ProfessorJamie Wilkinson
Professor of Geology
Department of Earth Science & Engineering - Faculty of Engineering
Orcid identifier0000-0002-7706-6003 (opens in a new tab)
- Professor of GeologyDepartment of Earth Science & Engineering - Faculty of Engineering
- PA418, Natural History Museum, Natural History Museum, United Kingdom
BIO
Research Interests
My research focuses on understanding the geochemistry of hydrothermal fluid-rock interactions in the Earth's crust, in particular how metals are transported, deposited and dispersed in ore-forming systems. Current research areas include:
Controls of metallogenic fertility of arc magmas
Porphyry ore deposit genesis
Mineral chemistry of hydrothermal alteration and exploration applications
Applications of multivariate statistics, AI and machine learning techniques to mineral exploration
Use of transition metal isotopes (Zn Cu, Fe) for tracing metal sources, flow pathways and depositional mechanisms
Geochemistry of sediment-hosted ore systems
For more information, go to my research page
Biography
Honorary Lecturer, University College London, 2020-
Professor of Geology, Imperial College London, 2019-
LODE Director and Research Leader in Mineral Deposits, Natural History Museum, 2014-
Honorary Research Associate, University of Tasmania, 2010-
Visiting Research Professor, CODES, University of Tasmania, 2008-2010
Reader, Imperial College London, 2004-2019
Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London, 1999-2004
Lecturer, Imperial College, 1997-1999
Minorco Lecturer in Mineral Deposit Studies, Imperial College, 1993-1997
Shell Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Imperial College, 1990-1992
PhD, University of Southampton, 1986-1989
BA (Hons) Geological Sciences, Cambridge University, 1983-1986
Recent Measures of Esteem
2018 Keynote Speaker: Gordon Conference on Geochemistry of Ore Deposits, New Hampshire, USA
2017 Keynote Speaker: Geological Society’s Flagship Fermor Meeting: Factory Earth, London, UK
2016 Invited speaker, 35th International Geological Congress, Cape Town, South Africa
2015 Invited speaker, Sediment-hosted ores session, SEG Biennial Conference, Hobart, Tasmania
2015 Invited speaker, AMIRA Biennial Exploration Managers Conference, Barossa Valley, Australia
Positions
SEG Council, 2018-
Editorial Board, Economic Geology (2005-2008, 2016-)
Invited Lectures and Presentations
Keynote speaker: MDSG Annual Winter Meeting, University of Oxford, 2015
Invited Speaker: Porphyry ore deposits session, EGU, Vienna, 2014
Invited Presenter: African Metallogeny II, second SGA-SEG-UNESCO short course, Kitwe, Zambia, June 2013
Invited Speaker: AMIRA Biennial Exploration Managers conference, Perth, March 2012
Session Convenor & Conference Proceedings Co-editor: Porphyry deposits, 11th Biennial SGA Meeting, Antofagasta, September 2011
Session Convenor & Conference Proceedings Co-editor: Fluids from the core to the ore, Geological Society Fermor Meeting, London, September 2011
Invited Speaker: 13th Quadrennial IAGOD Symposium, Adelaide, April 2010
Invited Speaker: CODES 20th Anniversary Symposium, Hobart, December, 2009
Plenary Speaker: 10th Biennial SGA Meeting, Townsville, Australia, August 2009
Invited Speaker: Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Annual Convention, Toronto, March 2008
Invited Speaker: Ores and Orogenesis Symposium, Tucson, September 2007
Session Convenor & Conference Proceedings Co-editor: Carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposits, 9th Biennial SGA Meeting, Dublin, August 2007
Presenter: Workshop on sediment-hosted Pb-Zn deposits, 9th Biennial SGA Meeting, Dublin, August 2007
Keynote Speaker: Gordon Conference on Inorganic Geochemistry of Ore Deposits, August 2005
Invited Speaker: Penrose Conference on Mass Transfer in Continental Magmatic-Hydrothermal Systems, Yellowstone and Butte, Montana, 2004
Keynote Speaker: Geological Society of America Meeting, SEG special session on Cathodoluminescence, Seattle, 2003
Invited Speaker: Geological Society Fermor Flagship Meeting: World Class Mineral Deposits and Earth Evolution, Cardiff, 2003
Invited Speaker: P. Moeller Symposium, GFZ Potsdam, 2002
Invited Contribution: Lithos Special Issue on current state of knowledge on fluid inclusions: "Fluid Inclusions: Phase Relationships - Methods - Applications", 2001
Invited Speaker: Europe's Major Base Metal Deposits, Galway, 2000
Other Significant Activities
Research Refereeing and Reviews
Research Grant reviews carried out for NERC, NSF (USA), NSERC (Canada)
External Research Review, Earth Sciences, Monash University
Media and Public Understanding of Science
