Eclipse Metals uses satellite imagery to identify new targets at historic Ivittuut project
One anomaly was identified over the Ivittuut cryolite mine precinct, which is considered to be highly-prospective for REE.
Eclipse Metals (ASX: EPM) has confirmed that Sentinel-2 satellite imagery analysis at the historic Ivittuut multi-commodity project in southwest Greenland has identified new targets.
The analysis aimed to remotely-sense surface features relating to geology and mineralisation over the entire project area, using specialised algorithms to mask water bodies and eliminate or reduce vegetation signals.
Following pre-processing, a series of mineral indexes, spectral correlation and ternary maps were generated to highlight possible geological and hydrothermal mineralisation and alteration features.
Spectral anomalies
The analysis identified numerous spectral anomalies at Ivittuut, which are indicative of hydrothermal alteration associated with iron oxides, sulphides and/or clays.
A coincident jarosite-goethite-kaolinite mineral index anomalism was identified over the Ivittuut cryolite mine precinct, particularly over the waste dumps.
It is within a geological setting considered to be highly-prospective for rare earth elements mineralisation as demonstrated by rock chip sample assay results of up to approximately 3.45% total REE.
Strong coincident jarosite-goethite-kaolinite index anomalism was also identified over dolerite and basalt dykes cutting the Grønnedal-Ika complex.
It is believed to be one of the highest amplitude and vertically-extensive magnetic bodies identified by Eclipse in three-dimensional inversion modelling of airborne magnetic data at Grønnedal-Ika.
Field reconnaissance
Eclipse executive chairman Carl Popal said the company had planned field reconnaissance work at several of the high-priority spectral anomalies during the northern hemisphere summer exploration campaign.
“Sentinel-2 is a proven and cost-effective technology for screening large areas of exposed rock and has delivered new high-priority targets for rare earth elements and base metal mineralisation at Ivittuut,” he said.
“We are planning to field check the highest-ranked anomalies as part of our ongoing summer campaign.”
He said the new findings provide Eclipse with a raft of targets for field checking and sampling.
European mission
Sentinel-2 is a European multi-spectral imaging mission comprised of two identical satellites (Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B) in the same orbit.
The mission collects visible bands with 10m resolution and visible to near-infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands at 20/60m resolution.
Where the geology is reasonably exposed, spectrally-enhanced Sentinel imagery can be a valuable and complementary tool for geological mapping and interpretation.