Description
This field trip is intended as an introduction to narrow-vein, carbonatite-hosted rare earth element (REE) deposits with a focus on the alteration assemblages including fenites, "carbo-and hydrothermal" alteration, and relationship to the larger, province-scale recognition of this magmatic activity.
The first day will see travel from Windhoek to near Khorixas, with the second day spent visiting the Lofdal heavy REE carbonatite. The group will then proceed to Ruacana for overnight camping and a visit to the Ondoto REE property the following day. Ondoto is represented by a number of REE-bearing dolomite carbonatite veins. Late-stage ferro-carbonatites (ankerite) with substantial amounts of sulfide material crosscut all exiting veins. Xenoliths of the pink, REE-enriched material may be observed.
An excursion to the sodalite veins of Swartbooisdrif will show evidence of processes occurring within carbonatite melts at deep crustal levels and within ductile facies conditions. The penultimate day will be a visit to the Epembe carbonatite. This is a calcite carbonatite dike which can be mapped over 8 km in length. Much of the body is between 200 and 400 m in width with a number of pyrochlore- and magnetite-rich, dike edge-parallel zones noted. The group will depart after lunch and return to Windhoek over the final day and a half, with the final night on the Etosha plains.
About the Leaders
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Rainer Ellmies
VP Exploration of Namibia Critical Metals Inc.
Rainer is a geologist with background in academics and leading roles in exploration companies globally. In Namibia, he acts as in-country manager and VP Exploration of Namibia Critical Metals Inc. (NMI:TSXV) and General Manager Exploration of the Gecko Group including Ondoto Rare Earth (Pty) Ltd. Rainer has been involved in studies of the Lofdal xenotime mineralization from early on and is now guiding the Lofdal project through the PFS process. Lofdal has become one of only two, significant and fully permitted HREE projects outside of China. The project is being developed together with the Japan Corporation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC). Rainer has also discovered the high-grade LREE Ondoto deposit currently in mine construction by a private developer. Moreover, exploration success was motivated by Rainer who was an integral part of the discovery team who located Namibia’s first large-scale, sediment-hosted cobalt deposit at Opuwo (Kunene Resources Pty Ltd./ Celsius Resources ASX:CLA) and several other Namibian REE-occurrences such as Teufelskuppe, Kieshöhe, and Dicker Willem in 2010.
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Pete Siegfried
Exploration Geologist
Pete is an exploration geologist with decades of experience in early stage 'greenfields' projects all over the planet. Commodity studies of associated carbonatite and alkaline silicate host rocks including REE, fluorite, apatite, niobium, scandium and zirconium have been many and varied. Detailed petrographic studies have further enabled very valid recommendations to be made early on in the exploration process. Pete was an initial discoverer of the HREE at Lofdal, and who, together with Tony Mariano, first targeted the Dy and NdPr potential in 1998 and then in 2001 for the company AMR. In Mozambique, Pete led the resource development of the world class Evate carbonatite hosted apatite deposit, first for Norsk Hydro between 1998 and 2001, and then Vale from 2008 to 2009. The discovery, together with Grant Hayward, of the giant Balama graphite deposit located in Cabo Delgado during field work 1996, was a highlight of the early years of exploration in the country, and led to a boom in graphite prospecting the region, including the drilling and resource development of a number of further graphite deposits.
Registration
Early Deadline: July 22, 2024
Regular Deadline: September 12, 2024
| |
Early |
Regular |
| SEG Professional Member |
US$1,795 |
US$1,895 |
| SEG Student and Recent Graduate Members |
SOLD OUT |
| Non-member |
US$1,995 |
US$2,095 |
| All prices are in United States dollars (USD). SEG reserves the right to cancel this event should minimum attendance numbers not be met by July 22, 2024. All registrants will be given a full refund should SEG cancel the field trip. Cancellation policy, event photography, dietary restrictions, and more are detailed in the SEG Conference terms and conditions. |
All field trip registrants will be required to provide proof of emergency medical evacuation coverage in order to participate in conference field trips. Individuals may conveniently purchase this coverage online through various organizations such as International SOS or utilize existing coverage that they may already have through their employment. Further details and additional required documentation will be shared with registrants.
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