovo, d.dPartner: Institute of the Republic of Slo-venia for Nature Conservation (IRSNC)

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Spain

“Trees, Aggregates and Biodiversity”An initiative by the Spanish Aggregates Association (FdA), the Day of Trees, Ag-gregates and Biodiversity is celebrated every year all over Spain. It is an open day event whereby yearly around 20 aggregates producers invite nearby schools to visit a quarry or gravel pit. The event which takes typically place in April, welcomes children to what has become a complementary school activity. The chil-dren learn how to care for the environ-ment, plant trees, learn which machines are used to extract rocks to produce ag-gregates and discover the importance of aggregates in everyday life. Synergies are created with the European Minerals Day.

Arcos - Sibelco Arcos invited 75 pupils from local schools to participate in the Trees, Aggregates and Biodiversity / Eu-ropean Minerals Day on 6 May 2017. The children visited the botanic garden with restoration species, participated in the DAAB drawing award and learned about Sibelco’s activities, mineral applications and safety risks. For this event Sibelco Ar-cos also collaborated with regional NGO AMA Natura who explained the children how to plant and look after a tree and how to place and maintain nest boxes.

Other participating Sibelco sites where similar activities took place: • Sibelco Utiel - 29.01.2017 (22 pupils)• Sibelco Riodeva - 04.04.2017 (45 pupils)• Sibelco Arija - 05.04.2017 (55 pupils)• Sibelco Moró - 12.04.2017 (350 pupils)• Sibelco Castellet - 24.04.2017 (38 pupils)

On 3 June 2017 Sibelco Arcos organized another outdoor event with a personal protection equipment stand (children & PPE-mobile equipment), a stand with minerals produced in Sibelco and their applications and finally a stand with native species used in reforestation (bo-tanic garden). Several outdoor activities were provided for children: sandbox, inflatable castle, storytelling (the story of a grain of sand), giant bubbles, pho-tocall, human football, family games, magic show...Participants could enjoy a guided tour on a tourist train to the plant and mining areas. Sibelco Arcos welcomed around 600 people. The same type of event was organized by Sibelco Arija on 5 August 2017 (350 participants) and by Sibelco Utiel on 7 October 2017 (100 participants).

A Coruña - On 22 September, Pasek Minerales SAU, invited ESO students of the Cabo Ortegal de Cariño Second-ary Education Institute (A Coruña) to the visit of the dunite mine, which the company has been operating in Landoy (Cariño) since 1972.

Lugo - A two day event was organized by Grupo Desarrollo Rural Ribeira Sacra Courel. On Friday 22 September, visi-tors learned more about the geology of the Geopark of Courel Mountains and a presentation was given on Paleozoic fossils present in the territory and on new observations on the glacial and periglacial processes in the Courel Mountains. They finished the day with a presentation of the last Spanish Geop-ark included in the network of UNESCO

European Minerals Day (2007-2017) This pan-European awareness raisingand educational initiative takes place every two years. It aims to enhance public under-standing on the essential role of minerals in our life, as well as promote dialogue and build trust. Mineral raw materials producers show how the sector cares about health and safety and contributes to a sustainable society by illustrating their role in resource efficiency, innovation, biodiversity and regional develop-ment.Companies welcome local communities toexperience the world of minerals via opendays and school projects, while Europeanbranche organisations ensure the coordina-tion, support and visibility at European level.





Themes: biodiversity, mineral applica-tions, environmental care, geology, safety

Companies/Hosts: Sibelco, Grupo Desar-rollo Rural Ribeira Sacra Courel, Pasek Minerals, Caolines de Vimianzo SAu, Escuela de Ingeniería de Minas y Energía,

Partners: Universidade de Vigo, NGO AMA Natura

Media coverageNumber of articles: 2

World Geoparks, Las Loras.

Saturday 23 September was centred and dedicated to the celebration of the Eu-ropean Minerals Day, with presentations on four of the main minerals present in the region: Antimony, Limestone, Gold and Iron. Different points of view on these minerals and their exploitation in the Courel Mountains were presented to the participants. The Conference was inaugurated with a presentation by the Official Mining Chamber of Galicia on “Mining: past and future”.Saturday afternoon and Sunday morn-ing field visits were organized to the Geopark Mountains of Courel project, accessing the core of the oldest materials in the territory.

