From March 2nd to 6th, the Convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC’2025) was held in Toronto, Canada ‒ one of the largest forums in the mining industry with 27 thousand participants from 135 countries. At the special invitation of the European Commission within the framework of the “EC goes to PDAC Convention” initiative, the Geological Institute, together with the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Bulgaria, delivered an invited talk “Explore Bulgaria” at the official pavilion of the European Union. One of the main highlights of the presentation by Assoc. Prof. Dimitar Antonov was the National Scientific Program “Critical and Strategic Raw Materials for Green Transition and Sustainable Development“, in which the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is a leading partner (among 14 organizations), and Assoc. Prof. Svetoslav Georgiev, Director of GI-BAS, is its coordinator.
During the forum, there was a strong interest and questions both about Bulgaria and its mining industry, and specifically about the National Science Program, to which Assoc. Prof. Antonov answered in detail. With H.E. Ms. Geneviève Tuts ‒ the EU Ambassador to Canada, the role of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in the Science Program was briefly discussed. It should be noted the support from Ms. Marina Zanchi ‒ Director of the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) and from Mr. Jari Joutsenvaara – Coordinator of the AGEMERA EU Project (Horizon Europe) for the relevance and importance of the launched Bulgarian science program. The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences received a positive assessment as well as full support for its efforts for comprehensive research of critical and strategic raw materials from the Bulgarian Consul General in Toronto ‒ Ms. Velislava Panova.
