Tue

14 Jan

Sharlotte Mkhonto successful MSc thesis defence

Students, faculty and staff of the Harquail School of Earth Sciences would like to congratulate Sharlotte Mkhonto for successfully defending her MSc thesis!

Sharlotte’s MSc project was titled “The use of sulfide mineral chemistry to understand PGE-mineralization processes in the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa”. Her supervisors were Dr. Pedro Jugo and Dr. Matthew Leybourne. Funding was provided by Ivanplats (an IvanhoeMines company), NSERC, and from the Goodman School of Mines.

Originally from Burgersfort, Limpopo, South Africa, Sharlotte obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Limpopo, where she conducted research on the “Geology and Geochemistry of the UG2 Reef in the Klipfontein Farm, Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa.” Under the supervision of Dr. Abera Tessema, the main objective of this study was to understand the control of the variation of platinum group elements (PGEs) along the strike direction of the UG2 Reef. Moreover, Sharlotte determined the vertical distribution of PGEs within the Reef using lithology and assay data.

Aside from her academic success, Sharlotte demonstrated great leadership and her effective communication and planning skills in various functions as a teaching assistant and within geoscience clubs at both the University of Limpopo, South Africa, and Laurentian University, Canada. We all wish her continued great success in her future career!