SEG - Society of Economic Geologists

Advancing Science and Discovery 

SEG 

N E W S L E T T E R 

www.segweb.org 

OCTOBER 2012 NUMBER 91 

Mauritania: A Greenfields Exploration 

Opportunity in Northwestern Africa 

Please 

pay your 2013 

membership dues online 

C. D. Taylor, 1,† E. D. Anderson, 1 D. C. Bradley, 2 G. Beaudoin, 3 M. A. Cosca, 1 R. G. Eppinger, 1 G. L. Fernette, 1 C. A. Finn, 1 

M. J. Friedel, 1 S. A. Giles, 1 R. J. Goldfarb, 1 J. D. Horton, 1 G. K. Lee, 1 E. E. Marsh, 1 J. L. Mauk, 1 H. A. Motts, 2 M.Y. Ould El Joud, 4 

S. Ould Soueidatt, 4 A. Ould Taleb Mohamed, 5 and B. W. Rockwell 1 

INTRODUCTION 

With a land area of approx. 1,000,000 km 2 along the western 

edge of the Sahara desert and 90% covered by gravel and sand 

dunes (Fig. 1, inset), the Islamic Republic of Mauritania may 

not be on the top of many exploration managers’ lists of 

places to expend their exploration budgets. The harsh desert 

climate and lack of water keep most of the country’s population 

of 3 million confined to four or five cities along the 

Atlantic coast and Senegal River and ensure that transportation 

corridors and infrastructure development in the interior of 

the country are limited. The flat topography of much of the 

country adds to the difficulty of exploration, as does the lack 

of experienced logistical and material providers. Territorial 

disputes between neighbors to the north and Toureg uprisings 

in Mali, Mauritania’s neighbor to the east, along with the 

perceived instability of the Mauritanian government that 

underwent a bloodless coup in 2008, are not likely to bolster 

the confidence of major companies looking 

to page 

for greenfields exploration frontiers. 

10 ... 

† Corresponding author: e-mail, ctaylor@usgs.gov 

1 U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046 Federal Center, MS-973, Denver, 

CO 80225-0046 

2 U.S. Geological Survey, 4200 University Dr., Anchorage, AK 99709 

3 Université Laval, 1065, Avenue de la Médecine, Quebec City, 

Quebec, Canada G1V 0A6 

4 Unité de Coordination du Projet Minier, B.P. 5430, Nouakchott, 

Mauritania 

5 Ministère du Pétrole, de l’Energie, et des Mines, B.P. 5430, 

Nouakchott, Mauritania 

Nouadhibou Khnefissat Chami 

20° N 

15° N 

● Tasiast 

Mauritania 

 

Fig. 3 

Guelb 

Moghrein 

Guelb 

Tamagot 

● 

Nouakchott 

Senegal River 

400 Kilometers 

15° W 

Zouerate 

Guelb 

Nich 

Sud 

Akjoujt 

Inchiri 

El district 

Khader 

Sebkha 

N’Drhamacha 

Kaouat 

Bou Naga 

 

 

Kediat 

Idjil 

Fig. 2 

Semsiyat dome 

10° W 

Bia-652 

Conchita-Florence 

Hendrix 

Tabatanet 

shear 

El Mrhader zone 

El Hajar 

El Mheissat 

Tigsmat 

A238(NW) 

Bir en Nar 

Oued El Ma 

Sfariat Belt (Zednes fault zone) 

Guelb 

Mhaoudat 

Kadiar Guelb En Naaj 

Loubboira 

Indice 78 

Bofal 

Sivé Guidamaka 

Diaguili 

Guelb er Richat 

10° W 

● 

Nema 

5° W 

Coastal Basin 

Tindouf Basin 

Taoudeni Basin 

Mauritanide Orogen 

Rgueïbat Shield 

Paleoproterozoic 

Granites 

Archean 

Greenstone belts 

Granites 

Tiris Complex 

Amsaga Complex 

Tasiast-Tijirit terrane 

Mine 

Exploration target 

City 

FIGURE 1. Map of Mauritania, showing major geologic provinces and 

locations of features described in the text. Inset shows location of 

Mauritania on the African continent. 

5° W 

25° N 

20° N 

15° N 

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OCTOBER 2012 • No 91 SEG NEWSLETTER 3 


NEWSLETTER 

Nº 91 — OCTOBER 2012 

EXECUTIVE EDITOR 

Brian G. Hoal 

NEWS EDITOR 

Alice Bouley 

GRAPHIC DESIGN 

Vivian Smallwood 

PRODUCTION MANAGER 

Chris Brandt 

ADVERTISING & ANNOUNCEMENTS 

Christine Horrigan 

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: seg@segweb.org 

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Please submit material to the 

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The SEG Newsletter is published quarterly in 

January, April, July, and October by the Society of 

Economic Geologists, Littleton, Colorado, exclusively 

for members of the Society. Opinions 

expressed herein are those of the writers and do 

not necessarily represent official positions of the 

Society of Economic Geologists. When quoting 

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© 2012 The Society of Economic Geologists, Inc. 

