2012 Geochemistry of Mineral Deposits GRC

智力优势。 矿产资源一直是人类文明不可或缺的基础。尽管世界大部分地区的经济形势不确定，但由于采矿和新资源的发现越来越困难，关键矿产的价格继续居高不下。即使有更大的回收和替代，不断增长的需求也要求继续从矿床中开采金属和其他稀有元素。只有在矿石元素通过自然化学和物理过程高度富集的情况下，才能以对环境负责的方式利用这些矿床。这些过程在地球上的一个很大的空间和时间尺度范围内运作？从地球内部到表面，从地球最早的地质记录到现在。2012年戈登矿床地球化学研究会议（GRC）提供了一个论坛，介绍和讨论控制各种矿床形成和位置的过程的新数据和想法，包括贵金属，贱金属和其他关键元素。会议将包括岩石圈对矿床的控制，岩浆和热液过程，将金属分配到各种矿物和流体相，活动热液系统作为矿床的类似物，以及涉及矿石成因的动力学过程，包括岩浆和挥发物的通量和化学变化，区域成矿的构造触发因素，以及热液系统的物理水文地质学。晚间会议将集中在令人困惑的，有争议的和通常被忽视的矿石系统。这些系统包括赞比亚和刚果民主共和国的非洲铜矿带、氧化铁-铜-金系统和形成稀土元素的系统，这些系统具有关键的高技术和工业应用。另一个晚上的会议集中在大型矿石系统的远端表达，这是感兴趣的私营企业和政府机构参与勘探和矿产评估，这是重要的土地使用决策。 全球资源中心为来自世界各地的政府、学术界和工业界的科学家提供了一个非正式的聚会机会。GRCs提供了一种在其他会议上没有经历过的亲密程度。出席人数限制为160人，重点是讨论，没有同时举行的会议。很少有会议能将如此广泛的科学家聚集在一起，他们既有经验又有重点，范围从纯粹的、与过程相关的研究到应用研究。并不是所有的参与者都专门研究矿床。专注于火成岩岩石学、水和同位素地球化学、流体流动和活动热液系统的研究人员正在发言和主持会议。在这样一个亲密的环境中，与会者别无选择，只能在会议期间相互交流。这种互动通常会导致不可预见的合作。将向学生、博士后和其他年轻的研究人员提供资金，帮助他们参加会议，从而使他们有机会与学术界和工业界公认的专家建立联系，并对矿物存款研究的未来方向发表意见。

Intellectual Merit. Mineral resources have always been an essential foundation of human civilization.Despite uncertain economic times for much of the world, prices for critical minerals continue toremain high as they are depleted by mining and as discovery of new resources becomesincreasingly difficult. Even with greater recycling and substitution, increasing demand requiresthat metals and other rare elements will continue to be mined from ore deposits. Such depositscan only be utilized in an environmentally responsible manner if the ore elements are highlyenriched by natural chemical and physical processes. These processes operate over a great rangeof spatial and temporal scales from the Earth?s interior to its surface, and from the earliestgeological records of the planet to the present day. The 2012 Gordon Research Conference(GRC) on the Geochemistry of Mineral Deposits presents a forum to present and discuss newdata and ideas on processes that control the formation and location of a wide range of mineraldeposits, including precious metals, base metals, and other critical elements. Sessions willinclude lithospheric controls on mineral deposits, magmatic and hydrothermal processes thatpartition metals among various mineral and fluid phases, active hydrothermal systems asanalogues to mineral deposits, and dynamic processes involved in ore genesis, includingvariations the fluxes and chemistry of magma and volatiles, tectonic triggers to regional oreformation, and the physical hydrogeology of hydrothermal systems. Evening sessions will focuson puzzling, controversial and commonly overlooked ore systems. These systems include theAfrican Copper Belt in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, iron oxide-copper-goldsystems, and systems that form rare earth elements, which have critical high-technology andenvironmental applications. Another evening session focuses on the distal expressions of largeore systems, which is of interest to private industry and government agencies involved inexploration and mineral assessments, which are important to land use decisions.Broader Impacts. GRCs provide a unique opportunity for scientists from government, academia andindustry from all over the world to meet in an informal setting. GRCs provide a level of intimacynot experienced in other conferences. Attendance is limited to 160 participants, emphasis is ondiscussion, and there are no concurrent sessions. Few conferences bring together such a widerange of scientists of both experience and focus, which ranges from pure, process-relatedresearch to applied research. Not all the participants specialize in ore deposits. Researchersfocused on igneous petrology, aqueous and isotope geochemistry, fluid flow, and activehydrothermal systems are speaking and leading sessions. With such an intimate setting, theparticipants have little choice but to interact with each other during the conference. Suchinteractions commonly lead to unforeseen collaborations. Funds will be provided to students,post-docs, and other young investigators to assist them in attending in the meeting, thus affordingthem the opportunity to network with recognized experts in both academia and industry and havea say in the future directions of mineral deposit research.