2008 Gordon Research Conference on Geochemistry of Mineral Deposits

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This grant will provide financial support for a Gordon Conference on the Geochemistry of Mineral Resources. Mineral resources have always been an essential foundation of human civilization. Current and projected economic growth, especially in China and India, highlight an increasing worldwide need for metals, as reflected by prices that are near historic highs for a wide range of mined commodities. Even with greater recycling and substitution, increasing demand requires that metals and other rare elements will continue to be mined from ore deposits. Such deposits can only be utilized in an environmentally responsible manner if the ore elements are highly enriched by natural chemical and physical processes. These processes operate over a great range of spatial and temporal scales in the Earth's interior or at its surface, from the earliest geological records of our planet to the present day. A major emphasis of the 2008 Gordon Conference on the Geochemistry of Mineral Deposits will be on assessing global-scale processes that generate large metal provinces during distinct periods of Earth's evolution. Specifically, questions remain regarding how metal resources can be linked to evolution of the lithosphere, magmatic processes at convergent plate margins, time scales for the formation of large ore deposits, and how common crustal fluids and non-conventional fluids may lead to unexpected types of ore deposits. In this Gordon Conference, it is planned to identify future directions for research that will not only address the pressing issue of resource supply, but also will continue to shed light on how ore deposits act as indicators of large-scale tectonic, magmatic, sedimentary, metamorphic and other processes in earth?s history. This Gordon Conference will bring together a diverse group of geoscientists from the resource industry, academia and government. Not only are the leading thinkers in ore deposits expected to attend, but speakers will include experts in crustal evolution, igneous petrology and geochemistry, enabling interdisciplinary discussion on a wide range of processes that lead to ore formation. This conference provides a unique opportunity for junior scientists and students to meet and interact with recognized experts to examine cutting edge topics and discuss future directions of research in an intimate, informal environment, which is a hallmark of Gordon Conferences. This grant will provide partial support for participants, particularly students and early career scientists who can cover only a portion of their expenses from other sources. It is expected that the enhanced attendance facilitated by this award will help bring a diverse set of ideas to the meeting and that the interaction of early-career and more established scientists help forge directions for future research in this field. The meeting will also provides the opportunity to establish collaborative projects among researchers.