Greenland site: Mesters Vig (Blyklippen), central East Greenland

Mesters Vig is the largest of the numerous Pb-Zn occurrences situated within a series of sanstones and intercalacted conglomerates of Upper Carboniferous to Lower Triassic age. The mine is situated in a mountainous area with arctic flora and fauna. The natural conditions are affected by permafrost.

The occurrence was discovered in 1948. The mining operations lasted from 1956 to 1963. Subsurface mining produced 545 000 t ore with and average grade of 9 % Pb and 10 % Zn, 58 000 tons of galena and 75 000 tons of sphalerite concentrate were recovered.

During the mining operations tailing and other mine waste influenced the drainage system. Environmetal problems related to the transport and shipping of the concentrate have also been registered. The periods of intense runoff, during the spring in particular and strong winds are the main factors for the dispersion of pollutants.

Since the closure of the mining operation only insignificant remediation measures have been carried out (closing the underground workings, removal of buildings, etc.)

The central East Greenland is virtually uninhabited, and apart from the short period of mining, the anthropogenic environmental impact is negligible. This implies that Mester Vig mine area with its surroundings constitutes an ideal target for environmetal baseline studies and qualitative and quantitative assessment of the pollution levels and modelling the pollutant dispersion process. The Mesters Vig test site represents one of the natural extremes of the MINEO project.