DMT GmbH & Co. KG

The Greater Munich area is considered a pioneer in Germany in the use of climate-friendly heat from deep underground. Now, the Bavarian capital and the surrounding municipalities want to explore the further development potential of this regional energy resource and make its use sustainable. DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Essen/Germany, a company of the TÜV NORD GROUP, was commissioned to carry out seismic exploration of the subsoil as part of the GIGA-M research project. The largest measurement campaign to date in an urban settlement area in Germany began in the first half of 2026.

The GIGA-M research project, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), is a joint venture between the Technical University of Munich (coordination), Stadtwerke München (seismic management), Energie-Wende-Garching (seismic partner), the Ebersberg-Munich Energy Agency, the district of Munich and the state capital of Munich. The aim of the seismic campaign is to identify suitable hot water reservoirs beneath Munich. To this end, the subsoil is being surveyed seismically over a large area in order to obtain an accurate figure of the geological structures. The data obtained will also help to select specific locations for new geothermal plants, optimally integrate existing plants and further expand the supply of renewable heat. In this way, GIGA-M is laying the foundation for a secure, climate-friendly and affordable heat supply and taking the Munich region an important step closer to achieving climate neutrality by 2045.

“With Munich, one of Germany’s largest metropolitan areas is increasingly turning to geothermal energy. The planned Acceleration Act will also further strengthen the legal framework for geothermal energy. We expect demand to remain high, as many municipalities are looking for ways to achieve their climate targets as part of their municipal heat planning,” says Maik Tiedemann, CEO of DMT and CEO of the TÜV NORD GROUP Business Unit Energy & Resources.

The greater Munich area is located in the pre-Alpine Molasse Basin, a region that is particularly well suited for geothermal use. DMT has been supporting the Munich region in exploring the deep subsurface for usable heat since 2007. The new, large-scale seismic measurement campaign is intended to create the data basis for a significant expansion of geothermal capacity from the current approximately 400 MW to over 1 GW – enough to supply tens of thousands of additional households with climate-friendly heat. With a measurement area of 1,100 km², this is the largest seismic survey ever conducted in a German settlement area.

In order to capture the potential deep underground, special measuring vehicles (vibro trucks) send light seismic impulses into the ground (Figure 1). These impulses are reflected by rock formations and recorded by a network of geophones (receiver modules). The data obtained is then used to create a detailed 3D model of the subsurface. Based on this model, precise target areas for the development of hot thermal water can then be determined.

“Previously, the largest contiguous urban area in Germany to date was seismically surveyed in Münster at the end of 2024 – now Munich is taking over. With more than four times the area of the project in Münster, the exploration in Munich is of a unique scale. Such large-scale investigations in densely populated urban areas are challenging, but with the necessary expertise they are feasible and indispensable if we want to tap the geothermal potential for a future-proof heat supply,” says Christian Henke, Head of Seismics, Exploration & Processing at DMT.

Deep geothermal energy plays a central role in the transformation of heat supply in Germany. And its potential is enormous: according to the German Geothermal Association, it could cover at least 25 % of the country’s heat demand. Its importance is also increasingly being recognised at the federal level – the German government is providing over 1.5 bn € for its expansion by 2030. The new “Deep Geothermal Energy for Heating Networks” funding programme provides targeted support for municipal projects in particular. According to the Federal Environment Agency, the use of deep geothermal energy can save up to 40 Mt/a CO₂ – a decisive contribution to achieving climate neutrality by 2045.

Public acceptance is also high: According to recent surveys, e. g. by Fraunhofer IEG from 2024, more than 60 % of Germans are in favour of expanding the use of geothermal energy, especially if the potential impact on residents remains low. Never before has deep geothermal energy been so high on the political agenda – and it is becoming a key factor in ensuring a secure, affordable and climate-neutral heat supply. (DMT/Si.)

DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Essen/Germany, an independent, global engineering and consulting company, launched the newest model of the GYROMAT series at INTERGEO 2024: the GYROMAT 6000 (Figure 1), the most accurate gyroscope measuring system for high-precision surveys, such as tunnel construction or shipbuilding. It combines the tradition of absolute precision of the GYROMAT series with a new feature that allows the gyroscope to access even the most difficult and confined spaces like microtunnels and ship hatches.

The presentation of the GYROMAT 6000 at INTERGEO 2024, an exhibition and platform for innovative solutions in geoinformation technology, reflects DMT’s commitment to innovation and excellence and is a significant step forward in the evolution of precision surveying technology. Jens-Peter Lux, DMT Managing Director and Head of Natural Resources & Infrastructure of the TÜV NORD GROUP Business Unit Energy & Resources, highlights how the GYROMAT 6000’s combination of high precision and portability is set to redefine surveying: “The GYROMAT 6000 is the next generation in surveying, providing engineers with unparalleled accuracy and reliability. Its advanced features, especially its portability, will significantly improve the surveying process and allow engineers to push the boundaries of what is possible in precision measurement in challenging terrain and under difficult conditions.”

The GYROMAT 6000 is the most accurate surveying gyroscope in the world as it reliably points north and compensates for potential sources of error like refraction, error propagation or even plumb line errors when determining direction from a shaft and delivering measurement results with an accuracy of 0.8/1000th of a gon. Jörg Niese, product manager at DMT and in charge of the GYROMAT series, explains how accurately the GYROMAT 6000 measures with the following example: “If you were to cut a cake into 400 pieces and then cut one of these little pieces of cake into 1,000 even smaller pieces, then you would have an idea of the accuracy involved. And the beauty of the GYROMAT 6000 is that you can use it for measurements anywhere: in a tunnel, in a ship’s hull or in an industrial hall.” This is possible because the GYROMAT 6000 can operate where GPS signals are unavailable and it now comes with the ability to separate the gyroscope module from the total station which makes it easy to transport it into the smallest spaces like microtunnels or through ship-hatches. With fully automated measurement sequences, pre-orientation-free measurement procedures and advanced monitoring functions the GYROMAT 6000 stands as a proof of precision and adaptability that is applicable in tunnel construction, shipbuilding, aerospace, and industrial surveying.

With the launch of the GYROMAT 6000, DMT continues the success story of the GYROMAT series as the gold standard of survey gyroscopes. The GYROMAT gyroscopes are renowned for ensuring high-precision orientation and control anytime, anywhere and for providing high-precision measurements for cost-effective planning reliability. Due to their unmatched accuracy, DMT’s GYROMAT series are the number one measuring instruments for control measurements in many of the world’s largest tunnel construction projects like the Eurotunnel, the Brenner Base Tunnel, and the Gotthard Base Tunnel.

Further information:
DMT GROUP
www.dmt-group.com

DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Essen/Germany, part of the TÜV NORD GROUP’s Energy & Resources business unit, has acquired a majority stake in the Brazilian company Saga Consultoria and is bringing the company under the DMT brand umbrella. The engineering and consulting service provider is thus expanding its presence with a location in Belo Horizonte. Since 17th April 2024, customers in Latin America have been able to access the entire raw materials service portfolio and beyond via the new DMT hub.

For Jens-Peter Lux, Managing Director of DMT, the majority stake in Saga Consultoria opens up the opportunity to tap into future markets: “Thanks to its significant reserves of mineral raw materials, Brazil plays a key role in the energy and mobility transition, digitalisation and greater sustainability in the raw materials sector.” Maik Tiedemann, CEO of the Business Unit Energy & Resources of TÜV NORD GROUP and DMT, adds: “In addition, the country and our new acquisition offer access to other important markets in Latin America, such as the infrastructure, construction and energy sectors. We look forward to demonstrating the DMT brand and our capabilities in this region as well.”

