Centre of Excellence for Integrated Mineral and Energy Resource Analysis
DST-NRF CIMERA is a Centre of Excellence hosted by the University of Johannesburg and co-hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand, in partnership with thirteen South African and one international university. It serves as a central hub for research and human resource development in mineral and energy resource analysis in Africa. South Africa hosts one of the most valuable mineral real estates in the world. The focus of DST-NRF CIMERA is to perform high quality, world-leading, basic and applied research on the vast mineral and fossil fuel resources of, not only South Africa, but Africa as a whole, and to develop human capital. The knowledge so obtained ensures optimum and sustainable extraction and utilization of the natural resources. This is aligned with one of the South African Government’s national strategies, recognizing that mineral and fossil energy resources represent cornerstones of the country’s economy. DST-NRF CIMERA places much emphasis on funding postgraduate student bursaries and running costs for student research projects in economic geology in order to ensure the supply of properly qualified human resources for the future of the mineral and energy resource industries on the continent and abroad.
DST-NRF Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Integrated Mineral and Energy Resource Analysis (CIMERA) is hosted by the Department of Geology at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and co-hosted by the School of Geosciences at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). DST-NRF CIMERA was launched on the 24th April 2014 by the National Research Foundation (NRF) section of the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST). The CoE is funded by the (previous) Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF), with contributions from the University of Johannesburg and the University of the Witwatersrand. CoE’s are mandated by the DST to supplement funding through collaborative industry and internationally funded projects.
The study of the origin, distribution and character of Earth mineral and fossil energy resource systems with the aim of ensuring their sustainable utilization not only in South Africa but Africa as a whole.
DST-NRF CIMERA’s Eight Focus Areas
1. Early Earth Mineral Systems and Metallogenesis
Crustal and mineral deposit evolution in the Archean and Proterozoic eras. The impact on mineralization systems of the Great Oxidation Event
2. Metallogeny and Paleogeographic Implications of Layered Igneous Complexes (LICs) and Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs)
The main focus is on the Bushveld Complex combined with studies on the Molopo Farms, Uitkomstand Kunene Complexes, and LIPs such as the Umkondo LIP, supplemented with geochronological studies and paleomagnetic reconstructions of ancient supercontinents.
3. Diamonds, Kimberlites, and Deep Crustal Processes
Focus on southern African occurrences of this economically important rock class.
4. Metallogeny of the greater Witwatersrand-Pongola Basin
Focus on gold and uranium mineralization coupled with geophysics and geometallurgy to assist with “Advance Orebody Knowledge for Future Deep Mechanized Mining” as part of Operation Phakisa.
5. Manganese and Iron Ore Deposits:
Major focus on characterization of the giant Kalahari Manganese Deposit and the high-grade Sishen-type iron ore deposits of the Transvaal Supergroup in the Northern Cape Province, with a secondary focus on manganese and iron ore deposits in other parts of Africa; coupled with geochronology to understand the timing of metallogenesis and geometallurgical studies to ensure proper future utilization of the deposits, including low-grade ore resources.
6. Base, Critical Metals, Gold and Other Deposits
Although the list of critical metals may vary from year to year and from country to country, it is recognised that some are in short supply. There are many elements of growing interest, such as indium and germanium, that have had little use historically. The major focus is on assessing those critical metals that are available in Africa.
7. Energy Resources of Karoo-aged Basins
Major focus on coal deposits and potential for natural gas production including shale gas with some work on Cretaceous basins of southern Africa
8. Environmental and Groundwater Geology
Focus on reclamation of old mine dumps and minimizing the effects of mining on the environment.
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The CoE-SM established the African Materials Science and Engineering Network (AMSEN), funded by Carnegie through the RISE at SIG, Princeton. This network includes the Universities of the Witwatersrand, Botswana, Ghana, Namibia and Nairobi, and the Federal University of Akure, Nigeria (FUTA). AMSEN was set-up to facilitate the development of African researchers, as well as facilitating the procurement of essential equipment. Through AMSEN, students and supervisors have received broad exposure to knowledge sharing. Where equipment has not been available, they have been able to utilise the equipment within the Network.
