Xiaolong Wei

Bio

Xiaolong Wei is a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Stanford University. He is a member of the Stanford Mineral-X Initiative. Xiaolong focuses on addressing significant challenges associated with critical mineral exploration, and leading to a step change in the discovery of new mineral deposits.

Xiaolong is currently working with Prof. Jef Caers on exploring nickel, cobalt, and copper resources as well as quantifying the uncertainties of mineral deposits in the Mufulira area of Zambia using geochemical and geophysical measurements.

Before joining Stanford, Xiaolong received his Ph.D. in geophysics advised by Prof. Jiajia Sun at University of Houston in 2022. His doctoral dissertation has made innovative contributions to airborne gravity and magnetic methods of exploring minerals. Xiaolong developed effective methods to analyze the spatial variabilities of geological units and the uncertainties of geophysical (joint) inversions.

Xiaolong has extensive experience with real field case studies. He has explored for niobium in the Elk Creek, Nebraska, metagabbro in the north-east Iowa, diamond in the Northwest Territories, copper-gold in the Quest, British Columbia, and nickel-cobalt-copper in the Mufulira, Zambia.

Xiaolong is a passionate volunteer in the community. He has been a peer-reviewer for Geophysics, GJI, Geophysical Prospecting, IEEE TGRS, Geocarto International, and SEG conference proceedings. He chaired the Mining Session at the IMAGE (SEG and AAPG joint annual meeting) in 2021 and 2022.

Honors & Awards

• Dan E. Wells Outstanding Dissertation Award, University of Houston (Dec 2022)
• The Innovation Prize in Frank Arnott - Next Generation Explorers Award, Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (Jul 2022)
• Lucien LaCoste Scholarship, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (Jun 2022)
• The Best Student Paper in the Mining Sessions, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (Jan 2022)
• Department Student Research Funding, University of Houston (Oct 2021)
• Technical Program Registration Grant, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (Sep 2021)
• John R. Butler Jr. Scholarship, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (Jun 2021)
• Outstanding Academic Achievement, University of Houston (Jan 2020)

Professional Education

• Ph.D., University of Houston, Geophysics (2022)
• M.S., Northwest University, Xi’an, China, Geology (2018)
• B.S., China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China, Geophysics (2015)

Stanford Advisors

• Jef Caers, Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor