Theme: Economic Geology/Mineralogy, Applied Mineralogy

Certification of Geological Materials/ Analytical Fingerprint of Minerals

Convenors: Dr. Thomas Oberthuer; Dr. Frank Melcher

Description:
Forensic micro-analytical methods are increasingly used to establish the origin of geological materials such as ores and mineral concentrates, intermediate products, and archaeological artefacts. In consequence, analytical fingerprints may support mineral certification systems that may be applied in the certification of the origin of minerals from conflict-affected and high risk regions such as in central Africa. The session addresses recent developments and applications of analytical and forensic methods for mineral fingerprinting, as well as different initiatives established to increase the transparency of mineral production and trade for mineral products. Commodities dealt with range from diamonds via gold to TTT (tantalum, tin, tungsten).

 

Critical Metals: Geological Origins, Responsible Mining and Security of Supply

Convenors: Dr. Kathryn Moore - The Critical Metals Alliance; Dr. Kathryn Goodenough

Description:
The critical metals are the geological resources essential to the emerging green- and high-technology industries that are supplied by a small number of countries, such that social and political change has the potential to affect global supply. The list of critical metals is subject to change, but examples include the alloying metals tungsten and antimony, and the metals for low-carbon energy technologies, indium, tellurium, selenium and the REE. This session relates to the topical issues of sustainability of resource supply and responsible mining, and how they are affected by increasing geological certainty.

Contributions concerning the geological sources and processes of concentration of the critical metals, mechanisms to ensure accessibility to resources, and the environmental and societal consequences of resource exploitation are invited. The session aims to unite research from ore mineralogy, environmental mineralogy, and related human-environment interactions, in order to stimulate further innovative cross-disciplinary research for a high technology future.

Keynote Presenter: Andrew Bloodworth
Keynote Presentation: Measures of criticality: Resource assessment for a high technology future

 

Gold Deposits

Convenors: Prof. Hartwig Frimmel; Dr. Lynnette Greyling - SGA

Description:
The objective of this session is to enable the discussion and review of various gold mineralisation models, including placer, orogenic, and epithermal. In addition, this session will aim to attract presentations by gold producers to address topics such as the implications of decreasing gold production in South Africa, fluctuating gold price and emergence of smaller gold producing countries. Developments in the process mineralogy and beneficiation may be included in the theme together with implications of mechanized mining. The session will provide the backdrop to at least two planned field trips to the Witwatersrand gold mines and the Barberton Mountain Land.

Keynote Presenter: Prof. Laurence Robb

 

Nonsulphide Pb-Zn ores

Convenors: Prof. Maria Boni; Mr. Hans Gilg; Suzanne Paradis

Description:
This session has the aim of presenting a variety of nonsulfide Zn-Pb ores (with their mineralogical and geochemical characteristics), in relation to their geological significance. A special focus will be on the relationships between mineralogy and processing, with examples of typical deposits (Skorpion and others). This session could complement the planned visit to the Skorpion mine.

Keynote Presenter: Prof. Maria Boni
Keynote Presentation: Nonsulfide Zn-Pb ores

 

Platinum Group Minerals (PGM) from the Mantle to the Crust

Convenors: Dr. Federica Zaccarini (Leoben University, Austria) – IMA Commission on Ore Mineralogy; Society of Geology Applied to Ore Deposits (SGA); Dr. Maryse Ohnenestetter; Dr. Anna Vymazalova

Description:
This session will address the recent progress in the understanding the behaviour of platinum group minerals (PGM) from magmatic stage to supergene environments. Contributions on distribution, composition, stability field of natural PGM and associated minerals in different settings, such as oxide- and/or sulfide-rich mineralization, placers, black shales, hydrothermal deposits as well as from synthetic PGM are welcome. The session will comprise a series of presentations that will review the different genetic conditions in which the PGM may form.

Keynote Presenter: Prof. Marian Tredoux

The session is dedicated to Professor Grant Cawthorn, Wits University, on the occasion of his retirement. 

 

Process Mineralogy and Geometallurgy

Convenors: Prof. Dee Bradshaw - IMA-CAM subcommission for Geometallurgy; Dr. Megan Becker

Description:
This session aims to present and discuss different aspects of the value of the contribution of mineralogical characterisation, assessment and manipulation to mining operations, focussing on processing options that were changed, thereby increasing value to the business.

