Andrew McDonald

Research

Research Interests

Mineralogy has traditionally been considered to be that area of the Earth Sciences directly related to the study of the chemistry, structure and occurrence of minerals. Nowadays however, mineralogists have found that their expertise is in great demand in a number of areas including material science and the development of new technologically useful products(e.g. new zeolitic-like compounds), mineral exploration (e.g.location and characterization of VMS and Au ore deposits) as well as in a global sense towards understanding the evolution of our planet.

My research is directed at using mineralogy as a tool in the geosciences. Although I still conduct investigations/characterizations of new mineral species, I am also interested in applying mineralogy and crystal chemistry as a means of understanding the evolution of alkaline rocks, exploring for Au and rare metals (e.g. Ta, Nb) and understanding how the atomic structures of minerals relate to their observed physical and optical properties.

Currently, I am involved in a number of personal and collaborative research projects at the graduate and post-graduate levels. These include:

• The crystal chemistry of aegirine from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Québec (with P. Piilonen, Canadian Museum of Nature & A.E. Lalonde, Univ. of Ottawa)
• The mineralogy and crystal chemistry of titanosilicates from hyperalkaline rocks
• The volcanology and genesis of diamondiferous kamafugites, Paros Da Minas, Minal Gerais State, Brazil (with R.E. Whitehead, H.L. Gibson, M. Byron, L.U. & D.H. Watkinson, Carleton Univ.);
• Tourmaline mineralogy of rare-element pegmatites, NW Ontario (with F. Breaks, Ont. Geol. Survey)
• The mineralogy of sulphide ores from the North Range, Sudbury Basin (with R.R. Keays, C. Gauld, L.U. & L. Cochrane, B. Thompson, Vale);
• The crystal chemistry of tourmaline from the Hemlo gold camp, Hemlo, Ontario

Awards

• 2016 James Edwin Hawley Medal, Mineralogical Association of Canada,
  for the paper "A study of the composition, distribution, and genesis of pyrrhotite in the Copper Cliff Offset, Sudbury, Ontario", co-authored with Sarah C. Gordon (M.Sc. Geology), Canadian Mineralogist, 53(5), doi: 10.3749/canmin.1400040
  
• 2002 Elected Fellow, International Centre for Diffraction Data​

Teaching

GEOL 2126 EL - Mineralogy I

GEOL 2127 EL - Optical Mineralogy

GEOL 4127 EL - Advanced Mineralogy

Current Graduate Students

PhD

Monika Haring (NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Scholarship)
Thesis title: The crystal-chemistry of antimony-bearing minerals.
[Sole supervisor]

Michael Burns 
Thesis title: The Role of Fluids in the Evolution and Mineralization of
Rare Metal Pegmatites: A Study of the Little Nahanni LCT Pegmatite, NWT.
[Co-supervisor with Prof. Daniel Kontak, L.A. Groat]

M.Sc. 

2016 - Jeff Enright 
Thesis title: A study of footwall alteration at the Victor deposit, Sudbury
[Co-supervisor with Prof. Daniel Kontak]

2014 - Jacques Desmarais 
Thesis title: On the nature of PGE in pentlandite[Co-supervisor with Y. Pan, University of Saskatchewan]

2013 - Evan Slater 
Thesis title: The Pirquitas Sn-Ag deposit, Argentina
[Co-supervisor with Prof. Daniel Kontak]

Former Graduate Students

PhD

Dr. Fabio Cafagna
Experimental and analytical studies of S and PGEs in silicate glasses and minerals 
[Jugo/McDonald]

Dr. Kirk Ross
Trace-element composition and intergrowth textures in kimberlitic garnets.
[Kamber / McDonald]

M.Sc.

