Get the key to your favourite commodities · Palaeozoic platfom deposits of Baffin Island and North Greenland. Twin Mining Corpo-ration also came up with diamondiferous pipes in August

GREENLAND MINERAL EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER

BUREAU OF MINERALS AND PETROLEUM (BMP)Government of Greenland P.O. Box 930 DK-3900 Nuuk GreenlandTel.: +299 34 68 00 Fax.: +299 32 43 02 e-mail: [email protected] homepage: www.bmp.gl

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF DENMARK AND GREENLAND (GEUS)Thoravej 8 DK-2400 Copenhagen NV DenmarkTel.: +45 38 14 20 00 Fax.: +45 38 14 20 50 e-mail: [email protected] homepage: www.geus.dk

Greenland MINEX News No. 19 January 2001

The hitherto most comprehensive digitalcompilation of earth science data fromGreenland – The South Greenland CD-ROM– is now available from the Geological Surveyof Denmark and Greenland (GEUS).

Many geoscientific activities were conductedduring the second half of the last century inSouth Greenland and most of the informationhas been hitherto available in traditionalformats, such as printed papers, reports,maps, field notes, etc. The demand for digitalversions of geoscience data, preferably with

Contents Page

• Get the key to your favourite commodities...1

• Greenland gold mine: decision expectedearly 2001?...........................................................3

• New diamond finds close to Greenland .........4

• Revival of kimberlite exploration in WestGreenland .............................................................5

• Greenland deposit of tantalum .......................6

• Field team examines noble metal veins inEast Greenland....................................................7

• New three-year resource assessmentprogramme in West Greenland........................8

• Greenland drill-core library nowoperational in Kangerlussuaq..........................9

• Skaergaard palladium deposit ..................... 10

• A new look at Greenland mineral deposits.............................................................................. 10

• ‘This is GREENLAND 2000–2001’.............. 11

• The future with Greenland MINEX News.............................................................................. 12

Get the key to your favourite commodities

CD-ROM released packed with data on themineral potential of South Greenland

Bureau of Minerals and PetroleumGeological Survey of Denmark and Greenland

a GIS association, is ever increasing. Basedon comments from potential users, not leastreaders of MINEX, the consensus is thatunless data exist in easily accessible digitalformats, valuable information will escapenotice by busy explorers.The digital data now available are part ofthe final assessment of the mineral re-source potential of South Greenland. Thedata comprise a wealth of information forexploration experts and Greenland geologyusers.

The CD-ROM contains an ArcView projectfile with accessory data and text files.Topographic, geological, geophysical, geo-chemical, mineral occurrence, mineralexploration and remote sensing spatialdata sets are presented as maps or images.Tables give details on samples, chemicalanalyses, geo literature and company re-ports. Files in PDF format provide a geo-logical summary and descriptions of 107mineral occurrences.

Highlights of the CD-ROMTopographic base map

Layers of names, geographical grid and selected geo-graphical features are available.

Digital Elevation ModelApproximate digital elevation model calculated frompositional data from aeromagnetic survey aircraft.Included as an image in TIF format.

Mosaic of Landsat TM scenesA composite, natural look satellite image based on amosaic of seven Landsat TM scenes in compressedformat (MrSid).

Geological map ( 1:500 000)A new digital geological map based on the printed1:500 000 map with modifications reflecting the re-sults of recent investigations.

Airborne magneticsTotal field and first vertical derivative magneticanomaly maps based on different airborne surveys.

Airborne electromagneticsAnomaly maps based on airborne electromagneticsurveys of selected areas in the north-western part ofthe region.

Airborne radiometricsRadiometric anomaly maps based on airborne sur-veys.

Gravity mapsFree-air and Bouguer gravity anomaly maps based ondata from a number of sources compiled in a data-base by The National Survey and Cadastre.

Sample locationsSample locations of stream sediments (fine fraction),heavy mineral concentrates of stream sediments androck samples.

Stream sedimentsGridded anomaly maps for 42 major and trace ele-ments.