Keynote Presenter:  Dr Will Goodall
Keynote Presentation: Communicating and integrating geometallurgical data along the mining value chain

 

Rare Earths – Geology Through to Metallurgy

Convenors: Prof. Frances Wall - Applied Mineralogy Group of the Mineralogical society of Great Britain and Ireland; Dr. Jock Harmer

Description:
The rare earth elements (REE) provide the perfect argument for the geometallurgy concept. Detailed mineralogical studies are required right from the first stages of exploration. Geologists, mineralogists and process metallurgists will be brought together to discuss the full spectrum of issues in exploration and exploitation of REE deposits. These include the natural processes that can concentrate REE or separate them from each other and from radioactive elements. The mineralogical hosts for REE will be considered along with new strategies to beneficiate, extract and separate the REE. All forms of REE deposit are relevant to this session, including recovery as a by-product and extraction from waste.

 

Sediment-hosted ore deposits 

Convenors: Mr. Bertus Smith; Dr. Lynnette Greyling; Prof. Jens Gutzmer

Description:
Sediment-hosted ore deposits contain significant quantities of important commodities on Earth. Important examples on the African continent alone include iron and manganese in the Transvaal Supergroup, uranium in the Kaoro Supergroup, heavy mineral deposits in coastal sands and copper in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia and the DRC to name a few. Great debate still exists today around aspects of ore genesis of sediment-hosted ore deposits, for example the nature of the enrichment that took place in the high grade iron ore in the Northern Cape of South Africa. Additionally, numerous exploration projects on sediment-hosted ore deposits are running in Africa, South America and Asia which are still poorly constrained and understood. This session will provide an opportunity for any research on sediment-hosted ore deposits, excluding placer gold which is addressed in another session, whether it is on the regional geology, ore characterization, genetic models, exploration or ore mineralogy, to be submitted for presentation. With the importance of this deposit type in southern Africa alone this session would be well suited for a conference hosted in South Africa, and special focus will be given to inviting people from the mining and exploration communities to submit presentations.

 

Sulphide Mineralogy and Geochemistry

Convenors: Prof. Nigel Cook (Society: IAGOD and IMA-COM); Prof. Martin Reich; Prof. Joel Brugger

Description:
This session is planned to cover topics on all types of sulphides and studies of sulphides in both natural materials and synthetic experiments. We anticipate that papers will range from sulphide mineral chemistry and microanalysis for application in both ore genesis studies and exploration, correlating trace element chemistry with micron- to nanoscale textures, partitioning of trace elements between co-existing sulphides and the distribution of potential by-products and unwanted contaminants in the common sulphides.

 

Zeolites and Porous Materials

Convenors: Prof. Maria Giovanna Vezzalini; Prof. Thomas Armbruster; Dr. Rossella Arletti

Description:
This session covers the crystal-chemistry of both natural and synthetic micro and mesoporous phases, as well as their utilizations, synthesis, properties, and occurrence. In Material Science, investigations aiming to obtain new types of porous materials, inspired by the mineral structures, have opened an essential field of research. These phases are represented by zeolites and zeo-type materials, with purely tetrahedral frameworks, and by heteropolyhedral framework compounds. Zeolites represent a class of well-known minerals and materials with a high potential for industrial utilization. Classical fields are detergent additives, catalysts in cracking processes of the petroleum refining industry and as molecular sieves in environmental applications, soil improvement and nuclear waste treatment. Recent innovative applications of zeolites regard their use as host matrices for a large variety of guests. These hybrid materials can be exploited in several research fields, as devices for solar energy harvesting, processing/storing of information, and advanced sensing technology for analytics and diagnostics on the nanoscale. Many microporous heteropolyhedral compounds, containing metals such as Mo, V, Sn, Zr, Ti, Ca and lanthanides, with a wide number of distinct structural types, have been reported and their potential applications in the areas of catalysis, separation of molecular species, ion exchange and optical and magnetic devices have been evaluated. We expect contributions on mineralogy, structure, P-T stability, crystal-chemistry and applications of natural and related synthetic porous phases, and hence from mineralogy and petrology researchers as well as from crystallographers and material scientists.

Keynote Speaker: Prof. Sergey Krivovichev

 

General Session - Economic Geology/Mineralogy

Convenors: Dr. Paul Nex; Dr. Brian Hoal (Society: SEG); Prof. Judith Kinnaird

Description:
This session provides a forum for scientific presentations on economic geology / mineralogy for which there is no other specialised session. As such this could include; exploration mineralogy, geology and mineralogy of VMS, IOCG and granite-related deposits or mineralogical overviews in economic and exploration geology. In addition, presentations which are not related to a specific deposit type, such as mineralogical vectors for exploration are to be encouraged for this session.

 

General Session - Applied Mineralogy

Convenors: Ms Lesley Andrews, Prof. Hans-Joachim Kleebe

Description:
This is a general session in applied mineralogy for submission of abstracts that do not conform with other sessions under the Economic Geology/Mineralogy, Applied Mineralogy theme.