I would like to bring to your attention a conference session
and workshop on EMPA dating of accessory minerals to be held
at the STOMP conference, James Cook University, Townsville,
Australia. The STOMP conference runs from August 29 to
September 2 and the workshop follows directly after on
September 3 and September 4. More details of the conference
are available at http://www.jcu.edu.au/STOMP . The
conference session will focus on refinements of the
technique and new applications, but submissions covering any
aspect of EMPA dating will be welcome. Joe Pyle will be the
keynote speaker.

The first day of the workshop run by Joe Pyle and myself
will focus on the dating process from  beginning (sample
choice, imaging, calibration, etc.) to end (data reduction
and presentation) and comparison to isotopic data. The
second day will involve working on 2 case studies with
frequent visits to the JEOL JXA-8200 Superprobe. For the
second day, we will take 1 or 2 thin sections from each of
two suites or localities - one will have a
microstructural/tectonic emphasis (Case Study 1), and the
other (Case Study 2) will have a metallogenic/ore deposit
emphasis (i.e. from a Y, P, Th, U, REE deposit of economic
grade, or at least worth studying). The dateable mineral in
the microstructural suite should be monazite, the ore
deposit suite may contain anything from monazite to
uraninite, thorite, thorogummite allanite, baddeleyite, or
xenotime that may be present in a primary or secondary ore-
assemblage association. Each participant will submit a
short "dating proposal" (less than a page) for either the
microstructural-emphasis suite or the ore-deposit suite
emphasizing:

1) what chemically dateable accessories may be present
2) the general setting of the suite (sample)
3) an idea of whether the expected ages lie at the old or
young end of the spectrum
4) what types of questions you hope to answer by getting
ages, and the desired precision necessary (if obtainable) to
answer these questions.

Joe and I will look over the submissions, and pick a
microstructural-emphasis sample and an ore-emphasis sample.
Joe and I will gather the raw data on the samples at our
respective laboratories prior to the workshop and we will
review it on the JEOL JXA-8200 Superprobe at James Cook
University during day 2 of the workshop. The analytical time
will be costly, but is included in the registration fee. The
deadline for dating proposals is February 15 and receipt of
the chosen thin-section March 1 in order to complete the
extensive analyses Joe and I plan to perform on the samples
in sufficient time. We may accept additional samples, time
and cost permitting.

A more detailed outline and schedule for the workshop will
be posted shortly on the STOMP website at
http://www.jcu.edu.au/STOMP . Experts in the field, such as
Alain Cocherie, Jean Marc MONTEL, Mike Williams, and
Kazuhiro Suzuki will be attending the session and
participating in the workshop.

Don't forget to book airline tickets as early as possible to
Australia as ticket prices have a tendency to rise
dramatically approaching the departure date. Good prices
from Sydney, Brisbane, or Cairns to Townsville can be found
at www.virginblue.com.au, www.jetstar.com.au,
www.quantas.com.au, and www.allianceairlines.com.au

Please drop a short e-mail to me if you are interested in
attending either the conference session or workshop.
Cheers,
Paul M. Evins
School of Earth Sciences
James Cook University   work: +61747814747
Townsville, QLD 4811            mobile: +61408197595
AUSTRALIA               http://www.jcu.edu.au/~jc146233