KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES

The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources held the 12^th international joint research project workshop titled “Deep Processes and Matallogeny of Northern-Central-Eastern Asia” on Sept. 15^th and 16^th.

This event was attended by: Dong Shuwen, Vice president of Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Bazarbay Nurabayev, Director of Kazakhstani Ministry of Investments and Development, Baldorj Baatartsogt, Director of Mongolian Ministry of Mining and Andrey Morozov, Director of Russian the Federal Agency of Mineral Resources; and about 100 experts from such countries as China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia in order to cooperate in their respective fields of study. During the workshop, experts from each country made a presentation addressing several of the 24 topics in total, which was followed by the preparation of a protocol on the next-year project and a signing ceremony.

As a part of the workshop program, the period from Sept. 17^th to 19^th will include a tour to the western side of the Korean Peninsula from Hongseong through the Anmyeondo Islet to Buan, which will give an opportunity for in-depth discussions on the subduction of plates and the continental collisions experienced by the western region of the peninsula from the Proterozoic Era to the Mesozoic Era.

Meanwhile, this project which commenced in 2002 has been attended by South Korea, China, Russia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan; in which the third step (2013-2020) is currently in progress following the first step (2003-2007) and the second step (2008-2012). The intent of this project is to publish thematic maps including a geological map, geotectonic map, mineral resources distribution map, energy resources distribution, magnetic declination map, geochemical map, and thickness distribution map of sedimentary layers of the northern-central-eastern Asian region. In addition, the participatory countries will cooperate in, and study, multiple topics such as 3D crustal structure, the mechanism of depth crust and mantle, tectonic motion in the orogenic zone along the coastal lines of the Pacific ocean during the Mesozoic Era, magmatism and the formation of mineral deposits, addition-collision motion, and ore genesis. This workshop is the third of its kind to be held by the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources following those events in 2006 and 2010 for the purpose of facilitating applicable research cooperation among the 5 countries.