Ivigtût Project
Eclipse Metals Ivigtût Project is situated in the southwest of Greenland within the company’s mineral exploration license MEL2007-45. The project area is steeped in mining history, boasting the world’s largest and only known source of naturally occurring cryolite—a rare mineral historically used in aluminum production.
Infrastructure in the Ivigtût Project and mine area includes a power station and fuel supplies to service this station and local traffic plus an extensive historical data-base to support mineral exploration.
About 5.5 kms to the northeast of Ivigtût, the twin settlements of Kangilinnguit and Gronnedal, offer established infrastructure such as a settlement, heliport, wharf and settlement further enhancing the project’s logistical advantage.
Grønnedal Rare Earth Deposit
Just a short distance from Ivigtût, less than 10 kilometers away, lies the Grønnedal carbonatite complex—one of Greenland’s most prominent sites for rare earth element (REE) exploration. The Grønnedal carbonatite complex hosts significant deposits of rare earth elements, including notably high ratios of neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr). These two elements are particularly sought after for their use in high-strength permanent magnets that are essential for modern technologies such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various electronic devices. The presence of this mineralisation at Grønnedal positions the Ivigtût Project as a potentially vital contributor to the global supply chain of these critical minerals.
This geological complex, recognized by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) as a prime REE target, near the active port of Grønnedal offers excellent access for potential future operations.
Ivigtût pit
The historic Ivigtût open-pit, renowned for its cryolite deposit, is also rich in other minerals such as fluorite, siderite, quartz, sphalerite, galena, silver and a variety of rare earth elements. This site, which has been instrumental in the past for industrial mineral production, still possesses untapped potential for further resource extraction. Given the strategic importance of these minerals for advanced technologies and green energy solutions, Eclipse Metals is evaluating the feasibility of resuming mining operations. The potential restart of the pit would aim to leverage the existing infrastructure and comprehensive geological data to revitalise the mine, tapping into the remaining resources in a new era of critical mineral demand.
Aerial image of Ivigtût and the cryolite mine in 1960, showing the working open-pit, mine infrastructure, ore and waste dumps and ship loading facilities.
GEOLOGY
The cryolite deposit at Ivigtût is a zoned mineralised body emplaced in a nearly cylindrical leucogranite intrusion which in turn is enveloped by an intrusive breccia in contact with high metamorphic granodioritic gneiss constituting the southernmost extension of the Archean block as found on the west coast of Greenland.
The cryolite deposit is divided into siderite-cryolite, pure cryolite, fluorite-cryolite and a fluorite-topaz unit, located above a large siderite and quartz rich unit.
Up until 1987, when operations ceased, exploration included approximately 19,000m of diamond drilling, the core from which is currently stored in a Greenland government facility, available for logging and sampling.
Generalised profile of cryolite, quartz and fluorite emplacement within the granite intrusion and its eastern extension prior to mining (Pauly 1974 and Gothenborg et al. 1988).
Most remaining mineralisation (quartz, siderite, fluoride, sphalerite, cryolite) lies within 40-80m below the bottom of the pit, under the largely mined-out upper cryolite zone.
In the mid to late 1980’s diamond drilling intersected disseminated cryolite mineralisation in leucogranite over an interval of 91m in drill hole BB-25, from a depth of 715m down to the bottom of the hole at 806m below surface. No further drilling was carried out and exploration ceased (refer Pauly 1974 and Gothenborg et al. 1988 and GEUS Open File Report No.20211, pages 6 to 11).
STAKEHOLDER AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Since acquiring MEL2007-45 in Greenland in 2021, Eclipse has been working closely with project stakeholders to progress exploration and development in a way that is mutually beneficial. Support of local communities, government agencies and local contractors is vital to successfully progressing the project, and Eclipse endeavours to collaborate with local communities and use Greenlandic contractors and service providers on site where possible. The Company has, and will continue to, liaise with representatives of nearby communities, such as Arsuk, to potentially initiate trade with the communities and better understand any concerns the nearby communities may have regarding project development.
Where practicable, Eclipse will assist with the restoration of the Ivigtût museum in order to maintain the history of Greenland’s unique Ivigtût cryolite mine and its significance to the WWII allied forces.