What are we doing at Jadar?

We are collecting no new data at the Jadar site in Serbia.  We will be analysing samples that were previously collected and are now at the Natural History Museum in London.  The samples in Jadar contain a very rare mineral which contains high Li and borate.  Lithium is an important element for batteries in electric cars and borate is used in fertilisers and in other high tech applications.  We will focus on mapping the chemistry in these samples to understand how this mineral formed, and therefore, how this very unusual mineral deposit formed.  In our models in WP4, we may also use some geophysical or geological data that were previously collected by Rio Sava Exploration.

What are we doing in Ireland?

The Irish Midlands contain several zinc (Zn) deposits that were mined in the past, including Navan, the largest Zn mine in Europe.  The major use of Zn is for galvanizing steel e.g. for wind turbines, although Zn deposits often contain other important elements like indium, germanium and gallium, which can be used in electronics and in making solar panels; however, due to technical challenges, these elements are rarely extracted from the rocks at the same time as Zn.  In Ireland, exploration for new deposits is challenging as the Zn mineralization is not exposed at the surface, but can be hundreds of metres below. 

In Vector, therefore, we are testing two new geophysical techniques that have a lower environmental impact to see if we can image the rocks at depth and determine whether there is mineralization present.  At Collinstown, we have carried out a passive seismic survey.  This technique uses small sensors to record tiny seismic waves produced by natural (e.g. wind) or human noise (e.g. traffic) to identify different rocks or structures like faults in the sub-surface.  At Stonepark, we used a different technique called magnetotellurics that uses changes in the natural sources of the Earth’s magnetic and electrical fields to measure the electrical signal in the sub-surface, which also changes with different rock types.  These surveys were completed in 2022.

We are also carrying out research on drill cores that have been previously  collected by our industry partners.  In these studies we used a technique called hyperspectral imaging where we scan a drill core with an electromagnetic source (e.g. light) and different minerals in the rock react, adsorb, or reflect the light in characteristic ways, allowing us to make a map of the minerals in the core.  We also describe the different types of rocks and take samples to investigate using other methods to identify the minerals in the rocks and how the chemistry of the rock varies closer to the mineralization.   In this study we are particularly interested in the minerals and the chemical changes that occurred at the same time as the Zn minerals formed but perhaps were 100s of metres away. If we can identify these signals,companies can use them to as an indicator that Zn mineralization is nearby (to “vector” towards the mineralization).  This work is ongoing.

What are we doing in Germany?

Some of the largest copper (Cu) deposits in Europe are mined in Poland and were historically mined in eastern Germany.  The electrification of our transport grids and manufacturing of new electric cars means that we will need much more copper in the future and the demand cannot be met by recycling. 

Vector is working at a site called Spremberg in eastern Germany.   Here the potential copper mineralization occurs in a layer that is very deep below the surface (almost 1 km).  Therefore, we will test two new geophysical techniques that have a lower environmental footprint to see if we can image the rocks at depth.   We aim to carry out a passive seismic survey.  This technique uses small sensors to record tiny seismic waves produced by natural (e.g. wind) or human noise (e.g. traffic) to identify different rocks or structures like faults in the sub-surface.  We also will carry out a survey using a different technique called magnetotellurics that uses changes in the natural sources of the Earth’s magnetic and electrical fields to measure the electrical signal in the sub-surface, which also changes with different rock types. 

We are also carrying out research on drill cores that have been collected by our industry partner or old cores that were drilled in GDR times and are stored in core facilities run by state surveys.  In these studies we used a technique called hyperspectral imaging, where we scan a drill core with electromagnetic source (e.g. light) and different minerals in the rock react, adsorb, or reflect the light in characteristic ways, and from this we can make a map of the minerals in the core.  We also describe the different types of rocks and take samples to use other methods to identify the minerals in the rocks and how the chemistry of the rock varies closer to, and further away, from the mineralization.  In this study we are particularly interested in the minerals and the chemical changes that occurred at the same time as the Cu minerals formed but perhaps were 100s of metres away. If we can identify these signals, companies can use them to as an indicator that Cu mineralization is nearby (to “vector” towards the mineralization).  This work is ongoing.