Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Mass transfer of elements occurs within the earth on a continual basis and where there is sufficient concentration of elements ore deposits or natural resources occur. Elemental transfer occurs in many ways, but magmatic and metamorphic processes are two very significant and widespread ones that have been active through earth history. The study of elemental mobiization on different scales through time and how intra-element associations relate to earth processes is necessary in order to: (1) understand earth evolution, (2) how processes within the earth evolve through time, and (3) how natural resources form and relate to earth evolution. This proposal examines two aspects of mass transfer of elements: (1) the association of different gold deposits and tin, tungsten, molybdenum deposits in a range of environments within a single large geological area (1000s sq. km). This study is then used to examine how such elemental associations relate either independently or collectively to the geological evolution of such regions elsewhere globally; and (2) the processes that are responsible for the mobilization and concentration of tantalum, an element of relevance to societal needs, but also used in understanding earth evolution and important geological processes through time.