Lecture: Tin Mining in the Sahara
Speaker:
Date and Time
19:30 -
Location
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Lecture Description
Outline: Richard Swarbrick will tell the story of his gap year in the 1970’s when as an 18-year old budding geologist he travelled as a Project Trust volunteer to a remote Saharan village in Niger to work on an Overseas Development / Geological Survey project. The talk will not only be about the tin mining but also about the journey out (working passage on cargo boat to West Africa) and the return journey across the Sahara.
About the Speaker: Richard, who is well-known to us as a member of the Bath Geological Society, specialises in the interpretation and validation of subsurface pressure data. His career includes 10 years with Mobil Oil (UK and US), 15 years teaching petroleum geology and basin studies at Durham University. There he founded the GeoPOP research group (a multi-disciplinary project investigating overpressure in sedimentary basins), and later GeoPressure Technology Ltd a niche software and consultancy spin-out company. Richard was awarded the Geological Society’s 2018 Petroleum Group Medal for contributions to well safety. His numerous publications include the textbook “Petroleum Geoscience”, of which he is co-author. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Durham, and although retired continues teaching professional courses on subsurface pressures with emphasis on renewable energy.