Heavy mineral concentrates of stream sedimentsPositions and analytical results as tables and col-oured dot plots for 16 trace elements.

Rock analysesPositions, sample descriptions and chemical analysesof c. 3400 rock samples.

Mineral occurrencesMap of 107 mineral occurrence sites with hotlinks todescriptions in PDF format.

Mineral exploration licenses 1992–2000Maps of position and ownership of mineral explora-tion licenses for each of the years 1992–2000.

List of existing maps from South GreenlandCoverage and a few basic data on published topo-graphic and geological maps and on unpublishedfield maps from GEUS archives.

BibliographyGeo-referenced bibliography of more than 2000 titlesand a list of 204 released exploration company re-ports.

Have a look at the GEUS Internet home-page at http://www.geus.dk/sg, where thecompilation is described in more detail andwhere examples from the CD-ROM aredemonstrated. Two printed reports havebeen released (see below) and a packagecontaining the CD-ROM and the reports canbe purchased. Contact GEUS by phone, faxor at [email protected] price for the package is DKK 1340, orapproximately US$ 170. Customers inDenmark should add 25% Danish Value

Added Tax (moms). The package is mailedfree of charge around the world.

Schjøth, F., Garde, A.A., Jørgensen, M.S., Lind, M.,Moberg, E., Nielsen, T.F.D., Rasmussen, T.M., Secher,K., Steenfelt, A., Stendal, H., Thorning, L. & Tu-kiainen, T. 2000: Mineral resource potential of SouthGreenland: the CD-ROM. Danmarks og GrønlandsGeologiske Undersøgelse Rapport 2000/57 , 36 pp., 1CD-ROM included.Steenfelt, A., Nielsen, T.F.D. & Stendal, H. 2000:Mineral resource potential of South Greenland: reviewof new digital data sets. Danmarks og GrønlandsGeologiske Undersøgelse Rapport 2000/50 , 47 pp.

No. 19 January 2001 Page 2


The Nalunaq project is a high-grade gold de-posit 40 km from the town of Nanortaliknear the southern tip of Greenland. MINEXhas kept an eye on the activity with reportson the exploration development from thestart of the exploration (see e.g. MINEXNews 15 and 18). Vancouver-based CrewDevelopment Corporation acquired a 50%interest in the project by merging withNorwegian Mindex ASA in late 1999. Thejoint-venture Nalunaq I/S is established ofwhich two thirds of the interest is now heldby Crew, with the remaining part held bythe Greenland Government owned companyNunaMinerals A/S (formerly a division ofNunaOil A/S). The co-operation betweenCrew and NunaMinerals A/S is reported tohave been very constructive for the devel-opment of the project. Crew has conductedextensive underground development andbulk-sampling to provide the data for a finalfeasibility study and subsequent financing.According to recent press releases fromCrew at the close of the season, the com-pany has now conducted a satisfactoryunderground bulk sampling programmewith laboratory results still pending. Thetest programme was aimed at a ‘go’ or a ‘nogo’ decision to production late in the firstquarter of 2001; this seems still to be theintention. Financially, the project has re-sulted in a total investment of US$ 6 millionduring 2000. 1800 m of underground workand 23 000 t of crushed vein material minedfrom 3 drifts and 15 inclined shafts (raises)within the ore structure are the visible proofof the campaign. The test run intends toverify continuity of mineable gold gradesand to upgrade the known inferred re-sources to measured and indicated reserves.The target is a resource that can support anore production of 500 t/day resulting in anannual production of 148 000 oz of gold.Hopes are high that the Nalunaq depositcan become an important source for gold.

Crew has gained a good understanding ofthe gold mineralised structure and contin-ued exploration is anticipated in the regionaround the deposit. The Nalunaq I/S licenceholding in the region has also been enlargedto just above 1000 sq. km during 2000.