The Saga Consultoria team consists of 15 geologists, mining engineers and technicians under the leadership of company founders Saulo Liberato and Luiz Gabriel Oliveira Lima (Figure 1). In the past, Saga Consultoria focussed on consulting services in the mining sector and prepared feasibility studies, profitability analyses and resource assessments, among other things. As DMT, Saga Consultoria now also provides access to the comprehensive portfolio along the entire raw materials value chain and beyond.

DMT’s service portfolio in the raw materials sector covers all stages of the value chain. These include resource exploration and evaluation, feasibility studies and detailed mine planning, construction supervision and project management, engineering consulting, optimisation and training, digitalisation and automation, due diligence for the finance and insurance sector, decommissioning concepts and planning, as well as sustainability­/­ESG concepts and implementation consulting.

DMT is also active in the plant engineering & process engineering, infrastructure & construction and energy markets. Companies and public institutions in Latin America can now also be supported by DMT-Goup, e. g. in geothermal projects, plant planning and tunnelling. (DMT/Si.)

On 8th August 2023, the German Mining, Geology and Environment Association (VBGU), Berlin/Germany, an employers’ association that has been dedicated to constructive dialogue in mining and raw materials extraction in Germany for over 30 years, appointed its previous Vice President Jens-Peter Lux, Managing Director of DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Essen/Germany, as President and Michael Paul, Technical Managing Director of Wismut GmbH, Chemnitz/Germany, as Vice President.

The appointment of the new Executive Board had become necessary after Michael Seifert had to step down from his honorary position as President of the association on 1st August 2023 for health reasons. The VBGU would like to thank him for his special commitment and achievements during his presidency and wishes him much strength, health and energy.

The partially newly appointed Executive Board consisting of Jens-Peter Lux, Michael Paul and Nici Hoppe (Figure 1) will represent the association externally, initially until the next regular Board election at the General Assembly in September 2024, which means that the VBGU is ideally positioned for the future. (VBGU/Si.)

DMT GmbH & Co. KG, a TÜV NORD GROUP company based in Essen/Germany, has acquired a 51 % stake in Prüfzentrum für Bauelemente GmbH & Co. KG (PfB), based in Stephans­kirchen near Rosenheim/Germany. The transaction took place on 1st December 2022. With the participation both companies deepen their cooperation of many years in the testing and certification of construction elements. In the alliance, the respective customers are now offered a comprehensive service from a single source.

The current shareholders of PfB, Rüdiger Müller and Matthias Demmel, will remain involved in the company in the future. Demmel will continue to head the company as managing director. In addition, Daniel Rüdiger Müller, the son of the company’s founder, will join the management team as an authorised signatory. In addition, Demmel will be supported in future by Christoph Sinder, who heads DMT’s Plant & Product Safety business unit. From a technical and organisational point of view, PfB is linked to DMT’s Fire Testing business segment, which is headed by Stefanie Steinmeier.

Stefanie Steinmeier says: “By participating in PfB, we at DMT are significantly strengthening our position in the market for testing and certification of construction elements. Together with other services from the TÜV NORD GROUP, customers from the construction elements sector are offered a strong partner. In this respect, the participation is a logical step.”

PfB Managing Director Matthias Demmel adds: “The decisive factor for the transaction is the synergy effects that can be achieved. By integrating our services, we will be able to offer our customers an even larger testing portfolio in the future while maintaining our independence as a testing and certification body.” Company founder Rüdiger Müller adds: “For us, it is important that test processing is carried out flexibly in line with the needs of our customers and in intensive exchange with them. We share this aspiration with DMT and the entire TÜV NORD GROUP and are therefore expanding our cooperation even further.”

PfB has more than 40 years of experience in numerous areas of testing such as climate, air/water/wind, permanent function and smoke protection as well as various special tests on building elements such as doors, gates, windows, fittings and facades and is recognised as an accredited and notified testing and certification body. PfB has all European and national accreditations, highly qualified employees and a long-standing customer base. Together with the testing of fire, smoke and permanent functions on doors and gates by the DMT Testing Centre for Fire Technical Testing in Lathen and Dortmund, customers will receive a comprehensive service in the future. (DMT/Si.)

