PhD Studentship, Camborne School of Mines, UK

July 1, 2010

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Job Description: The project is jointly funded by the Camborne School of Mines and NGU and aims to develop exploration tools for high purity quartz and rare metals in the south Norwegian Bamble-Evje pegmatite cluster.The studentship is full time for 3 years (subject to satisfactory progress) and includes a maintenance grant of £13,690 in the first year (with an annual increment), field expenses and tuition fees (UK/EU rate).

Key project objectives and methodologies
Exploration tools will be developed by testing the following hypotheses: 1) The pegmatites represent the final, most evolved volatile-rich melts from the emplacement of the Høvringsvatnet granites in southern Norway, rather than granite-unrelated melt batches mobilised during Sveconorwegian thrusting; 2) The purity of quartz is controlled by its temperature of crystallisation, linked to the extent of undercooling and by the alkalinity of the pegmatite melts; 3) Rare metals such as Be, Nb, Y, Ta, U, Th and Sc are enriched in certain pegmatites due to local undercooling and more extensive fractionation.

The hypotheses will be tested by carrying out: 1) Geological mapping of representative pegmatites during a one month field campaign from mid September 2010 and two months in the summer of 2011; 2) Sampling and analysis (including dating) of pegmatite bulk samples, pegmatite-forming minerals (quartz, feldspar, mica) and accessory rare metal minerals (columbite, gadolinite, etc.) using electron microprobe, ICP-MS, XRF, XRD, cathodoluminescence and QEMSCAN; 3) Geophysical studies and 3D-modelling of pegmatites to determine the nature of the pegmatite bodies and relationships with local granites and structures; 4) U/Pb age determinations of zircons from representative pegmatites and local granites by laser ablation ICP-MS at NGU in Trondheim and SIMS at Nordsim in Stockholm; 5) Oxygen isotope studies on quartz and K-feldspar at Nordsim.

Student supervision and training
The student will be registered at the University of Exeter, supervised by Dr Ben Williamson and Professor Frances Wall who have extensive experience in granite petrology and geochemistry, and in particular the systematics of rare earth elements and rare metals. Dr Axel Müller will bring extensive field experience in the BEPB and world-leading expertise in granite petrology, and in particular the analysis of quartz. The student will have the opportunity to attend relevant modules on the world-leading MSc in Mining Geology at the Camborne School of Mines and training in research techniques by the University of Exeter.

How to apply

Key student requirements
The project requires a student with excellent team working skills and a proven capacity for field geology, mineralogy and geochemistry. The ability to critically evaluate data and previous models is essential. A driving licence is required in order to undertake the necessary independent fieldwork. The successful applicant will be based at CSM on the University of Exeter Cornwall Campus, but will spend at least four months during the project in Norway carrying out fieldwork and analyses. The studentship is open to students from the UK/EU and overseas.

To apply
Email your CV and a covering letter explaining why you would like to undertake the studentship and what skills you could bring to the project to Dr Ben Williamson (B.J.Williamson@exeter.ac.uk) by 14 July 2010. Interviews will be held at CSM on the 23 July. The start date for the project is 1 September 2010 to enable the student to carryout one month of fieldwork from mid September.

Further Scholarship Information

Scholarship Tags: Metals, PhD studentship, Quartz, UK