What is Greenpeg?

Greenpeg is a research partnership funded by the European Commission through HORIZON 2020, conducting research into developing LCT-type and NYF-type pegmatite exploration methods using test sites in Ireland, Norway and Austria. The project is coordinated in the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo and consists of five academic and research institutions, technical consulting and mining companies, a geological survey, exploration services providers and non-for-profit associations.

Horizon Europe is a research and innovation funding programme running from 2021 to 2027 with a budget of 95.5 billion euro. It backs projects designed to tackle climate change, helping to achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth.

Greenpeg aims at reducing the impact on the environment and the costs associated with mineral exploration by developing innovative and competitive toolsets.

Ireland: The Avalonia Project

In Ireland, Greenpeg are studying Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) pegmatites , which are the primary hard rock lithium source world-wide. Lithium in these pegmatites is hosted within a mineral called spodumene (LiASIi206). Spodumene is a non-toxic mineral like the other minerals that compose LCT pegmatites. Prospect level research was carries out by Greenpeg during 2021 and 2022 near Moylisha Hill in Leinster, with soil and stream sampling, survey by drones and geophysical measurements. Moylisha Hill was selected for this detailed study because of recent exploration drilling in 2018 and 2021, allowing access to existing boreholes to carry out geophysical measurements of rocks underground and a body pf comparison data for testing Greenpeg innovations.

Norway: The Tysfjord Project

The Greenpeg project originated in Norway in 2017. The Tysfjord pegmatite field in northern Norway was chosen as a test site for Greenpeg exploration methods because it is a large pegmatite field which is easily distinguished from its geological surroundings. Unlike the LCT pegmatites being studied in Leinster, the NYF pegmatites found here contain Niobium, Yttrium, Flourine and other rare elements.

Austria: The Wolfsburg Project

The Wolfsburg underground mine is located in Carinthia, Austria and is one of the biggest occurrences of LCT-pegmatites east of the Alps. The Greenpeg demonstration site exhibits an LCT-pegmatite body with Lithium hosted within spodumene. Overcoming the challenges posed by exploring in a mountainous, heavily forested region is one reason why Wolfsburg is included as a Greenpeg test site. Being a highly touristic alpine region, it is important to minimise interference with this industry and this is one of the reasons why all activity related to the Wolfsburg mine is carried out underground.