Jesse Reimink , associate professor in the Department of Geosciences, will give a public talk, "Towards a Chrono-Chemical Framework for Understanding Critical Mineral Concentration Mechanisms in Complex Pegmatite Systems," at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10.
The free presentation, part of the EarthTalks series held by the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, will be in 112 Walker Building on the University Park campus. It also will stream online via Zoom.
Reimink will discuss critical minerals found in ore-grade concentrations where geological settings include fluid-melt processes at high temperatures. Because ore-forming processes are difficult to evaluate, he said, questions persist over the regional distribution of many critical ore-forming bodies.
As part of his talk, Reimink will present preliminary data about complex, hydrothermally altered zircon - a critical mineral - collected from coarse pegmatite rock, an ore, in two areas: Maine and the Northwest Territories of Canada.
"These data show similarities in the fluid-evolution of the pegmatite formation processes despite dramatic differences in the age and geological setting of these two distinct bodies" of rock, Reimink wrote in an abstract. He also will address the role of the element fluorine in the formation and enrichment of critical ore deposits.
Reimink, who holds the Rudy L. Slingerland Early Career Professorship in his department, runs a petrology and geochronology research group focused on the stabilization and distillation of continents. His current research includes complex ore formation systems across a range of geological settings. He also directs the new energy-transition cluster within Penn State's minor program in entrepreneurship and innovation.
His talk is part of EarthTalks' fall 2025 series, "Critical Minerals - A National Economic and Security Imperative," which focuses on the need for a reliable supply chain of critical minerals and the ongoing research to provide them domestically. For more about the series, visit the EarthTalks website.
