Professor Robert Bolhar
School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand
robert.bolhar@wits.ac.za

Research keywords: Igneous and sedimentary geochemistry, geochronology and petrochronolgy

Biography: Robert (PhD from the University of Melbourne) is a geochemist, with 22 years of work experience in academia (5 years as resource geologist and industry consultant). His areas of expertise and interest, as documented in >93 peer-reviewed journal publications, encompass trace element and isotope geochemistry as archives of Archaean surface conditions, crust formation and evolution, geochronology and petrochronology using LA-ICPMS, and geochemical and isotopic fingerprinting of stone artefacts. In recent years, his research also included the petrogenesis of alkaline igneous provinces (carbonatites, syenites) and komatiitic rocks, the geochemistry of olivine and U-Pb dating of carbonates. Having been awarded two NRF-NEP grants (> 25 mill ZAR) he established and directs the Mass Spectrometry Facility in the School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand. Currently, he is involved in setting up  analytical protocols for isotopic ratio measurements of Fe, Cu, Zn, Ti and Ca by MC-ICPMS. Robert has supervised to completion ten PhD and MSc students and >25 honours students. He is a NRF-rated B2 scientist, a Fellow of the GSSA, a SACNASP-registered Professional Natural Scientist and member of the International Association of Geo-Analysts. He also serves in the editorial team of Chemical Geology.

Publications 2025

  1. Bolhar, R., Hofmann, A., Kamber, B.S., Whitehouse, M.J., Maas, R., Vervoort, J.D., Jeon, H., Botero, M. and Kabete, J. (2025). Eoarchean TTG formation via melt-solid interaction at the base of the Tanzania Craton inferred from multi-proxy detrital zircon data. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 676, 119701.
  2. Weisler, M., Bolhar, R., St. Pierre, E. and Chazine, J. M. (2025). Geochemistry of stone tools reveals the crossroads of East Polynesia. Archaeology in Oceania. 1-24.
  3. Bolhar, R., Maghdour-Mashhour, R., Milani, L., Mondal, S., O’Sullivan, G.J., Klemd, R. and Chang, Q. (2025). Petrogenesis of syenites at Phalaborwa, Kaapvaal Craton: (isotope) geochemical, modelling and age constraints. Chemical Geology, 123202.
  4. Pattnaik, J., Aulbach, S., Ghosh, S., Babu, E.V.S.S.K., Viljoen, F. and Bolhar, R. (2025). A fresh look at the physicochemical evolution of the lithospheric mantle beneath the Dharwar craton (India). Mineralogy and Petrology, 1-27.
  5. Schapira, J. S. and Bolhar, R. (2025). Fibrous Minerals and Naturally Occurring Asbestos (NOA) in the Metacarbonate Hosted Fe Oxide-Cu-Au-Co Mineralized Rocks from the Guelb Moghrein Mine, Akjoujt, Mauritania: Implications for In Situ Hazard Assessment and Mitigation Protocols. Minerals, 15(9), 991.
  6. Scharf, A., Bolhar, R., Uysal, T. I., Mattern, F., Callegari, I., Bozkaya, G. and Baublys, K. (2025). A vein-hosted carbonate: Record of late miocene to pleistocene hydrothermal activity in the Hajar Mountains (Jabal Akhdar Dome, Sultanate of Oman). Lithos, 108104.
  7. Vonopartis, L. C., Nex, P. A. M., Kinnaird, J. A., Robb, L. J. and Bolhar, R. (2025) The magmatic-hydrothermal transition recorded by trace elements in quartz: A case study from the Zaaiplaats tin field, South Africa. Mineralium Deposita, 60, 1643–1662.
  8. Wulff, K. and Bolhar, R. (2025). Geology of the Bisie wood tin (cassiterite) deposit and its host rocks, North Kivu Province, DR Congo, DR Congo. Ore Geology Reviews, 106583.
  9. Bolhar, R., Weaver, S. D., Turnbull, R., Waight, T. E., Whitehouse, M. J., Maas, R. and Ring, U. (2025). The mid-Cretaceous Hohonu Batholith (South Island, New Zealand): Identifying magmatic sources and processes during onset of crustal extension. Lithos, 494, 107847.
  10. Wulff, K. and Bolhar, R.  (2025). Geochemistry of alteration and host rock lithologies to the Bisie tin deposit, North Kivu Province, DR Congo. Ore Geology Reviews, 106469.
  11. Agangi, A., Hofmann, A., Echigo, T., Bolhar, R., Araoka, D., Mashoene, V., Ndhlovu, L.T., Takahashi, R. and Manalo, P.C. (2025). The use of combined C-Mg isotope compositions of carbonates from orogenic Sb-Au deposits as a tracer of fluid interaction with sea-floor altered crust. Chemical Geology, 673, 122442.