Isua Magnetite project

Field Work and Site Investigations in Greenland by MT Højgaard.

Extensive field work

During the summer and autumn of 2009 MT Højgaard carried out extensive field work and site investigations in the area of Isua on the west coast of Greenland, some 140 km from Nuuk.

Investigating and collecting site data

The purpose of the work was to investigate and collect site data on soil and rock conditions, permafrost, water table, potential borrow pits and quarries for future Pre-Feasibility and Feasibility Studies.

Geotechnical site investigations were carried out with a Geoprobe MT540, and with handheld equipment at depths from 0.5 to 8 meters below terrain. Subsequent laboratory tests on extracted samples were made both on site and in Denmark.

Potential road and slurry pipeline alignments were investigated and compared to criteria such as gradient, alignment and surroundings.

Airborne topographical survey

An airborne topographical survey was carried out, and a number of port locations were inspected in order to look into the possibilities of constructing main port facilities as well as service port facilities for bulk carriers and cargo ships.

A local surveying system was established, using equipment and instruments mainly supplied by Leica Geosystems. In addition, a handheld Garmin GPS60 was used.

Reporting and subsequent consultancy

All data, results and recommendations were collected in a report, and on the basis of this and our experience from working in Greenland for some 50 years, we are presently acting as consultants for the client.