Module manager: Dr Taija Torvela
Email: t.m.torvela@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
Successful completion of Level 1 of registered programme This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Critical minerals, exploration and mining sectors are important employment avenues for our graduates, and are set to become increasingly as society pursues a low carbon future. Students will be introduced the scientific and economic drivers of the global industrial framework and provided with both the scientific background and transferable skills ’ to enhance employability in both this industry and others relevant to the general discipline. The module will place the processes of aggregate and ore formation in the context of wider geological processes and, where appropriate, current research activities, whilst also addressing subjects generic to the applied geosciences such as chemical and mineralogical characterization of geological materials.
The module is designed to provide an introduction to the geological science which underpins the industrial minerals, exploration and mining sectors, which are important employers of our graduates. In addition, the module addresses subjects generic to the applied geosciences (chemical and mineralogical characterization of geological materials, exploration ) and introduces the importance of economics in the industry and current major shifts in the industry that relate to the low carbon economy. Students will gain an understanding of the career pathways in the sector
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the exploration, mining, processing and remediation challenges facing global supply of major commodities and metals necessary for a transition to a low carbon future.
2. Understand the general principles behind ore-forming processes in the Earth’s crust
3. Predict likely settings of specific types of mineralization on the basis of local and regional geology and wider geological processes.
4. Understand what standard identification methods and analytical techniques are used to characterise mineralized material, including identification of ore minerals and their alteration products
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the aggregates industry in the UK
.
Employability, awareness of various career options for geology graduates
1. Metals in the energy transition
2. The global exploration industry and the exploitation cycle; exploration approaches
3. Mineralogical and chemical analysis of mineralized materials, chemical behaviour of ore minerals
4. Geological processes and their link to concentrating metals in the crust.
5. Hydrothermal processes and metal transport, source, transport and trap.
6. The UK aggregates industry.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group learning | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| Lecture | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Practical | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 70 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 30 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 100 | ||
Students will be expected to invest time over and above class time to gain the appropriate level of mineral recognition skills, group work skills and to reflect on the employability skills being developed.
Feedback during practical sessions and on outputs from non-assessed group work
Monitoring of progress during class sessions dedicated to formative and assessed posters
Feedback regarding formative poster prior to design of assessed poster
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Poster Presentation | Poster presentation on a relevant resource | 30 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 30 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) (S2) | 2.0 Hrs 0 Mins | 70 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 70 | |
Resit for this module will comprise a single mark from examination. The group poster will not form part of the resit.
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 10/09/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team