During the four-day technical programme there will be up to four concurrent sessions.
Final programme
Session titles and detailed descriptions are listed below The sessions are grouped into seven broad themes:
Session 1a. Porphyry-type and skarn deposits
Conveners: Andreas Audétat, Bertrand Rottier
Economic porphyry and related skarn deposits formed by a combination of magmatic, magmatic-hydrothermal, and hydrothermal processes, which all were vital for the generation of economic ore grades and tonnages. Better understanding of these processes, in combination with the development of new exploration technologies, are required to sustain new deposit discoveries that represent vital resources of Cu, Mo, Au, and Ag needed for our modern societies. This session welcomes contributions on all aspects of porphyry and skarn deposits, with the aim to present a global overview of both deposit types.
Abstracts
Session 1b. Geothermal systems and epithermal ore deposits
Conveners: Isabelle Chambefort, Thomas Driesner
High temperature active geothermal systems are natural analogue laboratories for interactions between heat, fluid and crust that may create epithermal deposits. Experimental, chemical and numerical modelling have greatly complemented field-based work, but key questions remain, in particular, which factors need to conspire to form economic grade and tonnage. This session welcomes contributions from geothermal and epithermal research on all facets of this topic.
Abstracts
Session 1c. Hydrothermal mineralization associated with highly fractionated magmas (e.g., Li, Be, Sn, W, Nb, Ta)
Conveners: Matthieu Harlaux, Helene Legros, Mathias Burisch, Celestine Mercer
This session aims to present new metallogenic models and insights on ore-forming processes associated with highly fractionated silicic magmas, their related hydrothermal systems and potentially cogenetic mafic intrusions. The session will focus on, but not be limited to, lithophile elements (e.g., Li, Be, Sn, W, Nb, Ta) in magmatic-hydrothermal deposits, including rare metal granites and pegmatites, greisens, granite-related veins/breccias/skarns, lithocap deposits, volcanogenic and vapor phase deposits.
Abstracts
Session 1d. IOCG and magnetite-apatite deposits
Conveners: Adam Simon, Tobias Schlegel, Irene del Real
Iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG ± REE), iron oxide-apatite (IOA) and related mineral systems are the products of magmatic and hydrothermal processes, but genetic models for their formation are controversial. These deposits form in a variety of tectonic settings, host rocks, and involve different mineralizing fluids, which results in a range of alteration and mineralization styles. Understanding the genetic and spatial relationships among IOCG, IOA and associated deposits is not only relevant to exploration but to society in general considering iron and copper are fundamental for electrification and construction. In this session, we invite contributions that characterize these deposits and investigate the ore forming processes from micro-to-crustal scales. In particular, we encourage submissions reporting new discoveries, new data on older deposits, new analytical techniques, and advancements in understanding of all aspects of IOCG, IOA and related deposits.
Abstracts
Session 2. VMS and seafloor mineralization
Conveners: Clifford Patten, Melissa Anderson, Ana Patrícia Jesus, Rémi Coltat
Volcanogenic Massive Sulfides (VMS) and seafloor mineralizations, such as seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits, polymetallic nodules and ferromanganese crusts, are important past, present and future mineral resources. VMS and SMS deposits form in a variety of geodynamic settings including, slow- to fast-spreading ridges, fore-arc, island/continental arc and back-arcs. Metal and ligand fluxes, as well as the nature the host rocks (sedimentary, tholeiitic, boninitic, calk-alkaline and ultramafic) can vary significantly, affecting the metal endowment of the deposits. The processes controlling these fluxes remain, however, elusive in some settings and emerging evidence shows the tight interplay between tectonism, magmatism and hydrothermalism is key to the formation of the deposits. In this session we welcome field, experimental and modelling studies at different scales, that focus, on tectonic, magmatic and (low to high temperature) hydrothermal processes in the oceanic crust that are related to VMS and/or seafloor mineralization. We invite submissions from mineralized and non-mineralized contexts, modern and ancient oceanic crust studies, from all geodynamic settings, including ophiolites and greenstone belts.
Abstracts
Session 3. Gold: a journey from sources to precipitation sites and processes
Conveners: Georges Beaudoin, Steffen Hagemann, Crystal LaFlamme
Auriferous aqueous and aqueous-carbonic fluids travel through the middle to upper crust along major crustal structures during orogenesis, resulting in structurally controlled gold-bearing quartz±carbonate veins and associated hydrothermally altered wallrocks. These veins and altered wallrocks have a notoriously small geochemical and mineralogical footprint, making them difficult exploration targets. Exploring for endowed gold regions in the Earth’s crust relies on the multi-scale understanding of: 1) source reservoirs of gold and melt, fluids, and volatiles, 2) the mechanisms that control gold saturation and precipitation from aqueous and aqueous-carbonic fluids, and 3) geochemical processes that may upgrade deposits through time. We invite submissions that address these themes using a variety of structural, mineralogical, geochemical, geophysical and isotopic datasets.
