Major nickel occurrences in Greenland

The nickle potential in Greenland is related to mafic to ultramafic magmatism, which can be associated with komatiite-hosted occurrences, contact-type occurrences and conduit-type occurrences related to picritic and/or tholeiitic basalt dyke/sill complexes. Tracts with potential to host these occurrences, which extend from the Archean to the Palaeogene, were evaluated during a mineral potential assessment workshop, following USGS guidelines, held in 2012.

Read more about the Magmatic nickel potential in Greenland in the Geology and Ore issue 31, 2018.

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Nickel Data Package

The nickel data package contains data from the mineral assessment workshop from 2012 and includes data from West Greenland, Southeast Greenland and East Greenland, including reports, presentations, maps, aerial photographs and satellite images from these areas.

The package is around 80 gigabytes in size so it may take some time for the system to process the request.

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Archean

Archean nickel mineralisation is represented by conduit-type occurrences such as those in the Maniitsoq Norite Belt, which has been suggested surrounds a ca. 3.0 Ga large impact structure that triggered fracturing and magma ascension. Crustal contamination of mafic to ultramafic magmas resulted in the accumulation of several conductive sulphide bodies identified through geophysics and subsequently tested with over 130 drillholes to date. Other Archean nickel conduit-type occurrences include those in the Qeqertarssuatsiaq area of the Fiskenæsset Metamorphosed Layered Igneous Complex in West Greenland, where accumulation of chromite and to a lesser degree Ni-rich sulphide segregations within a bronzitite layer have been described.

Archean komatiite-hosted occurrences are known from the Ikertoq, part of the Niaqornarssuit Ultramafic Complex near Kangerlussuaq, Nuuk-Akia and Bjørnesund areas in West Greenland.

Proterozoic

The geological environment hosting the Voisey´s Bay deposit in Canada, continues across the Davis Strait into the Greenlandic Nagssugtoqidian Orogen and has therefore been the focus for nickel exploration. This orogen can be traced under the ice cap to the southeastern coast of Greenland as the Ammassalik Mobile Belt, where nickel sulphide mineralised lenses have been observed several kilometres along the contacts of three dioritic centres of the Ammassalik Intrusive Complex near Tasiilaq in Southeast Greenland. Conduit-type nickel occurrences can also be found in Gardar dykes of the Paleoproterozoic Ketilidian Orogen at the southern border of the North Atlantic Craton.

Komatiite-hosted nickel mineralisation has also been reported in komatiite pods or boudins in Paleoproterozoic supracrustal rocks surrounding the Ammassalik Intrusive Complex.

Read more about genesis of the Paleoproterozoic Ammassalik Intrusive Complex, Southeast Greenland in Precambrian Research Volume 315, September 2018, Pages 19-44.

Palaeogene

Flood basalt provinces in East and West Greenland, record major magmatic activity and cover areas greater than 65,000 km² and 68,000 km² respectively. Their numerous dyke and sill systems are generally viewed as having promising potential for nickel accumulation. Known conduit-type nickel occurrences are mainly hosted in presumably sediment contaminated lavas and dykes at the base of the basalt sequence in the Disko-Nuussuaq region of West Greenland. Potential contact-type nickel mineralisation has been identified in the Kap Edvard Holm Complex in East Greenland, where a large layered tholeiitic gabbro complex intrudes a sequence of sulphide-rich sedimentary rocks.

Contact

Diogo Rosa

Senior researcher

Phone: +45 91 33 38 59
E-mail: dro@geus.dk

Major nickel occurrences in Greenland

Download data package

Nickel Data Package

Archean

Proterozoic

Palaeogene

Vaigat Formation

Nickel-copper sulphide

Ni-Cu-Co sulphide

Sulphide sample

Contact

Diogo Rosa

eng.geus.dk