Short Courses

Three short courses are offered

1. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry in the Earth and Planetary Sciences
2. Mineral Deposits of Canada CANCELLED
3. 3D Common Earth Modeling for Mineral Potential Mapping CANCELLED

Short Course #1

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry in the Earth and Planetary Sciences

Obtaining a quantitative and predictive understanding of geological systems including exploitable energy sources requires knowledge of the age of origin and subsequent thermal history of the system over geological time.  While analysis of mg- and µg-size materials is routine, important geologic information preserved in features such as zoned minerals and cemented intergranular regions requires in situ measurements at the micron scale.  An important breakthrough in this regard was the development of the secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS).  SIMS is capable of performing precise and accurate (i.e., ‰ to sub-‰) in situ measurements of most elements and their isotopes with ca. 10 mm resolution.
 
This course will introduce SIMS analytical techniques and assess their applications in the earth and planetary sciences as well as biogeochemistry.  Topics include, light stable and non-traditional isotope analysis, radiogenic isotope analysis and geochronology, and cosmoschemistry.

List of Topics and Speakers

An introduction to secondary ion mass spectrometry in the geological sciences-Richard Stern, U. Alberta
Light stable isotope analysis (except for oxygen) by SIMS-Mostafa Fayek, U. Manitoba
Oxygen Isotope Geochemistry-John Valley and Noriko Kita, U. Wisconsin
Non-traditional isotope analysis- Cl, S, Li and B- Graham Layne, MUN
SIMS U-Pb geochronology- Richard Stern and Martin Whitehouse-U. Alberta and Swedish Museum of Natural History 
Quaternary geochronology by SIMS-Axel Schmitt, UCLA
Vestiges of a beginning: isotopic records in pre-planetary materials revealed by SIMS - K. McKeegan, UCLA
SIMS depth profiling:  Applying depth profile analytical techniques for electronic materials to improve depth profile analysis of natural materials-Jerry Hunter, VPI

Mineral Deposits of Canada

The Mineral Deposits of Canada short course is based on the popular volume of 44 papers recently published by the Mineral Deposits Division of the Geological Association of Canada and the Geological Survey of Canada. The short course will have a global perspective but a Canadian focus, and will cover five major headings, including:

1. Part I will provide an overview of the economic value of mineral resources in Canada;
2. Part II will provide a current synthesis of economically important deposit-types in Canada that include VMS, SEDEX, MVT, several types of lode gold, magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE, unconformity uranium, and kimberlite diamond deposits;
3. Part III will describes the metallogeny of economically important Canadian mining camps;
4. Part IV will provide the geological evolution and metallogeny of geological provinces in Canada;
5. and Part V will cover geochemical exploration methods applied to specific types of Canadian mineral deposits.
   

The Mineral Deposits of Canada volume will be used as the notes for the short course providing colour maps and sections, genetic models, images and photographs of representative rocks, ores and minerals. In addition, 4 high-capacity DVDs accompany the volume and contain an ore photo library, ArcGIS databases of major mineral deposits in Canada and the world, PDFs of all papers in the volume, digital files of all diagrams, tables and appendices, and Endnote databases of all papers referred to by volume papers. Additional course material will be made available to the course participants.

For a detailed list of topics and speakers for this course please click here (PDF file)

Sponsor: Mineral Deposits Division of the Geological Association of Canada
Organizer: Dan Layton-Matthews (Queen's), Wayne Goodfellow (GSC)
Duration: CANCELLED

Short Course #3

3D Common Earth Modeling for Mineral Potential Mapping

Organized by Mira Geoscience and the Geological Survey of Canada, the course will consist of a full day of lectures from various experts in the fields of 3D spatial modeling and mineral potential mapping. The course will focus on highlighting techniques for building 3D earth models from multi-disciplinary datasets and will offer an overview of mineral potential modeling techniques, both in 2D and 3D. A number of case studies will be provided.