Hagni Description: This award supports the US-India & US-Namibia Collaborative Research: Role of Carbonatites in the Emplacement of Fluorite Orebodies at Okorusu, Namibia and Amba Dongar, India. PI Richard Hagni, University of Missouri Rolla, will conduct a comparative study of the world's two most significant carbonatite-related fluorite deposits. In collaboration with highly qualified international colleagues in Namibia and India, this study will generate important data on the mineralogy, geochemistry, ore petrology, and petrography of these deposits. Hagni and his students have already done much preliminary work to define the important issues of research and comparison between these two deposits. Numerous analytical techniques will be brought to bear on the samples including microthermometry of fluid inclusions, cathodoluminescence of carbonate minerals, trace-element analyses of fluorite, and ore microscopy of opaque phases. Scope: The PI is an excellent ore microscopist and materials analyst, he has a focused sense of what this research will accomplish, and has excellent facilities available in his department. The results will be of academic interest in the United States, but could be of considerable importance to Namibia and India from optimization of the processing technology used to recover economically important minerals. The proposed research will facilitate collaborative research and direct exchange of scientific information between researchers from the United States, India, and Namibia.