Pontevedra - The School of Mining and Engineering organized a workshop at the campus of Pontevedra on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 September. The objective was to learn to identify the most com-mon minerals of nature from their physi-cal properties: hardness, line, color, habit, etc. The workshop combined theory and practice. All attendees learned about the minerals classification, properties, identi-fication, uses and training environments.

Costa da Morte - On Friday 22 September Caolines de Vimianzo held an open day in their mines and facilities in Costa da Morte. This event allowed both children from local schools and the general public to see the importance of this industry in the social environment, history, the productive improvements applied, the proper recovery of minerals and their

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Spain


global distribution. As well as the management and good practices in the restored areas such as crops, cattle ranches or water reservoirs supplying the inhabitants of Costa da Morte.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Sweden

Baskarp - On 31 August, Sibelco invited its customers to a Sand Clinic, introduc-ing the around 20 visitors to the world of the industrial sand. On the Sand-Clinic agenda was a guided tour in the plant, showing how the sand is being mined and processed. The participants were then invited to a workshop with presen-tations introducing safety, sand flow and segregation in silos, sand sampling and 3D-printing.

Storugns - Nordkalk held an open house on Saturday 23 September in the Blåse Kalkbruksmuseum. Visitors could join a guided bus tour in Klinthagentäkten and learn more about Gotland’s geology and the importance of limestone in society and how they recycle. An exhibition was provided at the museum where the stone industry was described in Gotland both before and now. Visitors got the chance to meet the Nordkalk staff and ask them questions. The old lantern took the visitors back to history and the old lime quarry in Bläse. They could take a trip back in history with a steam train which departed several times a day. This day full of activities was free for every-body and included coffee & cake.

European Minerals Day (2007-2017) This pan-European awareness raisingand educational initiative takes place every two years. It aims to enhance public un-derstanding on the essential role of minerals in our life, as well as promote dialogue and build trust. Mineral raw materials producers show how the sector cares about health and safety and contributes to a sustainable society by illustrating their role in resource efficiency, innovation, biodiversity and regional development. Companies welcome local communities to experience the world of minerals via open days and school projects, while European branche organisations ensure the coordination, support and visibility at European level. Lead Coordinator: IMA-EuropePartners: CEMBUREAU, EUSalt, Eurometaux, Euromines, ETP SMR, EuroGeoSurveys, UEPG, IndustriAll (trade union), EFG (European Federation of Geologists). With sup-port from the European Commission and Member State representatives (MEPs).



Total visitors: 20Open door days: 2

Themes: Mining process, safety, geology, lime

Companies: Sibelco, NordkalkPartners: Kalkbruksmuseum

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in The Netherlands

Winterswijk - Since 2010, Sibelco’s lime-stone quarry in Winterswijk, is trans-formed every year for three weeks during summer, in an open-air theatre, staging 4 evenings of performances. The high-level cultural event attracts visitors from all over the country and beyond, up to 3000 per evening. At its start in 2010, when the musical Jesus Christ Superstar was on stage, the Steengroeve Theatre Winterswijk gained right away an enormous success and this success is steadily increasing. This project, bringing together com-munities, business, nature and culture, was possible and turned into a success through the collaboration with many partners, local and national, public and private: i.e. the Foundation Steengroeve Theater Winterswijk, the National Forest Service “Staatsbosbeheer” and Non-Gov-ernmental Organizations (NGO’s) as “Natu-urmonumenten” and “Oehoewerkgroep Nederland”, local businesses, numerous volunteers (400 people), etc. This project is an example of how build-ing and maintaining strong relationships with local communities is a core priority of Sibelco’s corporate social responsibil-ity. Through this project Sibelco brings together people, culture and nature. The Steengroeve Theatre Winterswijk gained recognition not only locally, but also at national level and national news-papers titled it as the most impressive open-air theatre of the Netherlands.5 Saturdays during summer and two weeks in July-August, members of the geology association of Winterswijk have the unique chance to conduct their field research into Sibelco limestone quarry.

