Combining exploration and multivariate techniques to detect the Bjørnesund West gold occurrence, southern West Greenland

Abstract

Gold exploration in the Bjørnesund region has been carried out since the early 1990s, and gold was found in the central part of the Bjørnesund East area by NunaOil and the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). Records of stream sediment samples with elevated gold concentrations up to several hundred parts per billion led to the recognition that amphibolites in the central part of the Bjørnesund East could be a promising target and work in 1996 led to the discovery of hydrothermally altered amphibolites with up to several hundred ppb gold. However, exploration work was limited to grassroots prospecting and none of the targets were drilled.