Regions in the forefront: Raw Materials & Tourism 2012
01 November 2012
With the support of the Geological Survey Department and Mines Service of Cyprus, Euromines – the European Association of Mining Industries Metal Ores & Industrial Minerals – organized an international conference entitled ‘Regions in the Forefront: Raw Materials & Tourism 2012’ with high level participation from the European extractive industry, governmental institutions, geological surveys and academia across Europe. The conference took place on 30th and 31st October in Limassol (Cyprus) and it was an official conference of the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Conference was under the auspices of the Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment of Cyprus, Mr. Sofoklis Aletraris.
In total more than 60 delegates attended this event; Mr Sofoclis Aletraris and Mr Constantinos Xichilos, Senior officer for Industrial Applications, Energy Service, on behalf of the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Cyprus and Mr Mark Rachovides, recently elected President of Euromines, attended this event as key speakers. The Minister highlighted the importance of raw materials, be it base metals or natural gas, as a key ingredient to Europe’s economic growth and regional development. Mr Sofoclis Aletraris also mentioned that Cyprus is the perfect place for this event. Cyprus, a tourism–dependent economy presents an interesting opportunity to observe the co-existence of mining and tourism.
The main aim of the conference was to demonstrate that mining and tourism industry can be developed simultaneously for the benefit of European regions. The conference presentations did provide several examples of active mines in Europe and around the world that can be found close to national parks.
Regional development is currently ranking high on the political agenda and the conference presentations highlighted the fact that the extractive industry can play a essential role in economic and community development by acting as a catalyst for positive changes in areas that may otherwise have little, if any, opportunities for socio-economic and development.
In her closing speech, Dr Corina Hebestreit, director of Euromines, stressed that tourism and extractive industries should co-exist to foster much needed regional infrastructure and economic prosperity. She also presented the conclusions of the conference ‘The Limassol Declaration’ taken by the participants of the conference.
The Limassol Declaration is attached to this Press Release.
The participants of the conference had the unique opportunity to take part in the pre-conference field trip to Troodos Massif, Skouriotissa Copper Mine and former Asbestos Mine.
The world’s longest producing copper mine, at Skouriotissa, marked at the beginning of April 2012 the production of 50,000 tonnes of copper. Due to its rich copper resources, Cyprus gained an important place in history from around 2000 B.C and developed economically, commercially, socially and culturally.
The Asbestos Mine came to a closure in 1988 after 84 years of operation. The participants of the field trip had the possibility to see the progress of the rehabilitation programme of the area and the various stages of operation involving stabilization of the waste tips, re-profiling of the steep mine slopes, the reforestation and re-vegetation.
The organizers would like to thank the Cypriot Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment for its support to this event. Special thanks go to all financial partners of this event: Boliden, EMED Mining and Hellas Gold.
For more information please visit the conference web page: http://www.euromines.org/conference/regions-forefront-raw-materials-tour…
or contact Veronika Sochorova, Euromines sochorova@euromines.org(link sends e-mail).
