Introducing new MIWATCH member

The MIWATCH Group are pleased to welcome new member Allan Gomes, to the team as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Allan is a Geologist specialised in bulk rock and mineral characterisation of diverse geological materials for multiple purposes. He will apply his analytical skills on projects focused on the mineral characterisation of mining byproducts. 

Allan graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2013). During this time, he also worked as a Geology Intern at Petrobras, where he developed skills on mineralogical characterisation of sandstones and carbonates from hydrocarbon-bearing offshore basins. Later, Allan obtained his Master of Science degree on Economic Geology at the Federal University of Paraná (2016). 

Allan undertook his PhD at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (SEES) at The University of Queensland (2022), where he was awarded a competitive scholarship from the Research Training Program. During his PhD, Allan investigated the timing and duration of igneous and hydrothermal events from the Paraná-Etendeka continental flood basalts through 40Ar/39Ar geochronology on groundmass and mineral separates. Part of his research included the mineral characterisation of the Paraná basalts using multiple analytical tools, such as scanning electron microscopy and electron probe microanalysis, to investigate compositional variations related to magmatic and secondary processes. 

Allan will be heavily involved in leading MIWATCH’s mineral characterisation across the different streams and state portfolios as we continue to identify the best tools for the job to really understand the deportment of critical metals at a very fine-scale. However, no MIWATCH’er can avoid a baptism by fire – he will be on his first fieldtrip before the month is out so look out for his blog on this experience!