(Posted February 10, 2003)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Ryan Mathur, assistant professor of geology at Juniata College, will lecture on "Clues to Finding the Motherlode: Insights from Isotope Chemistry" as part of the Bookend Seminar lecture series at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 12, in Neff Lecture Hall in the von Liebig Center for Science.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Mather's talk will focus on how geologists analyze the chemical composition of rocks to "detect" or determine the processes that took place to form deposits of gold, copper and other precious metals.

Mathur will explain his current research interests, which focus on how copper isotopes, as well as isotopes from rhenium and osmium "behave" in nature. This research has implications in being able to use more efficient ways to recover gold, copper and molybdenum in mining operations. Mathur will discuss his research on ore from deposits in Chile, Iran, Java, Peru, Portugal, Spain and the United States.

Mathur came to Juniata College as a faculty member in 2001. He earned a bachelor's degree in geology and history at Juniata in 1996. He went on to earn a doctorate in geosciences at the University of Arizona in 2000.

He served as a teaching assistant while at Arizona, teaching such courses as Chemical Evolution of the Earth, Physical Geology and Introduction to Geochemistry.

Mathur's research focuses on using geochemistry to investigate the evolution of ore deposits. He received First Place in the University of Arizona Graduate Student Showcase in 2000. While at Arizona, he received the Tuscon Gem & Mineral Society Scholarship and the Sulzer Earth Science Scholarship.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.