Discovery to Recovery

We are thrilled to bring you the top entries from the 2024 SEG Student Chapter Podcast Challenge as a special set of three episodes. This is the third and final bonus episode in this special series.  We'll hear two segments that consider ore deposit models and environment of formation for Au deposits, traveling from China to Japan.

Chapter 1:  From mineral system to exploration: a case in giant Zaozigou Au-Sb deposits

SEG STUDENT CHAPTER: China University of Geosciences, Beijing (CUG-B) 

Host:  Jiayi Wang

Guest:  Jingyuan Zhang

This podcast episode focuses on the understanding of mineral systems and their role in shaping exploration strategies, with the giant Zaozigou Au-Sb deposits as a case study. Detailed geological mapping, geochronology, fluid inclusion, and structure analysis have revealed the structural framework, precipitation mechanisms, and the separation of gold and antimony in the Zaozigou deposits. These theoretical insights lead to practical exploration advancements in predicting the gold-antimony orebody occurrence, avoiding ineffective engineering practices, and locating the distribution of native gold

Chapter 2:  Hot spring deposits - key finder for hidden ore deposits along the Peruvian Andes

SEG STUDENT CHAPTER:  SEG - NMSM (Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos)

Hosts:  Rosa Razuri Prado and Paula Martinez Segura

Producers: Alvaro Zapata Cornejo, Jean Crisólogo Zapata, Braian Vara Guzman

Guest:  Diana Pajuelo Aparicio, Professor at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru 

Peru is a country well-known for its complex geology, with hot springs distributed along high altitudes surrounded by unconsolidated deposits overlapping exhumed ore deposits. This podcast episode is focused on understanding the presence of economically important metals trapped inside hot spring deposits, revealing a potential key finder for uncovering hidden ore deposits.

Diana Pajuelo, geologist with 11 years of experience in regional geology and geothermal energy, participated in various projects with the Geological Survey of Peru. Her expertise provides a perspective on two types of hot spring deposits, the capacity for hosting metals influenced by biotic or abiotic factors, and the overlap between ore deposits and hot springs along the Andes.

Theme music is Hot Wheel Breakdown by Elliot Holmes stock.adobe.com epidemicsound.com

Adobe Stock ID: #356951050

We are thrilled to bring you the top entries from the 2024 SEG Student Chapter Podcast Challenge as a special set of three episodes.  This second episode in the mini-series pairs the 2024 Silver the intriguing stories and history shared by an esteemed geologist in Brazil, with a second segment that uncovered the history and mining potential of northern England. 

Chapter 1:  Title: The Evolution of Geology in Brazil with Reinhardt Fück

SEG STUDENT CHAPTER – University of Brasilia

Hosts:  Amanda Rompava and Gustavo D’Amore Heer

Producers:  Juliana Berbert and Mariana

Guest:  Professor Reinhardt Adolfo Fück

The theme of this episode tells the story behind the articles and mapping work of one of Brazil's greatest geological characters, with special emphasis on the magmatic arc of Goiás in the Brasília belt, where important deposits reside, as well as his significant work on crustal structure, the Tocantins Province, and Goiás Massif.

With a cautious eye and carrying the experience of working with geology since the 1960s, Professor Reinhardt shares with us the unwritten history behind published articles, his perspecitve on the evolution of knowledge in the field and also the importance of mapping for a geology career.

Chapter 2:  ‘The Critical Mineral Potential of the North of England’

SEG STUDENT CHAPTER NAME:  University of Leeds

Hosts, Lily Dickson and Brayden Pickard 

Guests:  Dr. James Shaw  (structural geologist) and Adam Eskdale (Rio Tinto)

provides an overview of mineral exploration and extraction in our region of the UK, the North of England (Figure 1) and its critical mineral potential.  In February 2024, our student chapter hosted a mini-conference on the subject of critical minerals (Figure 2) with talks from companies including British Lithium, the Critical Minerals Association (UK) and Green Lithium. We were inspired to carry out further research into the critical mineral potential of the region we live in, the North of England, which we present in this podcast. At present, the UK does not extract any of the 18 critical minerals on the 2021 list published by the British Geological Survey (BGS). This renders the UK completely reliant on international supply which is a big problem, and one that we must try to address through increased mineral exploration and mining in the near future. 

In order to provide a full picture of the critical mineral potential of our region, we explore the rich mining history of the North of England, dating back to the Bronze Age at sites such as Alderly Edge (Figure 3). We also investigate current critical mineral projects: Li exploration around the Weardale Granite and Potash mining near the town of Whitby. Finally, we speak to Dr James Shaw and Dr Adam Eskdale who have worked on fluorspar mineralisation in the South Pennine Orefield and cobalt mineralisation in the Lake District, respectively. They provide insights into these deposits and to potential barriers to their extraction in the future. 