Abstracts
Session 4a. Metallogenesis in sedimentary basins
Conveners: Philippe Muchez, Garth Graham, Sam Spinks
Sedimentary basins host numerous types of ore deposits across several commodities and thus incorporate some of the largest and most economically important resources on the planet. Improved understanding of ore forming processes in basins is critical to predicting and detecting the next generation of discoveries, particularly as we tackle the challenge of exploring in basins concealed by cover. This session invites abstracts that address the challenge of understanding metallogenesis in basins.
Abstracts
Session 4b. Supergene ore forming processes
Conveners: Nicola Mondillo, Cristina Villanova-de-Benavent
World class resources of several commodities are hosted in supergene ores. Weathering is responsible for the formation of economic concentrations of Al, Ni, Co, PGE, and Au in lateritic deposits, REE in bauxites and ion-adsorption deposits, Fe and Mn in oxidized ores, Cu, Zn in alteration blankets above primary sulfides, U in calcretes, Li in salars, among many others. It has been shown that large supergene deposits formed under specific (and favorable) climatic/geodynamic conditions in the past, from appropriate protolites. This session aims to host contributes dealing with the relationships between weathering processes and the formation of supergene deposits. The role of past climate changes and geodynamics conditions on the formation of world-class mineralized districts in specific periods of the Earth history will be also considered.
Abstracts
Session 5. Critical minerals and geo-inspired technologies for a carbon-neutral future
Conveners: Alexander Gysi, Katharina Pfaff, Daniel Harlov
We invite contributions spanning the geology of critical mineral deposits and unconventional resources, their ore-forming processes, mineral exploration and assessment, and innovations in extractive metallurgy. This session welcomes contributions from field based, modeling, experimental, analytical, mathematical and statistical, and computational approaches, which advance our knowledge of critical minerals.
Abstracts
Session 6a. Mineral deposits related to mafic-ultramafic intrusions
Conveners: Eduardo Mansur, William Smith, Giada Iacono-Marziano
Mafic-ultramafic intrusions host important resources for several commodities that are globally recognised as critical for the green transition, including Ni, Co, Cu, V, and the platinum-group elements (PGE). In this session we invite contributions about the latest research into both ore forming processes and exploration of these important mineral occurrences. We also encourage contributions about unconventional deposits related to mafic-ultramafic intrusions.
Abstracts
Session 6b. Ore genesis associated with alkaline-carbonatite systems
Conveners: Sophie Decree, Francesco Stoppa, Benjamin Walter
Alkaline complexes and (related) carbonatites are of interest because of their high economic potential, with associated strategic resources of rare earth elements (REE), high field strength elements (HFSE), and phosphate, amon others. This session focuses on the various processes that can accumulate – locally into economic quantities – these commodities. These processes range from purely magmatic, late-magmatic, metasomatic and hydrothermal processes or supergene alteration.
Abstracts
Session 7a. Advances in analytical techniques applied for ore deposits research and mineral exploration
Conveners: Marco Fiorentini, Amanda Stoltze
Methods developed in the academic realm often filter through to the minerals industry for exploration applications. Examples include Laser ablation ICP-MS, Tornado XRF mapping and TIMA technology, which allow researchers from academic and industry to link textural, geochemical and mineralogical information. These techniques enhance interpretations related to petrology, metallogenic fertility and metallurgical applications. This session is aimed at those developing and using cutting edge analytical techniques, which have the potential to advance the understanding of ore systems at multiple scales.
Abstracts
Session 7b. New sensing instruments and processing methods in mineral exploration
Conveners: Doug Schouten, Thibaut Astic, Glenn Chubak
The session focuses on new hardware and data analysis developments for subsurface investigation, with an emphasis on applications in mineral exploration. Topics are drawn from advances in satellite mapping, airborne & ground geophysics, downhole measurements, core analysis, data inversion, and their integration with geological insights into a common Earth model.
Abstracts
Session 7c. Machine learning, data mining and new target generation in mineral exploration
Conveners: Daniel Gregory, Chetan Nathwani, Francisca Maepa
The collection of increasingly large geological datasets and improvements in algorithmic and computational performance over the past decade, has led to an explosion of machine learning applications in mineral exploration. This session invites submissions which use a variety of data science approaches (including statistical techniques, deep learning, computer vision, data visualisation and prospectivity mapping) to explore, characterise and/or classify geological data (including geochemical, geophysical, remote sensing and imagery). Submissions may range from target generation and industry applications, to improving scientific understanding of mineral systems.