Co-editor of Futurum article "Magma Detectives: studying volcanic arcs to find valuable minerals in Earth’s crust" https://futurumcareers.com/magma-detectives-studying-volcanic-arcs-to-find-valuable-minerals-in-earths-crust
PR article about research group’s use of Linkam Scientific’s heating-freezing stages (www.talking-science.com)
Interview for Earth Magazine about the origins of porphyry copper deposits: (http://www.earthmagazine .org/article/studies-re-examine-how-major-copper-deposits-form)
Interview about banded iron formation specimen in the Natural History Museum's Hintze Hall - http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/polished-rock-shows-effects-of-earliest-life-on-earth/9047942
Interview for AmazingPlanet.com - earthquakes and gold:http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/4246-earthquakes-make-gold.html;http://news.yahoo.com/earthquakes-turn-water-gold-180356174.html
Interview broadcast on BBC World Business Reports: Careers for geologists in the mining industry
Interview broadcast on the "Today" programme on Radio 4: Careers for geologists in the mining industry
Expert advice provided for the BBC TV series: "Earth: The Power of the Planet", Episode 2, The Atmosphere
Expert advice provided to Sunday Times: article on "coltan" mining in Africa
Supervised PhD Student awards & prizes
2020: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize - Chetan Nathwani
2020: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Anglo American student poster prize - Emily Brugge
2019: SEG Fellowship (Ethan Tonks)
2019: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize - Chetan Nathwani
2017: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize - joint winner (James Davey - joint student with Southampton University)
2016: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Adam Pacey)
2015: SEG conference student talk prize - second place (Adam Pacey)
2013: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Edward Spencer)
2012: SEG Fellowship (Adam Pacey)
2011: Student poster prize SGA 2011 Conference (Edward Spencer)
2008: SEG Fellowship (Victoria Vry)
2008: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Victoria Vry)
2008: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Anglo American student poster prize (Penelope Small, Kingston University)
2007: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Ian Cope)
2006: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (John Chapman)
2003: Geological Society Fermor Meeting Anglo American student poster prize (Helen Crowther)
2003: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Barry Stoffell)
2002: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Claire Chamberlain)
1997: Judd Prize, best PhD (Sarah Gleeson)
Plenary Lectures
Plenary Speaker: 10th Biennial SGA Meeting, Townsville, Australia, August 2009
"Making metal super-charged ore fluids: The key to hydrothermal base-metal ore formation?"
Co-authors: David R. Cooke (CODES, ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of Tasmania), Dominik J. Weiss, Helen L. Crowther, Barry J. Coles (Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London), Teresa E. Jeffries (Department of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum), Chris G. Ryan, Jamie Laird (CSIRO Exploration and Mining, School of Physics, University of Melbourne)
Abstract. The formation of large hydrothermal ore deposits is optimized by several factors: efficient extraction of metals from the source region, elevated metal concentrations in hydrothermal fluids, high fluid flux, effective focusing of fluids into a limited rock volume and efficient precipitation. Of these parameters, metal solubility displays the widest variability (up to 4 orders of magnitude) and is potentially the most important. A case study tracing metal transport in the Irish orefield suggests that efficient extraction from the source rocks is critical for the formation of economic deposits. The observation that ore fluids trapped in sphalerite contain orders of magnitude more metal than those in quartz implies that ore deposition is related to the influx of metal super-charged brines produced by this efficient leaching process. Large parts of the hydrothermal system in space and time may be barren due to a failure to attain efficient extraction and transport conditions.
Keywords. hydrothermal, ore, metal, solubility, source, leaching
Other publications
Link to BENCHMARK paper in Science:
Wilkinson, JJ, Stoffell, B, Wilkinson, CC, Jeffries, TE, and Appold, M., 2009, Anomalously metal-rich fluids form hydrothermal ore deposits. Science, v. 323, p. 764-767.
