M W Knoper

Enquiries are welcome.  For my professional vitae, refer to my LinkedIn profile.

Generally speaking, I prefer projects where…

1. The project is something to which I can bring value.
2. The goals are of interest to me.
3. The people are realistic yet open-minded.

Take note that when in remote areas with poor communication I'm not always able to timeously respond to enquiries.

Experience:  geochemistry, geological mapping, ore body modeling, appraisal, massive & dessiminated ore deposits, magmatic & epithermal mineralization, greenfield & brownfield exploration, and drilling program management.

Field work:  greenstone belts, layered igneous intrusions, orogenic complexes, volcanic provinces, extended crustal domains, cratons & cordilleras, the Antarctic.

Analytical:  electron-microprobe, scanning electron microscope, mineral liberation analyzer, petrographic microscope (digital photography), XRD, x-ray fluorescence, Micromine, Leapfrog, GIS, and remote sensing.

Endorsements:  geology, mineralogy, mineral exploration, structural geology, petrology, minerals, earth science, field work, economic geology, groundwater, mining, sedimentology, rock mechanics, sampling, tectonics, environmental impact assessment, gold, geophysics, hydrogeology, geotechnical engineering, geomorphology, soil, metallurgy, logging, stratigraphy, geostatistics, slope stabililty, and spatial analysis.

Photograph caption – the Merensky Reef basal chromitite exposed underground (M W Knoper). Much of the world's platinum is found associated with the basal chromitite layer of the Merensky Reef in the Bushveld Complex. The basal chromitite is the thin dark band about 0.5 cm thick near the center of the photo, between the dark Merensky Pyroxenite and the light-colored footwall anorthosite. Platinum group minerals often found here include PGM phases such as isoferroplatinum, maslovite, sperrylite, cooperite, and braggite.

Photograph caption – the Steenkampskraal monazite orebody exposed underground (M W Knoper). Monazite, a mineral rich in the light rare earth elements cerium, lanthanum, and neodymium, is the most common REE ore mineral found at Steenkampskraal, a REE ore deposit located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The brown-colored region in the bottom half of the photograph is composed of fine-grained monazite-(Ce) and apatite, whereas (the more reflective) quartz-rich zones are proximal to concentrations of magnetite and chalcopyrite. The pencil magnet measures about 10 cm in length.