UMD-SEG Annual report - Society of Economic Geologists

SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS, INC.
7811 Shaffer Parkway • Littleton, CO 80127-3732 USA
Tel: 1.720.981.7882 • Fax: 1.720.981.7874
E-mail: studentprograms@segweb.org
Student Chapter Annual Report Form
The purpose of this form is to report on Student Chapter activities over the previous year. The report provides a useful medium
to document the status and progress of individual chapters. Annual Reports are used to evaluate applications for SEG support
and to keep Student Chapter information up-to-date on the SEG website. Please provide a summary of Student Chapter
activities in a concise form as suggested below. Description of programs may be supported by a limited number of photographs
and figures in a format appropriate for publishing on our website.
Submission Deadline: 30th September
Submit to: studentprograms@segweb.org
This form should be submitted with the Student Chapter Membership Information form
Month/Year Reported — From: Mo./Yr_______________________ September/2012 To: Mo./Yr. _______________________
September/2013
Student Chapter Name: _________________________________________________________________________________
University of Minnesota Duluth
Student Chapter Mailing Address: ________________________________________________________________________
Department of Geological Sciences, 229 Heller Hall, 1114 Kirby Drive, Duluth, MN 55811
Student Chapter Website : _______________________________________________________________________________
Student Chapter Executive Committee (each must be SEG Student Member in good standing) (type “Vacant” if position not filled):
President: ___________________________________________ Allison Severson
________________________________________
sever270@d.umn.edu
Name
E-mail
Vice President: ___________________________________________
Michael Buschette
________________________________________
busch188@d.umn.edu
Name
E-mail
Secretary: ___________________________________________ Cullen Phillips
________________________________________
phil0734@d.umn.edu
Name
E-mail
Treasurer: ___________________________________________ Aubrey Lee
________________________________________
leex3630@d.umn.edu
Name
E-mail
Student Chapter Academic Sponsor (must be SEG Fellow Member in good standing):
__________________________________________ Ronald L. Morton
_________________________________ rmorton@d.umn.edu
______________________
Name E-mail Phone
_____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________
Address
Fax
Student Chapter Industry Sponsor (SEG Fellow Membership is highly recommended; Industry Sponsor should not be affiliated with the
student chapter’s institution):
__________________________________________ Dr. Harold J. Noyes _________________________________ Chathl@aol.com ______________________
303-619-0311
Name E-mail Phone
_____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________
Address
Fax
Sponsoring Institution or Company (name): _________________________________________________________________
Encampment Minerals Inc.
Attach a list of names of all Student Chapter members (please indicate by * if SEG Student Member).
On a separate page(s) provide a summary of annual activities:
1. Regular meetings, lectures
2. Field trips (dates, area visited, field trip leaders, number of participants, sponsors, benefits for students). Note: this is
not the place for a detailed field trip report that is required from a Student Chapter who has received SEG funds.
3. Organization of conferences, workshops, short courses (theme, number of participants, benefits for students)
4. Participation in conferences, workshops, short courses (theme, number of participants from the Student Chapter, benefits
for students)
5. Fund-raising programs
6. Other programs
7. Future plans Aug2009VS

University of Minnesota Duluth
SEG Student Chapter
Annual Report 2013
UMD-SEG Annual report 2013
Executive Summary
In its third year of operation, the SEG Student Chapter at the University of Minnesota Duluth
(UMD) continued to build its membership and participate in a variety of field trips and events.
With support from industry, faculty and students, the chapter is working to build upon the
successes of last year and plan a variety of activities for the upcoming year.
Summary of the 2012-2013 Academic Year
Regular Chapter Meetings
Throughout the year the UMD Student Chapter held regular meetings no less than once a month.
