Conveners:
Stefano Naitza (Università di Cagliari)
Giovanni Grieco (Università di Milano Statale)
Fabio Granitzio (Clariant Italia)
In the last years, EU sustainable development policies have been shaped by significant changes in the international critical raw materials (CRMs) supply context. This has placed at the heart of the European agenda the need to reassess its domestic metallogenic potential, considering both brownfield and underexplored areas with prospects for new resources. The exploration programs introduced by the 2024 CRM Act have prompted extensive new resource mapping across EU countries, carried out by public institutions and mining companies, which implemented advanced exploration techniques to produce updated databases and new geological studies. The session aims to present an overview of the current state of mineral exploration in Italy, considering recent national regulations and newly launched projects on raw materials (National Exploration Plan – PNE; URBES Project on raw materials from mining waste), coordinated by ISPRA. The session welcomes contributions from public and private operators about exploration, (re)evaluation and scientific, applied, and operational research on primary and secondary mineral resources, as well as studies addressing sustainability, regulatory issues, and the social license to operate in the mining sector.