Neil Phillips graduated in geoscience from the University of Melbourne (BSc) and Monash University (BSc Hons, PhD) where his thesis was on the metamorphism and geochemistry at Broken Hill, Australia. He subsequently completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

At the University of Western Australia, he co-founded the Archean Gold Group in 1980 with David Groves as they pioneered many of the geological principles used in gold exploration today. Two years were then spent engaged in underground mapping of the Golden Mile in the Kalgoorlie goldfield. He joined the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and established research projects at all the operating Witwatersrand gold mines and continues that research focus and interest today. He was subsequently Professor of Economic Geology at James Cook University where he developed the extended field programs in the Cloncurry - Mt. Isa region.

As a consultant in Kalgoorlie for Minsaco Resources and then General Manager for Great Central Mines, he led the geological development of the Yandal gold province north of Kalgoorlie in a role that included teaching, research, and mentoring with teams of mine and exploration geologists.

Honorary professorial appointments at the University of Melbourne, Monash University, and Stellenbosch University in South Africa have involved collaborative research, valorisation of this research through community engagement, and leadership of the Melbourne Geology of Gold course since 1995 and a similar course on gold in South Africa.

Neil was editor of the Applied Earth Science journal for ten years from 2010, regularly publishes in scientific journals, and has written and edited several books on geoscience and cross-country navigation. He was President of the International Rogaining Federation 1989-2013 and co-author of three books on the sport of rogaining. Neil was editor of the AusIMM Australian Ore Deposit monograph in 2017 leading 350 authors and reviewers in a volume describing 200 mineral deposits.

Addresses all gold deposits, not simply one type

Combines field and underground geology with relevant theory

Explains the necessary concepts to understand present-day gold genesis

Includes case histories demonstrating the links among the science of gold geology, discovery, and a major industry

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Mining and the nature of gold deposits.- Chapter 3. Data to processes, examples, and discovery.- Chapter 4. Provinciality of goldfields.- Chapter 5. Enrichment of gold above background.- Chapter 6. Segregation of gold from base metals.- Chapter 7. Timing of deposit formation.- Chapter 8. Ore fluid types as recorded in fluid inclusions.- Chapter 9. Commonality and diversity: both need explanation. Chapter 10. Magmatic processes that lead to gold-only deposits.- Chapter 11. Fluids in the earth's crust.- Chapter 12. Alteration in gold-only deposits.- Chapter 13. Case study: the formation of a giant goldfield: Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.- Chapter 14. Hydrothermal transport of gold.- Chapter 15. Metamorphic processes leading to gold-only deposits.- Chapter 16. Modification of deposits at high temperature.- Chapter 17. Formation and modification of deposits at lower temperatures.- Chapter 18. Carlin, Witwatersrand and some other gold-only examples.-Chapter 19. Gold-plus Copper-Gold deposits.- Chapter 20. Discoveries and the role of science in the Yilgarn goldfields of Western Australia.- Chapter 21. Discovery of Fosterville Deeps, Victorian Gold Province: long term science.- Chapter 22. Summary and conclusions.