Taking place from 17-18 June 2026, the event transforms Halle 3.0 at Messe Frankfurt into a 360-degree theatre of innovation. Four dedicated stages will be located at the “four corners” of the exhibition hall, placing 180+ elite speakers directly alongside 400+ world-class solution providers.

While admission is free, the organisers have issued a critical notice: seats at the conference stages are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Industry professionals are urged to register for their FREE pass immediately to guarantee access to these high-demand sessions.

Four Corners of Innovation: The 2026 Track Highlights

The EBMI2026 agenda brings together the brightest minds from the European Commission, Siemens, BMW Group, Logitech, and Umicore and many more players in the respective industries to address the most pressing technical and geopolitical challenges of the decade.

Stage 1: E-Waste & WEEE Recycling

• Focus: Bringing audiences the latest information, news and takes on what’s the e-waste sector facing and what innovations and policies are around the corner.
• Key Sessions: The results of the FutuRam Project, a deep dive into the WEEE Directive revisions, opportunities African e-waste processing hubs.

Stage 2: Battery Recycling

• Focus: Building a sustainable global battery supply chain from circularity.
• Key Sessions: Battery Passport implementation, the latest market analysis, and revolutionary AI applications as well as electrolyte recovery and black mass valorisation.

Stage 3: Metal & CRM Recycling

• Focus: Closing the loop on precious metals and urban mining.
• Key Sessions: Strategic insights into the latest ELV Regulations, aluminium scrap trade policy, and securing the critical materials supply chain through circularity.

Stage 4: ITAD & Circular Electronics

• Focus: Data security, refurbishment, and the “Right to Repair.”
• Key Sessions: The latest data sanitisation standards, SERI’s 10/35 vision, and how ITAD serves as a strategic enabler of digital sovereignty.

A Unified Solution for a Sustainable Future

By co-locating the E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Expos, EBMI2026 provides a unique cross-industry vantage point. Attendees will gain actionable insights into everything from Silicon recovery in solar PV to securing EU funding for major industrial scale-ups.

Gabriel Day, Conference Producer of the event, said: “By making the conference free-to-attend, we are ensuring that the engineers, policymakers, and recyclers on the front lines have the data they need. Get registering now!”

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For further information on exhibiting or speaking, please contact us at info@trans-worldevents.com.

It is well to be noted that China happens to make around two-thirds of the refined lithium supply in the world, and many European leaders are worried about what this means for the entire globe. Europe looks to build own lithium mining, manufacturing capabilities because demand for lithium is expected to grow fivefold by 2030. For many EU members, the first step in this process is to dig in their own backyards.

Mining companies are competing to develop promising new lithium discoveries across Germany and Serbia, as well as Portugal. For countries that do not have good lithium deposits, the only thing they can do is accumulate it. Stéphane Séjourné, the European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy, in an interview with Reuters, said that All European countries now have strategic reserves of oil and gas. We should do the same for strategic raw materials.

The Push from Europe Looks to Build Own Lithium Mining

Interestingly, it was thought that Europe only had 5% of the world’s lithium deposits at the beginning of 2026. There was only one commercial lithium mine in Europe, and it was in Portugal. The lithium was used to make ceramics.

The European Union has now called Barroso’s lithium mining project of Portugal – strategic under the Critical Raw Minerals Act – CRMA. Production on a large scale could start at the site as soon as 2027. But there is local opposition to the project, and a rare report from the United Nations has gone on to criticize the lack of openness of the project. Environmentalists are also worried about the effects when it comes to mining operations and have spoken out against the rush by Europe for white gold in Portugal as well as other places.

Serbia’s Jadar Lithium Project and Strategic Interests of the EU

Serbia, which is not part of the European Union, has a lot of lithium deposits. Since 2012, the Eastern European country has been trying its level best to join the European Union.

Joannes Laveyne, who happens to be an energy expert at Ghent University, said, The European Union’s interest in Serbia was almost too good to be true it is claimed the country could provide up to 15% of Europe’s lithium needs alone.

Apparently, Jadarite, which is a mineral that is high in lithium, is only found in Jadar Valley of Serbia. Mining the stable mineral does not have as big of an effect on the environment as other lithium mining operations however, there are still political issues.

Mr. Laveyene said that questions about Serbia’s commitment to European ideals and, to a lesser extent, its ties to Russia are significant hurdles.

It is well to be noted that Rio Tinto, which is a global mining company, has supported the project for a long time and was happy to see the mine included in the European Union’s CRMA framework in the summer of 2025. But it said it was stopping operations in the area because environmental groups were against it.

Neven Cvetićanin, who is a fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences Belgrade and a former member of the Serbian parliament, said that Sooner or later, this or some new project about mining lithium will move forward in Serbia. Mr. Cveticanin further said that the political situation isn’t great for big projects. He adds that Serbia lacks several conditions, including political stability due to ongoing student protests.

Lithium Discovery in Germany and Europe’s Resource Potential

Other countries want to be sitting on the motherlode of white gold in Europe. Neptune Energy, which happens to be a company based in the UK, said that it found 43 million tons of lithium carbonate in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The company is looking to get the mineral out of brine in a way that would go on to use very little land.

A strategic mining analyst, Christopher Ecclestone, said, It’s a potential game-changer for the European Union’s lithium ambitions, and if validated, Germany’s reserves could put Europe on par with global producers.

If accurate, this discovery could as well be as big as South America’s Lithium Crescent, which runs through Bolivia and Chile as well as Argentina. The US has been buying lithium from this area for a long time, but there are certain political risks involved. In 2020, Bolivia asked for a lithium cartel like OPEC. In 2025, the government-run lithium company of the country went on to sign deals with Chinese and Russian businesses so as to help with development.

The Critical Raw Materials Act and Europe’s Lithium Plan

It was in 2024 that the European Union went on to pass the Critical Raw Materials Act. The law has sped up the progress when it comes to strategic mining and recycling projects. However, the quick rollout of the law drew criticism, particularly from Green Party lawmakers who go on to say that the approval process is not clear.

Apparently, there were 47 projects that were called strategic at the time the act was passed. Lithium happens to be involved in 22 of them in some way. Recycling lithium will also help to meet future demand.

Lithium could end up being the most significant aspect in determining who has the most industrial power around the world. The lithium mines in Europe want to change the way the world uses energy, one battery at a time. They get their lithium from the valleys of Serbia or from brine in Germany.

It is well to be noted that China is the top European trade partner of Germany, with German auto, chemical, and pharmaceutical firms pretty heavily dependent on the Chinese markets.

The Reason It Matters

Rare earths, along with other strategic components, are indeed quite critical to international high-tech as well as industrial production. The curbs from China on exports earlier in 2025 went on to reveal the vulnerabilities in the manufacturing base of Germany, including the likes of automobiles as well as electronics, and highlighted the reliance of Europe when it comes to Chinese supply chains. Restoring the dialogue signals the willingness of Beijing to once again stabilize the industrial flows while at the same time, asserting its role as a major global supplier. As for Germany, balancing the economic dependence on China due to political pressure coming from allies such as the U.S. underlines the ongoing challenge in terms of managing strategic supply risks but without alienating a major trading partner.

The German industry, especially the automakers, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals, as well as advanced manufacturing, sure benefits directly due to the eased export controls. German policymakers, who are led by Chancellor Merz as well as Klingbeil, the finance minister, are as a matter of fact focused on securing dependable access to rare earths as well as high-tech inputs while at the same time also navigating tensions that are arising from a geopolitical perspective. The government of China as well as the state-backed firms look to maintain Germany as the top European market as well as investor, therefore making utmost use of the bilateral ties in order to offset the U.S. trade as well as technology pressure.

It is worth noting that the European Union observes quite closely given the implications for much broader supply-chain strategies along with collective European responses to the industrial policies from China.

So, what lies ahead?