Ramona Verma (Applied M.Sc.)
Thesis title: Spatial Distribution of Hexagonal Pyrrhotite in the 865 OB, Copper Cliff Offset, Sudbury, Ontario.
[McDonald]

Rémy Poulin (M.Sc.)
Thesis title: Scheelite as an Indicator of Intrusion-related W-Mo-(Au) Mineralization.
Co-supervisor (with Prof. D. Kontak)

Jonathan Cirelli (M.Sc.)
B.Sc. A study of the metal and metallic mineral distribution at the Victoria Property, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. [McDonald] 

Sarah Gordon (M.Sc.)
B.Sc. A Mineralogical study of the origin, evolution and Spatial distribution of hexagonal pyrrhotite along the Copper Cliff Offset, Sudbury, Ontario. [McDonald]

Sonia Lanteigne (M.Sc.)
B.Sc. A mineralogical and geochemical study of soils from the Sudbury area. [Schindler / McDonald]

Joshua Bailey (M.Sc.)
B.Sc. (Hons.) Memorial, Mobilization of Ni within high-strain zones Ni-Cu-(PGE) deposits in the South Range of the Sudbury Igneous Complex, Ontario: Structural geology and mineral microstructures [Lafrance / McDonald]

Lindsay Bygnes (M.Sc.)
B.Sc. A comparative study of mineralized and unmineralized breccias along the Whistle offset dyke in the North Range of the Sudbury impact structure. [Lafrance / McDonald]

Publications

Journal Articles

Haring, M.C. & McDonald, A.M. (201X): Nolzeite, NaMn2[Si3BO9](OH)2•2H2O: Characterization, crystal-structure determination and origin. Mineralogical Magazine (Accepted February, 2016).

Schindler, M., Lanteigne, S., McDonald, A.M. & Hawthorne, F.C. (2015): The role of mineral surface-coatings in soils contaminated by atmospheric pollution (Accepted for publication 16 October, 2015).

McDonald, A.M., Cabri, L.J., Stanley, C.J., Good, D.J., Redpath, J., Lane, G. Spratt, J. & Ames, D.E. (2015): Coldwellite, Pd3Ag2S, a new mineral species from the Marathon deposit, Coldwell complex, Ontario, Canada. The Canadian Mineralogist 53 (Accepted for publication 22 April, 2015).

Poulin, R.Y., McDonald, A.M., Kontak, D.J. &McClenaghan, M.B. (2015): Crystal-chemical
influences on the cathodoluminescence of scheelite. The Canadian Mineralogist 79, 295-307.

Cabri, L.J., McDonald, A.M., Stanley, C.J., Rudashevsky, N.S., Poirier, G., Wilhelmiz, H.R., Zhe, W. & Rudashevsky, V.N. (2015): Palladosilicide, Pd2Si, a new mineral from the Kapalagulu Intrusion, Western Tanzania and the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. Mineralogical Magazine 72, 295-307.

McDonald, A.M., Tarassoff, P. & Chao, G.Y. (2015): Hogarthite, (Na,K)2CaTi2Si10O26•8H2O, a new member of the lemoynite group from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec: Characterization, crystal-structure determination and origin. The Canadian Mineralogist 53, 13-30.

Bindi, L, Cooper, M.A. & McDonald, A.M. (2015): Twinning and disorder in the crystal structure of kurilite, Ag8Te3Se: Toward a new fast ionic conductor? The Canadian Mineralogist 53, 159-168.

McClenaghan, M.B., Parkhill, M.A., Pronk, A.G., Seaman, A.A., McCurdy, M.W., Poulin, R.S., McDonald, A.M., Kontak, D.J. & Leybourne, M.I. (2015): Till, stream sediment, and stream water geochemical signatures of intrusion-hosted Sn-W deposits: examples from the Sisson W-Mo and Mount Pleasant Sn-W-Mo-Bi-In deposits, New Brunswick. In TGI 4 – Intrusion Related Mineralisation Project: New vectors to buried porphyry-style mineralisation, Geological Survey of Canada Open File 7843.

Lussier, A.J., Hawthorne, F.C., Abdu, Y., Ball, N.A., Tait, K.T., Back, M.E., Steede, A.H., Taylor, R. & McDonald, A.M. (2015): Ferro-ferri-nybøite, NaNa(Fe3+3Fe3+2)Si8O22(OH)2, a new mineral of the amphibole group from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Rouville RMC, Montérégie, Quebec, Canada: Description and crystal structure. The Canadian Mineralogist 53, 1-7.
Gordon, S.C. & McDonald, A.M. (2014): A mineralogical study of the origin, evolution and spatial distribution of NC pyrrhotite from the Copper Cliff Offset Dike, Sudbury, Ontario. The Canadian Mineralogist (Accepted for publication 17 September 2014).

