Dataset for the Map of Critical Raw Materials Offshore Occurrences and Deposits of Europe 2024

The map shows the Critical Raw Materials (CRM) occurrences and deposits associated with the different marine minerals of the European seas, based on the 2023 CRM list of the European Commission. The dataset was compiled in 2024 with contributions from national and regional Geological Survey Organisations as part of the EU-funded Geological Service for Europe (GSEU) project. The initiative aims to provide harmonized geoscientific data across Europe. Offshore minerals are represented by cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, polymetallic nodules, seafloor massive sulphides and hydrothermal mineralization, phosphorites and marine placers. The nature of these minerals is in most of the cases polymetallic with enrichments in several CRM. Mineral deposits, based on preliminary studies, are sized (super large, large, medium and small) according to their total endowment – estimated by the sum of cumulated resources (a concentration or occurrence of material of economic interest in such form, grade or quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction) and reserves (the economically mineable part of a mineral resource) for the commodity concerned. Note that this dataset constitutes a geological assessment of the main CRM occurrences and deposits in European seas. It does not consider any aspect associated with infrastructure, mining, metallurgy, processing, transport of ore, and ignores socio-economic and environmental conditions. Most importantly, the presence of a mineralization and the identification of a mineral deposit do not warrant its extractability in the future.