Mineral exploration in Greenland in the 1990s

The main exploration and research activities in Greenland in the 1990s fell into the following categories: gold (with palladium); magmatic nickel-copp er-cobalt; iron-titanium-vanadium; diamonds; SEDEX- and carbonate-hosted zi nc-lead; airborne geophysical projects; geochemistry; and Ph isotopes. Gold was one of the success stories, starting in the late 1980s and lasting int o the beginning of the 1990s with the discovery of gold, platinum and palla dium in the Tertiary Skaergaard intrusion. It continued in South Greenland, where all the gold occurrences in the Ketilidian Mobile Belt were discover ed in the 1990s. Prospecting for diamonds on the west coast of Greenland re vealed occurrences of both micro- and macro-diamonds-in particular, in the areas of Maniltsoq and Kangerlussuaq. The increased mineral exploration activity of the past decade has been enco uraging Several projects show promise, such as the Nalunaq gold deposit, th e Citronen Fjord Zn-Pb deposit, the Skaergaarden Au-Pd discovery and the di amond showings. Combined with geological knowledge, the large amounts of da ta from the AEM and AEROMAG Greenland programmes and the drainage surveys w ill form the cornerstones of future exploration programmes and provide the key to new discoveries.