GeoERA - Raw Materials

Report of the project:

• GeoERA - Establishing the European Geological Surveys Research Area to deliver a Geological Service for Europe

Logo of the project GeoERA - Establishing the European Geological Surveys Research Area to deliver a Geological Service for Europe

Mineral raw materials are indispensable! In our daily lives, for our well-being and for a prosperous society. Securing a responsible supply from domestic sources is a key element for reliable raw material security for Europe. For this, decision-makers and politicians need reliable data and information on raw materials, mines, deposits and resources.

The four scientific GeoERA raw materials projects EuroLithos, FRAME, MINDeSEA und MINTELL4EU provide valuable and coherent information on raw materials in Europe, on land and in the seabed with a special focus on critical raw materials (CRM). They thus contribute to securing a sustainable supply of mineral raw materials in the EU.
Nearly 40 national and regional geological survey organisations and marine institutes shared expertise and information. An improved EU raw material database on European resources on land and in the seabed is one of the key results of this cooperation. The raw material data and information provided covers a wide range of information, some of the results being the first of their kind. These include:

• Detailed data and information with high resolution, such as the geochemical distribution of strategic and critical elements in selected minerals and host rocks or petrographic and physico-chemical properties of natural rocks;
• Guidance for the development of methods, e.g. for material science analyses or modelling, and for a coherent understanding of their application;
• Information on aggregated national data on production, trade, resources, reserves and exploration at commodity level, compiled in the electronic European Mineral Resources Yearbook (e-MYB);
• Geo-referenced data on mineral resources, either in existing mines (including quarries) or as deposits or occurrences in the landscape, including information on the estimated quantities of the respective raw materials. Based on national data sets, this information has been compiled in the European Mineral Inventory;

In Germany the State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining in Baden-Württemberg (LGRB) has contributed here via the „LGRB-Informationssystem“;

• Mineral deposits, geology and potential for certain critical raw materials, in particular those essential for industrial and energy transformation (i.e. REE, lithium, cobalt, graphite and phosphate) have been compiled;
• Maps showing occurrences and predictivity of selected CRMs, e.g., first pan-European maps on marine mineral deposits and metallogenic areas distribution;
• An ornamental stone information system, including map of unique resources, geological and technical information about resources and a series of national atlases;
• Case studies to reassess the potential of CRMs in historic mining sites or to test the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC);
• Compilation of the regulatory framework for exploration and mining in European seas.

The compiled data and information are publicly available through the European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI) and widely shared with the EU Raw Materials Information System (RMIS).
Moreover, the scientific community has been kept informed through more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and through more than 100 conference presentations by the GeoERA Raw Materials scientists. In addition, the “GeoERA Raw Materials Monograph - the past and the future” was published in May 2022. The GeoERA Raw Materials Monograph now produced reflects some of the most relevant results obtained and contains not only information on raw material potentials in Europe and the use of UNFC/UNRMS, but also lists and links to the most important products and scientific publications conducted.

Among those:

• Electronic European Minerals Yearbook (Production, other data can be selected)

• European Minerals Inventory

  • Occurrences (points and areas)
  • Mines (including Tourist mine sites)

• Maps regarding marine raw materials in pan-European Seas

  • Hydrothermal mineralisation
  • Ferromanganese Crust and Phosphorite Occurrences in pan-European Seas
  • Mineral-potential and prospectivity map of placers
  • Metallogenic map of polymetallic nodules
• Ornamental Stone, unique types
• First paneuropean predictivity maps on onshore and offshore CRM, see also FRAME Newsletter 8 and Newsletter 9.

More information are available via geoera.eu and links therein.