Researchers within the CoE-SM collaborated to form the Materials for Energy Research Group (MERG). It is a research grouping of materials scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand, who focus on the study and the application of novel materials for energy production and energy storage. MERG comprises researchers from Chemistry, Engineering and Physics. A novel structure was thought to leverage the facilities and the diverse talents across different faculties involved in renewable energy research, which should focus on materials aspects, and allow for the development of novel technologies from the modelling stage to the final industrial product. MERG has collaborations with Brazil, Italy and Germany.
Since its inception over 10 years ago, the CoE-SM has achieved many successes. Official funding from the DST and NRF ends in 2019, and to continue the knowledge building within the scientific community, the CoE-SM is considering diversifying its research and collaborating with both local and international partners to achieve this. The Centre of Excellence is an excellent model for research, knowledge building and collaboration, and the aim is to continue and expand this model.
FEI Tecnai 120kV TEM
TEM, STEM, EDX, H DF
FEI Nova 600 Nanolab FIBSEM
HRSEM, EDX, BSE, micromachining, 3D structure studies, site preparation
Cameca SX5-FE EPMA
Electron Probe Microanalyser
FEI Quanta 400 ESEM
HRSEM, BSE, EDX, CL, ESEM
LEO 1550 FEG-SEM
EDS, EBSD
2X Reichert Ultracut E Ultramicrotomes
Sectioning of samples for TEM
Gatan PIPS ion mill
Final thinning of samples for TEM
Two Veeco Atomic Force Microscope instruments
AFM, SPM, many different modes of operation
Olympus BX63 OFM
Microscope
Locally manufactured specialised equipment for cold cathode emission
With continuous and pulsed HV supply. The system is used t well as photon enhanced emissions of materials
Lenton TSH 12/38/250 tube furnace
Sample heating under different atmosphere
Senographe 500t mammography unit
Used for low energy X-ray detector development
PTW Unidose E
For checking and calibrating radiation responses of detector
Diode E
Precise beam profiling in electron and photon fields
X-100T CdTe X-ray and Gamma Ray Defector/System
Investigation of low energy X-ray and gamma-ray beams
Well Diamond Wire Saw
Precision slicing of samples
Ion implantion facilities at iThemba LABS (Gauteng)
Surface modification, thin layer doping, radiation damage, et
Radio frequency annealing furnace
High temperature rapid annealing in gas ambiet
Electropolisher
Smoothing surfaces
Magnetron sputtering Unit
Preparatin of thin films
CIV Hall effect System
Electrical charachterization of Materials
Surface Brillouin Lab
Optical system for measuring elastic properties
Raman instrument I: Vis, triple grating instrament
Raman spectroscopy in visible spectrum
Raman instrument II: UV-Vis NIR Lab RAM
Raman spectroscopy in UV, Visibile and NIR
Cory 500 UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer
Absorption and reflectance measurments from 200um to 30
Vacuum and air induction furnaces
Melting & Casting
Water atomiser
Powder manufacture, base and precious metals
80 tonne uniaxial compaction press
Consolidation of powders
Fabrication - forging, hot/cold rolling, etc.
