The Bushveld Complex Drilling Project
Project Acronym: BVDP | State: Moratorium | Expedition ID: 5067
With on the order of 1 million km3 of igneous rocks, the Bushveld Complex by itself constitutes a Large Igneous Province. Its size alone poses first-order questions about how such vast volumes of magma are generated from the mantle. However, apart from its size, the Bushveld has several other features that make it remarkable.
- Unlike most Large Igneous Provinces, the Bushveld Complex is largely plutonic and represents the roots of such systems...
- The Bushveld Complex is bimodal in composition, with subequal proportions of mafic and felsic igneous rocks...
- The Bushveld Complex contains fabulous mineral wealth, with resources of strategic and high-tech metals...
KEYWORDS: Africa, South Africa, Bushveld, Deep Biosphere, Layered Intrusions, Lips, Ore Formation
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Lead PIs
- Amy Allwright – University of the Free State
- Christian Tegner – Aarhus University
- James Mungall – Carleton University
- Jared Van Rooyen – Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
- Judith Kinnaird – University of the Witwatersrand
- Oliver S. Schilling – Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
- Qin Wang – Nanjing University
- Stephen Barnes – Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
- Stéphanie Musy – University of Oulu
- Taufeeq Dhansay – Council for Geoscience, South Africa
- Thomas Kieft – New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
- Wilhelm Nikonow – Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources
- Wolfgang Maier – Cardiff University
- Yama Tomonaga – University of Basel
- Yohey Suzuki – University of Tokyo
Project Details
- Title:
- The Bushveld Complex Drilling Project (BVDP)
- Proposed in:
- 2019
- Current State:
- Moratorium Phase
- Proposal abstract:
- n.a.
- Geologic age:
- Late Archean
- Number of drillsites (drillholes):
- n.a.
- Drilled length:
- 2044.97 m (11 wellholes/hole attempts/hole deepenings/sidetracks total)
- Cored length:
- 2044.96 m
- Core recovered, length:
- 2038.23 m
- Core recovered length / Cored length:
- 99.7%
- Core recovered / Drilled length:
- 99.7%
- Expedition #
- 5067
- Location
- Africa, South Africa, Bushveld, South Africa
- Coordinates
- -26.0000, 30.0000
- Status
- Moratorium Phase
- National Core Library — Council for Geoscience, South Africa
- Expedition acronym
- BVDP
- Expedition #
- 5067
- ICDP ID
- ICDP-2019/04
- Internal ID
- #2035
- LDIS ID
- 4626
- Proposals ID
- 5208
Project Timeline
Moratorium
01 January 2026 - 31 December 2027
Sampling Party
18 - 21 August 2026 at CGS core repository in Donkerhoek, South Africa
Drilling Operations
Drilling in Burgersfort 04/2024 - 08/2025 (Site 3)
Curation of 9 km of Donated Cores
Full Proposal Approved
First Full Proposal Submitted
Workshop Held
7 - 9 September 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa