Professor Axel Hofmann

Department of Geology
University of Johannesburg

Biographical

Axel Hofmann holds a doctorate from the University of Mainz in Germany and has worked as a researcher and lecturer at the universities of Zimbabwe, Witwatersrand, and KwaZulu-Natal. He is currently Associate Professor at the University of Johannesburg. His main interest and expertise is centred on the Archaean geological record of southern Africa. His research combines field work with petrological and geochemical analysis to decipher the geological history of Archaean volcano-sedimentary successions.

Research Interests

Archaean surface processes, evolution of greenstone belts, geochemistry of sedimentary rocks, sediment-hosted ore deposits, habitat of early life.

Current projects

• Early Earth Life and Mineral Systems – exploring the relationship between surface processes, evolution and habitat of life and the formation of mineral deposits on the early Earth
• Sedimentology, basin evolution and gold/uranium mineralization of the Pongola and Witwatersrand supergroups
• Various projects on the Precambrian geology of Zimbabwe, the Francevillian Basin of Gabon, the Birimian of Ghana, and the Singhbhum Craton of India