Kelsey Livingston (Research Support)Kelsey worked under Katha and obtained her Masters in Geochemistry (REEs in peralkaline systems) in August 2020. Afterward, she was hired to work in the MMC facility to support day-to-day operations and assist with analytical work for student research and industry clients.

Katharina Pfaff (Research Associate Professor)Katharina is a mineralogist by training and obtained her MS degree in 2007 (Igneous Petrology), her PhD in 2010 (Economic Geology) and joined Mines in 2012. Katharina established and runs the MMC Facility. Katharina’s research combines mineralogy, geochemistry, thermodynamic modeling, and artificial intelligence and applies it to improve our understanding of igneous, metamorphic and ore forming processes.

Filip Kasprowicz (MS student)Filip is a second-year masters student and a lab assistant in the MMC facility. His research focuses on sulfide recrystallization textures and critical mineral occurrence in a VMS deposit in Quebec. Outside the lab he enjoys hiking, skiing and playing video games.

Connor Gray (MS student)Connor is currently finishing up his MS thesis on Au-Ag veins in the Central City district, Colorado. Connor conducted detailed mineralogical and thermodynamic studies to better understand the occurrence and formation of these precious metal rich veins.

Isaac Simon (PhD student)Isaac is a Ph.D. student at Mines, working alongside professors at the Universidad Nacional de San Agustin in Arequipa, Peru. His research involves studying the hydrogeochemical signatures of ore deposits and anthropogenic activity in major watersheds supplying freshwater to Arequipa. His professional experience includes working as a Mining Geo and in a Greenfields exploration project.

Danny Schmidt (MS – soon to be PhD student)Danny Schmidt is finishing up a master's thesis on the geochemistry of the Tuvatu alkaline epithermal gold deposit in Fiji, and starting a PhD project on the Idaho Cobalt Belt with the aim of integrating hyperspectral scanning data with more established geochemical analysis techniques to inform geophysical data and surveys and developing new workflow guidelines and techniques for future mineral assessments.

Sage Langston-Stewart (MS student)Sage is conducting her thesis research on the occurrence and distribution of gold and silver at the Caribou-Cross Mines in Nederland, Colorado. This summer she worked on a remote CRD exploration project 260 miles west of Fairbanks, AK for Western Alaska Copper and Gold. In her free time she enjoys rock climbing and snowboarding.

Mckenzee Peterson (MS student)Mckenzee is working on her Masters in Geology, studying a gold- and silver-rich VMS deposit in British Columbia and working during fields season as a Senior Exploration Geologist with Eskay Mining.

Lindsey Patterson (MS student)Lindsey is a second year master’s student. Her research is on a number of VMS deposits from the Noranda Camp in Quebec, looking at the metal endowment throughout the district.

Anne Rosett (MS student)Anne Rosett is a first-year master's student with a background in the mining industry. Her deposit experience includes Carlin-type for Barrick Gold and epithermal narrow-vein for Aura Minerals. Her research in Dr. Pfaff's group will include using instruments in the MMC Facility to address a research question in the Idaho Cobalt Belt.

Past Student Projects:Alexander Jones, M.S.: “The occurrence and distribution of Ge and Co in the Bornite deposit, Alaska.” Graduation Fall 2020.

Kelsey Livingston, M.S.: “The peralkaline Mount Rosa granite: contrasting mineralogy and geochemistry observed in the Mount Rosa granite, Pikes Peak batholith, Colorado.” Graduation Summer 2020.

Lyndsey Fisher, M.S.: “Characterization of the Mineralized Albitite Bodies at Biggejavri KautokeinoGreenstone Belt, Finnmark, Norther Norway.” Graduation Fall 2019.

Isaac Simon, M.S.: “Massive sulfide alteration to millerite in komatiite-hosted sulfide deposits.” Graduation Summer 2019.

Alyssa Smith, M.S.: “Tracing the Evolution from Magmatic to Hydrothermal Fluids Using Zircon Generations within the Mount Rosa Complex, Pikes Peak Batholith, Colorado.” Graduation Spring 2018.

Timothy Wyatt, M.S.: “The Residence of Uranium in Roll Front Deposits: A Case Study.” Graduation Fall 2017.

Philip Persson, M.S.: “The Geochemical and Mineralogical Evolution of the Mount Rosa Complex, El Paso County, Colorado, USA.” Graduation Fall 2017.

Jae Erickson, M.S.: “Rare-Earth Element Mineralization and Formation of the Iron Hill Carbonatite Complex, Gunnison County, Colorado, USA.“ Graduation Spring 2015.

