Dr Nicholas Gardiner

Dr Nicholas Gardiner

Reader

Senior Lecturer

Researcher profile

Phone
+44 (0)1334 46 3911
Email
nick.gardiner@st-andrews.ac.uk

 

Biography

2019: Senior Lecturer, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews

2018-19: Research Fellow, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Melbourne

2015-18: Research Fellow, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, Perth

2013-15: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford

2011-13: Vice President, JP Morgan Commodities, London

2010-11: Vice President, Deutsche Bank Commodities, London

2005-09: Vice President, Merrill Lynch Commodities, London

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DPhil Isotope Geochemistry & Metamorphic Petrology, University of Oxford

MSc Geochemistry, University of Leeds

BA (Hons) Geology, MA, University of Oxford

Teaching

Director, MSc in Geochemistry

Director of Postgraduate Teaching (DoPGT)

Research areas

My background is academia and finance. I worked for a decade in the global commodities markets followed by a decade in academia (UK & Australia) looking at the geological formation and discovery of battery metals, especially tin and lithium. I have worked on projects on lithium in Zimbabwe, Namibia and EsWatini, and tin in South Africa, Myanmar, and Rwanda, from the Archean to the Cenozoic. I have an interest in the geopolitics of battery metals and how developing nations can sustainably exploit their natural mineral resources.

Geologically, I am a petrologist whose research focuses on the magmatic and metamorphic processes that have shaped the evolution of Earth’s lithosphere, and the development of its metal resources, from the Archaean to the present day. We build geological models 'from the bottom up', looking at regional-scale crustal processes which ultimately give rise to economic deposits, and link into industry. My current research focus broadly divides into two areas: 

  • Processes leading to the development of magmatic-hydrothermal mineralization, with an emphasis on Li-Sn-Ta deposits such as LCT pegmatites and tin granites. I am particularly interested in the use of accessory mineral chemistry to understand the evolution of magmatic systems before and during vapour saturation, and to trace the mobility of metals of interest.
  • Archaean geodynamics and magmatism. With colleagues, I apply geochemical and isotopic techniques to mafic and evolved rocks to understand (a) settings of crust production on the early Earth; and (b) the nature and timescales of craton assembly and stabilization. I have worked in Western Australia, West Greenland and South Africa. I have also investigated linking isotopic and trace element modelling to phase equilibria modelling, to understand the nature of isotopic evolution during partial melting processes.

I am very interested in metal supply chains, especially upstream; the challenges and opportunities in exploration and how to derisk this; geopolitics, especially in Africa; and technology and policy development around all of this especially as it relates to the energy transition.

Google Scholar

I am PI of the St Andrews Geochronology laboratory (StAGE), with a newly-installed tandem LA-LIBS (laser ablation – laser induced breakdown spectroscopy) setup allowing high precision chemical characterisation at the micron scale as well as geochronological and tracing work via MC-ICP-MS and QQQ-ICP-MS (U-Pb, Hf in zircon; trace elements in accessory minerals) for broad crustal evolution research.

From 2021-24 I was the Theme Leader for the Geological Society's "Energy Transition" theme.

PhD supervision

  • Joseph Benson
  • Joseph Metcalfe
  • Jose Nava de la Peña

Selected publications

 

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