Critical Minerals Geology

The last 10 years has witnessed an increasing demand for green energy, electric vehicles, energy storage, robotics and nano-technologies. The basis of these new technologies are metals and non-metals referred to as critical minerals, or sometimes as strategic or new economy minerals.

The term “critical” is used to define not only their importance for new technologies but also issues related to supply and demand. Major economies have established national strategies to deal with supply and demand, and to encourage exploration for these minerals.

The list of critical minerals includes, but is not limited to: REEs, Ga, W, PGE, In, Co, Ni, Nb, Mg, Mo, Sb, Li, V, Ni, Ta, Te, Cr, Mn and Cu. Many of these critical minerals generally do not occur as separate economic deposits, but as by-products of the extraction of other commodities. In many cases the geological processes leading to the enrichment of these minerals is not well understood.

This EGRU online seminar includes presentations by experts on critical minerals geology from Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Presentations:

Prof. Nigel Cook, University of Adelaide, Australia
Critical Mineral Deposits: why detailed mineralogical characterisation is crucial

Prof. Gregor Borg, Martin-Luther University, Germany
European copper as a strategic metal in use, recycyling, mining and exploration potential.

Assoc. Prof Dan Smith, University of Leicester, United Kingdom
Tellurium through the crust

Host: Dr Helen McCoy-West James Cook University, Australia
9th October 2020