‘t Rooth - On 2 June, 50 Students at Amsterdam University from the Faculty of Earth Sciences (geology, physical geography, environmental sciences, archeology) and the Faculty of Ecology had the chance to conduct field research into the Sibelco quarry. The field research carried out at the quarry site is an important part of their studies. All necessary measures to ensure the safety of the students during their stay in the quarry were taken.





Total visitors: 12.080Open door days: 5School projects: 1

Themes: local communities, safety, field research, theatre, geology

Companies: SibelcoPartners: Foundation Steengroeve Win-terswijk, National Forest Service, cultural and environmental NGOs, volunteers, Amsterdam University Faculty of Geol-ogy

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Turkey

Izmir - On 23 September 2017, Imerys Harbolite Turkey invited its employees, their families, local people living in neighbourhood villages and commu-nity members to the Minerals Day in Dikili Mine. The visitors participated in a guided visit of the quarries in the Dikili mining area followed by presentations on mining and the geology of perlite minerals. The restored area in North Block was shown to the public and received a lot of positive remarks. With the aid of a geological engineer, children could participate in a sampling activity. A lunch was foreseen at the entrance of the quarry. At the end of this event, all participants received a small gift. The Minerals Day in Dikilli was a success-ful event appreciated by all participants!Villagers and participants even asked in their feedback to have more meeting days similar to the Minerals Day be-cause they found it very useful to come together and learn new things about the environment they are living in.

Bilecik, Milas, Aydin - Eczacibasi Esan cel-ebrated the 10th Anniversary of Europe-an Minerals Day. They hosted more than 100 children in their plants and quarries in Bilecik, Milas and Aydin. Participants learned more about what industrial min-erals are used for and how Esan Eczaciba-si extract and process those minerals in a sustainable way. Presentations were given about the importance of health and safety and environment not only in their operations but also in everybody’s daily life. During the event Esan Eczaciba-si focused a bit more on the interaction with children and introduced them to






Themes: community relations, mining and geology, sustainability, environ-ment, health & safety; waste manage-ment

Companies: Dikili Perlite (Harborlite Aegean End. Min.San. A.Ş.), Eczacibasi Esan, Sibelco, Omya

Partners: local communities


the world of minerals. Children made an environmental act and planted trees.

Cine - On 17 May, Sibelco organized European Minerals Day activities in Calt Village, close to their Cine Plant. Elemen-tary school children from Calti Village and villagers were invited to the Minerals Day which was organised on the theme of Health and Safety. Activities included practical fire fighting training for all visitors, basic first aid, and presentations on ambulances. The visitors also learned more about relocation techniques of sick and injured people.

Canakkale - On 20 September, Omya Madencilik A.S. Karabiga plant celebrat-ed the European Minerals day. Primary school children, teachers, local authori-ties and village citizens were invited to the plant. The main goal of these event was to build awareness of public waste disposal and cleanliness. A presentation about mining was given to the partici-pants. In addition a cleaning event was organized and together with the staff they helped cleaning a green area. As part of the cleaning event, people could participate with some competition sub events. To guarantee a sustainable and clean environment in the future, contain-ers and waste bins will be introduced and provided to local citizens.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in the United Kingdom

Beverley - On 30 September 2017, Imerys Minerals Ltd. Beverley welcomed local community neighbours with a presen-tation and site tour of the quarry and factory. They learned more about Imerys Group, the history and geology of the site, processes, product applications, markets and geographical distribution.

Northwich - On 4 October Imerys invited a local primary school to the Lostock Site. A presentation was given about the history of the site and the materials produced on the site. Imerys gave an educational overview of how they make PCC (precipitated calcium carbonate) and for what it is used. The children learned about the manufacturing and chemical processes. A site tour with small activities was provided to have some interaction with the children.

St Austell - on 2 October, Imerys hosted students from a local college at their Imerys Technology Centre UK (ITC-UK). These students are currently studying for their A levels in physics and chemistry and have been given the opportunity to have some hands-on experience of life in a busy materials science laboratory.The ITC-UK is located in St. Austell, Corn-wall, where the extraction of high quality kaolin has been a significant industry for over 100 years.After their safety induction the students learned how Imerys tests its kaolins for specific ceramic properties, allowing the ceramic materials to be shipped across the globe. They looked into the micro-scopic world of minerals, using the ad-vanced techniques of scanning electron






Themes: history, operational activities, material science, geology, minerals , applications, restoration, health & safety, environment, renewable energies, green technologies, careers in minerals

Companies: Imerys Lostock PCC UK Ltd, Imerys Minerals Ltd., Sibelco, Lochaline Quartz Sand Ltd. and MPA.