The average grade of the deposit has beendetermined at 32 grams gold per tonne over1 m width and the mill feed grade is esti-mated to 27.3 grams gold per tonne withinan indicated and inferred resource of440 000 t before this years programme. Acharacteristic feature of the Nalunaq de-posit is that extremely high gold grades areencountered locally. One channel sampleshowed as much as 5000 grams gold pertonne in one adit. The high, but variablegrade of the Nalunaq deposit remains amajor challenge in the exploitation and themain reason for the extensive grade verifi-cation programme conducted in 2000 underthe supervision of Canadian StrathconaMineral Services.

Greenland gold mine: decision expected early 2001

Crew Development Corporation seems solidly targeted at a mine at Nalunaq



‘The Canada – Greenland geological link infocus again’ was a MINEX headline back inMarch 1998 (MINEX News 14) where in-formation on new finds of Zn-Pb-Ag miner-alistion in Franklinian Basin successions inNorth Greenland was released. Again wefocus on this link and reflect on the com-parison of resource potentials on either sideof the Davis Strait in 1992 (MINEXNews 1). That 1992 article was inspired bythe fever created by the discovery of Lac deGras kimberlite pipes in the CanadianNWT and immediately brought Greenland,– with its similar ancient craton, – intofocus as another main target for diamondexploration.

Archaean – PalaeoproterozoicDuring the latter half of the 1990s the rushresulted in a significant kimberlite explora-tion in West Greenland between the townsof Sisimiut and Nuuk. The finds of diamon-diferous kimberlite and similar dykes car-rying many microdiamonds and fewermacrodiamonds were the result of thisintense exploration. Today, a couple of dia-mond exploration com-panies still holdexclusive licences, and a large amount ofnew knowledge has been acquired. How-ever, whereas the search for kimberlitepipes like Lac de Gras still has not led tothe expected breakthrough, the number ofdetected kimberlite dykes in the border

New diamond finds close to Greenland

Diamondiferous kimberlite dykes in Labrador areneighbours to the Greenland kimberlite province



zone to the Archaean craton in WestGreenland is still growing. This is alsodemonstrated by GEUS activities duringthe 2000 field season. On this background,new finds of diamondiferous dykes in theTorngat area of Labrador – situated only600 miles from the West Greenland kim-berlite province – again raises, expectationsfor Greenland diamond. The Torngat isdesignated the counterpart of the Palaeo-proterozoic Nagssugtoqidian orogenic fore-land in West Greenland.From the 444 sq. km Torngat diamondproperty in Labrador on the east coast ofUngava Bay, the Twin Mining Corporationof Toronto announced impressive progressin late November 2000. The explorationprogram revealed a 50 km dyke system andan additional 242 macrodiamonds wererecovered from 10 tonne samples. They aremostly gem quality, white and transparent,and indicate that the dyke system is capa-ble of producing larger gem quality stones.Another Canadian junior company, To-ronto-based Tandem Resources Ltd., has

announced similar finds in nearby proper-ties at the end of September 2000.

Lower PalaeozoicAnother comparison concerns the LowerPalaeozoic platfom deposits of Baffin Islandand North Greenland. Twin Mining Corpo-ration also came up with diamondiferouspipes in August 2000 from their JacksonInlet property in north-western BaffinIsland. This property has now yielded 154diamonds including 13 macrodiamondsfrom 16 pipes so far discovered in a terraindominated by flat-lying Ordovician andSilurian carbonates.If the situation is transferred to Greenlandin the border zone of the Franklinian Ba-sin, this knowledge may fertilize theground for yet another play of kimberliteexploration in North Greenland.Twin Mining was awarded the prestigiousProspector of the Year 2000 Award by theAssociation des Prospecteurs du Quebéc forits discovery and exploration of the Torngatdiamond field. We congratulate!

The former Geological Survey of Greenland(GGU) and the present Survey (GEUS)have registered information on kimberliteand related rocks from Greenland since the1970s. Years before the intensive explora-tion by private companies took off duringthe 90s, a kimberlite dyke swarm waslocated in the region adjoining the fjordKangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) inWest Greenland. Recent findings of micro-and macrodiamonds in dykes of this swarmby various companies have encouragedrenewed studies of the extent and characterof the kimberlite province. GEUS is now

undertaking kimberlite exploration andtrace element analysis of indicator miner-als as part of the resource assessmentprogramme. Limited initial field work wascarried out in the summer of 2000 with theaim of looking for signs of extension of theprovince towards the north and east.A few new kimberlite and lamproite occur-rences were actually located in situ, otherswere indicated by float. In some cases highconcentrations of Nb in stream sedimentreflected the presence of kimberlite orrelated dykes.