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— FOR CONTRIBUTORS — 

The SEG Newsletter is published for the benefit of 

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Advertising: Paid advertising is solicited to help 

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DEADLINE FOR NEWSLETTER #92: 

November 30, 2012 

Contents 

FEATURE ARTICLE 

1 Mauritania: A Greenfields Exploration Opportunity in Northwestern Africa 

NEWSLETTER COLUMNS 

4 From the Executive Director: Digital Affairs at the SEG 

5 Presidential Perspective: The Ideal Exploration Geologist— 

A Challenge for Education and Training 

6 SEGF Presidential Perspective: Teaming up for Future Explorationists 

VIEWS 

7 Sustainable Exploration—A Major’s Perspective 

SEG NEWS 

6 Contributions – SEG and SEG Foundation 

9 Erratum: SEG Lima Proceedings 

18 SEG Geometallurgy Forum 

20 Distinguished Lecturing in Australia 

SEG STUDENT NEWS 

24 SEG Stewart R. Wallace Fund—Student Chapter Support Available 

24 SEG Foundation Student-Dedicated Field Trip: Preliminary Announcement 

25 University of Quebec at Montreal Student Chapter Field Trip 

26 McGill SEG Student Chapter Field Trip 

27 University of Geneva Student Chapter Field Trip 

27 Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Bogotá Student Chapter Activities 

28 Oregon SEG Student Chapter Field Trip 

EXPLORATION REVIEWS 

29– Alaska · 29– Australasia · 30– Mexico · 30– Northern Eurasia · 31– Contiguous United States 

MEMBERSHIP 

4 Membership Recognition — 2012 

34-35 SEG Membership: Candidates and New Fellows, Members, and Student Members 

38 SEG Announcements & Deadlines: Geofacets modified press release 

39 Personal Notes & News 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

4 Thank You SEG 2012 Corporate Sponsors 

17 FUTORES 2013 Symposia — Townsville, Australia 

19 7th Annual Workshop — Ore Deposits Models and Exploration 2013, Guangzhou, China 

20 Mineral Deposits Studies Group (MDSG) 36th Annual Winter Meeting 

21 Rio Tinto — SEG Special Publication: A Tribute to Richard Sillitoe 

22 SEG-CSM Sediment-hosted Zn-Pb-Ag Deposits Course – Register Now 

23 SEG Ore Reserve Estimates in the Real World Workshop – Register Now 

31 SEG at GSA: 2012 GSA Annual Meeting & Exposition 

36 SEG New Publication – Ore Deposits of the Andes 

36 NWMA 118 th Annual Meeting, Exposition & Short Courses 

37 SEG Gold Workshop, University of Cape Town, South Africa 

40-41 SEG-SEG Canada Foundation Whistler 2013: Geoscience for Discovery – Call For Papers 

44 SEG 2014 – Building Exploration Capability for the 21st Century – Save the Date! (back cover) 

44 SEG Contact Information (back cover) 

CALENDAR 

42 Calendar 

ADVERTISERS — 

2 Actlabs, Ltd. (inside front cover) 

43 ALS Minerals (inside back cover) 

32 Anzman, Joseph R.s 

32 AVRUPA Minerals 

20 Big Sky Geophysics 

32 de Haller & Schmidt 

26 Geocon, Inc. 

2 Geosense (inside front cover) 

36 Hydrothermal Ore Deposits 

32 io global 

43 Kinross Gold (inside back cover) 

26 Laravie, Joseph A. 

42 Logemin S.A. 

32 LTL Petrographics 

33 Ore Research & Exploration 

25 Petrographic Consultants Intl. 

25 Recursos del Caribe, S.A. 

42 Resource Geosciences de Mexico 

2 SGS (inside front cover) 

28 Sims, Dale 

28 Shea Clark Smith 

6 Wyoming State Geological Survey 

36 Zonge Engineering & Research

4 SEG NEWSLETTER No 91 • OCTOBER 2012 

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 

Digital Affairs at the SEG 

Through the course of 2012, SEG has 

been working to improve and expand 

its electronic footprint. Starting with a 

more accessible website, we have customized 

e-communications, launched 

mobile websites for increased access to 

Economic Geology and, most recently, 

taken steps toward enabling map-based 

access to the journal. Our website has 

been redesigned and converted to 

WCM, the new content management 

system in iMIS (SEG’s current association 

management software system), 

while the journal websites with 

HighWire Press and GeoScienceWorld 

are now restructured to facilitate 

updates, administration, and utility. 

Mobile websites for Economic Geology 

have recently been launched and the 

table of contents alert customized for 

members. SEG Publications Board 

approved a license agreement with 

Elsevier to integrate SEG content into 

the Geofacets product, a map-based 

interface for assessment of mineral and 

hydrocarbon potential by corporate 

subscribers. Specifically for members, 

the Geofacets-SEG Millennium Edition 

(segweb.org/geofacets) will be available 

in January 2013, so look for this as an 

option on your 2013 membership 

renewal form. 

An online membership application is 

nearing completion and we have 

worked hard to create a uniform “look 

and feel” for this and other online features 

by redesigning and branding web 

elements such as e-mails, dues notifications, 

and receipts. SEG also established 

a social network presence for the first 

time in Facebook (over 200 likes and a 

recent weekly total reach of 1,610), 

Twitter (32 followers), LinkedIn, and 

Google+. Modest steps, perhaps, but 

already we have received many positive 

comments from users, especially members, 

who are finding these features 

beneficial in their work and careers. 

Staff has further focused on existing 

information technology usage to see 

where we can reduce costs and improve 

efficiency. One example is the lessening 

of our reliance on outsourcing by 

increasing in-house adoption of Crystal 

BRIAN G. HOAL 

SEG Executive Director 

and Editor 

and SQL Reports 

from the existing 

iMIS database. The 

online bookstore 

has also been reorganized 

by content 

with metadata 

added to all products 

(e.g., release 

date, authors/editors, 

and format type) to increase ease 

of keyword search. Building of the SEG 

electronic publication inventory is 

ongoing, with anticipated completion 

by year-end. At the time of writing, 

most of our publications have been 

scanned, with the goal of making them 

available for download and/or sale on 

CD/DVD. 

The increasing popularity of digital 

products is evidenced in the unprecedented 

success of the “Triple Play” promotion 

of our three gold compilation 

DVDs earlier in the year. Expect more 

of the same as we approach the holiday 

season! 1 

T hank You 

SEG Corporate Sponsors 

for a highly successful 

SEG 2012 Conference in Lima, Peru 

Diamond 

Gold 

Platinum 

Silver 

Membership Recognition — 2012 

The Society and SEG Foundation congratulate the 

following members who have received certification 

commemorating 50 years of SEG membership: 

Randall J. Weege, Ernest K. Lehmann, 

Robert L. Wilson, Robert A. Woodtli 

We also extend our congratulations to those 

members who received certificates in recognition 

of 25 years of membership: 

Bruce A. Ahler 

Tawn D. Albinson 

Nicholas J. Archibald 

Byron R. Berger 

Michael H. Biste 

Craig S. Bow 

Philip E. Brown 

Bruce E. Castle 

John G. Cleary 

Richard A. Cleath 

David M. Cole 

John D. Davidson 

John H. Dilles 

Michael S. Fulp 

Malcolm J. Gander 

J. Bruce Gemmell 

P. Craig Gibson 

Mathew D. Gray 

Gregory C. Hall 

David N. Harley 

James R. Husman 

Robert A. Jenkins 

Ryoichi Kouda 

Peter Laznicka 

Leon Liebenberg 

Richard B. Loring 

Timothy F. McConachy 

Madelyn Millholland 

David W. Moore 

Laurence M. Nuelle 

Henrik Stendal 

Barton J. Suchomel 

Albert G. Thamm 

Donald C. White 

Walter K. Witt 

J. Stevens Zuker


PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVE 

The Ideal Exploration Geologist— 

A Challenge for Education and Training 

At the Gordon Research Conference 

devoted to geochemistry of ore deposits, 

held in July in Andover, New Hampshire, 

SEG President-Elect Antonio Arribas 

addressed the question of how science 

and research help and, at times, do not 

help mineral exploration. He spoke 

from the point of view of industry. 

Antonio concluded that successful 

exploration stories depend on basic 

geological field observations—including 

mapping, structural geology, mineralogy, 

petrology, and ore deposit models— 

integrated with technological innovation 

in the sectors of mining, metallurgy, 

geophysics, exploration geochemistry, 

remote sensing, and information systems. 

In addition, he noted that input 

from geodynamic models, geomorphology, 

soil science, detailed mineralogy 

and petrology (indicator minerals), as 

well as geochronology, are essential. He 

also warned against silver bullets and 

half-baked solutions that are not backed 

by sufficient evidence. 

In other words, what our incoming 

president was saying is that the ideal 

exploration geologist must be a critical, 

imaginative, team-playing, and multifaceted 

geologist. In terms of education 

of future economic geologists, the message 

is clear: we need to focus on field 

skills and basic geological disciplines, 

on the ability to synthesize data of very 

different types, and on the ability to 

use and develop complex models. 

But we also need to focus on what 

nowadays are often-neglected basic disciplines, 

such as mineralogy and 

petrology, so that the ideal exploration 

geologist is able to critically evaluate 

new analytical methods, including 

those that are increasingly field based 

(e.g., infrared spectroscopy and X-ray 

florescence). This is also the basis for 

the rapidly developing field of geometallurgy, 

in which the geologist at the 

front end is asked to evaluate geological 

and mineralogical characteristics of 

orebodies that affect their economic 

viability. I stress this at a time when 

many university chairs in mineralogy 

and petrology have been or are about 

to be cut in favor of disciplines considered 

more timely, and when departments 

are often greatly reducing 

teaching devoted to basic mineralogy 

and petrology. 

Raw materials: “Business as usual is 

no longer an option for Europe” 

As only the second Europe-based president 

in the 92-year history of SEG, 

I would like to write from a European 

perspective for my fourth and last 

column. 

A very welcome recent document 1 

from the Commission (government) of 

the European Union states that the raw 

materials supply, including metals, has 

to be considered in the context of the 

whole value chain, including geological 

exploration, processing, recycling, and 

substitution. To even see the terms 

“geological exploration” and “mining” 

referred to by the EU is novel because, 

until very recently, European political 

power and public opinion were under 

the illusion that just by being more efficient 

and by increased recycling, the 

metals needed by European industry 

could be (almost) assured for the future. 

This change, of course, results from 

the recent perceived threat of a supply 

shortage of some REEs critical for industry. 

Public opinion has found it difficult 

to relate the supply shortage to lack of 

exploration and production limitations 

rather than depleted mineral resources. 

However, the beneficial effect is that 

suddenly, as in other parts of the world, 

the attention of public powers is being 

directed at raw materials. For instance, 

the EU document, after recognizing the 

“strategic importance of a sustainable 

supply of raw materials to the EU—for 

its industry and society as a whole,” 

states that “the complexity and urgency 

of the issues at stake have made it very 

clear that a continuation of business as 

usual is no longer an option for Europe.” 

