The Lab Exam will be given in 217 Tomanek on Wednesday, December 15^th, 2010 starting at 3:00pm. The exam will be closed book and will focus on mineral identification and association skills (hand samples & thin sections).

When we began the semester I set forth the following goals for students in this class:

Given a group of minerals, a student will be able to:

• Interpret their geologic origin and tectonic/environmental setting
• Evaluate whether one of more of the minerals do not belong with the others in the group
• Predict other minerals that might be found in association with these
• Evaluate the resource potential of minerals in the region
• Design an analytical plan using optical, chemical, and structural (XRD) tools to further describe these minerals

Expect the exam to test your ability to demonstrate proficiency in these skills. Obviously, a large part of answering these questions will involve correctly identifying minerals at a minimum. Mineral associations have been the unifying theme throughout the labs this semester and consequently are at the heart of the exam. The last goal on this list is not something that we have focused on and thus will be de-emphasized on the exam.