Revival of kimberlite explorationin West Greenland

More dykes located during 2000 field workin West Greenland



Niobium, tantalum, zirconium and rare earthelements are important constituents of thepyrochlore accumulations found in the South-West Greenland Motzfeldt Intrusive Centreof the Igaliko Nepheline Syenite Complex.This is situated some 15 minutes helicopterflying from the international NarsarsuaqAirport. Several mineralised zones are knownto carry an estimated resource of at least 50million tonnes of ore with a tantalum pen-toxide grade of about 0.03%.Tantalum mineralisation in the MotzfeldtCentre was discovered and investigated bythe Survey during the early 1980s. Early in2000 Angus & Ross PLC was granted anExploration Licence covering the MotzfeldtCentre, 414 sq. km.It has recently been announced that metal-lurgical testing by Lakefield Research Lim-ited indicates that the tantalum/niobium orefrom the Motzfeldt Centre is amenable toflotation recovery. Dr. Robert Young, Man-aging Director of Angus & Ross PLC, statesin a press release: “The tantalum mineralisa-tion in Southern Greenland was not devel-oped because the ore was considered to bemetallurgically complex and the depositswere in a steep mountainous area. The testwork by Lakefield Research Limited suggeststhat the mineral separation can be solved.Next year’s field season is being planned todefine tantalum-mineralised zones. We hopeto show that the problems of working in sucha mountainous area can also be overcome. Ifthis can be achieved then we hope to turnthis ‘resource’ into a ‘reserve’ that will be asignificant part of the world’s tantalum re-serves.”The importance of this development wasemphasised in a recent press release (19September 2000) from Angus & Ross PLC:“Cabot Corporation, which is one of theworld’s main customers for tantalum concen-trates has recently decided to take an initial

option over one million shares of Angus &Ross at an exercise price of 10p. This interestby a major company has been welcomed byAngus & Ross’ management and demon-strates how important a major consumerperceives exploration for new sources of tan-talum.”

Further reading:

Tukiainen, T. 1988: Niobium-tantalum mineralisationin the Motzfeldt Centre of the Igaliko Nepheline SyeniteComplex, South Greenland. In: Boissonnas, J. &Omenetto, P. (eds.): Mineral deposits within the Euro-pean Community, 230–246. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

Readers are recommended to study the rele-vant chapters of the CD-ROM mentioned onpage 1.

Greenland deposit of tantalum

‘Resource’ can soon be turned into ‘Reserve’ of world-class size



As a part of the Skaergaard field programmedescribed later, a Survey field team examinedlast summer a zone of base metal veins northof Amdrup Fjord, East Greenland. The veinssurround a Tertiary molybdenum-bearingsubvolcanic complex hosting a breccia pipeintruded by quartz porphyries.Previous investigations have indicated highsilver and gold concentrations in the veins,which typically are developed as crustifiedfillings of epithermal character, often dis-playing vuggy and colloform structures.Quartz, calcite, rhodochrosite and fluorite arecommon gangue minerals. Sulphides aregalena, sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite andtetrahedrite-tennantite.

Previously, five hydrothermal vein systemswere known from the area. During the recentfield work 30 additional veins, mostly ofmodest size, were found and sampled. Thesamples have been submitted to multi-element analysis including gold, silver andbase metals.The vein-type mineralisation encountered sofar cannot be expected to yield economic basemetal deposits but it holds a potential forgold and silver. This will be better understoodwhen the analytical results from the fieldwork become available. A final report in-cluding sample lists, analytical results and asampling map is planned for summer 2001.

