Eclipse Metals Ltd (ASX:EPM) has welcomed some pleasing results following recent satellite imagery analysis from the multi-commodity Ivittuut Project in south-western Greenland.
Of particular significance is the identification of new rare earth element (REE) and base metal targets.
Executive chairman Carl Popal said: “We are delighted that Sentinel-2 satellite imagery analysis, which is a proven and cost-effective technology for screening large areas of exposed rock, has delivered new high-priority targets for REE and base metal mineralisation.
“We are planning to field check the highest-ranked anomalies as part of the ongoing summer exploration campaign.”
Satellite imagery analysis
EPM contracted leading image processing expert Dr Daniel Core of Ohio-based Fathom Geophysics LLC to process and analyse European Space Agency Sentinel-2 data over the Ivittuut Project.
The main objective of the satellite imagery analysis was to remotely identify surface features relating to geology and mineralisation.
Analysis identified numerous spectral anomalies indicative of hydrothermal alteration associated with iron oxides, sulphides and/or clays.
Coincident jarosite, goethite and kaolinite mineral index anomalism was identified over the historic Ivittuut mine precinct (particularly over the waste dumps), which confirms the effectiveness of the method in the context of the Ivittuut Project.
Anomalies never sampled or drilled
Two large, coincident jarosite, goethite and kaolinite mineral index anomalies were identified within the Ivittuut Project that have never been sampled or drill tested.
Field reconnaissance of these and several other high-priority spectral anomalies to be completed during the current northern hemisphere summer exploration campaign.
The project comprises the historic Ivittuut cryolite mine, prospective for high-purity quartz, fluorite, base metals and rare earth elements (REE), and the Grønnedal-Ika syenite carbonatite complex, prospective for REE.
About Sentinel-2
Sentinel-2 is a European multi-spectral imaging mission, comprised of two identical satellites (Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B) in the same orbit. The Sentinel-2 mission collects visible bands with 10-metre resolution and visible to near-infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands at 20/60-metre resolution.
Where geology is reasonably exposed, spectrally enhanced Sentinel imagery can be a valuable complementary tool for geological mapping and interpretation. Sentinel-2 data over Ivittuut were sourced from the Copernicus Open Access Hub and stitched together to create a complete dataset covering the entire Ivittuut project.
Specialised algorithms were employed to mask water bodies and eliminate or reduce vegetation signals. Following pre-processing, mineral indexes, spectral correlation and ternary maps were generated to highlight possible geological and hydrothermal mineralisation/alteration features.
Key findings
Satellite imagery analysis over Eclipse Metals SW Greenland multi-commodity Ivittuut Project helped to identify numerous spectral anomalies indicative of hydrothermal alteration with associated iron oxides, sulphides and/or clays.
One of the most prominent anomalies is evident at the historic Ivittuut cryolite mine, which is marked by strong (80th percentile), spatially coincident jarosite index (indicative of the presence of sulphides), goethite index (indicative of the presence of iron oxides) and kaolinite index (indicative of the presence of clays) anomalism, covering an area of around 900 metres by 400 metres.
This anomalism envelops the entire area of historic waste dumps, which are known to contain mineralised rocks with up to 165.00 g/t silver, 0.15% copper, 3.83% lead and 0.37% zinc.
As previously reported by Eclipse Metals, geophysical, geochemical and geological information revealed a strong spatial and genetic relationship between areas of strong magnetic anomalism and REE mineralisation.
The company is encouraged to find that the satellite imagery analysis highlighted areas of strong magnetic anomalism and coincident REE mineralisation.
Significantly, on a day of losses for the ASX, EPM shares are 8.7% higher at A$0.025.