Almost immediately following my final presentation of my Masters' project I began an internship with the University titled 'Exploring Earth from the Lab' which lasted twenty days (and spanned five weeks). The internship involved digitally cataloguing a selection of incredible rock samples from the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa with information that we already had on file in an online Google Sheets spreadsheet hosted by one of my supervisors. I then began collecting more information about the samples independently such as taking photos of hand samples and thin sections of each sample, locations on Google Earth as approximately as possible, and using an XRF instrument to gather specific elemental analyses of specifically chosen samples that would offer the most information.
The Bushveld Igneous Complex is a major source of platinum in the world (it is the largest on Earth!) as well as vanadium and chromium. Samples from seams in the large igneous intrusion were analysed with the XRF, a handheld instrument used to quickly analyse the elemental composition of materials used in this instance to determine the grade of ore.
When I had all the information I needed, I began to create a learning poster from lecture and practical materials to be used in future Open Days and practicals. I created original figures, a stratigraphic column, and an additional help sheet with more information (that couldn't fit on the poster!). I used the QGIS software, with knowledge from a previous QGIS-based unit as part of my course, to create a figure comprising of a map of the eastern lobe of the Bushveld Igneous Complex with the locations of samples pinpointed on it. Creating the poster was the final part of the internship and maybe my favourite (aside from digitally cataloging all the samples) as it allowed me to be creative within the limits of a poster. I worked with a small team with a professor at UoB and two technicians and organisers of the many labs.