Piilonen, P.C., Rowe, R., Poirier, G., Grice, J.D. & McDonald, A.M. (2014): Discreditation of thorogummite. The Canadian Mineralogist, 52, 769-773.

Lanteigne, S., Schindler, M. & McDonald, A.M. (2014): Distribution of metal(loid)s in smelter-derived particulate matter in soils. The Canadian Mineralogist 52, 453-472.

Ross, K.C., Petrus, J.A. & McDonald, A.M. (2014): An empirical assessment of two-dimensional (2D) Debye–Scherrer-type image-plate X-ray diffraction data collapsed into a 1D diffractogram. Powder Diffraction, 29, 337-346.

Haring, M.C. & McDonald, A.M. (2014): Franconite, NaNb2O5(OH)•3H2O: Crystal-structure determination and the role of H-bonding, with comments on the crystal-chemistry of franconite-related minerals. Mineralogical Magazine 78, 591-607.

Lafrance, B., Bygnes, L. & McDonald, A.M. (2014): Emplacement of metabreccia along the Whistle-Parkin Offset, Sudbury: implications for post-impact modification of the Sudbury impact structure. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 51, 466-484.

Piilonen, P.C., McDonald, A.M., Poirier, G., Rowe, R. & Larsen, A.O. (2013): The mineralogy and crystal chemistry of alkaline pegmatites in the Larvik plutonic complex, Oslo rift valley, Norway: Part 2 - Mafic mineral crystal chemistry. The Canadian Mineralogist 51, 735-770.

Haring, M.C. & McDonald, A.M. (2013): Steedeite, NaMn2[Si3BO9](OH)2: Characterization, crystal-structure determination and origin. The Canadian Mineralogist 52, 47-60.

Piilonen, P.C., Poirier, G., Rowe, R. McDonald, A.M. & Grice, J.D. (2013): Crystal Structure determination of a unique Nb-Ti-rich thorite from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, with comments on ‘thorogummite’. The Canadian Mineralogist 51, 597-612.

Mills, S.J., Kampf, A.R., McDonald, A.M., Bindi, L., Christy, A.G., Kolitsch, U. & Favreau, G. (2013): The reinvestigation of the crystal structure of parnauite: a copper arsenate‒sulphate with translational disorder of structural rods. European Journal of Mineralogy, 25, 693-704.

Al-Shareeda, O., Henda, R., Pratt, A. & McDonald, A.M. & (2013): On the preparation of iron pyrite from synthetic and natural targets by pulsed electron deposition. Advances in Nano Research, 1(4), 219-228.

McDonald, A.M., Back, M.E., R.A. Gault & Horváth, L. (2013): Peatite-(Y) and ramikite-(Y), two new La-Li-Y±Zr phosphate-carbonate minerals from the Poudrette pegmatite, Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. The Canadian Mineralogist, 51, 547-574.

Ross, K.C., McDonald, A.M. & Kamber, B.S. (2013): An empirical test of the crystal lattice strain model for rare-earth portioning into clinopyroxene. Chemical Geology, 340, 139-150.

Al-Shareeda, O., Henda, R., McDonald, A.M. & Pratt, A. (2013): Deposition of Iron Pyrite Via Pulsed Electron Ablation. Applied Physics A 108, 967-974.

Kampf, A.R., Mills, S.J., Merlino, S., Paserio, M., McDonald, A.M., Wray, W.B. & Hindman, J.R. (2012): Whelanite, Cu2Ca6Si6O17(CO3)(OH)4·2H2O, an (old) new mineral from the Bawana mine, Milford, Utah. American Mineralogist 97, 2007-2015.

Haring, M.C., McDonald, A.M., Cooper, M.C. & Poirier, G. (2012): Laurentianite,
[NbO(H2O)]3(Si2O7)2[Na(H2O)2]3, a new mineral from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec: Description, crystal-structure determination and paragenesis. The Canadian Mineralogist 50, 1265-1280.

Mills, S.J., Kampf, A.R., McDonald, A.M., Favreau, G., Chiappero, P.-J. (2012): Forêtite, a new secondary arsenate mineral from the Cap Garonne mine, France. Mineralogical Magazine, 76(3), 769–775.