Box: Market view: TantalumSince the beginning of the 1990s tantalum has become increasingly important in the electronics industrybecause it is used extensively to make high-quality capacitors for mobile phones, computers, car electronics,video cameras, pagers and other small devices. The latest miniature mobile phones have an average of about10 tantalum components! A side effect of the growth of demand is that traditional methods of tantalumproduction, as a by-product of tin slags, are being exhausted. Tantalum is now mostly produced from hardrock mines, such as Greenbushes Tin in Western Australia. There is a recognised need for the industry toproduce more tantalum from existing and new mines.

Field team examines noble metal veinsin East Greenland

Evaluation of the Amdrup Fjord – Flammefjeldvein type occurrences



The Department for Economic Geology atGEUS has launched a new activity con-cerned with Resource evaluation from Suk-kertoppen Ice Cap in the south to the Nuus-suaq Peninsula in the north. The activity isplanned for the period 2000–2003. The aimis to make a regional resource assessmentof the mineral potential in the region 66°Nto 70°15´N, West Greenland, based on

compilation of existing data, new field workand integrated interpretation of geological,geochemical and geophysical data. Resultswill be presented as digital data sets acces-sible for the mining industry – and thepublic, following largely along the samelines as the South Greenland CD-ROMreported elsewhere in this issue of MINEXNews.

The region is easily accessible and previ-ously the Survey and private companieshave collected geochemical and geophysicaldata. From a resource assessment point ofview, the main interests are, diamonds inthe southern part and gold and base metalsin the central and northern part. The mainobjectives are:

• Compilation of geology, mineral occur-rences, geochemistry and geophysics

• Quality check of previously reporteddata

• Pin-pointing of relevant areas from aneconomic geological point of view

• Improving understanding of the genesisof mineral occurrences based on isotopestudies

• Mapping of mineral occurrences andmodelling in relation to plate-tectonicsetting

• Outlining of possible metallogeneticprovinces

• Correlation with Canada

The programme schedule year by year is:

2000: Compilation of existing data andlimited field work2001: Field work and analysis of sampledmaterial2002: Field work and analysis of sampledmaterial2003: Compilation of all data and documen-tation of results

The Aim is to invite participation fromuniversities, other geological surveys andmining companies. Geologists from BMPwill also participate in the field work. TheSurvey is open for discussion on varioustypes of co-operation with other partiesinterested in the region.

New three-year resource assessment programmein West Greenland

70 000 sq. km from Kangerlussuaq Fjord to Disko Bugt



Until recently, a collection of approximately80 km of selected cores from about 1100drill holes in Greenland were stored in thearchives in Copenhagen. During 2000(MINEX News 18), the cores were trans-ferred to the Kangerlussuaq InternationalAirport and arranged in a renovated formergarage. Kangerlussuaq is the main gate-way to Greenland with daily connections toCopenhagen, weekly connections to Icelandand Canada and services and low-pricedaccommodation and board is available inaddition to the three-star airport hotel.As a transit location this site is ideal al-lowing geologists to inspect the drill-coresin connection with their field work inGreenland during stopovers. Provided priorarrangements have been made, visitors canhave cores laid out for study and it is possi-

ble to obtain samples of many of the drill-cores. Access to the core library is arrangedby contact to the BMP in Nuuk.Under the standard terms for explorationlicences, drill-cores and other samples mustbe offered to the BMP when a licence ex-pires or is relinquished. As a general rule,all drill-cores will in future be stored atKangerlussuaq. However, two sets of drill-core considered to have particular scientificvalue are stored in Copenhagen on perma-nent loan to the Geological Museum, Uni-versity of Copenhagen. These are the re-cently salvaged cores from the Skaergaardintrusion in East Greenland drilled byPlatinova A/S and two drill-cores from RioTinto’s exploration of the Archaean bandediron formation at Isua, north-east of Nuuk.

