Technologies for innovative extraction of critical raw materials (RIA)

The EU grant opportunity focuses on "Technologies for Innovative Extraction of Critical Raw Materials" aiming to develop and validate sustainable technologies for mining complex and difficult-to-access mineral deposits, including abandoned sites. The initiative emphasizes addressing various environmental and health impacts associated with mining, such as water pollution, deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions. Eligible applicants include legal entities from EU Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community, and strategic partner countries with the EU on raw materials, notably Ukraine.

The funding is structured as lump sum grants under the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions framework, with amounts ranging from €5,000,000 to €7,000,000 per project, totaling an indicative budget of €19 million for three expected grants. The application process is a single-stage open call, with submissions accepted from January 6 to April 21, 2026.

Consortia participation is encouraged, with projects expected to involve cross-project cooperation and consultations. Proposals must demonstrate clear business cases and viable exploitation strategies, and notably, deep sea mining is explicitly excluded from the scope. The program aims to enhance the EU's strategic autonomy in critical raw materials through innovation rather than relying on new deposits.

Overall, this initiative seeks to support the EU’s transition toward sustainable resource security while promoting international cooperation, particularly with Ukraine, and ensuring that environmental standards are met during mining operations.

This EU grant opportunity focuses on developing and validating sustainable concepts and technological solutions for the mining of complex or difficult-to-access mineral deposits, including abandoned mining sites. The goal is to address challenges related to accessibility, efficiency, industrial viability, safety, and environmental and health impacts. The scope includes but is not limited to water use, water, soil, and air pollution, deforestation, biodiversity, ecosystem health, erosion, desertification, and GHG intensity of extraction. Actions should assess how their technological solutions can deliver measurable biodiversity outcomes.

The mining industry and users of targeted raw materials should assume a prominent role in the proposed actions, supported by adequate allocation of resources. The actions should duly justify the relevance of all targeted minerals and metals, with priority given to EU critical raw materials. Deep sea mining is explicitly excluded from the scope of this topic.

Applicants are expected to envisage clustering activities with other relevant selected projects for cross-projects cooperation, consultations, joint activities on cross-cutting issues, and sharing of results, as well as participating in joint meetings and communication events. Proposals must include a business case and a credible exploitation strategy.

International cooperation is encouraged with countries with which the EU has signed Strategic Partnerships on raw materials, especially with Ukraine.

The page limit in part B of the General Annexes is exceptionally extended by 3 pages to accommodate the business case and exploitation strategy.

Admissibility conditions are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout are described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community, and countries with which the EU has concluded strategic partnerships on raw materials, as well as trade agreements containing raw materials cooperation provisions. Proposals including legal entities not established in these countries will be ineligible. Entities established in eligible countries but directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or entity shall not participate.

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F.

The granting authority may object to a transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results up to 4 years after the action's end, as set out in Annex 5. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021. Legal and financial setup of the grants are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application form templates are available in the Submission System, including a standard application form (HE RIA, IA). Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide. Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include Lump Sum MGA, Operating Grants MGA, and Framework Partnership Agreement FPA. Call-specific instructions, a detailed budget table (HE LS), information on financial support to third parties (HE), information on clinical studies (HE), and guidance on lump sums are also available.

Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 (General Introduction, Digital, Industry and Space, Horizontal Activities, General Annexes), the HE Programme Guide, the HE Framework Programme 2021/695, the HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, the Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, the EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement, the Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and the Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated on the topic header. The Online Manual guides procedures from proposal submission to grant management. The Horizon Europe Programme Guide details structure, budget, and political priorities. The Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ answers common questions. The Research Enquiry Service addresses questions about European research. National Contact Points (NCPs) provide guidance. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) offers advice to businesses, especially SMEs. The IT Helpdesk addresses technical questions. The European IPR Helpdesk assists on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC and ETSI Research Helpdesks advise on standardisation. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment outline researcher roles. Partner Search helps find partner organisations.

