Madeline Murtaugh

About

I am a first-year PSM student advised by Dr. Mark Barton. Previously, as an undergraduate at Penn State, I have gathered and interpreted EMPA data and observations of thin sections of lithospheric xenoliths from Katwe-Kikorongo, Uganda to assess the beginnings of continental rifting and examined historic tailing specimens from abandoned mines in Pennsylvania to characterize the major, minor, and trace elements present with EMPA and ICP-MS data to determine if there are economically feasible amounts of critical elements (such as cobalt) present.

Now, in obtaining my master’s from UArizona, I plan to build a stronger background in Economic Geology and gain valuable skill sets that will prepare me for a career as an exploration or development geologist in the mining industry. To do that, I am characterizing the Red Dyke copper porphyry prospect in Safford. Outside of my studies, I enjoy painting landscapes of the places I have visited either for fieldwork or for fun.

Education

2023 – BS in Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University

Project Description

Supervisor: Dr. Mark Barton

Project Title: Characterization of the alteration and geochemistry of the Freeport-McMoRan Red Dyke copper porphyry prospect (working title)

My project focuses on characterizing selected aspects of the alteration, mineralization, paragenesis, and geochemistry of the Red Dyke porphyry copper prospect in the Safford district in partnership with Freeport-McMoRan using Anaconda-style mapping and logging techniques and gathering SEM-EDS-CL, EMPA, and LA-ICP-MS data. The goal is to generate a dataset to evaluate major and trace/critical element distributions that will be useful for economic, environmental, or exploration purposes.

The analysis of the mineralogical patterns in the Red Dyke prospect will be compared with other porphyry copper systems in the Safford district and beyond.