Greenland drill-core library now operationalin Kangerlussuaq

A successful move from Copenhagen to West Greenland



The large tonnage Pd mineralisation of theSkaergaard intrusion of East Greenland(see MINEX News 18) is still of major in-terest, helped by the fact that Kitco pricesremain high. As of 2 January 2001 the levelwas around 940 US$ per ounce. Vancouver-based Gryphon Metals Corporation wasgranted earlier this year a licence to anarea of 103 sq km covering the interior ofthe Skaergaard intrusion. The company didnot carry out field work in 2000. However,activities in the region included a jointeffort with parties from GEUS and DanishLithosphere Centre.Twenty tons or 6 km of representative drillcore material from the Skaergaard intru-sion and its precious metal mineralisation

were packed and shipped. Mineralisationintersects will be stored in the Bureau ofMinerals and Petroleum (BMP) core libraryat Kangerlussuaq in West Greenland andresearch core material will be housed at theGeological Museum in Copenhagen. Theresearch core in Copenhagen will form thebasis for a new international researchprogramme presented at the AmericanGeophysical Union meeting in San Fran-sisco, December 2000.Core in storage in Canada from previousdrilling activity by Platinova in the areawill also be returned to the core library inKangerlussuaq together with grab sampleprofiles from the mineralisation.

The project HyperGreen 2000 financed byBMP (MINEX News 18) carried out air-borne surveys using the HyMap imagingspectrometer in seven localities in centralEast Greenland. The HyMap scanner,which has 126 bands across the reflectivesolar wavelength region of 0.45–2.5 nmwith contiguous spectral coverage (exceptin the atmospheric water vapour bands)and bandwidths between 15–20 nm, hasbeen successfully used for mineral explora-tion in a wide range of environments in theworld.The original plan of the HyperGreen proj-ect was to cover selected areas in WestGreenland but the weather conditions bythe time the airborne system was availablein Greenland did not allow the equipmentto be ferried to the west coast. The alterna-tive targets in central East Greenland were

Skaergaard palladium deposit

Drill cores now on display in Copenhagenand in Kangerlussuaq


A new look at Greenland mineral deposits

– Airborne hyperspectral mapping launchedin East Greenland


defined on the spot by consultation with theBMP.The main objective of the HyperGreenproject is to assess the applicability of thisadvanced technique in mineral exploration.The radiometrically calibrated radiance

data delivered by the contractor will besubjected to geo coding, atmospheric correction and statistical treatment to producemineral maps for exploration and relatedstudies. Limited field follow-up activity willbe carried out in 2001.

The volume for 2000–2001 of the officialGreenland reference series ‘This isGREENLAND’ was issued in the autumn of2000, published by the Government ofGreenland and the Royal Danish Ministryof Foreign Affairs. It offers an updated andextended introduction to Greenland, itssociety and business community.“It is my earnest hope that it will promotecloser relations between Greenland and theinternational business community”, saysJonathan Motzfeldt, Premier, Governmentof Greenland, in the foreword of the book.The book is obtainable in hard copy fromthe BMP. As an new service, the entire textis also accessible on the web:

http://www.greenland.dk/startmenu.htm

‘This is GREENLAND 2000–2001’

A wide range of practical information aboutGreenland also on the web


Editor: Karsten SecherLay-out: Birgit EriksenStop press time: 2 January 2001 ISSN 0909-0649


The future with Greenland MINEX News

Would you like to continue receiving our newsletter in hard copy or would you pre-fer the web edition?

Note: Fill in the form and be part of a lottery. A copy of the South GreenlandCD-ROM will be sent to the lucky winner. Answers must reach GEUS by1 March 2001.

Dear MINEX reader,

Would you like to continue receiving the Greenland MINEX News free of charge ashard copy or would you prefer just an e-mail message announcing a new MINEX webissue? The web issue has been online since 1997.

Hard copy: Yes/No Web message: Yes/No Both hard copy and web issue: Yes/No

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Please mail or fax this slip to: Greenland MINEX NewsDepartment of Economic GeologyGeological Survey of Denmark and GreenlandThoravej 8DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, DenmarkFax: +45 3814 2220E-mail: [email protected]


Documents

Get the key to your favourite commodities · Palaeozoic platfom deposits of Baffin Island and North Greenland. Twin Mining Corpo-ration also came up with diamondiferous pipes in August