Lauren Tuffield

I am a PhD student hosted at the British Geological Survey studying post-subduction magmas and their associated porphyry and epithermal mineralisation having previously worked for two years at the Natural History Museum in London.

Copper is becoming an increasingly important resource in the drive for cleaner transport and energy generation due to the increasing use of electricity over fossil fuels. Most porphyry copper deposit research has been centred on the Andes which is in a subduction setting. In order to better understand porphyry copper deposit formation processes porphyry copper deposits in post-subduction settings need to be studied. This project focuses on the Aegean region which has extensive porphyry and epithermal mineralisation in a post-subduction setting. This allows for the study of the geochemistry and high precision U-Pb geochronology of accessory minerals (e.g. zircon and apatite) to develop porphyry copper deposit fertility indicators in a post-subduction setting.