Abstract
Rational and long-term planning and sustainable mineral resources management is of strategic importance in Europe’s efforts to secure the self-supply of mineral raw materials. European mineral data is organized and accessible within the pan-European Minerals Intelligence Network. Most EU countries are part of this network, while the West Balkan region presents a gap in this regard. A common West Balkan mineral register needs to be established in order to close the gap and bring the area closer to the EU market. Including the region into the network would provide new opportunities to local industry and improve mineral management at the national and regional level. In this context, the Geological Survey of Slovenia is working in cooperation with numerous partners and stakeholders in different projects within the framework of European initiatives and programs. We collected and properly organized relevant data on minerals in the region according to the INSPIRE Directive. This paper describes the creation of the West Balkan Mineral Register of primary raw materials, and its content.
Highlights
Europe is aiming to reduce its dependence on imported mineral resources from other continents by increasing its self-supply capacities
The analysis of primary raw material data resulted in 473 PRM sites described by 27 attributes, which were included into the West Balkan Mineral Register of Primary Raw Materials (Internet 5) and presented in an overview table (Fig. 2) and on a map (Fig. 3)
The West Balkan region is recognized by the European Commission as one of the most outstanding potential sources of mineral raw materials
Summary
Europe is aiming to reduce its dependence on imported mineral resources from other continents by increasing its self-supply capacities. One of the most important regions that the European Commission recognizes as a greatpotential contributor to the effort to lower Europe’s dependence on imported mineral resources is the South-East Europe (SEE) region and its considerable mineral potential. Southeast Europe, the West Balkans, is rich in primary as well as secondary mineral resources, which are mostly remains of historic or current mining and metallurgical activities. Some explorative geological work is being carried out on new mineral resource deposits (critical raw materials) that are in great demand in Europe. The results of the extensive research work on mineral deposits in the West Balkan are stored in various national archives or have even been lost, which represents a gap in the Europe’s existing information system on mineral resources (Fig. 1). There was a need for data on primary and secondary mineral deposits in the West Balkans
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