Backscattered Electron (BSE) detector

Automated Mineralogy

FE-SEM

Micro-XRF

Sample Prep

Petrography

Mineral and Materials Characterization (MMC) Facility

pXRF

Stereoscope

Partnership with BrukerBruker Demo Lab

TESCAN MIRA3 LMH

SchottkyFE-SEM

Backscattered Electron (BSE) detectorSecondary Electron (SE) detectorCathodoluminescence (CL) detectorEnergy-dispersive Spectrometer (EDS)

Student Education:Lab sections for ~ 180 undergraduate studentsand~ 300 graduate studentsas part of their regular classwork.

Student research:~ 250 graduate student have been trained to use the FE-SEM independently.

Lund and Tysdal (2007)

Trilogy Metals Inc.

The Black Butte Cu-Co Deposit, Belt-Purcell Basin, Montana, USA

The Bornite Cu-Co-Ge Deposit, Alaska, USA

Economic Geology:Base and Precious Metal Deposits

and ‘Critical Minerals’ ---

Co – Ge – Ga – Ni – REEs

Idaho Cobalt Belt Idaho (Cu-Co)

Occurrence, distribution and sequestration of minerals and elements.

Formation and evolution of igneous, metamorphic and hydrothermal systems.

I + IV

III

II

The Black Butte Cu-Co Deposit, Belt-Purcell Basin, Montana, USA

The Bornite Cu-Co-(Ge) Deposit, Alaska, USA

Economic Geology Research- Fieldwork- Petrography- (Micro-) Analytical Work- Thermodynamic Modeling- FI and CL with Prof. Monecke

EPMA data

Pentlandite-bearing Quartz Veins in Kambalda, Western Australia‘The mobility of Ni in hydrothermal fluids’

Marks et al. (2011)

Astrophyllite: hydrous K-Fe-Ti silicate mineralK3Fe7Ti2Si8O26(OH)5

Iron Hill Carbonatite Complex, Colorado, USACarbonatite-alkalic rock association

The Mount Rosa Complex, Colorado, USAThe peralkaline Mount Rosa Granite: From miaskitic to agpaitic – the missing link

miaskitic

transitional/agpaitic?

Igneous Petrology –REE-rich systems

FieldworkPetrography

(Micro-) Analytical MethodsThermodynamic Modeling

Age Dating

Kokaly et al., 2016. US Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2016-3029.

3 cm

Challenges:

- Large datasets/Big Data

- Heterogeneous datasets

- Data interpretation often

insufficient

- Subsampling

- Scaling issues

- Value of information

- 2D versus 3D versus 4D

- Data integration

Approaches:

- Machine Learning

- Data Mining

- Stochastic Techniques

- Automation/Roboticsmapping μ-XRF

SEM-based automated mineralogyairborne hyperspectral survey

Drone-based hyperspectral survey

Geoscience Research: Diverse and heterogeneous data across scales

Centimeter to Kilometer Bulk geochemistry mapping, field photos, remote sensing, core description and core scanning, hyperspectral, geophysical surveys

Micron to MillimeterSEM, automated minerology, microprobe, LA-ICP-MS, EBSD, EDS

Millimeter to Centimeter Core and hand sample characterization, μXRF scanning, thin section petrography

Rapid data acquisition and interpretation, and combination of heterogeneous data across the range of scales and data types (remote sensing to thin section scale - mineralogy, geochemistry and petrophysical properties)

Artificial Intelligence in Economic Geology

Knowledge of the deposit mineralogy and physical and mechanical properties of rocks and tailings is critical at many stages of project development

Hyperspectral data can be acquired rapidly (200‒1,000 m/day depending on vendor and settings)

Traditional methods of spectrum matching are inefficient or unable to identify and quantify some common minerals such as quartz and feldspar

Goal is to avoid data interpretation by feature matching – instead we are using the whole spectrum in combination with advanced M/L techniques

Artificial Intelligence in Economic Geology

1 cm

Automated masking and interpretation of SWIR data using M/L techniques

Automated mineralogy Automated mineralogyMineral distribution map of tworepresentative drill core boxes as determined by M/L

using training data (automated mineralogy and SWIR) on four billets

• Workflow development: • Automated mineralogy (SEM and XRF), hyperspectral data, upscaling, subsampling

strategies, data integration and data clustering

• Methods integration:• Co-registration of heterogeneous data and data-sets from different modalities

• 3D Visualization: • Virtual reality in teaching and industry

• Case Studies• Various case studies in igneous, metamorphic and ore forming systems with an

emphasis on critical minerals, and base and precious elements.

AI in Economic Geology: ongoing research