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Methodology & data sources

ORECAST brings together open, official geological and scientific data to answer one question: what lies beneath this point? We don't invent numbers and we don't deal in percentages. Instead we keep two things apart: what is actually on record, and what the geology merely makes plausible.

How it works

For a given point we look up the local geology and any documented occurrences within a radius. A commodity counts as documented when there's a real find or deposit on record nearby, and as plausible when the rock type would allow it but nothing has been recorded. The notes on effort, yield and depth are rough estimates to set expectations, never guarantees.

From raw data to an assessment

Every query follows the same steps. First we read the rock at the point from GLiM and the national geological surveys. Then we gather documented occurrences within the chosen radius: ores and minerals from USGS MRDS and each country's official services, such as BGR and GD NRW in Germany, BRGM in France, SPW and DOV in Belgium, GeoSphere Austria, TNO in the Netherlands and ISPRA in Italy, plus, since August 2026, swisstopo in Switzerland, SGU and Bergsstaten in Sweden, GTK in Finland, GSI in Ireland, ČGS in Czechia and PIG-PIB in Poland. Fossils come from the Paleobiology Database and GBIF, historical and mining traces from OpenStreetMap and Wikidata. For every find we show the source, so you can check it yourself.

Data sources & licences

Counts and dates come live from the same database that answers the map. All datasets have been processed for the map (for example converted to WGS 84 and reduced to the attributes shown), so they differ from the originals.

Minerals & ores

Coal seams

Fossils

Historic sites

Geosites

Caves & old mines

Geology

Soil

Documented finds

How we verify

Every import follows the same pattern: stable official identifiers per object, repeatable runs (importing twice cannot inflate a layer), and an automatic duplicate watchdog across all layers afterwards. August 2026 showed why that matters: one official service delivered every mining field twice, 828 features for 414 licences. The watchdog flags exactly such patterns; we clean up and document the case. We deliberately leave out modelled potential areas and mere exploration permits without a proven deposit. The map should show what is on record. And nothing gets on the map for money: no paid pins, no sponsored entries. Community finds are labelled as such and reviewed before they appear.

Limits and currency

Coverage is not the same everywhere. Some countries publish dense, well-kept datasets, others only broad overviews, and a source stops where its licence or survey area ends. So one thing matters: where nothing is on record, that does not mean nothing is there. It only means no find has been recorded. We load the datasets in stages rather than in real time, so a new official entry can take a while to show up here. That is exactly why we give no percentages and no guarantees of a find, only what is documented or plausible.

Honesty, law & safety

A promising geology is not a promise. Digging and collecting are regulated across Europe and usually need a permit, protected monuments must be left alone, and former war zones can still hold unexploded ordnance (we mark those with a ☢️ warning). Treat ORECAST as background information, not as a permit or legal advice.

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