Meetings were attended by officers, student members, and faculty advisors. Executive meetings
occurred twice monthly. During meetings, various special guests were invited to give
presentations. Guest speakers included:
Aubrey Lee, UMD Graduate Student presented information on her work in Antarctica
Brian Lentz, Big Rock Exploration Company Vice President
Undergraduate Student Lecture by Michael Buschette, Society of Economic Geology
Student Sponsored Course to Peru
Graduate Student Lecture by Alex Steiner, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Ag-Au
Mineralization in Yellowstone National Park, November 2012
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UMD-SEG Annual report 2013
Dr. Rick Sandri, President of Vermillion Gold, Economics of the Mineral Industry
Student Chapter Events
The Chapter also participated in and hosted several events outside of regular meetings. These
events included luncheons with seminar speakers, where students were given the opportunity to
ask questions of professionals and academics within the field of economic geology. Last year’s
luncheon speakers included:
Dr. William Chavez, New Mexico Tech
Dean Rossell, Senior Geologist for Nickel, Rio Tinto
David Stone, Director of North America Exploration for Marathon Oil Company
Department Lecture by Pete Hollings, Lakehead University, Tectonic Triggers for
Cu-Au Porphyry Mineralization in Northern Luzon, Philippines
Christian Schardt, University of Alaska Anchorage
Members also attended, and participated in several conferences, community outreach programs,
and fundraising activities. Notable events included:
Organizing a fundraising raffle at the annual department banquet
PDAC attended by three graduate and three undergraduate members
Institute on Lake Superior Geology in Houghton, MI attended by two
undergraduate and four graduate student
Greenstone-gold SEG short course at Lakehead University attended by four
members
Duluth SME conference attended by seven undergraduate and four graduate students
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UMD-SEG Annual report 2013
Two members volunteered to teach elementary students from Lakewood Elementary
school about geology
Three members helped Cub Scouts earn their geology belt loop
Field Trips
During the 2012-2013 year, two successful field trips took place. The feedback from these trips
was extremely positive, and word of mouth among geology students has boosted membership for
the 2013-2014 year. In the fall of 2012, a weekend trip was taken to the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan, and in the spring of 2013 a week long trip was taken to Arizona and New Mexico.
The fall trip was attended by seven UMD students and four Wayne State University (Detroit, MI)
students, who were invited to join. A professor from each school was also present. Over the two
days, several stops were made at various outcrops of interest to learn more about Upper
Peninsula geology and the economic importance of the area. There was also a visit to Rio
Tinto’s core shed, where students were able to view core and learn about the Cu-Ni Eagle
deposit. A visit was also made to Cliffs Natural Resources Tilden and Empire iron mines, where
students were able to learn about the economic geology of the mines and tour the processing
plant.
The spring trip, which took place over spring break and toured New-Mexico and Arizona was
attended by ten UMD students, a professor, and three New Mexico Tech students. Geologic
highlights included the Valles Caldera, Meteor crater, and the Grand Canyon. More economic
focused visits were made to Sedona and the Jerome VMS deposit, which was a day-long field
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UMD-SEG Annual report 2013
trip led by local expert Paul Lindberg. A day was also devoted to touring the Freeport-
McMoRan Bagdad copper mine, where students were given a comprehensive tour of the open pit
and processing plant. The final day was devoted to studying komatiitic and ultramafic rocks,
exhibiting some economic importance of gem minerals and REEs. A visit to Shiprock was also
made to look at the petrological and geometrical importance of the feature.
Community Involvement
Several members of our Chapter, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota Duluth
Geology Club participated in events at local schools. The first of which took place in the fall at
Lakewood Elementary, where the Chapter organized a demonstration for first through fifth grade
students that highlighted geology related outdoor activities. The goal was to provide young
students with educational and fun activities, as part of the Duluth School District’s “Screen Free
Week,” that could be done without the use of a “screen” device, like cell-phones and televisions.
A second trip was made to Lakewood Elementary in the spring at the request of fourth and fifth
grade teachers. For this outreach opportunity we developed a classroom wide geology unit that
included rock and mineral identification, fossils, and an overview of geologic history of Northern
Minnesota.
Plans for 2013-2014 Academic Year
Regular Chapter Meetings
The entire UMD Student Chapter will meet once a month, with the Executive Officers meeting
separately once to twice a month. Chapter meetings will discuss upcoming events including
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UMD-SEG Annual report 2013
seminars, speakers, attending conferences (SEG, PDAC, ILSG, SME), fundraising efforts, public
outreach opportunities and field trips.
Economic Geology Lectures
Lectures include weekly UMD Geology Department seminars as well as guest lecturers at
monthly meetings. Seminar speakers who have a focus in Economic geology will be invited to
participate in luncheons with students. Various other local and visiting professionals involved in
the economic community will also be invited to chapter meetings to give presentations or talk
with members.