DMT GmbH & Co. KG, a company of the TÜV NORD GROUP based in Essen/Germany, has acquired a 51 percent stake in the company Prüfzentrum für Bauelemente GmbH & Co. KG (PfB) from Stephanskirchen near Rosenheim, Germany. The transaction took place on 1 December 2022. With the participation, both companies are deepening their long-standing cooperation in the testing and certification of construction elements. In the alliance, the respective customers are now offered a comprehensive service from a single source.

The current shareholders of PfB, Rüdiger Müller and Matthias Demmel, will remain involved in the company in the future. Demmel will continue to head the company as managing director. In addition, Dr. Daniel Rüdiger Müller, the son of the company’s founder, will join the management team as an authorised signatory. In addition, Demmel will be supported in future by Dr. Christoph Sinder, who heads DMT’s Plant & Product Safety business unit. From a technical and organisational point of view, PfB is linked to DMT’s Fire Testing business segment, which is headed by Stefanie Steinmeier.

Stefanie Steinmeier says: “By participating in PfB, we at DMT are significantly strengthening our position in the market for testing and certification of construction elements. Together with other services from the TÜV NORD GROUP, customers from the construction elements sector are offered a strong partner. In this respect, the participation is a logical step.”

PfB Managing Director Matthias Demmel adds: “The decisive factor for the transaction is the synergy effects that can be achieved. By integrating our services, we will be able to offer our customers an even larger testing portfolio in the future while maintaining our independence as a testing and certification body.” Company founder Rüdiger Müller adds: “For us, it is important that test processing is carried out flexibly in line with the needs of our customers and in intensive exchange with them. We share this aspiration with DMT and the entire TÜV NORD GROUP and are therefore expanding our cooperation even further.”

PfB has more than 40 years of experience in numerous areas of testing such as climate, air/water/wind, permanent function and smoke protection as well as various special tests on building elements such as doors, gates, windows, fittings and facades and is recognised as an accredited and notified testing and certification body. PfB has all European and national accreditations, highly qualified employees and a long-standing customer base. Together with the testing of fire, smoke and permanent functions on doors and gates by the DMT testing centre for fire tests in Lathen and Dortmund, customers will receive a comprehensive service in the future.

DMT GROUP has announced the expansion of its digital service offering with a new capability in remote rope inspection. This follows the successful completion of a first test-run on a transmission mast of Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Europe’s second largest media company. DMT is the first company in the world to offer remotely assisted non-destructive rope inspections – delivering benefits in terms of efficiency, accessibility and sustainability.

The latest development is a collaboration with the in-house rope testing centre in Bochum, and enables DMT to provide high-quality and non-destructive remote inspection for magnetic induction rope testing from anywhere in the world, with the assistance of augmented reality (AR) technology. Communication between the remote DMT specialists and the inspectors on-site takes place with the aid of AR glasses and a platform on which the data is temporarily stored for further processing. The AR glasses transmit the images of the inspection work on the ropes to Essen, enabling DMT’s team to explain manual operations or information to the inspectors on-site using visual representations.

Dominik Bartsch, expert at DMT’s Rope Testing Centre said: “As a rule, we conduct on-site rope testing in pairs or threes with the support of the customer on site. That means an enormous amount of planning each time – who has time when, what the weather will be like, what equipment will be needed. Remote rope testing shrinks the planning effort to a minimum, saves timae, and makes the process much more efficient. In the shipping industry, the rope test is a prerequisite for companies to be allowed to use their cranes in various projects, yet carrying out an audit is enormously time-consuming, as certain experts have to travel from ship to ship all over the world to do so. The field of application for rope testing also extends to hoisting cables, crane cables, cable cars, bridge wire ropes, anchoring and offshore wire ropes. Our expanded remote rope inspection capabilities unlock new possibilities for our clients and enable us to deliver high quality safety services in an efficient and sustainable manner.

