Critical metals are essential for the global transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future. This project supports Europe’s urgent need for critical raw materials by exploring Finland’s ancient crust.
A major geological event—the Svecofennian Orogeny, occurred 1.90 to 1.77 billion years ago and played a central role in shaping the mineral potential of Finland; metamorphic and magmatic events not only formed new mineral deposits, but also reworked and remobilised sites of older (Archean) mineralisation. To constrain the timing of mineralisation, in situ Lu-Hf, Re-Os, and Rb-Sr geochronology will be applied directly to ore minerals (e.g., molybdenite) and indirectly to metamorphic minerals that are intergrown with the ore phases (e.g., garnet, apatite, calcite). Oxygen isotope analysis of these same minerals will be used to trace the source of the mineralising fluids. These new temporal and geochemical insights will help to refine existing mineral system models that guide exploration.
