CURRICULUM VITAE

Name:
Robert Alexander Frederick Francis-Xavier IXER

Date of Birth:
March 1947

Nationality:
English

Marital Status:
Married

Education and Qualifications:
Southgate County Grammar School

Victoria University of Manchester: 1965-1972
B.Sc. Hons. Geology, upper second class. 1969
Ph.D. "Controls of Mineralization in Derbyshire" 1972

Member of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. 1980-1998
Chartered Engineer.

Institute of Linguists: Grade 2. German 1983

Visiting Research Fellow. Open University. May-Oct. 1986
Honorary Lecturer. University of Leicester. 1990-1993. 1997-1998.
Honorary Visiting Lecturer in Archaeological Science. University of Bradford. 1997-2002.
Honorary Visiting Fellow. University of Leicester. 2004-present

Awards:
Co-recipient of P.M. Buguley Prize for best paper in Proceedings of Prehistoric Society for 1992.

Employment:
University Lecturer. University of Aston. Sept. 1972-1988
University Lecturer. University of Birmingham. Sept. 1988-2001
Part-time university lecturer. University of Birmingham. 2001-2004
Visiting lecturer MSc Mining Course: Leicester University 1990-1993, 97-98
Course director, summer school tutor. Open University. 1973-1990

Freelance Mineralogical Consultant - Robertson Research - B.P. Minerals International - Billiton Ltd. - R.T.Z. Geometallica, Namibia. Irish Geological Survey.
Other minor consultancies for Mining Companies, Local Government; University and Polytechnic, Geology and Archaeology Departments and Field Units.
Devised Reflected Light Courses for Plymouth Polytechnic, Open University Summer School. Devised Summer School exercises and 20 minutes video for Open University.

Extramural Teaching:
W.E.A. 1980-1982 Courses in Igneous petrology. Department of Extramural Studies, University of Birmingham 1980-1985, 1990 courses in igneous petrology, optical mineralogy, ore deposit geology; 1990-1996 one and two day courses in Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Ore Minerals, Gemstones.

Membership of National Committees since 1985:
Member editorial board, Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. 1984-1993.
Committee member, co-organiser and co-editor of Metallurgy of Basic and Ultrabasic Rocks. International Conference, Edinburgh. 1985.
Steering Committee member, Mineral Deposits of Europe, Volumes 3, 4 and 5. Institution Mining and Metallurgy and Mineralogical Society. 1986-1990.
Committee member Applied Mineralogy Group, Mineralogical Society. 1988-1990.
Committee member Implement Petrology Committee. Council for British Archaeology. 1991-1998
Organising committee member conference and abstract editor. Mineralization in the Caledonides, Edinburgh International Conference. 1996
Organising committee member Processes to Processing. IAGOD-SGA. London. 1997-1999
Chairman Implement Petrology Committee. 1998-2004.
Director and Trustee Council for British Archaeology. 1998-2000

Other Professional Activities:
Academic referee for many mineralogical, geological and some archaeological journals.
Book reviewer for geological and archaeological journals.
External examiner for M.Sc and Ph.D thesis.
Joint organiser of NERC sponsored Reflected Light Short Course (6 days). 1979-1986
Expert witness (Parys Mountain) Nature Conservancy Council 1987.
External assessor NERC grants and SERC grants.
Regional petrologist (C.B.A) for Home Counties, West Midlands. 1991-present.
Organiser of annual two day implement petrography workshops. 1991-1994.
Associate adviser British Council Training for mineralogy, economic geology, scientific archaeology, archaeometallurgy. 1994-present.
Correspondant Scientifique, Chronique de la Recherche Miniere. 1994-present.
External examiner - Earth and Environmental Science Research Techniques MSc, University of Manchester. 2001-2004

Invited speaker for conferences and meetings since 1990:
Mineralogical Society. 1991 Annual Conference.
Open University Geological Society. 1992 10th Anniversary Conference. Exeter.
Yorkshire Geological Society. 1995 General Meeting. Durham.
Lithic Studies Group. 1995 10th Anniversary Conference. Oxford.
Russell Society. 1995 Annual Conference. Oxford
Open University. 1996 Chair and invited speaker 'Geology and Geochemistry in Archaeology'. Joint Open University and Mineralogical Society.
Harvard. 1997 Keynote speaker 'Metals in Antiquity' Conference. Universities of Harvard and Bradford.
Yorkshire Naturalist Union. 1998 Annual Conference. Harrogate.
British Museum. 1999 Lithics Anniversary Conference.
British Museum. 2001. Metals to ore - refining the process.
Guernsey Museum and Art Galleries/La Societe Guernesiase. 2001 Sark's Hope or Sark's Bane? Mining and Mineralization in the Channel Islands.
Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society. 2003. Bronze Age mining under the (ore) microscope.

Present research:
Mineralogical and paragenetic studies of metal ores especially silver-bearing assemblages, gold and platinum group ores, polymetallic volcanogenic ores and low temperature sedimentary-hosted base metal deposits.
The ores, mines and mining of copper, tin and gold during the Bronze Age in Britain and Ireland.
The detailed (metre to kilometre) provenancing of lithic archaeological materials using a combination of geochemistry and reflected and transmitted light petrography.
The classification and provenancing of Inka and PreInka ceramics from the Cuzco area, & Chimu and Chimu-Inka from coastal northern Peru.
The geochemical and mineralogical aspects of metallophyte distribution in Mississippi Valley type deposits.