Applying Structural Geology to Hydrothermal Mineralisation

Professor Thomas Blenkinsop
Cardiff University
Wales, UK
Strong structural controls on mineralisation are characteristic of hydrothermal ore deposits. These arise because the permeabilities of crustal rocks are too low to allow deposit formation on realistic time scales unless rocks are deformed. A thorough structural investigation involves geometrical, kinematic (displacement and strain), dynamic (stress) and rheological analyses: each step can make important contributions to understanding hydrothermal mineralization. This talk will advocate a workflow based on these steps, and introduce some recent relevant advances in structural geology. The focus is on gold, but most aspects apply to hydrothermal deposits in general.
Tom Blenkinsop is a professor at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University. His research interests are in deformation and fluid flow, and applications of structural geology to natural resources. He works extensively with the exploration and mining industry, mainly on copper, gold and IOCG deposits.
Tom graduated from Oxford University, and completed an M.Sc. at Imperial College before undertaking his doctorate at Keele University, and postdoctoral research at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was professor at the University of Zimbabwe, and then at James Cook University in Australia, where he was director of the Economic Geology Research Unit. He has published over 150 papers and a textbook on deformation microstructures and mechanisms. Recently he has developed an online course in structural geology for exploration and mining. He is on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Structural Geology and is an editor for Ore Geology Reviews.