Ore deposits represent unusual enrichments of elements in or on the crust of the Earth. Understanding how these enrichments occurred requires information on the processes that operated and the conditions under which the elements were concentrated. A large variety of tools and approaches has been developed to reconstruct the formation conditions of ore deposits, using, amongst others, major and trace element concentrations, stable and radiogenic isotopes, and physical characteristics. Knowing the conditions required to enrich elements to ore grades allows for targeted exploration, as efforts can be focused on those regions where this combination of conditions is likely to have occurred.

However, for many ore deposits reconstructing their formation conditions is non-trivial, and results from different approaches can be contradictory. An in-depth understanding of these approaches and tools is thus required to ensure that they are applied and interpreted appropriately. In this course, we will discuss these tools, their strengths and weaknesses, and what information can be gleaned from them, and debate what works best and under which circumstances. At the end of the course, you will have become an expert user of these tools.

The course consists of presentations and subsequent discussions and debates on what has been presented. Each topic is prepared during the first week in groups of 2, presented by each group in the second week, and debated and discussed in the third week. Four topics among temperature, pressure, pH, RedOx potential, fluid composition, time, and stress will be covered.

Participation in presentations and discussions will constitute 40% of your final grade, with the remaining 60% based on a final essay. In this essay you are expected to apply the knowledge gained in the main part of this course on how to constrain ore formation conditions to an ore type of your choice. The essay is to be 4 pages of text in length with additional pages for references and figures, if needed.

There is no formal textbook for this course, but Introduction to ore forming processes by Laurence Robb is highly recommended as a reference. More information on this book can be found here.