Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ

Critical metals are essential in various industrial applications, often in new and green technologies, difficult to substitute and for which the main supply is restricted to just one or two countries. Their supply is thus vulnerable to disruption. The European Union has defined 14 critical materials. Amongst these, we have particular expertise on rare earths, platinum group elements, niobium, tantalum, indium, and tungsten. The University is working in collaboration with the , to improve our knowledge of how these deposits form and to work on new ways to extract them from waste materials and as by-products.

The rare earth elements include the lanthanide group of the periodic table, and yttrium. They are principally used in high-tech applications, such as high-strength permanent magnets, and are considered as ‘critical metals’ (i.e. an irreplaceable metal with a high supply risk) due to concerns regarding China’s near-dominant control of the market (more than 90 per cent).

At Camborne School of Mines, we are working with industry to understand the geology of new rare earth deposits, new mineral processing techniques and the social and environmental implications of rare-earth mining. CSM are involved in, or leading, the research grants , and .

New project to find Europe’s green technology metals

A new four-year project ‘GREENPEG’ has received a grant of €8.3 million from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to develop new techniques to explore for pegmatite rocks containing lithium and other green technology metals.

The consortium consists of 13 partners from 8 European countries, including universities and exploration and mining companies. The Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ team, which will receive nearly €780k, is led by Ben Williamson with Frances Wall, Camborne School of Mines and Xiaoyu Yan, Engineering, supported by post-doctoral researchers Kate Smith and Rob Pell.

Professor Ben Williamson, Camborne School of Mines, Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ, said: “This is an exciting project and an excellent opportunity to continue state of the art research and innovation with our European colleagues. We will be contributing our geological knowledge of pegmatites, and our environmental expertise, particularly in the technique of life cycle assessment“.

Pegmatite-hosted deposits can be particularly rich in technology metals, such as lithium, but are often small and difficult to find using conventional exploration methods. Europe contains an abundance of pegmatites but very few are currently economic to mine.

The GREENPEG project will develop exploration toolsets for European pegmatite ore deposits. These will be specific to either lithium-caesium-tantalum-, or niobium-yttrium-fluorine-bearing pegmatites, which may also carry high-purity quartz. These raw materials are used in the manufacture of a wide range of green energy devices such as Li-ion batteries for electric cars, solar panels and wind turbines.

It is critical that Europe can source its own supplies of these commodities to meet ambitious 2030 energy and climate targets. The toolsets will be developed at three green and brownfield exploration and mining case study sites at Wolfsberg (Austria), South Leinster (Ireland) and Tysfjord (Norway) where industry partners can immediately benefit from the research.

GREENPEG will integrate its new products and services into associated businesses, attract investment into the European raw materials sector and increase the competitiveness of European green technology metals exploration companies.

For more information see:

In Press

• Sajid, M, Andersen, ´³°äØ, Arif, M, , Mineralogy and Petrology, 
• Charles, J-H, Whitehouse MJ, Andersen ´³°äØ, Shail RK, Searle MP, . Journal of the Geological Society, 2017, 
• Benedict J. Williamson, Matthew Hodgkinson, Akira Imai, Ryohei Takahashi, Robin N. Armstrong, Richard J. Herrington; , Resource Geology

2018

• K. Breitera, J. ÄŽuriÅ¡ováa, T. Hrstka, Z. Korbelová, M. VaÅ¡inová Galiová, A. Müller, B. Simons, R.K. Shail, B.J. Williamson, J.A. Davies, , Lithos 302-303, 370-388
• H.A.L. Elliott, F. Wall, A.R. Chakhmouradian, P.R. Siegfried, S. Dahlgren, S. Weatherley, A.A. Finch, M.A.W. Marks, E. Dowman, E. Deady. . Ore Geology Reviews, 93:38
• Shihua Zhong, Chengyou Feng, Reimar Seltmann, Alla Dolgopolova, Jens C.Ø. Andersen, Daxin Li, Miao Yu. . Ore Geology Reviews, 93:19
• Goodenough, KM, Wall, F, Merriman, D, . Natural Resources Research 27, 201-216.  DOI:10.1007/s11053-017-9336-5

