The Mineral and Materials Characterization (MMC) Laboratory is a research laboratory within the Center for Subsurface Earth Resources and the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering that is dedicated to mineral characterization and application development for the minerals, materials, energy, environmental, biological, and planetary research groups, and industries.
The MMC Facility is particularly delighted to announce the hire of Kelsey Livingston in 2020 to support day-to-day operations and methods development. Moreover, the laboratory expansion and the newly established partnership with Bruker in 2019 has proven to be a game changer for the MMC Facility, CMRS and for the department.
Since the establishment and expansion of the Mineral and Materials Characterization Facility in 2015, we offered research experience opportunities for four undergraduate students, lab sections for ~150 undergraduate students and ~250 graduate students as part of their regular classwork, and about 220 graduate students have been trained to use select instruments independently.
Research conducted in MMC Facility focuses on fundamental and applied research related to economic geology from early exploration, through mining and the sustainable use of Earth resource materials such as tailings, combining field work with modern micro-analytical and machine learning techniques. An emphasis it put on magmatic and hydrothermal systems and ongoing projects focus on the formation, distribution and residence of REEs, Ge, Co, and other critical minerals in a variety of deposit types.
Ongoing collaborations with faculty from across Mines and researchers from the US Geological Survey in Lakewood and elsewhere offer exciting research and internship opportunities. If you are interested in our mineral and materials characterization capabilities or outreach efforts, please visit our website.
Principal Investigator: Research Associate Professor Katharina Pfaff, Geology and Geological Engineering
Keywords: Mineralogy, Heavy Minerals, Economic Geology, Mineral and Materials Characterization, Climate Research, Energy