This development parallels increased 

exploration activities in Europe, mainly 

in its northern and eastern regions (in 

2011, Europe attracted 4% of the world 

non-ferrous exploration investment, 

compared to 8% 

in USA and 18% 

in Canada). 2 In 

addition, there is 

a slight increase 

in interest for 

reviving ore 

deposit groups in European high 

LLUÍS FONTBOTÉ 

SEG President 2012 

schools and some geological surveys (in 

others the opposite trend still prevails). 

The mining industry with its association 

Euromines and, more recently, the 

informal gathering of European ore 

deposit specialists from industry and 

academia under the umbrella of the 

European Ore Deposit Initiative (EODI) 

are currently providing support to several 

ambitious Europe-wide activities. 

In conclusion, there are several 

encouraging developments that move 

in the direction of smoothing an 

anomaly. The anomaly is that Europe 

hosts most of the world’s metal trading 

and some of the major mining corporations, 

finances a good part of the mineral 

industry, has important active 

mine districts and large underexplored 

regions, and has some of the best 

research centers on ore deposits; yet, 

despite this, decision makers and opinions 

persist, with the firm attitude of 

“not in my backyard.” Europe can provide 

its share of the supply of ore materials 

as it has in the past. Moreover, as 

stated in the first part of this column, 

securing mineral resources in a sustainable 

way for future generations will 

need high-quality science and well-educated 

economic geologists, able to integrate 

different types of data, tools, and 

knowledge. From this perspective, 

Europe has something to contribute to 

the world. 

With this, I pass my column to the 

incoming SEG President Antonio Arribas, 

the first Asia-based SEG President (and 

also European born). I wish him much 

success in the privileged task of being 

president of this great Society! 1 

1 Making raw materials available for Europe’s future wellbeing: Proposal for a 

European Innovation Partnership on raw materials. European Commission, COM 2012 

82, 29-February-2012. 

2 World exploration trends 2012, Metal Economic Group.


FOUNDATION PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVE 

Teaming up for Future Explorationists 

The year has gone quickly and I am a bit astonished to find 

myself writing my final column as SEG Foundation President. 

I am more astonished, though, at the work put in by all my 

fellow Foundation board members, including the fund-raisers, 

managers, and investors—led by Patrick Highsmith, George 

Ireland, and Borden Putnam—who have kept us financially 

stable; and the nominating committee, led by Mary Little, 

that has corralled an excellent slate of incoming candidates. 

Thanks also go out to Don Birak, SEGF Past President, who 

showed (and continues to show) me the ropes, and Bill 

Chavez, for agreeing to pick them up as incoming SEGF 

President. Of course, the Foundation would get nowhere 

without the constant support from Brian Hoal and Christine 

Horrigan in the Littleton office, who do the heavy lifting, 

assisted by very competent colleagues. 

David Abbott’s recent column in the AIPG journal drew 

my attention to a presentation given at the 4 th International 

Professional Geologists Conference in January 2012, by 

Patrick Leahy and Christopher Keane. Their presentation is 

available online (via http://www.ccpg.ca/news/index.php? 

lang=en&subpg=projsinits) and the numbers the authors present 

demonstrate clearly how important SEG’s efforts to 

bridge the generation(s) gap are. For the USA over the next 10 

years, these are some figures projected by Leahy and Keane: 

● 125,000 geoscientists are expected to retire; 

● 72,000 new geoscience jobs are expected to be created; 

● 15,000 graduate geoscience degrees are expected to be 

awarded, or 45,000 overall geoscience degrees, if you 

include the bachelor degree levels. 

● This yields a net deficit of 150,000 graduates versus jobs 

by 2021. 

PETER K.M. MEGAW 

SEG Foundation 

President 2012 

Leahy and Keane go on to show that 

(1) the situation is at least as dire outside 

the United States, (2) the quality of geology 

students is lower than for other sciences 

(at least in terms of quantitative 

GRE scores), and (3) economic geology 

enrollments are about half those for environmental 

earth science studies and on 

par with disciplines like igneous petrology, 

paleontology, and tectonics—fields that tend to lead to 

academic rather than applied careers. 

Not only do we need to bridge the gap within our own 

specialty, but we must compete with all other branches of 

earth science for the top students entering the field. This is 

not going to be easy, given the gutting of economic geology 

programs in many universities, including some of the biggest 

historical names in the field, e.g., Harvard, Stanford, and 

Pennsylvania State University. Today, many of the top new 

scientific minds entering university are not even able to be 

exposed to our field, so we have to start working both ends 

against the middle more aggressively. 

The recently initiated SEG Education and Training 

Curriculum is doing a good job of targeting the up-and-coming 

levels, but we also should consider how we can bring 

pressure on academic departments to maintain, shore-up, or 

even reinstate economic geology programs. Generally, this 

means giving departments money…a commodity that has 

become harder to come by over the last year…but perhaps we 

should also be lobbying the departments directly with teams 

of alumni carrying the message of demand and employment 

for the graduating students. The clock is ticking… 1 

Contributions 6/1/2012–8/31/2012 

Thank you for your generous contributions to the 

Society and the SEG Foundation. 


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Views columns are the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the SEG 

VIEWS 

Sustainable Exploration—A Major’s Perspective 

INTRODUCTION 

The theme of the recent AMIRA Explo - 

ration Managers Conference, Smart 

Exploration: Insights, Technologies and 

Practices, highlighted the key ingredients 

which must be integrated to 

develop a sustainable exploration program 

by specifically focusing on the 

role and interplay between innovative 

geological insight, improved technology, 

and more effective and efficient 

practices in successful exploration. 