Partners: Wheal Martin China Clay Mu-seum, local schools, Lochaber Geopark

Media coverageTwitter and LinkedInNumber of articles: 5

microscopy and polarised, stereo light microscopy. Returning to the process-ing of kaolins, they were asked to use their knowledge of science to modify the rheology of slurries during the manufac-turing process. Finally the group looked at some of the applications for which minerals are used and made paints and tested for important visual properties.In inviting the young people from St. Austell college to the ITC-UK, Imerys seeks to encourage them to look for further studies and careers in applied sci-ence. And, even better, in the fascinating world of minerals.

St Austell - On Friday, 13 October 2017, Imerys Minerals Ltd held an open day at the Wheal Martyn China Clay Museum, Carthew, St Austell. This Open day gave local schools and the general public the opportunity to come and find out all about minerals, and how they affect our every day lives and about the importance of the china clay industry to the local area and its history. They got acquainted with the modern operating processes and the uses of China Clay. Children learned about the dangers of playing in a quarry. Imerys Minerals Ltd showed the visitors how their sites are restored and regenerated and how they work with renewable energy and the planned Eco-Community at West Carclaze.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in United Kingdom


Lochaline - Lochaline Quartz Sand Ltd. participated for the first time with the European Minerals Day. Lochaline mine is a unique mine as it is the only un-derground sand mine in Europe and of only two working underground mines in Scotland. Lochaline Quartz Sand wel-comed and hospitably entertained the local community, the Health and Safety Executive team, the Forestry Commission as well as present and former employ-ees and their families. Together with all participants , they celebrated their fifth anniversary. The company directors and the site manager gave a speech.

Congleton (Cheshire) - On 10 June Sibelco held an open day at their Bent Farm Quarry. This day was fully planned with many activities including a guided tour of the quarry and the restored areas. Mobile plant equipment was displayed. Visitors could participate with the tug of war display. Free children activities were provided, including crafts, fairground rides, competition and face painting.

“A World made of Crystals”

Fort William (Inverness) - On 22 Sep-tember a free event about minerals was organized in Lochaber Geopark’s Visitor Centre. This event gave visitors the chance to explore the wonderful world of minerals and the reasons for their great variety and how they contribute to our lives. A wide range of minerals was exhibited. Prof. Ian Parsons, Emeritus Professor of Mineralogy gave a presenta-tion about the world of minerals.

Two Mineral Products Association (MPA) initiatives took place under the European Minerals Day banner:

London - Showcasing how the mineral products sector can create net gains for biodiversity, on 19 October, the Mineral Products Association (MPA) celebrated the industry’s restoration and biodiver-sity achievements at its ‘Quarries and Nature 2017’ Conference and Award Ceremony, which took place in partner-ship with Natural England. The event welcomed around 200 stakeholders from both industry and 45 environmental and conservation organisations. Films of the award winning projects brought them to life and are now available on MPA’s Youtube channel mineralproducts1. In addition, a series of outstanding images from employees within the member companies and volunteers at nature reserves which were formally quarries, were presented as part of the MPA Na-ture Photo competition.

During European Minerals Day, and within the context of its ‘Make the Link’ campaign, MPA utilised social media in-cluding Twitter and LinkedIn, to highlight how minerals are used in a whole range of construction uses and day to day products.

Nigel Jackson, Chief Executive of the Mineral Products Association, com-mented: “MPA is an active member of 12 European mineral based trade associations representing the ag-gregates, cement, concrete, dimen-sion stone, lime, mortar and silica sand industries. We are proud to work with our European colleagues highlighting the significant contribu-tion our great industries make to the European economy whilst also sharing ideas, best practices and influencing technical standards and design codes. This is important work which we will continue to support post Brexit.”

