Mon
6 Jan 2025MERC 2023-2024 Annual Report
I’m pleased to present this Annual Report, a summary of our 2023-24 Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC) and Metal Earth research activities.
Our Annual Report highlights the results and progress of researchers, students, faculty, and staff at Laurentian University and our partners across Canada and worldwide. Our research partnerships benefit from support and collaboration with government agencies, industry, geological surveys, other universities, and research institutes.
This report includes public data releases, peer-reviewed publications, and discoveries made during and after the end of the official reporting period (March 31, 2024).
Every year, MERC and its collaborators continue to:
• deliver scientific breakthroughs
• publish high-impact open-access journal articles
• create and strengthen partnerships with industry, government, and academic institutions
• prepare public data releases
• organize global events
• host international collaborations.
Canada’s Metal Earth project, the largest university-led geoscience project in the world, is in its ninth year. Since its inception, the project has collected, processed, and released massive amounts of data across over a dozen transects. This publicly available data and research-backed interpretation advance Canadian mineral exploration and investment opportunities. They also provide geological insights and proven techniques that may be applied in other parts of the world. Laurentian leads Metal Earth with research groups at partner universities. The project’s primary funding comes from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
As Metal Earth nears completion, we look forward to sharing our collective research results and celebrating the milestones achieved on scientific, academic, and personal levels. This project and its people have advanced our understanding of the fundamental processes that result in differential metal endowment, improving mineral exploration targeting and success.
As industry and government look to further invest in exploration to meet global demand, MERC focuses on developing partnerships, projects, and research that advances geoscience. It’s inspiring work, and I am pleased to share it with you as we look forward to 2025.
-Ross Sherlock, Director, MERC & Metal Earth