For Anglo American Exploration 

(AAE), sustainable exploration means 

delivering on safe discovery and maintaining 

continued access to land, 

resources, talent, and funding throughout 

the commodity cycles. This has 

involved the discovery of a pipeline of 

Tier1 deposits, achieved through exploring 

safely and responsibly to strengthen 

the Group’s project portfolio. This result 

has ensured that AAE continues to be a 

key provider of both long-term growth 

and value addition for the Group. 

Over the last decade, AAE discovered 

15 base metal deposits and has been 

recognized by the Metals Economics 

Group (MEG) as one of the most successful 

base metal explorers. Our discovery 

odds and costs are in the lower 

quartile of industry benchmark whilst 

the resource tons and grade are in the 

top quartile. 

Exploration success, best-in-class performance, 

and industry recognition as a 

leading exploration group ensure AAE’s 

internal and external credibility. This is 

critical to ensuring the ongoing board 

support and a long-term commitment 

to funding. Key success factors to maintaining 

our competitive advantage 

include discovery track record, strong 

management support, maintaining 

social license to operate, and advancing 

exploration’s geographic, scientific, and 

technical frontiers. 

The role of exploration in major companies 

has been greatly debated in recent 

times; critically, it has been suggested 

*Graham Brown is Group Head of 

Geosciences for Anglo American; e-mail, 

graham.brown@angloamerican.com 

that junior companies are more successful 

and cost efficient. AAE’s recent 

record has demonstrated that exploration 

can still provide a major company 

with growth opportunities and 

can distinguish it from its peers. 

INDUSTRY CHALLENGES 

The exploration and discovery business 

faces three key challenges: improving 

the declining rate of discovery, reversing 

the trend of increasing costs and 

lead time, and maintaining our license 

to operate. From my perspective as an 

explorer, our business ultimately is all 

about discovery, delivering value, and 

providing options for growth. Impor - 

tantly, successful exploration and finding 

new ore deposits are people driven 

and team effort. 

However, the challenge of maintaining 

our license to operate should not be 

underestimated. In particular, how do 

we as an industry attract and retain 

people? The current generation of graduates 

expects the employer to “do the 

right thing,” to work safely and minimize 

the impact on both the communities 

and the environments in which 

they work. In addition to being at the 

forefront of exploration innovation and 

technology, we also need to advance 

our social frontiers if we wish to have 

continued access to land, resources, and 

talent. 

In other words, we need to balance 

risk and reward when selecting the what, 

where, and how to explore. To build a 

competitive business for now and future 

generations and improve the industry’s 

discovery track record, we need to continue 

to expand our geographic, scientific 

and technical frontiers. Partnerships 

at all levels are critical; this includes 

communities, industry, academia, and 

government coming together as necessary 

to help deliver on the commitment 

to advance scientific understanding and 

discovery for the benefit of society. 

The singularly most important contribution 

geoscientists can make to society 

is the discovery of new deposits. In 

particular, given that the majority of the 

mining industry’s wealth is captured in 

a few world-class mines, it is these rare 

Tier1 deposits that 

provide the industry 

with the best 

opportunity to 

make a positive and 

lasting contribution 

to society. 

GRAHAM BROWN 

(SEG 1999 F) 

Anglo American 

Exploration 

ANGLO AMERICAN 

EXPLORATION AT A GLANCE 

The mining and exploration industry 

has three choices in providing options 

for growth: discover, acquire, or innovate! 

Discovery is creating value by 

finding new ore deposits; acquisition is 

recognizing value by quantifying the 

‘”blue-sky” potential to justify the premium 

paid; and innovation is unlocking 

value through technology developments. 

For example, there are many 

dormant deposits that have not been 

developed due to technological challenges, 

such as difficult mineralogy; 

recent advances in metallurgy are providing 

new processing options to bring 

these known deposits into production. 

Anglo American’s exploration business 

continues to be a major differentiator 

for the Group, with many of the 

discoveries contributing to the company’s 

future growth and project 

pipeline, as well as adding substantial 

value to our existing assets and operations. 

In 2011, we spent $121 million 

on exploration activities in 16 countries 

and we are active in all six Group operating 

regions; Africa, Asia, Australia, 

Europe, and North and South America. 

Exploration and technology have 

both been identified as key enablers to 

deliver Anglo American’s growth strategy. 

To be the explorer of choice, AAE 

is focused on four strategic pillars: safe 

discovery, leading explorers, global 

footprint, and targeting world-class 

assets in the most attractive commodities. 

AAE has successfully delivered value 

across three time horizons (1, 5, and 10 

years) by adopting a distinctive frontiers 

approach (geographic, scientific, 

technical, and social) to exploration 

and discovery. This combination has 

maximized the financial return and 

optimized value for 

Anglo American. 

to page 8 ... 

VIEWS


... from 7 

VIEWS: Sustainable Exploration—A Major’s Perspective (Continued) 

VIEWS 

The key strategic drivers are resource 

replacement to extend the life-of-mine, 

asset upgrading to improve project 

pipeline quality, discovery track-record 

that provides options for business 

growth, and risk mitigation by both 

geographic and commodity diversification. 

In addition, the relative role of 

exploration and acquisition in business 

development varies by commodity, risk 

appetite, and the quality of both the 

internal project pipeline and growth 

opportunities available through merger 

and acquisition activity. 