2017

• Dowman, E, Wall, F, Treloar, P, Rankin AH. . Mineralogical Magazine, 81:1367 
• Broom-Fendley, S, Wall F, Spiro, B, Ullmann, CV, , Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 172:96
• Broom-Fendley, S., Brady, A.E. Mtega, J., Horstwood, M.S.A, Woolley, A., Wall, F., Dawes, W., and Gunn, A.G. , Malawi. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 134:10–23
• Simons, B, Andersen, ´³°äØ, Shail RK, Jenner F. Fractionation of Li, Be, Ga, Nb, Ta, In, Sn, Sb, W and Bi in the peraluminous Early Permian Variscan granites of the Cornubian Batholith: precursor processes to magmatic-hydrothermal mineralisation. Lithos,  278–281, 491–512 
• Andersen, ´³°äØ, Rollison, GK, McDonald, I, Tegner, C, Lesher, C. . Mineralium Deposita, 52, 929–942
  
• Broom-Fendley, S, Brady, AE, Wall, F, Gunn, G, Dawes, W.. Ore Geology Reviews, 81:23–41
• McDonald I, Hughes HSR, Butler IB, Harris JW, Muir D. (2017), Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 216:335-357
• Dowman, E., Wall, F., Jeffries, T., Treloar, P., Carter, A., Rankin, A.,, Gondwana Research 51:64-77
• Wall, F, Rollat, A, Pell, R, . Elements 13:313-318

2016

• Breiter K, Muller A, Shail RK, Simons B.  Mineralogical Magazine, 80: 1273–1289 DOI:10.1180/minmag.2016.080.071. 
• Moore, K.R., Moles, N.R. and Lusty, P.A.J., 2016 ’ in M.E. Young (ed.), Unearthed: impacts of the Tellus surveys of the north of Ireland. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy
• T.M. Gernon, B.G.J. Upton, R. Ugra, C. Yücel, R.N. Taylor, H. Elliott, , Lithos, 264:70–85
• Broom-Fendley, S, Heaton, T, Wall, F, Gunn, G, , Chemical Geology, 440, 275–287, 
• Neace ER, Nance RD, Murphy JB, Lancaster PJ, Shail RK. , Tectonophysics, 681, &²Ô²ú²õ±è;332–352 DOI:10.1016/j.tecto.2016.04.002. []
• Dupuis NE, Murphy JB, Braid JA, Shail RK, Nance RD. , Tectonophysics, 681, 353–363, DOI:10.1016/j.tecto.2016.02.044. []
• Simons B, Shail, RK, Andersen J.. Lithos, 260,  76–94 
• Pickles, JR, Blundy JD, Brooker, RE. American Mineralogist, 101, 1438–1450
• Andersen J, Stickland RJ, Rollinson GK, Shail RK. , Ore Geology Reviews, 70, 213–238, DOI:10.1016/j.oregeorev.2016.02.019.
• Breheny, C.; Moore, K. R.; Costanzo, A.; Feely, M. (2016). . Mineralogical Magazine, 80, 157-174
• Deady, É.A.; Mouchos, E.; Goodenough, K.; Williamson, B.J.; Wall, F. (2016)  Mineralogical Magazine, 80, 43-61
• Goodenough, K. M.; Wall, F. (2016). . Mineralogical Magazine, 80, 1-4 
• Broom-Fendley S, Styles MT, Appleton JD, Gunn G, Wall F. (2016). , American Mineralogist, 101, 596-611, DOI:10.2138/am-2016-5502CCBY. []
• Williamson BJ, Herrington RJ, Morris A. (2016) , Nature Geoscience, 9, 237–241, DOI:10.1038/ngeo2651.
• K.M. Goodenough, J. Schilling, E. Jonsson, P. Kalvige, N. Charles, J. Tudurif, Ã‰.A. Deady, M. Sadeghi, H. Schiellerup, A. Müller, G. Bertrand, N. Arvanitidis, D.G. Eliopoulos, R.A. Shaw, K. Thrane, N. Keulen. Ore Geology Reviews, Volume 72, Part 1, January 2016, Pages 838–856
• Smith, M.P., Moore, K.R., Kavecsánszki, D., Finch, A.A., Kynicky, J., Wall, F. . Geoscience Frontiers (2016), 7, 315–334. doi: 10.1016/j.gsf.2015.12.006
• Neave DA, Black M, Riley TR, Gibson SA, Ferrier G, Wall F, Broom-Fendley S. (2016) , Economic Geology, 111, 641-66
• Sajid M, Coggan J, Arif M, Andersen J, Rollinson G. (2016) , Engineering Geology, volume 202, pages 44-54, DOI:10.1016/j.enggeo.2016.01.001. []

