orecast.app DE EN

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. 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

Geology

Minerals & ores

Fossils

History & archaeology

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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