Gold metallogeny of Greenland

Over half of Greenland is underlain by Archean and Paleoproterozoic rocks. Orogenic gold deposits dominate the gold metallogeny of these eras. Of those, only the Paleoproterozoic Nalunaq deposit produced gold (10.7 t). Mesozonal orogenic gold occurrences are present in Archean and Paleoproterozoic terranes, but are only poorly understood. Most of the Archean and Paleoproterozoic rocks are at high-metamorphic grade and consequently host hypozonal orogenic gold mineralization in western Greenland. The Storø gold deposit close to the capital Nuuk hosts indicated resources of 3 t Au. Other shear zone-hosted gold mineralization is of unknown origin. Epithermal gold mineralization is associated with Tertiary felsic intrusions in eastern Greenland that also host Mo porphyry mineralization. The main identified gold resource of Greenland is hosted in the Tertiary Skaergaard gabbro intrusion and estimated at 178 t of gold. The limited amount of gold resources identified to date in Greenland is at odds with its highly favorable geology for both orogenic and epithermal-porphyry systems. This likely reflects a lack of targeted exploration and applied research in Greenland, which hampers the development of more efficient exploration models and vectors adapted to the local geological context.