In order to maintain the usual high level of expertise and quality of DMT’s specialist safety office – the Rope Inspection Centre – remote rope inspections will be offered in future with the help of specially trained and instructed inspectors from service p<artners on site; for this purpose, the inspection equipment and AR glasses will be sent to the customer.”

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a series of travel restrictions has severely limited experts, subcontractors and international consultants to deliver essential safety services. Further, according to Statista over 55 billion euros are spent annually by Germany companies on employee travel before the pandemic – and companies are now increasingly looking at ways to drive operational efficiency whilst reducing their environmental impact.

Reflecting on this, Margareta Spajic, Project Manager in the Digital Business Development & Technologies, DMT GmbH and Co. KG, said: “Minimising the number of trips consultants can contribute significantly to the sustainability of a company. It makes a difference to the carbon footprint when three or four employees no longer have to travel to the ends of the earth for each order. Likewise, more jobs can be done in the same amount of time and new markets can be opened up geographically where we previously had not yet been able to offer our services.”

The solution comes directly from the digitalisation incubator within DMT titled: Remote Work. The Digitalisation office has supported many projects for example the Internet of Things (IoT) construction monitoring platform ‘DMT SAFEGUARD’ which is now in use worldwide.

DMT will provide its remote rope inspection later this year, when a bridge test is scheduled in Taiwan. Additional ideas for using remote inspection in mining and quarrying projects are under development.

Further information:
DMT Group
www.dmt-group.com

The European Union Horizon 2020 project NEXT, was created to develop new geomodels, novel sensitive exploration technologies and data analysis methods which together are fast, cost- effective, environmentally safe, and potentially more acceptable to local actors and communities.

“The NEXT project has not only been successful but exceeded expectations. NEXT results have been already used by mineral exploration companies with a great success”, says Science Coordinator Vesa Nykänen from Geological Survey of Finland (GTK).

Great achievements

“We had seven work packages and ten objectives to start with. Results show that cooperation between partners has been fruitful and we have achieved excellent results in all work packages”, says Project Manager Juha Kaija from GTK. “Several outcomes from the project bring innovative

methods into mineral exploration and, most importantly, improve target generation and have the ability to increase the exploration productivity”, states Exploitation Manager Torsten Gorka from DMT GmbH & Co. KG.

One of its outcomes has already been picked by European Commission Innovation Radar. Independent experts of the Innovation Radar ranked the Novel electromagnetic (EM) survey system on UAV for mineral exploration, as a top innovation product developed in the NEXT project with a high market potential in the near future. “This survey system is a remarkable result of the NEXT project. The Finnish company Radai Oy started the development of it within the NEXT project and already it has proven to be highly versatile. Now the team at the Radai SME are developing the system further for commercial use”, Nykänen explains.

The other remarkable achievement of NEXT are the SOM (Self-Organizing Maps) Software Tools. The aim in the NEXT Project was to develop a new modern software and tools for data processing and integration. A new open-source software tool, GisSOM, for geoscientific data integration in combination with artificial neural works and self-organizing maps is available in GitHub.

“GTK and the German company BEAK worked jointly to create data fusion tools. GTK is responsible for the open-source SOM software tool and the BEAK is keen to develop it further for commercial use in their advangeo® software suite”, Nykänen explains.

An impressive number of publications

“The large number of publications in the project is particularly gratifying. There are more than 40 peer reviewed articles already published or submitted to scientific journals in the NEXT project”, informs Nykänen. All the publications will be released on open access platforms.

Social License to Explore (SLE) is nowadays an important element of exploration activities. In the NEXT project, three case studies in different contextual settings in Sweden and Finland were explored. Interviews with local organized actors and surveys among the local residents were conducted to investigate which factors shape a local communities’ attitudes towards mineral exploration. This research concluded that new sensitive technologies are generally welcomed by local people, but other factors affecting local actors’ attitudes are more important.