Lanteigne, S., Schindler, M., McDonald, A.M., Skeries, K., Abdua, Y., Mantha, N.M., Murayama, M., Hawthorne, F.C. & Hocella, M.F. (2012): Mineralogical and chemical composition of smelter-derived spherical particles in soils from the Greater Sudbury area, Canada: implications for the mobility of Ni and Cu in the surficial environment. Water, Air and Soil Pollution 223(7), 3619-3641.

Piilonen, P.C., McDonald, A.M., Poirier, G., Rowe, R., Larsen, A.O. & Dahlgren, S. (2012): Magmatic and hydrothermal zircon from alkaline pegmatites in the Larvik Plutonic Complex, Oslo rift valley, Norway - implications for petrogenesis from trace-element geochemistry. Mineralogical Magazine, 76(3), 649–672.

Smith, S.R., Han, S., McDonald, A.M., Zhe, W., Shepherd, J.L. (2012): An Electrochemical Approach to Fabricate a Heterogeneous Mixed Monolayer on Planar Polycrystalline Au and its Characterization with Lateral Force Microscopy. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 666, 76 – 84.

Petrus, J. A., Ross, K.C., & McDonald, A.M. (2012): DIIS: A cross-platform program for the reduction of X-ray diffraction data from a cylindrical area detector. Computers and Geosciences 38, 156-163.

Henda, R., Wilson, G., Gray-Munro, J., Alshekhli, O, McDonald, A.M. (2011): Preparation of Polytetrafluoroethylene by Pulsed Electron Ablation: Deposition and Wettability Aspects. Thin Solid Films (accepted for publication 14 Sept. 2011).

Kojonen, K.K., McDonald, A.M., Stanley, C.J. & Johanson, B. (2011): Tornroosite, Pd11As2Te2, a new mineral related to isomertieite from Miessijoki, Finish Lapland, Finland. Canadian Mineralogist 49, 1643-1678.

Campbell, J.I., McDonald, A.M., Perrett, G.M. & Taylor, S.M. (2010): A GUPIX-based approach to interpreting the PIXE-plus-XRF spectra from the Mars exploration rovers: II geochemical reference materials. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 269 (2011) 69–81.

Kovalenker, V.A., Plotinskaya, O.Yu., Stanley, C.J., Roberts, A.C., McDonald, A.M. & Cooper, M.A. (2010): Kurilite – Ag8Te3Se – a new mineral from the Prasolovskoe deposit, Kuril Islands, Russian Federation. Mineralogical Magazine, 74, 463 – 468.

Piilonen, P.C., McDonald, A.M., Grice, J.D., Cooper, M.A., Kolitsch, U., Rowe, R., Gault, R.A. Poirier, G. (2010): Arisite-(Ce), a new rare-earth fluorocarbonate from the Aris phonolite (Namibia), Mont Saint-Hilaire and the Saint-Amable Sill, Quebec, Canada. Canadian Mineralogist 48, 661-671.

Piilonen, P.C., McDonald, A.M., Grice, J.D., Cooper, M.A., Kolitsch, U., Rowe, R., Gault, R.A. Poirier, G. (2010): Arisite-(La), a new rare-earth fluorocarbonate from the Aris phonolite (Namibia), with descriptions of the crystal structures of arisite-(La) and arisite-(Ce). Mineralogical Magazine 74, 257-268.

McDonald, A.M. & Chao, G.Y. (2010): Rogermitchellite, Na12(Sr,Na)24Ba4Zr26Si78(B,Si)12O246(OH)24·18H2O, a new mineral species from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec: Description, structure determination and relationship with high-field-strength-bearing cyclosilicates. Canadian Mineralogist 48, 267 – 275.

Conference Presentations

Lanteigne, S., Schindler, M. & McDonald, A.M. (2012): Trace element interactions with altered surfaces in smelter affected acidic soils; Sudbury, Canada. Goldschmidt Conference, Montreal, Canada.

Long, D.G.F., McDonald, A.M., Minter, W.E.L., and Shaw, J. (2012): Carbon, gold and Uranium on interfluvial degradation surfaces in the Paleoproterozoic Huronian Supergroup, Canada. GAC-MAC Joint Annual Meeting, St. John’s, Canada.

