Mineral and geological resources can be considered to be non-renewable on time-scales relevant for decision-makers. The sustainable management of these invaluable resources requires a thorough and careful balancing of available quantity and quality versus rapidly changing societal and economical needs. The need for such an approach is recognized in the EU's Raw Materials Initiative, which highlights the optimization of the geological knowledge on the distribution, composition and dynamics of geological resources therefore is the backbone of long-term strategies for resource use in a rapidly changing world.