Recital 42

(42) The existing knowledge and mapping of the Union’s raw materials occurrences were developed at a time when ensuring the supply of critical raw materials for the development of strategic technologies was not a priority. A lack of up-to-date geological information on critical raw materials in the Union could undermine the development of extraction projects, thereby weakening efforts to decrease supply risk and safeguard the functioning of the internal market. To acquire and update information on the critical raw material occurrences, Member States should, where relevant given the geological conditions, draw up national mapping programmes for the general exploration of critical raw materials and the main minerals that they are extracted together with. This should include measures such as geological mapping, geochemical campaigns, geoscientific surveys as well as the reprocessing of existing geoscientific datasets. This increases the probability of locating new deposits, which in turn should stimulate investments in exploration. The exploration programmes should also consider making use of novel exploration techniques that allow the identification of occurrences at greater depth than conventional techniques. To facilitate the development of extraction projects, Member States should make publicly available certain basic information acquired during their respective national exploration programme, where appropriate using the framework of the Infrastructure for Spatial Information established by Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (21), while providing more detailed information upon request. The Commission should be able to issue guidelines to promote a harmonised format of the exploration programmes.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-13 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.