Description

Contact: liz_macdonald@outlook.com

Please join us in Beatty, NV in May!

When: Friday, May 8th

Time: 6-9 PM, drinks and appetizers are provided

 Where: Beatty Community Center (100 A Ave S, Beatty, NV 89003)

(https://maps.app.goo.gl/LC1ZBRP4P1aEhmAH8)

Sponsor: TBD

Speaker: Dalton Pell, UNLV

Title: “Critical Minerals in our Metasomatic Backyard: The West Desert Skarn Deposit, Utah, USA”

Abstract: Indium (In) is a critical mineral that is integral in the production of touchscreens and solar panels. The US is currently 100% import reliant for In, indicating an urgent need to develop secure domestic sources of this critical mineral. The only domestic established resource for indium is the West Desert Skarn Deposit (WDSD) of Utah, which has an inferred resource of 33.7 Mt at 20 g/t In, 3.83% Zn, and 0.15% Cu. The WDSD is a magnesian magnetite skarn that contains sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and chalcocite, with minor galena and pyrite, and trace amounts of the In-bearing minerals roquesite and dzhalindite. Results from this study demonstrate sphalerite contains up to 10.4 wt.% In, whereas chalcopyrite contains <0.6 wt.% In. This study demonstrates the co- and by-product critical mineral potential of skarn systems and indicates that systems like the WDSD should be evaluated for more than just major commodities.

Bio: Dalton Pell grew up in Los Angeles, CA and attended the University of Kansas from 2019 to 2023, where he earned a B.S. in Geology (Honors). He is currently a PhD student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas studying the deportment and evolution of critical and trace metals within high-temperature magmatic-hydrothermal systems, with an emphasis on porphyry and porphyry-related deposits in the southwestern United States. He is currently the president of the UNLV-SEG Student Chapter.

If you have questions, please reach out by emailing GSN Southern Nevada Chapter President Elizabeth MacDonald at liz_macdonald@outlook.com.