Core Research Team

Zakhele Nkosi

Zakhele completed both his undergraduate and M.Sc. in geology at the University of Pretoria. His M.Sc. dissertation was on the mineral carbonation research, using platinum mining derived tailings. The dissertation earned the 2019 John Handley award from the Geological Society of South Africa. He is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of Johannesburg under the supervision of Profs W. Altermann and K.S Viljoen. The research continues to be on mineral carbonation; however, the focus is on kimberlite tailings. He is currently serving as a member of the academic staff at the University of Pretoria with a core teaching focus on applied mineralogy, paleontology, paleoclimatology, and geo ethics. Most of his teaching time is devoted to first- and second-year student cohort, and the supervision of two honours and an M.Sc. student.

Liam Bullock

Liam is a Research Fellow at the University of Southampton in the UK. Liam’s area of research is geochemistry and petrology, and he has previously worked at the University of Aberdeen on the Natural Environment Research Council-funded TeaSe Project, part of the SOS Minerals programme, investigating critical “E-tech” trace element concentrations in the Earth's crust for use in low-CO2 technologies. His research has centred on mineral resource exploration and finding environmental solutions to reduce CO2 emissions through newly developed technologies or during mine waste production. Liam has established UK-based partnerships with Airbus, Kier Group, Banks Group and Parys Underground Group, and international partnerships with Ur-Energy and Anglo Platinum. He has held academic and private sector positions, including previous work as a geologist for Ethiopia-based gold exploration company GP Resource Mining. Liam has 23 scientific publications, including research in coal, graphite, sulphur, uranium and gold mining regions, and has presented at several international conferences. Liam’s work has attracted reproduction in online publishers such as USA Gold, Cambridge Africa and the Ethiopian Embassy UK Newsletter.

Maxwell Amponsah-Dacosta

Maxwell is a PhD candidate at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa. He has a broad research background in Environmental and Applied Geology. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining and Environmental Geology (MEG) from the University of Venda for Science and Technology, during which time he also took up a Teaching Assistant position at the MEG Department in his final year. Following his undergraduate degree, he worked as a Geologist (predominantly working on Witwatersrand gold mineralization projects) with the geological consulting firm, Shango Solutions, in Johannesburg between 2010 and 2013.He also has a Master of Science Degree in Applied Geology from the University of Cape Town. His research work involved the mineralogical characterization of South African mine tailings for the purpose of mineral carbonation. The outcome of this research project has garnered much interest in the Mineral Carbonation enterprise. Currently, Maxwell is conducting an exciting research project as part of his PhD in Petroleum Geosciences at UWC, with the main focus on fault seal analysis for carbon dioxide storage within the offshore Pletmos Basin of South Africa. As part of this project, he has been working closely with research collaborators from Coventry University (United Kingdom) with sponsorship from the South Africa Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage (SACCCS).