Beyond the Bottom Line: The Story Behind the Deposit

Speaker: Kyle Rybacki, PA Geological Survey

VMS, placer, skarn, Carlin-type, porphyry copper, Mississippi Valley Type, anthracite, bitumen, locatable,leasable, salable… The classifications for mineral deposits are vast and cryptic. Regardless of their classification all mineral deposits have a story to tell. This talk focuses on the critical role mineral deposits have played in refining Earth’s 4.6-billion-year history.

Bio: Kyle Rybacki manages the Geologic Mapping Division of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Geological Survey (BGS).Before joining BGS, he served as the National Cave & Karst Resource Management Program Lead and Idaho Mining Law Administration State Lead for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). At BLM, he worked on wide range of issues ranging from international cave protection and mining law reform, reviewing major mine plans in Arizona and Idaho, and processing drilling permit applications in the Permian Basin. He began his career as research faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied the chemical evolution of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. Kyle holds a B.S. and M.S. in Geology & Geophysics from Missouri University of Science & Technology and a dual-title Ph.D. in Geoscience and Astrobiology from Penn State.