AAE focuses on the discovery of new 

mineral deposits and evaluation of 

existing resources. Activities include 

both greenfield and brownfield exploration. 

Our teams use a combination of 

traditional fieldwork and innovative 

technologies developed through industry 

partnerships, and both collaborative 

and one-on-one research programs. 

This has resulted in the development of 

leading-edge in-house discovery tools. 

The team also balances geological 

prospectivity with country risk, focusing 

on the what and where rather than 

the how to explore. Years of operating 

around the world in key frontiers has 

provided the Group with strategic 

insights when identifying and assessing 

new areas of geography, commodities, 

business development opportunities, 

and the relative likelihood of securing 

and maintaining our licence to operate. 

R&D Advancing Science and Discovery 

Advancing R&D (research and development) 

frontiers and the discovery of new 

Tier1 deposits is key to future exploration 

success, value-creation, and delivering a 

commercial competitive advantage. Re - 

cent examples of innovative and cuttingedge 

technologies that have advanced 

science and discovery in both exploration 

frontiers and near mine environments 

include the following examples: 

● The Sakatti polymetallic deposit is 

a greenfield discovery, located 150 

km north of the Arctic Circle in the 

Lapland tundra of Finland. For this 

project, a closed-system drilling 

mud technique, involving complete 

recycling of muds and removal of 

drill cuttings, was developed in partnership 

with a local drill contractor. 

This discovery tool significantly 

reduced costs and the environmental 

impact, affirming our 

license to operate. 

● The Gergarub polymetallic deposit 

is a brownfield discovery, located 8 

km from the Skorpion mine, in the 

Sperrgebiet desert, Namibia. The 

Low Temperature Superconducting 

Quantum Interference Device (LT 

SQUID) is a new generation ground 

electromagnetic geophysical system 

for enhanced detection of orebodies 

that was developed in a one-on-one 

collaboration with the Europe-based 

Institute for Photo genic Technolo - 

gies (IPHT). Advan tages are greater 

sensitivity and depth penetration 

plus improved signal to noise 

ratio, which when combined with 

enhanced data interpretation techniques 

provides an additional targeting 

vector. This high-resolution 

instrument contributed to the discovery 

of Ger garub and also played 

a role in the discovery of two further 

massive sulfide deposits 

undercover in Africa and Europe. 

● The Los Sulfatos base metals deposit 

is another brownfield discovery, 

located 8 km from the Los Bronces 

mine, above 4,000 m in the high 

Andes, Chile. A competitive tender 

process awarded a contract to an 

international engineering consortium 

to develop an 8 km explora - 

tion tunnel using a Tunnel Boring 

Machine (TBM). This was the first 

time TBM technology has been 

used in a near-mine explorationstage 

project. This evaluation technology 

is safer, faster, and lower 

cost than the traditional drill and 

blast method and provides yearround 

access and drilling platforms. 

Industry Recognition and Awards 

In 2011, the industry recognized our discovery 

track record, expertise, and leadership 

in base metals exploration with two 

major awards and a number one ranking. 

AEE was presented with the PDAC 

(Prospectors and Developers Association 

of Canada) and FEM (Fenno scandia 

Exploration and Mining) discovery 

awards for the Los Sulfatos and Sakatti 

discoveries, respectively, and the Group 

was ranked by the MEG as the most successful 

major base metals exploration 

team during the period 1999–2010. 

Over the last decade, AAE delivered 

15 base metal discoveries and nearly 50 

Mt of contained metal, including eight 

greenfield and seven brownfield successes 

in both exploration frontiers and 

near mine districts, respectively. During 

this period the geosciences and exploration 

management team provided the 

broad leadership experience and practical 

insights required to build and maintain 

a competitive global exploration 

and discovery business. 

Interestingly, 10 of these discoveries 

crop out and relied on traditional geological 

fieldwork as an important discovery 

method. In addition, seven are 

located in Chile, an established exploration 

environment that some have 

thought of as mature. This is contrary 

to current perceived wisdom throughout 

much of the exploration community, 

that all the major outcropping 

orebodies are found, technology will 

provide the silver bullet to improve the 

discovery rate, and only high-risk countries 

are underexplored and prospective. 

Key success factors include a safe discovery 

culture, high-quality exploration 

teams (so-called hunting packs) innovative 

geologic thinking, appropriate discovery 

tools and evaluation technologies, 

continuous senior management support, 

consistent funding through the commodity 

cycles, and time to build local 

knowledge and operating capabilities. 

Industry Benchmarking and Metrics 

MEG recently announced that the 2011 

nonferrous exploration spend was at a 

new all-time high (more than $18 billion). 

However, the relative amount 

spent on grassroots exploration is at a 

historical low (33%), which is the net 

effect of industry consolidation, focus 

on low-risk brownfield exploration, and 

the fact that the majority of juniors, 

which account for up to 50% of the 

worldwide exploration budge, only 

recycle known properties. 

According to some estimates, less 

than 20% of the exploration budget is 

spent on high-risk grassroots regional 

programs. If this trend continues, the 

question for the industry is who will 

make the next generation of Tier1 

deposit discoveries. 

Recent Australia Mining and Explo - 

ration Council (AMEC) industry reviews 

on discovery rates and costs indicate 

that on average only one to two Tier1 

discoveries are made each year, and the 

unit cost per discovery is $2.6 billion, 

an increase of two to three times over 

the last decade. For comparison, AAE 

net exploration and evaluation expenditures 

per Tier1 deposit discovery was


$125 million. The clear message is that 

Tier1 deposits are rare and being an 

average explorer is not sustainable; this 

will ultimately result in gamblers’ ruin 

and value destruction. 

