"... the greatest value is added by the geologist who starts with nothing other than some ideas and goes out into the desert and finds an orebody" 1 |
Lecture notes, hand-outs and copies of overhead transparencies shown in class. Remember that these are not necessarily comprehensive. In most cases they are just the guidelines I've put together to get me through my lectures, and are not meant to be complete Powerpoint-style presentations of the material. Use these to supplement your own notes; don't rely on them as a substitute for attending class.
Week 1: Magmatic ore deposits ("orthomagmatic" in Pohl's terminology). Start with some familiar geology and petrology: Crystallization and differentiation of basaltic magma. Chromite accumulation and platinum group element (PGE) enrichment during crystallization in large basaltic magma chambers. Examples are the Bushveld, Skaergaard and Stillwater intrusions. See chapter 2 in Pohl's book (pp x - y) and more detailed coverage of the genetic processes in Robb (pp x - y). Likewise, Rossing-type U deposits and rare-metal enriched pegmatites result from extended crystal fractionation of granitic magma (Robb, pp x - y).
Some extra papers for the reading assignment and report on a major ore deposit are in the reading directory. You may need your UWNetID to access these.
