Mario A. Guzman, Ph.D.

Mario specializes in the formation of base and precious metal ores, with a primary focus on porphyry and epithermal mineral deposits. His investigations utilize field observations, mineral and fluid inclusion petrography, microanalytical techniques, and geochronology. Through these approaches, he uncovers critical insights into the conditions of metal enrichment, fluid evolution, and mineralization mechanisms.

His expertise extends from studying epithermal vein deposits in the San Juan Volcanic Field in Southwest Colorado to porphyry copper deposits and Climax-type porphyry molybdenum deposits. Mario delves into the precipitation mechanisms of hydrothermal fluids at ore deposits and both liquid-dominated and vapor-dominated geothermal systems.

Mario's doctoral research centered on fluid flashing and mineral precipitation within intermediate sulfidation epithermal vein deposits at the Creede and Sunnyside deposits in Southwest Colorado. During his graduate studies, he enriched his understanding as a visiting research geoscientist at Kyushu University, studying the formation of low- and high-sulfidation epithermal deposits, as well as mineral scaling in liquid-dominated geothermal fields.

His research experience further includes investigations into mineral scaling from The Geysers vapor-dominated geothermal field in California and the analysis of fumaroles from volcanoes in Ecuador. Before joining GGGSC in Denver, Mario was a Physical Science Lab Technician at the USGS Water Resources Mission Area in Boulder, Colorado where he conducted essential x-ray diffraction and wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence analyses for various research projects.