The world is highly dependent on imported critical raw materials (CRMs), many of which are essential for clean energy, mobility, electronics, and defence. With rising global demand, supply instability, and increasing societal and environmental expectations, there is an urgent need to develop innovative and sustainable ways to access Europe’s own domestic raw material resources. However, many of these resources lie in deep, remote, or previously abandoned underground mines, where conventional mining is either unsafe, economically unviable, or ecologically damaging. This is the exact focus of the PERSEPHONE project that aims in developing novel technologies to reduce human risk, minimize surface disruption, and enable precise, data-driven operations.
In more detail, PERSEPHONE sets out to develop a new generation of autonomous exploration and extraction technologies that can operate without human presence in hazardous underground settings. The project combines advances in robotics, sensing, artificial intelligence, and digital twin technologies to enable precise drilling, continuous rock characterization, and computer-aided mine planning. By integrating these capabilities, PERSEPHONE aims to reduce energy consumption, improve ore recovery, and minimise environmental impact.
To achieve this, the project had defined five Specific Objectives (SOs) that together shape the technical, operational, and strategic goals of the initiative:
SO1: Develop independent and autonomous near-mine exploration and extraction mining machines capable of operating in unstructured, confined environments without relying on external infrastructure.
SO2: Enable efficient and accurate autonomous near-mine exploration and extraction of mineralisations, including sensing, sampling, and orebody characterization.
SO3: Develop dynamic, digital twin–based and interoperable geo-models to support optimal planning of face drilling and extraction workflows.
SO4: Enable online, in-situ analytics technologies for ore grading while drilling, which supports data-driven, adaptive mine planning and extraction systems that connect exploration insights with production planning and real-time feedback loops.
SO5: PERSEPHONE concept validation in deep and abandoned mines, that ensure the integration of the developed robot designs and validation of autonomous mining systems, contributing to responsible innovation.
The project is closely aligned with EU policy priorities, including the EU Green Deal, the Critical Raw Materials Act, and the Raw Materials Initiative. It directly supports the goal of enhancing strategic autonomy and ensuring that Europe’s green and digital transitions are not jeopardized by resource dependency.
