Global material flows and demand-supply forecasting for mineral strategies - MINFUTURE

Global demand for minerals is growing rapidly, driven by rapid population growth, urbanisation and an increasingly diverse range of technical applications. Global material supply chains linking the extraction, transport and processing stages of raw materials have become increasingly complex and today involve multiple players and product components. An interactive platform that provides transparency about existing approaches and information gaps concerning global material flows is needed to understand these global supply chains; developing this capability is critical for maintaining competitiveness in the European economy.

Against this backdrop, the proposed MinFuture project aims to identify, integrate, and develop expertise for global material flow analysis and scenario modelling.
Specific activities include:
• the analysis of barriers and gateways for delivering more transparent and interoperable materials information
• the assessment of existing model approaches for global material flow analysis, including the demand- supply forecasting methods
• the delivery of a ‘common methodology’ which integrates mineral data, information and knowledge across national boundaries and between governmental and non-governmental organisations;
• the development of recommendations for a roadmap to implement the ‘common methodology’ at international level;
• the creation of a web-portal to provide a central access point for material flow information, including links to existing data sources, models, tools and analysis;

MinFuture brings together 16 international partners from across universities, public organisations and companies, to deliver new insight, strategic intelligence and a clear roadmap for enabling effective access to global material information.