Research project: Improved mineral exploration and exploitation strategies
The big science question: The Zambian Copperbelt represents the largest known repository of copper on Earth. Research at the University of Southampton has resulted in fundamental changes to the existing mineral exploration paradigm which emerged through a new scientific understanding of the processes responsible for Ore Formation. The major impact of the research has thus been economic in providing more exploration targets to aid better exploitation of ore bodies in the Zambian Basin, against a background of global increasing demand and market price of copper. The new approach will also impact mineral exploration elsewhere around the globe where these types of ores are hosted.