SGU participates in research to better evaluate and estimate undiscovered mineral resources

Today, the need for metals is greater than ever. In Sweden, our consumption of metals is far greater than our production, and several of the metals we use are not mined within the country, or the EU. Reliable information about the location and amount of undiscovered mineral resources is important for investment decisions by exploration and mining companies, but also the political and administrative decision-making process for land use planning.

The project MAP, Mineral Resource Assessment Platform, will develop a new method and software for assessing uncovered mineral resources, based on a previous model developed by the US geological survey, USGS. The new software will produce quantitative probabilistic estimates of the total amount of metals in undiscovered mineral deposits of selected types, especially geologically defined areas (permissive areas).

SGU's main role is to lead the development of prospectivity mapping methods and test the toolbox for assessing VMS (volcanic massive sulphide) deposits in Sweden.

The project partners (GTK, SGU, NGU, BEAK, ISOR, NTNU, USGS, University of Oulu) will use the MAP software in their own work. The MAP software will be free, based on modules, as well as offer open source code which makes it easier for users. The project is funded by the EIT RawMaterials, European Institute of Innovation and Technology, an organ within the EU.