Raw material security card of Lower Saxony 1: 25 000 (WMS service)

By taking into account geoscientific and resource management knowledge, it is possible to classify raw material areas and present them accordingly on maps. The result is the raw material security card 1: 25 000 (RSK25), which is available digitally for Lower Saxony and is continuously updated. This information on priority areas for raw materials is provided to spatial planners. For their work, it is necessary and helpful to classify the raw material areas into value levels. Due to the large number of competing uses of the limited natural space, it is only possible to protect the raw material potential in a large, binding and long-term manner. The selection of land, which is essential for the country’s sufficient supply of raw materials, requires on the one hand comprehensive geoscientific data and, on the other hand, the most detailed knowledge of regional and supraregional economic structures. An important basis for the assessment is not only the quality of the different raw materials, but also a rough assessment of the long-term regional and national needs. In this context, for example, the transport connection of the individual areas must be taken into account, as well as the location of certain industries. An example of this is the cement industry, for which, due to very high operational investments and a very large raw material requirement, the planning of deposits must be secured in close proximity to the plant site. Therefore, in addition to geoscientific data, the LBEG has been collecting numerous other data for several decades. In regions where sufficient basic data is missing, the LBEG performs special drilling programs as well as mineralogical and geochemical analyses of raw materials.