The MEG benchmark of base metal 

discovery and acquisition metrics over 

the last decade highlights AAE as being 

in the lower quartile discovery cost 

(c/lb) and upper quartile in quality 

(tons and grade). Persistence and a 

focus on quality have resulted in AAE’s 

discovery odds of less than 100 to 1, 

much better than the industry rule of 

thumb of greater than 1,000 to 1. 

In addition, nearly $600 million was 

returned to the Group from asset sales 

of both noncore commodities and 

deposits that failed to meet minimum 

investment criteria. This combination 

of a venture capital funding model and 

focused portfolio management resulted 

in low net exploration expenditures, 

averaging $25 million per annum during 

the period 1999–2010. 

SUSTAINABLE EXPLORATION 

Successful Exploration and Discovery is 

a major differentiator in terms of leadership, 

expertise and value creation. In the 

past the priority was focused on finding 

and building mines, whereas today the 

focus has changed to include building 

partnerships on all levels of society. 

Future success and sustainable exploration 

requires delivery on advancing 

exploration of frontiers, maintaining 

access to land, mineral resources and 

talent, and providing options for 

growth through discovery, acquisition, 

and innovation. For AAE, this means a 

pipeline of Tier1 deposit discoveries 

achieved by safe discovery, enabling 

both continued long-term growth and 

the addition of value for the Group. 1 

An incorrect Abstract appears in the Proceedings for the XVI 

Congreso Peruano de Geología and SEG 2012 Conference, 

published on a USB flash drive for attendees at the meeting. 

The correct Abstract for poster no. 40, submitted by 

Ignacio González-Álvarez et al. for the SEG Posters section, 

appears below. It will also appear in the online SEG bookstore 

(www.segweb.org/store), as a publication in the SEG 

Conference Series, 2012. 

Poster 40 (Ext. Abstract) 

Hydrothermal Ni: Doriri Creek, Papua New Guinea 

I. González-Álvarez, 1,† M. Sweetapple, 1 D. Lindley, 2 

and J. Kirakar 2 

1 CSIRO, Earth Science and Resource Engineering, 

Minerals Down Under Flagship, Kensington 6151, Western Australia 

2 Papuan Precious Metals Corp., 700-1620 Dickson Av. 

Kelowna, BC V1Y 9Y2, Canada 

† Corresponding author: e-mail, i.gonzalez.alvarez@gmail.com 

Erratum: SEG Lima Proceedings 

The Doriri Creek (DC) Ni-Pd-Pt prospect was discovered in 

1966 in the Papuan Ultramafic Belt (PUB) in Papua New 

Guinea (PNG). Lindley and Kirakar interpreted the DC as a 

hydrothermal Ni accumulation in 2007. The DC is located in 

the southern area of Mt Suckling (~180 km SE of Port Moresby), 

where local intrusive rocks associated with the Suckling area 

are intermediate to acid dikes and small stocks. The DC 

prospect is located within the tectonized Australian and 

Woodlark plate contact. The active volcanoes of Mount 

Victory and Waiowa indicate thermal activity in the area. 

The PUB has been interpreted as a Jurassic-Cretaceous SW 

Pacific ophiolitic nappe obducted onto the Owen-Stanley 

Metamorphic Complex during the Eocene, forming a ~400- 

km-long, 25- to 40-km-wide belt of peridotites overlain by a 

suite of gabbros and basalts, with a total thickness ranging 

from 14 to >20 km. 

The Doriri Creek prospect is the result of episodic hydrothermal 

fluids flowing through the major Doriri fault that re - 

sulted in Ni concentration (grades up to 1.55 wt % nickel, up 

to ~15 m width and


... from 1 

Mauritania: A Greenfields Exploration Opportunity in Northwestern Africa (Continued) 

Nevertheless, prospective Archean, 

Paleoproterozoic, and Phanerozoic settings 

make Mauritania a highly favorable 

target for a variety of commodities. 

In 1999, the Mauritanian government, 

with assistance from the World 

Bank and Islamic Development Bank, 

embarked on a program to promote 

investment in its mineral industry. The 

program, termed Projet de Renforcement 

Institutionnel du Secteur Minier (PRISM), 

strives to improve the mining legislation 

and the business climate, and to 

provide baseline geoscientific data that 

will facilitate mineral exploration. 

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has 

been engaged by the Mauritanian government 

to synthesize all available geological 

and resource data on a countrywide 

scale, and to produce a new 

1:1,000,000-scale geologic map of the 

country (Fig. 1). Additional country-wide 

products include (1) a geophysical synthesis 

of all available aeromagnetic and 

radiometric data flown mostly at a 1- 

km flight line spacing, which includes a 

derivative depth to basement map; (2) a 

full QA-QC evaluation, integration, and 

display on approx. 325 separate maps 

of >29,000 geochemical samples; (3) a 

hydrogeologic map; (4) complete Landsat 

TM coverage, both SRTM90 and ASTER 

DEMs for the entire country, and ASTER 

imagery for six high priority resource 

areas; and (5) an updated database of 

mineral deposits and occurrences. The 

USGS ground checked many of the more 

important mineral occurrences and collected 

samples for geo chronological 

study to support the new mapping 

effort and to provide absolute dates for 

mineral deposit formation events. 