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in Ukraine

“Open day: Kaolin way”

Vatutine - VKV Imerys hosted an open day on 22 September. The activities were aimed at high school students and included guided tours around the quarry, the production plant and laboratory. Presentations were given about Imerys, kaolin, the mining process and products. After-wards the students could take a quizz to test the knowledge they acquired during the tours and presentations. Children will be presenting the EMD 2017 in VKV in their schools. Finally a game was organized together with the VKV employees. Everybody was impressed that minerals surround us everywhere. For the employees of VKV it was exciting to feel experts in minerals world.

Mertsalovo - After having a great response from last year’s outdoor initiative at the plant, Donbas Clays Sibelco decided to follow-up Safety Day this year at one of the operating quarries with a tour for employees’ children. This event took place on 15 August. Participants could discover the quarry with a guided tour. The main objective of the tour was to familiarize the young generation with the clay extraction process as well as health and safety initiatives during operations at the pit. To top it off, children had a great opportunity






Themes: geology, mining, minerals in daily life, health & safety

Companies: VKV Imerys, Sibelco Donbas Clays

Partners: 4 schools


to show off their skills in an artistic way while painting ceramic pots. The event was wrapped up on a sweet note with some tasty treats.

European Minerals Day 2017 Events in the Rest of the World

Brazil

Ipixuna - On 22 September, Imerys Kaolin Brazil / Imerys Caulim welcomed 20 peo-ple from the local community in Ipixuna do Pará to the 2017 European Minerals day events, among which students and teachers from two local schools. A visit to the extraction and processing operations introduced them to the work-ings of the kaolin mine, the refinement steps and establish the link to the prod-ucts in everyday life.

Under the theme “Mining & Art”, the visitors had the chance to extract kaolin from the soil and learn with a local artist how to produce flowerpots, vases and handicraft with the white clay. The visi-tors could keep the material produced as a souvenir and show to their neighbors and friends. Imerys produced a short video of the day (https://youtu.be/8k13dSALi6Q) and promoted it widely on social media (Facebook and Instagram).

Malaysia

Ipoh - On 20 September 2017 Imerys Minerals Malaysia welcomed a group of 45 school children of the age of 12 years and their teachers to their operations in Ipoh. The children were taken on a tour through the plant and quarry operations and learned about how the minerals are produced and how they benefit their everyday life. The children participated in a safety and operations briefing, plant visit and colouring contest. Other educational and fun activities, such as a quiz and games

were also part of the program. At the end of the day, all school kids received a gift as a token of appreciation for the time spent with the company. As a follow-up, Imerys foresees to continue its community outreach, no-tably to the schools, and strengthen its relations to the Mines Department, with possibly creating future synergies with the Geopark initiative which awaits ap-proval from UNESCO to be recognised as world heritage site.

North America

Andersonville - Imerys Refractories de-cided to open their doors for a Minerals Day in order to promote good prac-tices in ecology and also to show that women can work in our industry.The company invited representatives from local and regional authorities, mayors, police and fire departments, lo-cal colleges and vocational schools. The agenda included a breakfast reception, presentation pertaining to company and plant history and current market portfolio and information, as well as in-formation relating to our commitments to Safety, Quality, Industrial Improve-ment and Human Resources. This was followed by a mine and plant tour and included a presentation by local man-agement to discuss the local operations and its impact to the local community and economy. This was followed by a site tour of both the operations and mine sites. The lunch provided the local leaders which the chance to ask ques-tions to the team about the operations at Mulcoa.





Total visitors: Brazil: 20Malaysia: 45U.S.A: ?

Open door days: 3School projects: 3

Themes: Discover minerals, sustainabil-ity, Art, community, integration, mining, positive reputation, health and safety

Companies: Imerys Kaolin Brazil, Imerys Minerals Malaysia, Imerys Refractory Minerals

Media coverageNumber of articles: 12 Web publications: 9Print publication in newspapers: 3

facebook.com/MineralsDays twitter.com/MineralsDay #MineralsDay

An initiative by the European mineral raw materials sector with support of the European Commission

www.mineralsday.eu

Documents

Report on the Open Days 2017 - IMA Europe · Ebensee - Imerys Carbonates Austria GmbH had a local economic networking event on 29 March 2017. European Minerals Day (2007-2017) This