NordMin Workshop “On- and Offshore Exploration and Prospecting in
Extreme Nordic Environments: Challenges and Benefits of Finding
Exploitable Raw Materials"
Summary
The 3rd NordMin Workshop was held in Reykjavík, Iceland 23–24 March 2015. The title
of the workshop was "On- and Offshore Exploration and Prospecting in Extreme Nordic
Environments: Challenges and Benefits of Finding Exploitable Raw Materials". The
National Energy Authority (Orkustofnun) was responsible for the workshop, with
assistance from Iceland GeoSurvey (ÍSOR) and the Faculty of Earth Sciences, University
of Iceland.
The workshop was attended by 63 participants from all the five Nordic countries,
including Greenland and Faroe Islands, and furthermore from United Kingdom and
Germany. The participants came from research institutes, universities, industry,
administration agencies and ministries.
One day field excursion was given prior to the workshop focusing on the Thormodsdalur
gold prospect, geothermal power plants and the geological phenomena of the Reykjanes
volcanic zone. The following two day workshop emphasized on- and offshore
exploration and prospecting in extreme Nordic environments. The first day involved
mostly offshore exploration with lectures covering sulfide deposition within geothermal
systems and black smokers on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and metal deposition in the Baltic
Sea. On the second day the focus was on onshore exploration in Fennoscandia, Iceland
and Greenland. The main purpose of the workshop was networking of the Nordic
participants and the formation of research groups that could pursue further research
project applications to relevant grant bodies.
Two workgroups were established during the workshop to define two pre-proposals on
research and innovation projects. Both of these received grants from NordMin in order
to work on full applications to appropriate grant bodies. These were:
“Modern and ancient VMS-forming hydrothermal systems”, coordinated by the Iceland
GeoSurvey (ÍSOR), along with nine research institutes and universities from Norway,
Sweden, Denmark- Greenland, Iceland, Finland and Faroe Islands.
“Assessment of undiscovered mineral resources in the Nordic countries and Greenland”,
coordinated by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), along with geological surveys in
Denmark-Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland.