On the 26th January 2012, members of the senior management of ASSORE Ltd, the Dean of Science and the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic of UJ visited the Department of Geology for the official launch of the department’s newly acquired Witec Alpha300M Confocal Raman microscope system. As part of the long established working relationship between the Geology department and ASSORE and its related companies, ASSORE sponsored the purchase of the instrument. UJ also made a contribution by co-purchasing the motorized x-y sample stage for the microscope.
ASSORE was voted the Top 100 Company in 2011 and it owns, amongst other interests, manganese and iron mines in the Northern Cape Province. The UJ Department of Geology has been involved with research in manganese and iron ore deposits for many years and graduate students have worked on projects using data and funds from ASSORE, ASSMANG and Ore & Metal Company Ltd. This collaborative relationship with UJ Geology and ASSORE will now be further strengthened by the acquisition of the Raman instrument.
Mr. Phil Crous (Technical Director ASSORE) and Professor Angina Parekh (UJ Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic) at the launch of the Raman facility in the Department of Geology at UJ.
Left to right: Professor Kinta Burger (Dean of Science), Mr. Phil Crous (Technical Director ASSORE), Professor Angina Parekh (Deputy Vice Chancellor) and Professor Bruce Cairncross (HOD Geology) a in the ASSORE Raman laboratory in the Department of Geology at UJ.