2015

• Santana IV, Wall F, Botelho NF. (2015) , Journal of Geochemical Exploration, volume 155, pages 1-13, article no. C, DOI:10.1016/j.gexplo.2015.03.007. []
• Zaitsev AN, Williams CT, Jeffries TE, Strekopytov S, Moutte J, Ivashchenkova OV, Spratt J, Petrov SV, Wall F, Seltmann R. (2015), ORE GEOLOGY REVIEWS, volume 64, pages 477-498, DOI:10.1016/j.oregeorev2014.06.004. []
• Nielsen TFD, Andersen JCO, Holness MB, Keiding JK, Rudashevsky NS, Rudashevsky VN, Salmonsen LP, Tegner C, Veksler IV. (2015) , Journal of Petrology, volume 56, no. 8, pages 1643-1676, DOI:10.1093/petrology/egv049
• Axel Müller, Peter M. Ihlen, Ben Snook, Rune Berg Larsen, Belinda Flem, Bernard Bingen and Ben J. Williamson (2015). , Economic Geology, vol. 110 no. 7 1737-1757
• Dupuis NE, Braid JA, Murphy JB, Shail RK, Nance RD, Archibald DA. (2015) , Journal of the Geological Society, volume 172, pages 566-575, DOI:10.1144/jgs2014-151. []
• Elliott, H. A. L., Gernon, T. M., Roberts, S. and Hewson, C. (2015), '', Bulletin of Volcanology 77, 37-59
• Moon CJ. , Geoscience in South West England, volume 13, pages 459-470.

2014

• Anderson K, Wall F, Rollinson G, Moon C. (2014) , Ore Geology Reviews, volume 62, pages 25-39, DOI:10.1016/j.oregeorev.2014.02.015.
• Wall F. (2014) Rare Earth Elements, Critical Metals Handbook, Wiley-Blackwell
• Sajid, M., Arif, M. and Shah, M. T., 2014. Petrogenesis of granites from the Utla area of Gadoon, north-west Pakistan: Implications from Petrography and Geochemistry. Journal of Earth Sciences 25 (3), 445-459, DOI: 10.1007/s12583-014-0435-5

2013

• Horwell CJ, Williamson BJ, Llewellin EW, Damby DE, Le Blond JS. (2013) , Bulletin of Volcanology, 75, 1-19, DOI:10.1007/s00445-013-0696-3.
• Holness MB, Richardson C, Andersen JCO. (2013) , Lithos, volume 182-183, pages 134-149, DOI:10.1016/j.lithos.2013.10.007
• Martindale, M, Skora, S, Pickles, J, Elliott, T, Blundy, J, and Avanzinelli, R, Chemical Geology, 342, 94-109

2012

• Chakhmouradian AR, Wall F. (2012) , Elements (Ottawa): an international magazine of mineralogy, geochemistry, and petrology, volume 8, no. 5, pages 333-340, DOI:10.2113/gselements.8.5.333
• Downes H, Wall F, Demeny A, Szabo C. (2012) , MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE, volume 76, no. 2, pages 255-257, DOI:10.1180/minmag.2012.076.2.01. []
• Zaitsev AN, Williams CT, Wall F, Zolotarev AA. (2012) , Geology of Ore Deposits, volume 54, pages 1-13, DOI:10.1134/S1075701512070094
• Brady AE, Moore KR. (2012) A mantle-derived dolomite silicocarbonatite from the southwest of Ireland, Mineralogical Magazine, volume 76, pages 357-376.
• Andersen J, Stickland RJ, Rollinson GK, Shail RK. , Ore Geology Reviews, DOI:10.1016/j.oregeorev.2016.02.019.
• Pownall JM, Waters DJ, Searle MP, Shail RK, Robb LJ. (2012) , Geosphere,  8, 1467-1504.

The transition from granite to banded aplite-pegmatite sheet complexes: An example from Megiliggar rocks, Tregonning topaz granite, Cornwall

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