From the 6 th to the 13 th of October, the Precambrian Research Center (PRC) is putting on a Lake
Superior Cu-Ni PGE deposits workshop. During this event, two days of lectures will be given,
and UMD students are allowed to attend free of cost. Other scheduled events include a seminar
presentation and luncheon with Klaus Schulz, Research Geologist in the Eastern Mineral and
Environmental Resources Science Center of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Conferences
UMD-SEG Student Chapter members will be encouraged to attend the following upcoming
meetings:
• Geological Society of America National Meeting (GSA) - Oct. 26-30, Denver, CO
• Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention - March 2-5, 2014,
Toronto, Canada
• Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME) - April 22-23, 2014, Duluth, MN
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UMD-SEG Annual report 2013
• Northwest Ontario Prospectors Association meeting - April 2014, Thunder Bay, Canada
• Institute on Lake Superior Geology meeting - May 2014, Hibbing/Chisolm, MN
Fundraising
In addition to continuing the raffle held at the annual department banquet, we are planning other
fundraising activities for next year. These fundraising efforts are intended to provide financial
support for monthly meeting expenses, Chapter-run field trips in the fall and spring, and
honorariums for invited speakers. If fundraising is particularly successful, we also hope to use
some of our financial resources to provide travel assistance to Chapter members attending
economic geology-focused meetings, field trips, and workshops during the academic year. Our
primary plan for fundraising is to approach local mining companies for their support.
We plan to actively solicit contributions to our SEG Chapter from local mining industry
companies and individuals, as well as support from UMD alumni. We will appeal to local
companies with the message that, through our chapter activities, we are actively promoting
exploration and mining in the region to UMD students and to the general public. We plan to
approach companies in our area including Cliffs NR, US Steel, Arcelor-Mittal, Duluth Metals,
Twin Metals Minnesota, Polymet, Teck American, Encampment Resources, Rio Tinto, Mineral
Processing Corp, HTX Minerals, MMG, Barr Engineering, Golder, Kinross, and Newmont.
Field Trips
The UMD Student Chapter is planning two field trips during the 2013-2014 academic school
year. The first field trip will keep the Chapter local with a visit to the western Mesabi Iron Range
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UMD-SEG Annual report 2013
on October 19 th and 20 th . We will visit a variety of facilities in the region including the HibTac
and Keetac taconite facilities, Magnetation’s processing facility, and an aggregate and dimension
stone quarry. These locations are but a few of the operations that students in the region do not
often have the opportunity to visit, and in that spirit University of Wisconsin Eau Clair students
will be joining us for this joint trip.
Spring break 2014 is the time for our “big” trip to visit geology outside of our local region.
March 17 th – 21 st we will be visiting Missouri’s wonderfully varied geology. The highlight of
the trip will be the opportunity to take students underground in the Doe Run Complex, a Pb-Zn
Mississippi Valley-type deposit that is strikingly different from the magmatic sulfides so
prevalent here in northern Minnesota. We will also be visiting an Archean caldera in the St.
Francis Mountains, observe Paleozoic sediments not found in our region, visit the US-Silica
aggregate facility in Pacific Missouri, and also the Grantville Quarry.
Student Chapter Recruitment and Promotion
The UMD Student Chapter continues to reach out to undergraduate and graduate students
interested in economic geology. Funding towards conferences and SEG led trips is integral in the
participation of students. Due to the success of the previous year’s activities, an increase in
interest can already be seen in the number of new members and interest as a whole.
Minnesota is currently facing tough questions when it comes to mining. The Cu-Ni PGE
deposits of the Duluth-Complex present a potential boom for Minnesota’s economy, but there are
many who are opposed to these potential mining activities. Concerns over the environment are
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UMD-SEG Annual report 2013
the main topic when discussing new mining activities. The SEG Chapter at UMD is presented
with a unique opportunity to educate the public about mining. By holding informational meetings
or reaching out to the general public, the UMD Chapter hopes to help educate Minnesotans on all
aspects of mining the Duluth-Complex. By teaching people about the geology, the potential
economic benefits, and what will be done to ensure environmental impacts are kept at a
minimum, we can help to improve public perception about mining in Minnesota.
Active Student Chapter Members
Executive Committee
Alex Steiner $** – President
Patrick Quillen* – Vice President
Mike Doyle $*-Treasurer
Matt Grotte*-Secretary
Undergraduate Students
Nick Spano Kate Wehrs Aaron Knowlton Aaron Main
Gary Kelner Nate Lentsch* EspreeEssig Jeff Harrison
Shane Loeffler Scott Pollan* Brandon Rhoads Matt Lundberg**
Kelsey Shcenck Bob Kryzer Kate Johnson Nick Rodgers
Derek Rhode Emily Goranson Julianna McDonnell Adam Leu $*
Sarah Sauer $ Kris Asp $ Paul Fix $
*SEG Student Member
**SEG Membership Pending
$ Graduate Student
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