The Greek Mining Enterprises Association (SME) convened, on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at the Porto Palace Hotel, in Thessaloniki, a festive event celebrating 100 years since its founding, entitled “Minerals, Green Transition, Climate Change”. The Chairman and Executive Director of IENE, Mr. Costis Stambolis, was the invited keynote speaker for this special event
In his address, SME’s Chairman, Mr. Constantinos Yazitzoglou, stressed the criticality and vital importance of mineral raw materials, not only in terms of their rareness and cost of extraction, but also in view of their key role in industry and the economy. As Mr. Yazitzoglou underlined, “even minerals which are not in scarcity and can be relatively easily substituted, can affect essentially the production or supply chains. Thus, mining must be considered as one of the most crucial activities for the national economy”.
"Given the legal framework, the basic parameters of production costs, as well as our mentality, we, Europeans, have to follow a very difficult and uphill path in order to restore the production of mineral raw materials to the levels that will ensure our sufficiency and, consequently, our security and independence", concluded Mr. Yazitzoglou.
From his part, Mr. Athanasios Kefalas, past Chairman of SME and currently Chairman of the Centennial Celebration Committee, stated that the Greek Mining Enterprises Association, as part of the events for the 100th anniversary since its founding, has dedicated the Year 2024 to Mineral Resources and projects, organizing 7+1 events in selected cities of the country. As Mr. Kefalas stressed, by undertaking these events, SME wishes to celebrate and demonstrate its 100 years of continuous action, inspired by the Association's vision, comprising of the responsible sustainable mining industry, the prospects and benefits of the further exploitation of mineral resources - with an emphasis on the geopolitical dimension and the necessity of long-term securing of strategic raw materials for Europe - as well as of the importance of mineral resources for the daily life of citizens and the multidimensional contribution of the sector to the development of Greece.
The Chairman of IENE, Mr. Costis Stambolis, contributed a special presentation on "Energy Transition and Mineral Resources" (see here). In his presentation, he stressed the strong links between energy and mineral resources. As IENE's Chairman pointed out, "in the difficult and highly-competitive international and European environment regarding CRM's [Critical Raw Materials], the Greek mining companies are called upon to chart their own difficult path in order not only to survive but to emmbolder both economically and technologically. Benefiting from the great heritage and history of the country's mining sector, which we are celebrating today, we must remain optimistic that the sector will cope with these challenges and very soon will be able to make a worthy contribution to the new European and international environment that is currently being shaped".
