Soil geochemistry of the Bleikvassli area (Status Report No.1) Regional investigations of the area between Røssvatnet and Målvatnet

Abstract

A combined geological, geophysical and geochemical exploration aimed at finding new ore reserves in the vicinity of the Bleikvassli mine, Nordland county was initiated by NGU in 1993. This report describes a regional soil (c-horizon\/ weathered material) geochemical survey carried out as a part of this project. An area of 800 sq.km was sampled at a density of 1 sample per square kilometer. The samples were analysed for the HNO3-extractable amouths of Ba,Be,Ca,Ce,Cd,Co,Cr,Cu,Fe,K,La,Li,Mg,Mn,Mo,Ni,P,Pb,S,Sc,Sr,Ti,V,Zn,Zr,Y, the total amounts of C (Leco), S(Leco), Au (fire assay) and the grain size (sieving). The single-element symbol maps showed several anomalous areas and detailed sampling of the three most interesting areas was carried out in 1994-1995. These investigations are described in NGU Report 95.156, but the results are also considered in this report and evaluated together with the other anomalous areas within the Bleikvassli area. The need for further investigations is discussed.