ScAN Travel Fund Supports Attendance at International Conference in Finland

Adrian Finch was part-funded by the Arctic Travel and Partnerships fund to attend the Nordic Geological Winter Meeting 13-15 January 2026. This biennial meeting brings together all the geological communities working across Nordic countries (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Greenland). It involves all the Universities, Geological Surveys, Companies and natural resource stakeholders in the Nordic region. Earth Sciences contribute a major component of the economies of the Nordic states, and this year, the conference was held in Turku in Finland, with 500+ delegates.

Adrian gave a presentation in the flagship session on natural resources, delivering St Andrews' latest research into the Motzfeldt region in Southern Greenland. Motzfeldt is potentially one of the world's largest deposits of the rare metal tantalum, as well as having significant amounts of niobium and rare earths. These metals are among the world's "critical minerals" lists, which identify resources for which the continued supply of these resources is essential for green energy technologies and net zero. Greenland's natural resources have been pushed into the spotlight by comments from President Trump and the Motzfeldt deposit is one of the bodies believed to have sparked Mr Trump's interest. Adrian described the latest research on how the deposit as formed - known as a "geomodel". Confusingly, the niobium and tantalum in the deposit are not found in the same areas as the rare earths, and determining why has been a significant academic challenge. Adrian combined studies by his two students: recent St Andrews PhD graduates Dr Krzysztof Sokol and Dr Curtis Rooks. Adrian combined the two complementary studies on different parts of the region into a single holistic model for how the mineralisation was formed. 

In addition, Adrian was a co-author on a poster presentation with PhD student Tuomas Gråsten on the Sokli rare earth project in Northern Finland. Adrian was also invited to discussions with the Norwegian Geological Survey on the Stjernøya carbonatite in Norway, where they have worked in the past.

After the conference, Adrian was invited to visit the Åbo Akademi University in Turku, to discuss future collaborative work on the Sokli rare earth deposit. Attendance at the conference was excellent exposure for St Andrews' and Scottish research into the geology of the Nordic countries. 

Finch AA, Rooks CJW, Sokol K, Frangeskides G (2026) Rare Earth Mobilisation in Roof Zones of Alkaline Igneous Intrusions and the origin of Rheomorphic Fenite. Oral presentation to the Nordic Geological Winter Meeting 2026 in Turku, Finland (presentation O4.4).

Gråsten TA, Heinonen JS & Finch AA (2026) "Rare-earth element evolution of the Sokli carbonatite complex: new insights from drill core observations, geochemistry, and mineralogy" (poster P4.4).