Sample shaping
Air muffle furnaces, vacuum tube and sintering furnaces
Heat treatment different temperatures up to 1800°C)
Fatigue, tensile, 3 point bend rigs, hardness testers (Brinell and Vickers)
Mechanical testing
Metallography Lab with optical microscopes
Sample prep (grinding, polishing, etching)
Image analysis software
Potensiostats
Autoclaves (can be set up for HIC testing, only Lab in SA) Stress Corrosion
Corrosion testing
High Resolution NanoNova SEM with EDS (incl. mapping) and EBSD
Imaging, chemical analysis, crystal structure
NETZSCH Simultaneous Thermal Analysis Facility (DTA TGA DSC)
Thermal analysis, thermogravimetry, calorimetry of metals
SIEMENS XRD
Crystal structure, rest-austenite
Vacutec EB-PVD
Thin films and coatings
Thermo-CalcTM Laptop Databases:
Fe, Al, Mg databases
Building Pt based alloy database
Prediction of phase diagrams, phase equilibria, liquidus temperatures
Thermo-Calc with Fe, Al, Ti databases
Prediction of phase diagrams, phase equilibria, liquidus temperaratures
Crystal Diffractration software
SINT MTS3000 Incremental Hole-Drilling Strain Gauge Instrumentation
Measurement of residual stress profiles
Producut Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) Equipment
Advanced machining operations
Kistler Multi-Component Stationary Dynamometer
Dynamic three-dimensional force and moment measurements
Gleeble 3500
Thermo-mechanical simulations
Hot Platinum Induction furnace
Melting of samples under vacuum or argon
Resonant Frequency & Damping Analyser
Resonant frequency, internal friction or damping. Calculates Young's & shear modulus, Poisson ratio
Tensile test machine
5 t tensile test facility
Centerline Cold Spray equipment
Coating of various surfaces with metalic powders for a large range of applications
Zeiss high vacuum SEM
SE, BSE, EDX
Potentiostats
Autolab
Corrosion rates; corrosion charaterisation
Potentio-dynamic testing: DC as well as AC
Corrosion interface analyses; Coating corrosion resistance characterisation
Solartron , Software on order
Corrosion rates; corrosion charaterisation; Corrosion interface analyses; Coating corrosion resistance characterisation
Ultrasonic cleaning
Sample cleaning
Autoclave High temperature and high pressure exposure tests, Influence of flow rate, SCC constant deformation, C-ring, U- bend specimens, Weight loss tests
Corrosion rate determination at high temperatures and pressures for stagnant and turbulent conditions
Salt spray cabinet
Atmospheric evaluation of coatings
Hardware
Multi-core (Xenon): 96 Cores
Fast GHz 48 port switch
System Software
Linux (Intel compilers)
Specialised Software
Quantum Espresso, Abinit, GPAW, Siesta, LAMMPS
Meep, MPB
Columbus, Cfour
Visualization
Vesta, Xcrysden
TGA
Used for evaluating temperature effects on a material e.g. weight loss under air or nitrogen.
TPR
Used for analysing the reduction behaviour of metal oxides. Equipment also permits measurement of gas desorption.
X- band Electron Magnetic Resonance spectrometer (continuous wave and FT-EMR)
Characterization of materials and fundemental physics studies
Pulsed broad-line Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer
Characterization of materials and fundamental physics studies
Micro-tribometer
Friction and sliding wear tests
Reciprocating wear machine
Reciprocating wear tests
Surface Roughness machine
Surface roughness measurements
3 & 4 point bend jig
TRS measurement
3 balls on 1
TRS measurement
Arc Melter
Alloy melting
Attrition mill
Milling ceramic powders
Mixer, 10 000rpm
Shear mixing of suspensions
Cutting machine
Sample preparation
Density balance
Quick but approximate density measurement
Drying oven New
Drying ceramic powders
Drying oven Old
Debinding and resin curing work
DTA
Pending
furnace, muffle, 1800°C
Ceramic materials sintering
furnace, Tube 1600°C
Ceramic materials sintering
furnace, tube 1700°C
Ceramic materials sintering and controled atmosphere reactions
furnance muffle 1600°C
Ceramic materials sintering
Furnace, muffle, 1200°C
Ceramic materials sintering
Glove Box
Handling air sensitive powders and reagents
Hot Press
Ceramic materials sintering
Lathe
Machining studies
Leak detectors
Vacuum equipment testing for leaks
Mass balance
Mass balance
Microscope - Lathe Room
to look
Microscope
Microscope - Rom 136
Microscope
Microscope - Room 409
Mounting Press
Microscopy sample preparation
Patricle Size Analyzer
Planetary Ball Mill
Milling fine powders
Rheometer
Viscosity of suspensions
Rotary Evaporator
Drying suspensions after milling
Sample Polishing Machine
For microscopy
Sand Blaster
Cleaning surfaces
Sniffer
Vacuum equipment testing for leaks
SPS Furnace
Ceramic materials sintering
Turbula mixer
Dry mixing of powders
Ultrasonic bath
Sample cleaning
Zeta Sizer
Nanoscale powder PSD
University of Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Rhodes University
Stellenbosch University
University of Fort Hare
University of Pretoria
University of Venda
University of Cape Town
University of the Western Cape
University of the Free State
Helmholtz Freiberg Institute for Resource Technology
University of Limpopo
Notice: Please contact international@erc-assoc.org if you represent this Research Institution and have identified any required additions or modifications to the above information.