Talk by Tony Naldrett
"The chromite problem in the Bushveld. How much magma was involved?"
April 5, 2011
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Tony Naldrett, one of the much-respected veterans of Bushveld mineralogy and economic geology, found time to share his views on the fundamental processes leading to the formation of PGE and chromium deposits with us. Despite the extensive study of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, the nature of many geochemical processes have not been resolved up to date. The Gill room was packed with a large audience of students and faculty members. The lecture was outstanding and interesting discussions continued at dinner with our faculty members and SEG Student chapter representatives. We would like to thank Tony for coming!
This talk was organized by Libby Sharman and Julia King, and funded by the McGill SEG student chapter
Pictures
Figure 1: Dinner at the L'Orcidee de Chine. From left to right: Tony Naldrett, Boswell Wing, Anthony Williams-Jones, Andrew Hynes, Julia King, Dejan Milidragovic, Volker Moeller
PDAC Convention 2011
March 6 - 9, 2011
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The McGill SEG student chapter's trip to PDAC was an outright success. With the intention of promoting student-industry networking, the trip attracted over 20 participants from the McGill Earth and Planetary department. A van convoy departed from McGill campus early sunday morning and returned on Wednesday. The students, especially first time attendees, were thrilled and delighted at the warm welcomes, the atmosphere and employment interest they received throughout the PDAC. The low travel and accommodation costs of this trip for our students was made possible through financial assistance from the McGill Earth and Planetary sciences department, the PDAC travel fund and McGill SEG student chapter funding.
Tanzania Field Trip
led by Willy Williams-Jones
February 2011
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The United Republic of Tanzania not only offers an incredibly diverse geologic terrain, but also0 a rich cultural heritage. Archean greenstone belts, the East African Rift Valley with its associated active volcanism, including Oldoinyo Lengai the world's only natrocarbonatite volcano, Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa's biggest volcano), and large, ecologically important wildlife parks (Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater), in addition to over 120 ethnic groups and the site of the world's oldest hominid fossil are just some of the extraordinary features of Tanzania. The active mining industry further increased our interest in this country. This diversity in geology, ecology and archeology made Tanzania the perfect choice for the 2011 McGill University Earth and Planetary Science Field Study.
The concept of this student-organized field trip is remarkable. Participating students are required to thoroughly plan the travel, the field trip stops and acquire funding independently. Willy Williams-Jones contributed with his expertise in regional geology, hydrothermal geochemisty, geochemistry of active volcanic systems and economic geology. A significant portion of the funding for this trip was generously provided to the McGill SEG Student Chapter by Bob Wares, a former student at EPS McGill. We would like to thank him on this occasion for his overwhelming support.
Pictures
Figure 1: Oldoinyo Lengai, in a view from a Masaii village. The Masaii are an ethnic group in northern Tanzania that we met and stayed with for a few days.
Figure 2: Climbing Oldoinyo Lengai volcano - the world's only active carbonatite volcano, although it is currently in a silicious phase (nephelinite-phonolite)
Figure 3: A termite mound. Interestingly many companies use these mounds for gold exploration. The termites burrow so deep underground that the subsurface soil samples are perfect indicators.
Figure 4: Visiting Barrick Gold Mine
Talk by Richard Goldfarb
"Supercontinent history and global metallogeny"
February 21, 2011
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Richard Goldfarb, the 2010 SEG International Exchange Lecturer, braved the cold weather and stopped in on his way to Ottawa to give a fascinating talk entitled "Supercontinent history and global metallogeny" to a full house in the Gill Room, February 21, 2011. Despite the reading week, a room-filling audience of McGill students, professors, GEOTOP members and industry affiliates attended the talk. The wide scope of the presentation triggered follow-up discussions which continued at the Benelux. The society would like to thank Rich for a great visit and for sharing the scope of his experiences with students interested in all aspects of geology!
Geosoft Target Introduction
February 3, 2011
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An introduction to the exploration software Geosoft Target for ArcGIS was presented to us by Julia King. The presentation was attended by SEG Student chapter members and graduate students. The introduction was very useful, especially to our students that work in the exploration industry during semester breaks or cooperate with the mining industry for their thesis. We learned how to import a database, create strip logs and how to create a 3D geological model. Thanks Julia!
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