The total budget for the call in 2026 is divided across several topics:

HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-01: 38,000,000 EUR, contributions of 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 EUR, 6 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-04: 64,000,000 EUR, contributions of 5,000,000 to 8,000,000 EUR, 9 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-05: 37,000,000 EUR, contributions of 5,000,000 to 6,500,000 EUR, 7 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-11: 18,500,000 EUR, contributions of 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 EUR, 3 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-12: 19,000,000 EUR, contributions of 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 EUR, 3 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-13: 4,000,000 EUR, contributions around 4,000,000 EUR, 1 grant
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-14: 28,000,000 EUR, contributions around 7,500,000 EUR, 4 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-23: 50,000,000 EUR, contributions around 13,000,000 EUR, 4 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-24: 800,000 EUR, contributions around 800,000 EUR, 1 grant
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-31: 43,800,000 EUR, contributions of 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 EUR, 7 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-41: 2,000,000 EUR, contributions around 1,000,000 EUR, 2 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-44: 2,500,000 EUR, contributions around 3,000,000 EUR, 1 grant
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-45: 5,000,000 EUR, contributions of 1,500,000 to 2,500,000 EUR, 2 grants
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-46: 2,000,000 EUR, contributions around 2,000,000 EUR, 1 grant
HORIZON-CL4-2026-01-MAT-PROD-48: 5,000,000 EUR, contributions around 2,000,000 EUR, 25 grants

The opening date for submissions is January 6, 2026, and the deadline is April 21, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to bolster the EU's raw materials supply chain by funding projects that develop sustainable and innovative mining technologies. It prioritizes environmental responsibility, biodiversity, and collaboration with strategic international partners, while excluding deep sea mining activities. The call is structured around various topics with specific budget allocations and encourages participation from a wide range of eligible countries and stakeholders. The funding mechanism is based on lump sum contributions, and proposals must demonstrate a clear business case and exploitation strategy.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types for this opportunity are legal entities. Specifically, participation in this topic is limited to legal entities established in Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community and countries with which the EU has concluded strategic partnerships on raw materials as well as trade agreements (or association/economic partnership or equivalent agreements, including the new Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships) containing raw materials cooperation provisions (i.e. Energy and Raw materials chapters). Entities established in an eligible country, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or a non-eligible country entity, shall not participate in the action. The mining industry and users of targeted raw materials should assume a prominent role in the proposed actions, supported by adequate allocation of resources.

Funding Type: The funding type for this opportunity is a grant, specifically HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA). Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity appears to require a consortium, as it encourages clustering activities with other relevant selected projects for cross-projects co-operation, consultations and joint activities. Also, the mining industry and users of targeted raw materials should assume a prominent role in the proposed actions, supported by adequate allocation of resources.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility for applicants includes Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community and countries with which the EU has concluded strategic partnerships on raw materials as well as trade agreements (or association/economic partnership or equivalent agreements, including the new Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships) containing raw materials cooperation provisions (i.e. Energy and Raw materials chapters).

Target Sector: The target sector for this program is raw materials, specifically focusing on technologies for innovative extraction of critical raw materials, mining, environment, and climate. It also touches upon industrial processes and components.

Mentioned Countries: Ukraine, EU member states, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community.

Project Stage: The project stage is development and validation of new sustainable concepts and technological solutions, demonstration, and industrial viability.

Funding Amount: The funding range varies depending on the specific topic. Some topics have contributions ranging from 5,000,000 to 8,000,000 EUR, while others have contributions around 800,000 EUR, 1,000,000 EUR, 2,000,000 EUR, 3,000,000 EUR, 4,000,000 EUR, 7,500,000 EUR, or 13,000,000 EUR.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic is provided, allowing for an estimation of the competition level.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call focuses on "Technologies for innovative extraction of critical raw materials." It aims to increase the availability of efficient, cost-effective, and innovative raw materials extraction technologies, particularly for EU-based deposits. The call encourages projects that develop and validate sustainable technological solutions for mining complex or difficult-to-access mineral deposits, including abandoned mining sites. These solutions should address challenges related to accessibility, efficiency, industrial viability, safety, and environmental and health impacts. The call prioritizes EU critical raw materials and encourages international cooperation, especially with countries that have strategic partnerships with the EU on raw materials. Eligible applicants include legal entities from EU Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community, and countries with strategic partnerships with the EU on raw materials. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and the application process involves a single stage. Proposals must include a business case and a credible exploitation strategy. The call aims to improve the responsible supply of raw materials to the EU, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve habitat protection, ecosystem health, and biodiversity.