While the territory of the EU in many parts shows a very high exploration potential and many EU countries remain attractive to investors (e.g. Fraser Institute, 2015), a mere 4% of global exploration expenditure is currently invested within European countries. One tool to trigger a higher degree of investment in exploration and to secure the domestic supply of both main commodities and critical raw materials (CRM) is to enhance our three-dimensional geometric understanding of the Earth’s crust.
For these reasons, EIT Raw Materials decided to fund a network of infrastructure (NoI) –Visual3D – for three years (2017–2019). Visual3D involves to-date 14 partner organisations from nine EU countries. The NoI aims to integrate expertise within exploration and 3D modelling from industry, academia and research institutes, with the ambition to increase the understanding of geological bodies in 3D and 4D through improved visualisation techniques.
During its first year, Visual3D has worked to identify common issues in the field of geomodelling, the solutions to which may be facilitated by a Pan-European network approach:
Integration and improved outward communication of the available visualisation tools at the NoI partners will support better targeting of new mineral resources at depth, and eventually reduce environmental impacts and costs by enhancing the efficiency of exploration workflows. The distribution and possible commercialization of the NoI´s outcomes among stakeholders of the extractive industry will improve the competitiveness of European exploration and mining.