Annual Report 2007
Mineral resources

Creating the scientific basis for targeted and environment-friendly exploitation of mineral deposits in Greenland and Denmark

Testing of a new stable, self-consolidating concrete
The demand for concrete has grown in recent years due to the great activity in the construction sector, and there is a shortage of additives such as fly ash and microsilica, which are mixed with the concrete to give it greater strength and good casting properties. The concrete industry is therefore looking for alternatives. During 2007 GEUS worked together with the industry to test a new type of high-quality concrete, which uses a cheap fibre-like clay mineral as an additive. The concrete is self-consolidating, which means that it does not have to be vibrated when casting, and it can be pumped up to, for example, casting moulds, even under high pressure. It also has viscose-elastic properties, which ensure good coating of the reinforcing, and high stability so it does not separate in water and in the powder phase. It is the clay mineral Palygorskite with its unique fibre structure that provides the concrete with these good properties. It comes from Spain and was originally used to manufacture cat litter. This new concrete was developed through an EU research project, and GEUS has a European patent on the invention.

Resource evaluation and geological mapping
In recent years, interest in mineral mining in Greenland has increased significantly. Two mines are already in operation and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum constantly receives new applications for exploration licences. In the course of the year, GEUS advised the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum in connection with the many licence applications, and together with the Bureau geologists from GEUS have monitored the activities in the Seqi olivine mine in West Greenland and the Nalunaq gold mine in South Greenland. The year 2007 also saw completion of four years of ore geological investigations by GEUS near Godthåbsfjorden to assess the potential for mineral resources in the area. Activities are focusing on the Precambrian supra-crystalline rocks, which can hold mineralisation of precious metals and base metals, and several reports from the surveys have been published during the year, the final series alone comprises at least 14 reports. The work in the

area also included detailed geological mapping to support the ore geological surveys, and over the summer geologists completed field work for a new 1:100 000 geological map of the Kapisillit area in Godthåbsfjorden.

Many new maps of Greenland
In 2007 GEUS published a number of printed topographical and geological maps in the scale 1:250 000 of Greenland's most deserted and inaccessible areas. The maps cover land and glacier areas 10-times the area of Denmark, from 80 degrees north in western North Greenland over the northern point of Greenland at Kap Morris Jesup and all the way south to Scoresby Sund in central East Greenland. The 53 topographical maps contain information on coastlines, lakes, rivers and contour lines every 100 metres. The maps are based on compilations completed by GEUS as part of the exploration of the area during the past 30 years, and the printing of the maps now gives researchers, as well as others with interest in this area, access to new topographical data. Geological maps in 1:500 000 of this area have previously been printed. The 49 new geological maps contain somewhat more detail, and nomenclature as well as map units have been harmonised across map boundaries. The maps also exist in a seamless digital version, which can be searched in an interactive map on the GEUS website. Printing of the map sheets is being financed by Aage V. Jensens Fonde -- page break --

More new diamond finds
Deposits of diamonds in West Greenland have been well-known for several decades, but it was not until the opening of the diamond mines in Canada that the mining industry became seriously interested in West Greenland. In the 1990s there was a comprehensive search for diamonds, and in recent years enterprises have been making more and more finds of the much sought-after precious stones, in particular in the diamond area at Maniitsoq in West Greenland. In 2007 GEUS continued several years' scientific surveys and mapping of the diamondiferous kimberlite rocks as a follow-up to work by companies, and in recent years geologists have identified new areas with diamond potential. One of these areas is the Disko Bay in West Greenland, where GEUS in 2006 reported finds of indicator minerals and micro diamonds in old river sediments on Disko Island. During 2007 the area was surveyed by the company Avannaa Resources Ltd, and in early 2008 the company announced the finding of 1 macro diamond and 101 micro diamonds on the mainland east of Disko. International interest in Greenland for diamonds continues, and GEUS is preparing several activities at the 9th International Kimberlite Conference in Germany, in August 2008.

Web-based report database for industry
For many years, Greenland's mineral resources have been marketed by GEUS and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum at annual mineral fares in Canada and through the issue of the newsletter MINEX as well as the theme magazine Geology and Ore and the fact sheets Exploration and Mining in Greenland. This service for the industry has now been extended with a new online portal to geoscientific publications and data through the database DODEX (Geoscience DOcuments and Data for EXploration in Greenland). This facility, which was developed by GEUS and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, is targeted at professionals in the international exploration and mining industry. DODEX will provide easy access to all company reports available to the public and received by the authorities. The database will contain full references to the reports, which can be downloaded as PDF files, and searches in the database can be made through text search and geographical criteria. In 2007 GEUS worked on programming the database, and digitalisation and scanning of reports are in progress with a view to opening the database in spring 2008. DODEX is scheduled to be completed during 2009, when it will contain all company reports, relevant GEUS publications and information on available data.