Field Trip Details
Iberian Pyrite Belt: VMS Geology and Mineralization
Date: Friday, August 18 - Thursday, August 24
Location: Departing from and returning to Lisbon, Portugal
Leader: William Chávez (New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology) and Erich Petersen (University of Utah)
This intensive 7-day field trip begins in Lisbon and visits four mines, including Minas de Riotinto, Aguas Teñidas, Neves-Corvo, and Aljustrel. The final day begins with a visit to the Alvalade project, where Paul Kuhn and the Avrupa-MATSA geology team are exploring the Sesmarias prospect.
It will be HOT this time of year, so pack accordingly. Bring your own geology safety gear, including hard hat, reflective vest, hard-toe boots, gloves, long-sleeve shirt, eye protection, and a rock hammer.
20% of spaces are reserved for students and offered at a discounted rate.
The Ore Mountains ("Erzgebirge") of Saxony and Bohemia: Old District–New Opportunities-Sn, W, Li, Ag, Base Metals
Date: Thursday, August 17 - Thursday, August 24
Location: Departing from and returning to Dresden, Germany
Leader: Mathias Burisch-Hassel and Vojtech Sesulka
This 8-day trip will convene in Freiberg, Germany, and visit a historic mining district that has been essential to the economic development of central Europe for the last millennium and which will play a key role in Europe's transition to a zero-carbon economy. Visits include exploration projects in the Freiberg district and to the Reiche Zeche research and visitors mine of the TU Bergakademie in Freiberg, and tours of the lithium-tin–enriched greisen systems at Sadisdorf, Altenberg, as well as the greisen system at Cinovec-Zinnwald and the Marienberg 5-Element vein system. The Tellerhäuser Sn-Zn-In skarn system, the Gottesberg exploration project, and the Hubstock greisen are among the trip highlights.
20% of spaces are reserved for students and offered at a discounted rate.
Kupferschiefer: Europe's Copper–Silver Resource Repository
Date: Monday, August 21 - Thursday, August 24
Location: Departing from Krakow, Poland and returning to Leipzig/Dresden/Wroclaw, Germany
Leader: Adam Piestrzynski, Wladyslaw Zygo, and Andreas Kamradt
The Kupferschiefer has been a source of copper since the Early to Middle Bronze Ages, with documentation from written sources dating from 1200 AD. This 5-day field trip will begin in Krakow at the AGH-UST University to view their Kupferschiefer mineralogy collection. Visits to sites include the copper mining operations at Lubin and Sieroszowice-Polkowice, and the Werra salt mine, where a complete section through the Lower Zechstein is exposed. Trips to the Sangerhausen Mine and Museum and nearby Upper Permian-Lower Zechstein outcrops are also planned.
20% of spaces are reserved for students and offered at a discounted rate.
Ireland Zinc-Lead Province: Exploration and Mining in a Developed Environment
Date: Wednesday, August 30 - Thursday, September 7
Location: Departing from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and returning to Galway, Ireland
Leader: Aoife Brady and John Kelly
This 9-day field trip is prefaced with a visit to Giant's Causeway UNESCO site and the world-famous Bushmills Whiskey Distillery. The technical agenda begins with a tour of the surface and underground facilities at the 6 million-ounce Curraghinalt gold project. Other visits include Ireland’s only operating gold mine, at Cavanacaw, New Boliden’s Tara mining operation – Europe’s largest zinc mine, the Lisheen and Galmoy mine sites, the historic Silvermines area, the Pallas Green and Stonepark prospects, continuing through the karstic Burren landscape to the ALS Laboratories before concluding in Galway in time to attend the welcome reception for the IAEG-50 Conference (IAEG - IAEG 50), which will focus on 50 years of global research on Irish-type zinc-lead deposits.
20% of spaces are reserved for students and offered at a discounted rate.
Fennoscandia: Cu, Ni, Co, Au, PGMs, Balanced Land Use
Date: Wednesday, August 30 - Friday, September 8
Location: Departing from Rovaniemi, Finland, and returning to Luleå, Sweden
Leader: Jukka-Pekka Ranta and Nils Jansson
This 9-day trip begins in Rovaniemi with a presentation by GTK on the lessons learned from the EU-funded MIREU project on balanced land use and stakeholder engagement. Visits include gold deposits hosted within the Peräpohja and Central Lapland belts, drill core from Mawson Gold’s Rompas-Rajapalot Au-Co mine, Rupert Resources' recent Ikkari Au discovery, the Pahtavaara Au mine, and Europe’s largest gold mine at Kittila. Magmatic sulfide-hosted deposits will be studied through drill core from Anglo America’s Sakatti Ni-Cu-PGE deposit and Boliden’s Kevitsa Ni-Cu-PGE mine. In Norbotten, with mine visits include Boliden’s Aitik Cu and LKAB’s Malmberget iron ore, ending in the Skellefteå VMS district.
20% of spaces are reserved for students and offered at a discounted rate.
Cornwall: Reinvigorated Historic District–Sn, W, Li, Cu, Industrial Minerals
Date: Wednesday, August 30 - Tuesday, September 5
Location: Departing from and returning to Plymouth, UK
Leader: Jens Andersen and Lucy Crane
This 6-day field trip to Cornwall highlights the recent revival of interest in this world-renowned historic mining district, and the ongoing research and development in the recovery of elements critical to the successful transition to a zero-carbon economy. Falmouth will be used as the base throughout. Visits include the Drakelands (Hemerdon) open-pit tungsten-tin mine, followed by a tour of the china-clay pits at St. Austell, for an overview of the entire china clay production process. Cornish Lithium's hard-rock lithium Trelavour project is included, as are Cornish Metals’ South Crofty, and Cornish Lithium’s geothermal waters test facility at United Downs, the sulfide-rich lodes at Trevaunce Cove, St. Agnes, and the greisen-bordered sheeted vein complex at Cligga Head.
20% of spaces are reserved for students and offered at a discounted rate.