In days to come, German Chancellor Merz might make a visit to China to meet up with President Xi Jinping, as the diplomatic channels along with Foreign Minister Wadephul are restarting again. Both the countries are most likely to deepen the engagement within the strategic industries in order to decrease the bottlenecks when it comes to rare earths and chips, along with other emerging technology sectors. Germany is going to continue to balance its economic pragmatism with pressure coming from the EU allies as well as the U.S. on issues such as industrial subsidies, human rights, and, of course, supply-chain resilience. China may as well push for policy alignment or a much-decreased interference pertaining to geopolitical matters as one of the preconditions so as to set a tone of deeper cooperation.

According to Starmer, it has indeed been far too long that Britain has been dependent on a few of the overseas suppliers, leaving its economy as well as national security exposed to certain international shocks.

Apparently, the critical minerals initiative tags itself with a £50m fund to boost production of the tungsten as well as lithium mines that are based in Cornwall. It is well to be noted that the largest deposits of lithium in the UK are in Cornwall, and the EU has singled out the UK’s tungsten mine so as to get the potential financial support this summer.

The critical minerals and rare earths strategy goes on to follow a six-week standoff, which took place between China and the EU over the supply of chips that are used in the car industry, thereby underscoring how Beijing is indeed willing to make use of trade in critical materials for its political purposes.

Notably, the UK and the US are now battling so as to decrease their dependence on China; however, the production of rare earths and critical minerals can even take years as well as hundreds of millions of pounds when it comes to investment.

The fact is that the lithium supplies do exist all across Europe; however, the raw material has to be refined into lithium hydroxide, which is a crystal-like ingredient that is used to create the charge in car batteries.

The only lithium hydroxide refinery in Europe, in Germany, has already taken round about five years to get built with an investment of £150m, hence showcasing the scale of the funding that’s needed.

Very recently, the industry commissioner of the EU, Stéphane Séjourné, went on to concede that the bloc was indeed far behind the US, which, according to him, is a business department that goes on to buy stocks of critical materials before anyone else. He added that the US often buys them from under their noses.

As a matter of fact, earlier in 2025, Britain went on to strike a minerals cooperation deal along with Saudi Arabia that was aimed at bolstering the supply chains, opening opportunities for British firms, and, at the same time, drawing fresh investment within the UK. The rare-earth minerals are indeed necessary for smartphones as well as electric vehicles and, in fact, are growingly crucial for building datacenters, which go on to power artificial intelligence.

The critical minerals and rare earths strategy of the UK looks to make sure that not more than 60% of any one critical mineral is coming from a single partner country by 2035, as per a statement.

As per Starmer, critical minerals are indeed the backbone of modern life as well as national security, and he also argued that boosting the domestic production and also recycling them would very much help shield the economy and at the same time support efforts in order to lower the living costs.

According to the government, the UK at present produces 6% of its critical mineral requirements domestically. As per the plan, it wants to broaden this domestic extraction as well as processing, with an exclusive focus on lithium, tungsten nickel, and also rare earths. It looks forward to producing a minimum of 50,000 tonnes of lithium in the UK by 2035.

It also went ahead and executed stricter rules that particularly target users within the semiconductor industry thereby compelling that EU seeks to partner with US & G7.

Apparently, China goes on to produce over 90% of the processed rare earths in the world, which are pretty necessary in products like electric vehicles as well as military radars.

These measures had been introduced ahead of the proposed meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

The European Trade Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, went on to describe these measures to be unjustified.

It is well to be noted that the EU trade ministers, while meeting in Denmark, went on to express their critical concern on the issue.

Notably, previous controls by China in April 2025 led to worldwide shortages, effecting industries like car manufacturing, till the time the deals with Europe as well as the US weakened the supply crunch.

Lars Rasmussen, the Danish Foreign Minister, stressed the need for a united and tough EU response, underscoring the significance of partnership with the US.

Rasmussen added that they also need to be quite realistic. This happens to be actually an area of common interest with their friends in the US. If they stick together, they can much better go on to pressure China to act in a just way.

Interestingly, Sefcovic went on to suggest that G7 coordination could very well involve diversifying supply through advancing joint projects in extracting or even processing crucial minerals.

