Hello everyone,

My name is Valentine Blumstein. A little over three months ago, I began working on a thesis supervised by Bénédicte and Magali.

The main goal of my thesis is to fill in the current gaps in our knowledge about the mobility and concentration of critical metals (Ga, Ge, In, Sb) during orogenic processes and to better understand the role of secondary phenomena related to the geodynamics of mountain ranges in the remobilization of these elements from primary deposits. The approach is based on two complementary components. The first involves the tectono-metamorphic study of key terrains (Norwegian Caledonides, Portuguese Variscan) in order to reconstruct pressure-temperature-time trajectories and characterize the conditions of mineral formation and transformation. The second component will rely on multi-scale mineralogical and geochemical analyses to link metamorphism, deformation, and metallogenesis. By combining field observations with advanced petrological and geochemical analyses, this thesis will contribute to a better understanding of the processes of formation and remobilization of critical metals in mountain ranges, with direct implications for the exploration and sustainable exploitation of these strategic resources.

At the beginning of my thesis, I focused on the second part by presenting my initial LIBS data at NGWM 2026 in Turku on a poster, supplementing data previously acquired by Anathacie Mingou and Nolan Meynard. This poster focused on two deposits in Norway: Sulitjelma and Bleikvassli, and showed the differences in mineralization.