Scientific Program

Scientific program for the conference is now available and can be downloaded here and the abstract volume can be downloaded here. Please note that we will not be providing a hard copy of the abstracts.

Given the location of the conference, a number of sessions will be dedicated to deposits in the Midcontinent Rift System (MRS), but talks on other global settings, including more unconventional deposits, such as those in collisional/post-collisional settings, will also be a focus.

Below is a list of session themes that cover a broad range of topics that are of interest to mineral deposit geologists, isotope geochemists, petrologists, and geophysicists:

  • MRS magmatism and sulfide deposits
    • Discussion on the magmatic evolution of the Midcontinent Rift System, with emphasis on how this evolution relates to the formation of sulfide deposits in the region.
  • Structure in regional exploration
    • The importance of structure to focusing magma flow and controlling magmatic processes (e.g., contamination).
    • Applicability of structure to identifying mineral deposits at the regional scale.
  • What we know and don't know about magmatic sulfide deposits
    • Title speaks for itself!
  • Geophysics and petrophysics applied to magmatic sulfide deposits
    • Application of rock properties to help guide exploration for magmatic sulfide deposits.
    • Novel geophysical techniques that can help delineate orebodies, vector towards mineralization, and characterize the structure of mineralizing systems.
  • Hydrochemistry of Ni, Cu, and PGE
    • Mobility of Ni, Cu, and PGE in hydrothermal fluids related to magmatic sulfide deposits, focusing primarily on experimental work, but field-based studies are also welcome.
    • Work relating magmatic sulfide deposits to hydrothermal deposits via fluid-related processes may also be welcome.
  • Metal stable isotope systematics of magmatic sulfide deposits
    • Emphasis on the application of non-traditional metal stable isotopes (e.g., Cu, Fe, Zn, Mg) to magmatic sulfide research
    • Comparative research with traditional (e.g., S, C, O) stable isotope techniques.
  • Mineral chemistry as petrogenetic and exploration tools
    • Discussions on the utility of mineral chemistry to characterizing magmatic and hydrothermal processes in sulfide deposits, and to identifying and vectoring to fertile rock in these systems.
  • Mantle sources to magmatic sulfide deposits
    • Contributions of mantle sources (e.g., plume, SCLM, subduction-modified mantle) to the generation of metal-rich magmas that feed fertile intrusive systems.
  • Convergent margin-related sulfide deposits
    • Development of Ni-Cu-PGE-rich sulfide deposits in convergent-margin settings, with a focus on identifying how these mineral systems differ from the more typical plume-related deposits (e.g., physicochemical conditions, mineralizing processes).
  • Machine learning for petrogenesis and exploration
    • Development of machine-learning algorithms to assist in differentiating between barren and fertile rock, vectoring towards mineralization, characterizing physicochemical conditions (e.g., fO 2 ), and identifying mineralizing processes.
  • General topics in Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposits
    • Ni-Cu-PGE research on themes that may not fit into the broad topics above.