He further said that, of course, these projects do take time; however, with this signal they have received from China, it is quite clear that they have to focus on speeding up these processes as much as they can.

It was very recently reported by the Financial Times that the Pentagon is looking to acquire almost $1bn worth of critical minerals, which is going to be a part of its global spree so as to build stockpiles and at the same time also lessen the dominance shown by China when it comes to these essential metals.

“Newmont is pleased to complete the sale of KCGM to Northern Star and hand over the asset in good order to a well-established gold producer with a commitment to safety, community development and responsible environmental practices,” said Tom Palmer, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Proceeds from the transaction will support Newmont’s disciplined approach to capital allocation, which includes strategically reinvesting in the business, strengthening the Company’s investment-grade balance sheet and returning cash to shareholders,” Palmer added.

Total proceeds from the transaction include a $25 million payment that gives Northern Star specified exploration tenements, transitional services support and an option to exclusively negotiate for the purchase of Newmont’s Kalgoorlie power business for a 120 day period. The $25 million payment will be credited against the purchase price for the power business or $22.5 million would be returned to Northern Star if the power business is sold to a third party.

Combined with the previously announced agreements to sell Red Lake in Canada for $375 million and the Company’s stake in Continental Gold for $260 million, Newmont has met its divestiture target of $1.0 to $1.5 billion, with more than $1.4 billion in cash proceeds expected to be received in the first quarter of 2020. The sale of KCGM further streamlines Newmont’s portfolio, with 12 top-tier assets located on four continents in the world’s most favorable gold mining jurisdictions.

Following the divestiture of KCGM, the Company is updating its 2020 guidance and long-term outlook1.

• Attributable gold production 2: Production guidance is expected to be 6.4 million ounces for 2020 and between 6.2 and 6.7 million ounces longer-term through 2024.
• Gold costs applicable to sales (CAS):CAS guidance is unchanged at $750 per ounce for 2020 and between $650 and $750 per ounce for 2021 and 2022; CAS is expected to be between $600 and $700 per ounce for 2023 and 2024.
• Gold all-in sustaining costs 3 (AISC): AISC guidance is unchanged at $975 per ounce for 2020 and between $850 and $950 per ounce for 2021 and 2022; AISC is expected to be between $800 and $900 per ounce for 2023 and 2024.
• Capital: Attributable sustaining capital guidance has been lowered to $950 million for 2020 and between $0.9 to $1.1 billion longer-term through 2024.
• Consolidated expense outlook: The 2020 outlook for general & administrative costs is unchanged at $265 million, depreciation and amortization has been lowered to $2,125 million, and investment in exploration and advanced projects has decreased to $450 million. Outlook for interest expense and adjusted tax rate remains unchanged.

The next generation wireless communications platform will allow for greater levels of safety, remote operation and automation, according to Telstra, which worked with Newcrest to provide design, staging, site deployment and testing of the network.

Every kind of production vehicle asset, including trucks, drills, excavators, dozers, shovels and barges have now been connected and operationally proven over LTE. This process has revealed significant performance improvements in terms of reliability, speed and latency, according to Telstra. “The network has been able to resolve challenges with existing Wi-Fi connectivity and is making Newcrest’s safety and productivity systems more effective,” Telstra said, adding that fleet efficiency and real-time visibility have benefited from an 80% improvement in communications reliability on LTE-enabled assets.

The gold deposit at Lihir is within the Luise Caldera, an extinct volcanic crater that is geothermally active, and is one of the largest known gold deposits in the world, according to Newcrest. Most of the ore is refractory and is treated using pressure oxidation before the gold is recovered by a conventional leach process.

In the financial year ending June 30, 2018, Lihir produced 955,156 oz of gold. Since production commenced in 1997, the site has produced more than 10 Moz of the yellow metal.

Dr Jeannette McGill, Head of Telstra Mining Services, said Newcrest’s decision to invest in Private LTE technology further validates it as a dependable and scalable networking platform for the mining industry and one that enables mining houses to digitally transform.