Other Teaching
2001, 2007 Teaching on Hydrothermal Geochemistry Module, Mineral Exploration MSc, Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of Tasmania
My research focuses on understanding the geochemistry of hydrothermal fluid-rock interactions in the Earth's crust, in particular how metals are transported, deposited and dispersed in ore-forming systems. Current research areas include:
Controls of metallogenic fertility of arc magmas
Porphyry ore deposit genesis
Mineral chemistry of hydrothermal alteration and exploration applications
Applications of multivariate statistics, AI and machine learning techniques to mineral exploration
Use of transition metal isotopes (Zn Cu, Fe) for tracing metal sources, flow pathways and depositional mechanisms
Geochemistry of sediment-hosted ore systems
For more information, go to my research page
Biography
Honorary Lecturer, University College London, 2020-
Professor of Geology, Imperial College London, 2019-
LODE Director and Research Leader in Mineral Deposits, Natural History Museum, 2014-
Honorary Research Associate, University of Tasmania, 2010-
Visiting Research Professor, CODES, University of Tasmania, 2008-2010
Reader, Imperial College London, 2004-2019
Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London, 1999-2004
Lecturer, Imperial College, 1997-1999
Minorco Lecturer in Mineral Deposit Studies, Imperial College, 1993-1997
Shell Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Imperial College, 1990-1992
PhD, University of Southampton, 1986-1989
BA (Hons) Geological Sciences, Cambridge University, 1983-1986
Recent Measures of Esteem
2018 Keynote Speaker: Gordon Conference on Geochemistry of Ore Deposits, New Hampshire, USA
2017 Keynote Speaker: Geological Society’s Flagship Fermor Meeting: Factory Earth, London, UK
2016 Invited speaker, 35th International Geological Congress, Cape Town, South Africa
2015 Invited speaker, Sediment-hosted ores session, SEG Biennial Conference, Hobart, Tasmania
2015 Invited speaker, AMIRA Biennial Exploration Managers Conference, Barossa Valley, Australia
Positions
SEG Council, 2018-
Editorial Board, Economic Geology (2005-2008, 2016-)
Invited Lectures and Presentations
Keynote speaker: MDSG Annual Winter Meeting, University of Oxford, 2015
Invited Speaker: Porphyry ore deposits session, EGU, Vienna, 2014
Invited Presenter: African Metallogeny II, second SGA-SEG-UNESCO short course, Kitwe, Zambia, June 2013
Invited Speaker: AMIRA Biennial Exploration Managers conference, Perth, March 2012
Session Convenor & Conference Proceedings Co-editor: Porphyry deposits, 11th Biennial SGA Meeting, Antofagasta, September 2011
Session Convenor & Conference Proceedings Co-editor: Fluids from the core to the ore, Geological Society Fermor Meeting, London, September 2011
Invited Speaker: 13th Quadrennial IAGOD Symposium, Adelaide, April 2010
Invited Speaker: CODES 20th Anniversary Symposium, Hobart, December, 2009
Plenary Speaker: 10th Biennial SGA Meeting, Townsville, Australia, August 2009
Invited Speaker: Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Annual Convention, Toronto, March 2008
Invited Speaker: Ores and Orogenesis Symposium, Tucson, September 2007
Session Convenor & Conference Proceedings Co-editor: Carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposits, 9th Biennial SGA Meeting, Dublin, August 2007
Presenter: Workshop on sediment-hosted Pb-Zn deposits, 9th Biennial SGA Meeting, Dublin, August 2007
Keynote Speaker: Gordon Conference on Inorganic Geochemistry of Ore Deposits, August 2005
Invited Speaker: Penrose Conference on Mass Transfer in Continental Magmatic-Hydrothermal Systems, Yellowstone and Butte, Montana, 2004
Keynote Speaker: Geological Society of America Meeting, SEG special session on Cathodoluminescence, Seattle, 2003
Invited Speaker: Geological Society Fermor Flagship Meeting: World Class Mineral Deposits and Earth Evolution, Cardiff, 2003
Invited Speaker: P. Moeller Symposium, GFZ Potsdam, 2002
Invited Contribution: Lithos Special Issue on current state of knowledge on fluid inclusions: "Fluid Inclusions: Phase Relationships - Methods - Applications", 2001
Invited Speaker: Europe's Major Base Metal Deposits, Galway, 2000
Other Significant Activities
Research Refereeing and Reviews
Research Grant reviews carried out for NERC, NSF (USA), NSERC (Canada)
External Research Review, Earth Sciences, Monash University
Media and Public Understanding of Science
Co-editor of Futurum article "Magma Detectives: studying volcanic arcs to find valuable minerals in Earth’s crust" https://futurumcareers.com/magma-detectives-studying-volcanic-arcs-to-find-valuable-minerals-in-earths-crust
