​Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits are major sources of copper, lead, and zinc and contain significant amounts of gold, silver, lead, selenium, cadmium, bismuth, indium, and tin. They account for 22% of the world's Zn production, 9.7% of Pb, and 6% of Cu, making them key exploration targets for the mineral industry and essential suppliers of technology metals for the low-carbon energy transition. 

Although VMS are ideal targets for precious, critical (or strategic) metals, the contents and forms of occurrence of those metals remain poorly understood. The Iberian Pyrite Belt (Portugal and Spain) is perhaps one of the best-studied VMS districts in the world, yet, with the exception of Neves Corvo (IPB), little is known about the mineralogical sequestration of critical elements in IPB deposits. Likewise, Arizona VMS deposits have never been studied from this standpoint. In addition to understanding the mineralogy of the ores minerals in VMS deposits, there is a long-standing research need for innovative separation and extraction technologies to recover and purify critical metals from both ores and tailings. Thus, in this project, we aim to characterize the mineralogy and metallurgy of the sulfide ores within the Sesmarias Cu-Zn-Pb prospect (Iberian Pyrite Belt, Portugal) and of selected VMS deposits in Arizona (e.g., Jerome, Badgad). Knowledge of these characteristics can help improve mineral exploration, metallurgy, and mineral processing.