“We’ve provided Newcrest with a tail red platform that will underpin its safety and digital mining ambitions and will help improve productivity and deliver new value and efficiencies to the business,” she said. “They’ll be using it to further modernise the mine site to enable the use of current and future mining applications, including tele-remote and autonomous systems, more extensively.”

The platform is completely independent from public mobile networks, according to Telstra, with Newcrest having been provided with its own dual-frequency base stations, LTE core and SIM cards, with the network’s configuration and coverage designed and implemented to meet the Lihir mine’s safety strategy and long-term mine plan.

Telstra Mining Services’ solution also includes ‘HetNet’ functionality that allows the Newcrest vehicle fleet to seamlessly switch between LTE and existing Wi-Fi networks without impacting critical mining applications.

Newcrest complemented the LTE technology solution by implementing new towers, data centres and redundant power systems across the site, according to Telstra.

McGill added: “Newcrest and Telstra Mining Services took what has become a best-in-class preliminary deployment approach with the network. Designing it for full production but initially deploying at two sites allowed Newcrest to validate the design principles, implementation techniques and practical capabilities of LTE before scaling their investment.”

Newcrest’s pragmatic approach, combined with flexibilities in the solution from Telstra Mining Services, enabled the desired outcomes and learning to be achieved within a relatively short timeframe, despite the remoteness of the Lihir operation, according to Telstra. Future phases of the project will further enhance coverage in-line with Lihir’s 20-year mine plan, and provide for expansion of coverage and capacity across the mine, processing plant, port and camp.

Chris Jordaan, General Manager, Newcrest Lihir, said: “The Lihir mine extends 300 m into a volcanic crater and our workers can often be exposed to elevated temperatures. Tele-remote and autonomous mining technologies are fundamental to working the hot work areas that will become more dominant features of our operation in the future.

“The Private LTE network will be a great enabler for these technologies and, coupled with the existing in-pit Wi-Fi network, we have been able to create a heterogeneous network that covers the whole mining lease.”

Gavin Wood, Chief Information & Digital Officer at Newcrest, said: “Safety is Newcrest’s number-one priority and the network Telstra Mining Services has built with us at Lihir will enable safer and more efficient mining using new technologies. The success of this project was 100% driven by leadership and personal commitment of the Lihir’s OT/IT team working together with Telstra Mining Services.”

LTE is a future-ready platform for wireless communications in mining, providing dependable and scalable communications that the next generation of machines, systems and workforce applications will require. Having been proven in carrier networks, it’s now seen as the mining industry’s next step for connectivity.

Barminco has operated at the Rampura Agucha Mine for HZL, a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, since late 2016. The new underground mining services contract is for a three and a half year term, subject to review and mutual agreement of rates after the first year. The scope of work includes the extension of development works that were being provided under a recently completed contract, plus the addition of production work in the Barminco-developed area of the mine.

Under the contract, HZL will provide capital equipment and consumables. Barminco will commence work immediately.

Barminco Chief Executive Officer Paul Muller said: “We are very pleased to have been awarded a contract that extends our operations at the Rampura Agucha mine with an expanded scope to include production works. We look forward to deepening the relationship we have built with Hindustan Zinc over the past few of years by delivering on this extended scope of works both safely and efficiently.”

Andrew Howie, CEO at thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (Australia), stated: “We are proud that OZ Minerals is once again putting its faith in our expertise by choosing us as their supply partner for this important project. The design of our gyratory crushers is based on more than one hundred years of experience in manufacturing these machines and continuous product development. This way we ensure high performance and cost-effective operation for our customers.”

The KB 54-67 will be used underground for primary crushing of copper ore. Its proven design offers reliability and low maintenance in everyday operation. OZ Minerals and thyssenkrupp have been working together since 2008, when the company placed an initial order for two grinding mills for their Prominent Hill operation.

Copper is one of the most widely used metals due to its properties of high electrical and thermal conductivity, resistance to corrosion and its ability to form alloys with other metals. The largest use of copper is in the electrical industry where copper wire and cable account for about half of the worlds copper production.