Proactive information and active community engagement at the outset of a project can help build good relations and hand on demonstrations of the new technologies can generate active interest among local actors. The outcomes of the research on the SLE thematic as well as write-ups on the new tools and improved insights on the way ore deposits are formed have been collected in the NEXT Practical Toolkit addressed to mineral exploration and mining companies. This publication has been purposely written in an easy-to-grasp language and is complemented with recommendations which are foremost addressed to mineral exploration companies about what to communicate about the new exploration technologies, why, how, when and where during the mineral exploration stages.

Help for clustering

Clustering with other ongoing EU funded projects was one of the objectives of the NEXT project. Although not originally foreseen at the outset, the NEXT project developed a new open-access module “Projects Map” on the Cordis portal. This was achieved through the active cooperation of the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) team, based in Luxembourg and the University of Lorraine in France. The new module, https://cordis.europa.eu/datalab/p2co.php?lv=en, allows to explore synergies in a highly efficient manner and should prove valuable not only to the domain of mineral exploration and mining, since the search function permits to look for potential synergies on any topic of scientific research the “jungle” of EU funded research projects.

The NEXT consortium was coordinated by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) and consisted of 16 partners from research institutes, academia, service providers and mining industry from the six EU member states Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Malta and Spain. The NEXT budget amounted to 6.9 Million Euro, funded through the Horizon2020 Framework Programme.

The NEXT Final Event took place in September 2021.

Further information:
https://new-exploration.tech/

The MiningForum brings together the industry’s top decision makers, experts and specialists every two years to discuss topics related to mining. The event offers a comprehensive panorama view of various complex topics related to raw materials. The increasingly international event has a long tradition and is well established in the mining industry. Every two years, renowned speakers address relevant issues in the national and international natural resources industry with a practical and informative focus. The accompanying exhibition, as a projection space for manufacturers and companies to engage with the public, creates the perfect setting for targeted communication and making new contacts. Over 350 top decision makers, experts and specialists enter into direct, personal dialogues here and discuss traditional, current and future developments.

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Agenda

Knowledge base

The presentations will cover all key themes in the mining industry: useful information gained from fundamental research, new technologies and pioneering developments – a breadth of contributions presented by renowned speakers. This expert knowledge with practical relevance can be discussed in more depth afterwards.

Topics & Presentations:
• Mining 4.0
• Ground Control
• Mine Water
• Radioactive Waste Disposal
• Exploration of Natural Ressources
• Transport & Hoisting
• Post Mining
• QHSE
• Risk Assessment

Speakers from:
• public institutions, such as state and federal ministries, as well as mining authorities
• renowned German mining companies
• various research institutions
• national & international businesses

Please note this a GERMAN LANGUAGE event!

9th Essen Expert Talk on Final

This long-running event gives an insight into interesting projects and the latest developments in the sector, combined with the opportunity for networking and professional discussions.

Die Veröffentlichung der „Teilgebiete“ Mitte 2020 ist ein weiterer wichtiger Schritt für die Standortauswahl für ein Endlager für hochradioaktive Abfälle in Deutschland. Im Anschluss an die übertägige Erkundung steht in einigen Jahren die untertägige Erkundung von dann nur noch drei potenziellen Endlagerstandorten an. Die neuesten Erkenntnisse für das Processing und die Analyse von seismischen Daten zur Entwicklung eines verbesserten geologischen Untergrundmodells können bereits heute den Arbeiten auf der Schachtanlage Asse II zugute kommen. Die Errichtung des Endlagers Konrad geht kontinuierlich weiter. Der sichere Einschluss der radioaktiven Abfälle wird auch hier durch die Errichtung technischer Barrieren unterstützt und die Anlagen dazu individuell geplant und gebaut. Ein Blick nach Großbritanien zeigt uns, welche Fortschritte bei der Sanierung des Endlagerstandortes Dounreay erfolgt sind. Kompetenzen erhalten und ausbauen – in diesem Sinne freuen wir uns sehr, Sie wieder zu unserem jährlich stattfindenden Informations- und Erfahrungsaustausch beim 9. Essener Fachgespräch Endlagerbergbau am 12. März 2020 im Technologiepark Essen einzuladen.