Objective
Tungsten is a strategic resource crucial to a wide range of industries due to its unique physical properties, especially for the production of alloys and carbides. World tungsten supply is currently somewhat volatile owing to the market domination by a single nation (China), as well as recently imposed export quotas that contribute to market instability. The disappearance of EU tungsten would result in full dependence of several critical industries on imports from abroad. In this context, understanding the distribution of tungsten at local and regional scales within Europe has been deemed strategically important by the European Union.
The regional distribution of tungsten is controlled by the location of the granites that act as the source of tungsten. The local distribution of tungsten is controlled by the mechanisms that lead to tungstate precipitation. Therefore, understanding metal provenance, and the processes of metal mobilization and deposition is essential to determining where mineralization will occur. This study will provide the first state-of-the-art quantitative data on how fluids evolve in a world-class tungsten deposits (Panasqueira) and, based on those results, will provide constraints on genetic processes and on the distribution of tungsten. Furthermore, this study will apply cutting-edge analytical techniques to define the isotopic composition and age of ore minerals, providing better understanding of the source of metals, which is also one of the defining factors in the regional distribution of tungsten.
This project will position the European Union at the forefront of research in the geology of tungsten and establish a network of researchers with the background and tools to continue to advance this field in close collaboration with the industry partners.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF
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Funding Scheme
MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)Coordinator
8092 Zuerich
Switzerland