This issue is derived from the EGU Sharing Geosciences Online 2020’s session ERE5.4, entitled “State-of-the-art in mineral exploration”. The rationale behind this proposal is to bring together a number of articles aimed at exploring the current state and future prospects of mineral exploration, from different perspectives (e.g. remote sensing, geochemistry, geology, geophysics, modelling, mineralogy, structural geology).

Mineral resources are used in larger quantities than ever before in history, and are the basis of our modern society. The safe and sustainable supply of mineral resources is fostering a demand for innovative actions to cover the foreseeable future industry and human demands. Exploration is the first step in the mineral resources cycle. On the one hand, most of the giant deposits at shallow depths have been already explored and mined out and the industry is moving towards deeper and more complex mineral systems, which brings significant exploration challenges. On the other hand, the exploration sector needs time-saving, cost-effective, and, particularly in Europe, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable techniques to ensure sustainable access to mineral resources.

This special issue aims to bring together a meaningful collection of articles that will shape the mineral exploration for the 21st century. Articles can include, but are not limited to, the following topics: new methods of exploration; imaging; conceptual modelling and quantification of deposits and mineral systems; cost reduction in exploration; non-invasive exploration; environmentally sustainable exploration; integration of multidisciplinary methodologies and datasets; scale-up and replicability; industry–academia synergies; and FAIR data repositories.