Mineral Exploration Research Centre

To conduct and promote cutting-edge, field-based, collaborative research on mineral deposits and their environments, and to educate and train highly qualified personnel (HQP) for careers in the minerals industry, academia or government.

The objectives of MERC are to:

• Promote collaborative university-government-industry research on mineral deposits and Precambrian geology
• Pursue a fundamental understanding of mineral deposits and their geological settings
• Aid the Canadian mining industry in the discovery of ore deposits
• Train geologists in mineral exploration research techniques

In order to accomplish these objectives, MERC performs the following functions:

• Undertakes industry-identified and internally-generated fundamental and applied research on mineral deposits and Precambrian geology
• Characterizes mineral deposits and their host rocks, country rocks and alteration haloes at regional district, and local scales using modern geological and geochemical methods
• Develops geological and geochemical tools to aid industry in area selection, district selection, and deposit location
• Develops improved geological and genetic model for mineral deposits in order to better understand their origin and distribution
• Communicates research findings to industry, government, and the scientific community
• Contributes to the training of academic and industry researchers and students through teaching programs in the Department of Earth Sciences and through workshops and short courses