A big thank you goes to Dr James Shaw and Adam Eskdale for sharing their expertise with our student chapter! 

We are thrilled to bring you the top entries from the 2024 SEG Student Chapter Podcast Challenge as a special set of three episodes.  This episode pairs the 2024 Bronze winner with another that explored some of the political and environmental challenges in developing mineral deposits.  

Chapter 1:  The deposit that brought down a government

SEG STUDENT CHAPTER NAME: The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)

Co-hosts:  Rory Changleng, Alex Cerminaro 

Producer: Rory Changleng 

Chapter Notes 

What mineral deposit became such a politicised commodity that it brought down a government? In this episode, two Penn State students, Rory and Alex, discuss what got them into geology and inspired them as budding economic geologists to begin a new SEG Student Chapter at Penn State. Alex reminisces about how trying to discover gold in his grandmother's garden in Pennsylvania led to his working with an Alaska exploration company to date gold mineralisation using a novel geochemical technique. Rory tells the story of the Ilimaussaq intrusion in Southern Greenland, home of the Kvanefjeld deposit. It was visiting this deposit during undergraduate fieldwork that opened his mind to the turbulent and consequential world of economic geology. Exploiting Kvanefjeld proved so divisive that it drove the collapse of the Greenlandic government. But as the second largest rare earth element deposit on Earth, surely it’s just a matter of time until mining begins?

Chapter 2:  Should we Mine the Seafloor? 

SEG STUDENT CHAPTER NAME: SEG of Athens 

Host: Pavlos Zambras

Guests:  Evi Dimou and Revekka Avoukatou

Chapter Notes 

Exploring the depths of the ocean for valuable resources presents an alluring frontier in human endeavor: Deep Sea mining. This venture entails a journey into the unknown, facing both mysteries and challenges while uncovering the potential of extracting precious materials from the ocean floor. 

The vast expanse of the deep sea, encompassing more than 65% of Earth's surface, harbors immense reservoirs of base metals, precious metals, and critical elements like nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese. These elements are indispensable for powering the transition towards clean green energy. Whether it's polymetallic nodules or seafloor massive sulfide found at hydrothermal vent fields, these resources offer the promise of driving technological progress and fostering economic development in the years ahead. 

However, the pursuit of these underwater treasures is not devoid of controversy. Deep sea mining raises profound concerns regarding its environmental impact, sustainability, and the ethical utilization of Earth's resources. It's crucial to acknowledge that these deep-sea environments host unique life forms not found elsewhere on the planet, including highly complex prokaryotic communities and microbes with exceptional tolerance to acidity and antibiotics. 

International regulations governing deep sea mining are still under development, adding to the uncertainty surrounding this practice. Many fear the potential ecological disruption it could bring to an area of our planet that remains largely unexplored. The question arises: Can we afford the environmental and ecological risks associated with deep sea mining? Or, put more simply, should we proceed with mining the seafloor? 

What is needed to build geoscience skills for mining and exploration in Africa?  This wide-ranging panel discussion highlights industry, academic and government perspectives on establishing enduring relationships with local communities, with a focus on building geoscience and technical capabilities.  The discussion explored the development of local technical staff for exploration and mining operations, the role of geological surveys in skill development and the impact of research carried out without local collaboration (‘parachute science’).  

Hosted by Anne Thompson, the panel included Kurt House, CEO KoBold Metals, Kombada Mhopjeni, National Program Officer for Natural Sciences (UNESCO Windhoek), Benjamin Mapani, Professor Namibia University of Science and Technology and Franck Twite, Chief Geologist, Kamoa Copper S.A.

The discussion was recorded live in front of the conference audience in the Windhoek, Namibia on the 27 September 2024.  We covered 

The panel started with introducing themselves and the challenges they face or approaches they take to capacity building (skills training) in their work.  The discussion including the following questions:

·      How do exploration and mining companies create real change with long lasting community benefit? What makes a difference to community and government relationships?  

·      What can research and geological survey scientists do to help build global geoscience capacity and support public education? 

·      What do you think is the most important area to focus on as we look to the future? 

·      What makes you optimistic for the future of collaboration and our ability to build geoscience capacity?

We covered a lot, insights on the use of data science, how to get high school students interested in geoscience and even how cultural differences can impact our communication with each other.  

Theme music is Confluence by Eastwinds
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