Faults represented in the Geological Map of Portugal, at 1:1 000 000 scale

Europe is largely dependent on raw materials imports and has to supply its needs, especially of critical raw materials, from international sources. Nevertheless, Europe also has a long lasting mining history and some deposits have been mined continuously even for hundreds of years. FRAME WP7 investigates traditional mining sites and their raw material potential. In addition to the main commodities of these historic deposits, the project focuses on strategic raw materials (SRM) such as e.g. high-tech metals extracted as by-products and critical raw materials of the EU actual list. These raw materials might be contained in the ore or in residues from the nowadays abandoned mining and beneficiation activities. The dataset contains examples of historic mines that might have a potential for CRM. Related case studies give detailed information on the sites. Please note: the dataset does not reflect a pan-European assessment, but examples and case studies.

Cell based associations (CBA) prospectivity map for niobium in Europe.

Overview map showing the approximate extent of the key Rare Earth Elements (REE) metallogenic areas in Europe.

Cell based associations (CBA) prospectivity map for phosphate in Europe.

Cell based associations (CBA) prospectivity map for REE in Europe.

Simplified spatial distribution of REE occurrences in Europe, and respective genetic types.

Cell based associations (CBA) prospectivity map for tantalum in Europe.

Polymetallic nodules occur in abyssal plains (~4000 – 6000 mm water depth) of all major oceans as two-dimensional deposits, formed on or just below sediment-covered seafloor, rich in metals of economic interest such as manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), lithium (Li), and rare earth elements (REE). The nodules are generated in marine environments where the sedimentation rates are low, commonly less than 10 centimeters (cm) per thousand years. The nodules consist of micro-layers of Mn oxides and Fe oxy-hydroxides concentrically precipitated around a nucleus. Nodules are generally about golf ball sized, most commonly 1–12 cm in diameter, but can vary in diameter from millimeter-size (micronodules) to as large as 20 cm. The polymetallic nodules are formed by metals precipitation either from ambient seawater (hydrogenetic formation), from pore-waters in the sediments (diagenetic formation), from hydrothermal derived fluids (Bonatti and Nayudu, 1965; Bau et al., 2014; Kuhn et al., 2017) and the formation processes that represent a mix of these different end-member processes. The formation mechanisms control the general chemical composition of the nodules, e.g. the hydrogenetic precipitation leads to an enrichment of Co and REE while the diagenetic precipitation favours enrichment of Ni and Cu. Hydrogenetic nodules grow remarkably slow (1 to 5 mm per million years), whereas diagenetic nodules grow at rates up to 250 mm per million years.

"Exploration in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Sea" refers to marine exploration of mineral accumulations, deposits, resources and reserves on the Atlantic. Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Sea seabed. The target for MINDeSEA WP 7 is (i) to create a new dataset on the distribution of the explored areas for submarine mineral resources in Europe; (ii) to propose recommendations for new unexplored areas; and (iii) to recommend pilot areas with high potential of discovering new submarine mineral resource mineral accumulations