Dante Huff

Dissertation title

Evaluating the role of magmatic-hydrothermal fluids in sedimentary rock-hosted, disseminated gold deposits of the Battle Mountain Mining District, Nevada (funded by NSF)

K-12 outreach topics

Earth science, chemistry, women in STEM, groundwater, isotopes, minerals and mining, exploration geology (bilingual English/French)

I received my BSc in Earth and Planetary Sciences from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 2011. I accepted an exploration contract with a Canadian junior company to work on VMS and banded iron projects in Nunavut, Canada. Following my contract, I worked for three years as a hydrogeologist at an environmental consulting firm in Calgary, Alberta where I supervised drill programs, created maps and groundwater models using geophysical well logs, and wrote technical reports. After deciding to return to mining and mineral exploration, I began my PhD in 2015. My research examines gold deposits in the Battle Mountain mining district of Nevada using geochronology, (U-Th)/He thermochronology, and geochemistry. We hypothesize that these deposits represent an intermediate point along a porphyry-Carlin spectrum. My research will lead to a better understanding of the processes required for gold mineralization in sedimentary rock-hosted deposits, thereby improving exploration efforts. When not working, I am either outdoors (trail running, hiking, skiing) or cozy at home (cooking, painting, reading).