The MINEX Forum
MINEX Europe 2026 gathered around 170 mining, exploration and critical raw materials professionals in Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland, from 27 to 30 October 2026. Organised by Advantix Ltd under the theme Investable, Sustainable, Essential, this tenth edition, and the first held in Ireland, asked whether Europe can turn its Critical Raw Materials Act ambitions into working mines, with Ireland in the spotlight as an emerging mining jurisdiction.
The programme began on 27 October with Satarla’s workshop, Sharing Your Mining Story. Two conference days followed on 28 and 29 October, and a site visit to Boliden Tara Mines closed the Forum on 30 October. Boliden Tara Mines and Dalradian Resources were Diamond Sponsors, with further support from SLR Consulting, ERM Europe, ALS Geochemistry and Bara Consulting.
Key figures
- 60Speakers and panellists
- 170Participants
- 87Companies and organisations
- 22Countries
- 12Exhibitors
- 23Boliden Tara site-visit participants
MINEX Europe 2026 in pictures
Why Ireland, why now
Ireland pairs a long base-metal mining tradition, including Tara, one of Europe’s largest zinc mines, with a new wave of critical minerals exploration. It holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2026 and ranks first in the world for zinc discovered per square kilometre. Sessions covered the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment’s implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act, Geological Survey Ireland’s Tellus programme, which completed airborne coverage of the whole country in 2026, and the Irish Minerals Industry Group, formed in September 2026.
Key takeaways
- Policy is ahead of delivery.The opening session asked where the real bottlenecks now sit: permitting, energy costs, finance or public resistance.
- Strategic status is not production.Speakers weighed what the label does for bankability after the European Commission named 46 new strategic projects on 9 October 2026, taking the EU total to 93. The first 47 projects alone need an estimated €22 billion, against a little over €2 billion mobilised so far.
- Legitimacy is the constraint.A full session treated social licence as a core industrial variable, not a communications issue. As the opening keynote put it, a permitting deadline can be written into regulation, but public consent cannot.
- Data and AI reduce risk.Sessions on national geoscience datasets, prospectivity modelling and AI in operations showed how digital tools are de-risking exploration and finance.
The closing session on 29 October, moderated by Han Ilhan of Catalis Strategies, brought the moderators of the previous sessions together to give their conclusions. The Forum closed with a gala dinner.
Companies and organisations by sector
87 companies and organisations from 22 countries took part in MINEX Europe 2026. Mining and exploration companies and consultancies made up the largest groups.
- Mining & Exploration22%
- Consulting and engineering17%
- Geological technologies and services11%
- Associations and NGOs11%
- Mining equipment and technologies8%
- Government agencies and organisations8%
- Finance and investments8%
- R&D / Academic7%
- Media3%
- Legal services and other3%
Participants by country
Participants came from 22 countries. Ireland and the United Kingdom together accounted for 69% of the audience, followed by Canada and Germany.
- Ireland40%
- United Kingdom29%
- Canada6%
- Germany4%
- USA2%
- Spain2%
- France2%
- Czech Republic2%
- Serbia2%
- Finland2%
- Other countries (12)9%
Participants by seniority
45% of participants held executive or director-level positions, from CEOs and managing directors to heads of department.
- Professionals and specialistsGeologists, engineers, consultants, specialists29%
- Executives and ownersCEOs, managing directors, partners, chairs, general managers24%
- Managers and team leadsProject, technical, sales and operations managers23%
- Directors and heads of departmentDirectors, heads of department, vice presidents21%
- Academics and researchersProfessors, researchers, fellows4%
Comment from Geoscience Ireland
In its own report on the Forum, Geoscience Ireland noted over 170 delegates and 50 presentations. It observed that European policy is supportive, but exploration levels remain muted and public acceptance of mineral projects is uneven.
For Ireland it pointed to additional resources at Boliden Tara Mines, the reopening of Galmoy by Shanoon Resources and promising results from Group 11 and Minco. It described Geological Survey Ireland’s data as best in class, with an export opportunity across Europe, and said Irish supply-chain companies working in 50 countries generated €1.12 billion in revenue in 2025.
It also welcomed the newly formed Irish Minerals Industry Group, whose members Boliden Tara Mines, Dalradian, Northmin, Conroy and Minco all presented.