Gordon, S.C. & McDonald, A.M. (2012): A mineralogical study of hexagonal pyrrhotite along the Copper Cliff Offset, Sudbury. GAC-MAC Joint Annual Meeting, St. John’s, Canada.

Jin, N., Al-Shareeda, O., Henda, R., A. Pratt & A.M. McDonald (2011): Towards the preparation of iron pyrite by pulsed electron deposition. 3rd Intl. Conf. on Nanotechnology (ICN11), Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

Al-Shareeda, O., Henda, R., McDonald, A.M. & Pratt, A. (2011): Iron Pyrite Thin Films Prepared via Pulsed Electron Ablation. Nano Ontario Conference & Workshop, Hamilton, Canada.

Piilonen, P.C., McDonald, A.M., Poirier,G., Rowe, R., Larson, A.O. & Dahlgren, S. (2011): Magmatic and hydrothermal zircon from alkaline pegmatites in the Larvik Plutonic Complex, Oslo rift valley, Norway – implications for petrogenesis from trace element geochemistry. GAC-MAC Joint Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Canada.

Lanteigne, S., Skeries, K., Schindler, M. & McDonald, A.M. (2011): Mineralogical Characterization of Copper and Nickel Phases in the Copper Cliff Soils. GAC-MAC Joint Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Canada.

McDonald, A.M., Chao, G.Y. & Tarasssoff, P. (2011): Hogarthite, a new Na-Ca Titanosilicate hydrate mineral from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. GAC-MAC Joint Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Canada.

McDonald, A.M., Proenza, J.A., Zaccarini, F., Rudashevsky, N.S., Cabri, L.J. & Stanley, C.J. (2010): Garutiite, (Ni,Fe,Ir), a new PGE-bearing, hexagonal polymorph of native Ni from Loma Peguera, Dominican Republic. International Mineralogical Association meeting, Budapest, Hungary.

McDonald, A.M., Back, M.E. & Gault, R.A. (2010): Peatite-(Y) and Ramikite-(Y), two new Li-Na-Y-(±Zr) phosphate-carbonate minerals from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. International Mineralogical Association meeting, Budapest, Hungary.

Wilson, G., Henda, R., Gray-Munro, J. & McDonald, A.M. (2010): Pulsed electron deposition and characterization of polytetrafluorethylene. Proceedings of the International Conference on nanotechnology: Fundamentals and Applications, Ottawa, Canada.

McDonald, A.M. (2010): Insights into the crystal-chemistry of Platinum-Group Minerals: Towards development of a PGM classification scheme. GeoCanada 2010 Meeting, Calgary, Canada (Invited Lecture).

McDonald, A.M. (2010): The crystal chemistry of platinum group minerals. International Mineralogical Association, Commission on Ore Mineralogy short course on platinum group elements and their mineralogy, Leoben, Austria (August, 2010).

McDonald, A.M. (2010): The mineralogy of the Pt-group of platinum group minerals (PPGM). International Mineralogical Association, Commission on Ore Mineralogy short course on platinum group elements and their mineralogy, Leoben, Austria (August, 2010).

Reports

Gordon, S.C. & McDonald, A.M. (2012): A Mineralogical study of the origin, evolution and spatial distribution of hexagonal pyrrhotite along the Copper Cliff Offset, Sudbury, Ontario, Interim Report #3 to Vale (January, 2012).

Gordon, S.C. & McDonald, A.M. (2011): A Mineralogical study of the origin, evolution and spatial distribution of hexagonal pyrrhotite along the Copper Cliff Offset, Sudbury, Ontario, Interim Report #2 to Vale (September, 2011).

Gordon, S.C. & McDonald, A.M. (2011): A Mineralogical study of the origin, evolution and spatial distribution of hexagonal pyrrhotite along the Copper Cliff Offset, Sudbury, Ontario, Interim Report #1 to Vale (April, 2011).

Lafrance, B., Bygnes, L. & McDonald, A.M. (2010): Mineralized vs. unmineralized Breccias along the Whistle offset dyke. Progress report #2 to CEMI (June, 2010).

Lafrance, B., Bygnes, L. & McDonald, A.M. (2010): Mineralized vs. unmineralized Breccias along the Whistle offset dyke. Progress report #1 to CEMI (February, 2010).