PR article about research group’s use of Linkam Scientific’s heating-freezing stages (www.talking-science.com)
Interview for Earth Magazine about the origins of porphyry copper deposits: (http://www.earthmagazine .org/article/studies-re-examine-how-major-copper-deposits-form)
Interview about banded iron formation specimen in the Natural History Museum's Hintze Hall - http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/polished-rock-shows-effects-of-earliest-life-on-earth/9047942
Interview for AmazingPlanet.com - earthquakes and gold:http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/4246-earthquakes-make-gold.html;http://news.yahoo.com/earthquakes-turn-water-gold-180356174.html
Interview broadcast on BBC World Business Reports: Careers for geologists in the mining industry
Interview broadcast on the "Today" programme on Radio 4: Careers for geologists in the mining industry
Expert advice provided for the BBC TV series: "Earth: The Power of the Planet", Episode 2, The Atmosphere
Expert advice provided to Sunday Times: article on "coltan" mining in Africa
Supervised PhD Student awards & prizes
2020: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize - Chetan Nathwani
2020: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Anglo American student poster prize - Emily Brugge
2019: SEG Fellowship (Ethan Tonks)
2019: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize - Chetan Nathwani
2017: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize - joint winner (James Davey - joint student with Southampton University)
2016: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Adam Pacey)
2015: SEG conference student talk prize - second place (Adam Pacey)
2013: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Edward Spencer)
2012: SEG Fellowship (Adam Pacey)
2011: Student poster prize SGA 2011 Conference (Edward Spencer)
2008: SEG Fellowship (Victoria Vry)
2008: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Victoria Vry)
2008: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Anglo American student poster prize (Penelope Small, Kingston University)
2007: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Ian Cope)
2006: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (John Chapman)
2003: Geological Society Fermor Meeting Anglo American student poster prize (Helen Crowther)
2003: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Barry Stoffell)
2002: Mineral Deposits Studies Group AGM Rio Tinto student talk prize (Claire Chamberlain)
1997: Judd Prize, best PhD (Sarah Gleeson)
Plenary Lectures
Plenary Speaker: 10th Biennial SGA Meeting, Townsville, Australia, August 2009
"Making metal super-charged ore fluids: The key to hydrothermal base-metal ore formation?"
Co-authors: David R. Cooke (CODES, ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of Tasmania), Dominik J. Weiss, Helen L. Crowther, Barry J. Coles (Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London), Teresa E. Jeffries (Department of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum), Chris G. Ryan, Jamie Laird (CSIRO Exploration and Mining, School of Physics, University of Melbourne)
Abstract. The formation of large hydrothermal ore deposits is optimized by several factors: efficient extraction of metals from the source region, elevated metal concentrations in hydrothermal fluids, high fluid flux, effective focusing of fluids into a limited rock volume and efficient precipitation. Of these parameters, metal solubility displays the widest variability (up to 4 orders of magnitude) and is potentially the most important. A case study tracing metal transport in the Irish orefield suggests that efficient extraction from the source rocks is critical for the formation of economic deposits. The observation that ore fluids trapped in sphalerite contain orders of magnitude more metal than those in quartz implies that ore deposition is related to the influx of metal super-charged brines produced by this efficient leaching process. Large parts of the hydrothermal system in space and time may be barren due to a failure to attain efficient extraction and transport conditions.
Keywords. hydrothermal, ore, metal, solubility, source, leaching
Other publications
Link to BENCHMARK paper in Science:
Wilkinson, JJ, Stoffell, B, Wilkinson, CC, Jeffries, TE, and Appold, M., 2009, Anomalously metal-rich fluids form hydrothermal ore deposits. Science, v. 323, p. 764-767.
Other Teaching
2001, 2007 Teaching on Hydrothermal Geochemistry Module, Mineral Exploration MSc, Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of Tasmania
FACULTY
- Faculty of Engineering
POSITION NAME
- Professor of Geology