The ultimate goal of this program 

was to produce a series of commodity 

and/or mineral deposit reports, identifying 

the permissive and favorable areas 

of the country for exploration. Reports 

and maps that describe known occurrences, 

exploration history, and permissive 

geology have been created for 

many metallic mineral deposit types 

and a variety of industrial mineral commodities. 

They will be published in 

early 2013 and this article presents 

some of the highlights of the effort. 

GEOLOGIC SETTING 

OF MAURITANIA 

Mauritania comprises four main geologic 

provinces (Fig. 1). The Rgueïbat 

Shield is a NE-trending crustal block 

that is the exposed northern part of the 

West African craton (WAC). It contains 

the oldest rocks in the country and 

consists of two major subdivisions separated 

by a crustal-scale shear zone representing 

a major accretionary boundary 

(Lahondère et al., 2003; Pitfield et al., 

2004; Schofield et al., 2012). The southwestern 

part consists of Mesoarchean to 

Paleoproterozoic rocks that include 

high-grade granite-gneiss (Tiris and 

Amsaga Complexes) and greenstone 

belt assemblages (Tasiast-Tijirit terrane). 

These rocks host the Tasiast gold deposit 

and most of the iron deposits. The 

northeastern part of the Shield consists 

of younger Paleoproterozoic (Birimian) 

to Neoproterozoic successions, which 

host many orogenic gold occurrences in 

the WAC. This region is characterized 

by a series of volcanosedimentary belts 

and associated batholithic-scale granitic 

intrusive suites of different ages cut by 

major shear zones. 

The NW-trending Mauritanide orogenic 

belt, located along the western 

margin of the WAC and thought to be 

an African continuation of the Appala - 

chian orogenic belt, represents a foldand-thrust 

belt with associated calcalkaline 

volcanosedimentary sequences 

and an ophiolite complex. These rocks 

were deformed episodically throughout 

the latest Neoproterozoic to earliest 

Paleozoic Pan-African assembly of 

Gondwana and again during the late 

Paleozoic Variscan orogeny (Pitfield et 

al., 2004). The Guelb Moghrein coppergold 

deposit is hosted in the northern 

part of the belt, which also has potential 

for volcanogenic massive sulfide 

(VMS), orogenic Au, and magmatic Ni- 

Cu deposits. 

The geology of the Mauritanide belt 

varies from north to south. The northern 

Mauritanides extend from western 

Sahara to the Akjoujt area in Mauritania 

and are characterized by supracrustal 

nappes that are thrust to the east and 

northeast onto the Archean Tasiast- 

Tijirit terrane (Maurin et al., 1997, 

Pitfield et al., 2004). In the Akjoujt area, 

there is a western inflection of the belt 

where it comes in contact with rocks of 

the Rgueïbat Shield and the frontal 

units of the nappe stack are thrust onto 

the Archean basement and the foreland 

of the Taoudeni basin (Pitfield et al., 

2004). The southern Mauritanides, 

which extend from central Mauritania 

into Senegal, consist of a N-S–trending 

thrust pile of allochthonous and 

parautochthonous units juxtaposed 

against the Paleozoic rocks of the 

Taoudeni basin (Le Page, 1988). Within 

the belt are four parallel N-S–trending 

zones separated by east-directed thrusts 

comprising, from east to west, an imbricated 

ophiolite, a continental marginrift 

facies association, an eastern calcalkaline 

igneous complex, and a western 

calc-alkaline igneous complex (Pitfield 

et al., 2004; Lahondère et al., 2005). 

The Taoudeni basin represents one 

of the largest Mesoproterozoic to 

Paleozoic cratonic sedimentary basins 

in Africa. It lies to the east of the 

Mauritanide belt and, in part, forms the 

foreland basin to the Neoproterozoic- 

Paleozoic orogens. Consisting primarily 

of many thousands of meters of continental 

sandstones, as well as platform 

carbonate rocks with lesser shales, it 

occupies the central and eastern parts 

of Mauritania and has potential for 

petroleum and sedimentary rock-hosted 

base metal deposits. The ubiquitous 

presence of Jurassic mafic sills and dikes 

throughout the basin is the likely 

source of Cu in widespread occurrences 

and these represent theoretical locations 

for conduit-type magmatic Ni-Cu 

deposits. 

The Tindouf basin lies along the 

northern margin of the Rgueïbat Shield 

and is a major pericratonic basin 

located primarily in Algeria, Morocco, 

and western Sahara. Two small areas of 

mostly shallow water marine sedimentary 

rocks occur within Mauritania and 

are mainly unexplored. Low thermal 

maturity of source rocks along the 

southern margin of the basin imply 

potential for hydrocarbons. Large 

deposits of Phanerozoic oolitic ironstones 

exist on both sides of the Algeria 

border (Malla and Takherist, 2000; 

Guerrak, 1988). 

The Coastal basin lies to the west of 

the Mauritanide belt and represents a 

passive margin environment related to 

the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. This 

sedimentary sequence contains phosphate, 

gypsum, and petroleum, both in 

Mauritania and in other countries along 

the Atlantic seaboard, and also represents 

an area permissive for sedimentary 

rock-hosted base metal deposits.


IRON ORES—MAURITANIA’S 

CASH COW 

High-grade hematitic iron ores, containing 

60–65% Fe, have been mined in 

Mauritania from Superior-type iron 

deposits since 1952. Depletion of the 

high-grade ores in recent years has 

resulted in a number of new projects 

focused on lower grade magnetite ores 

in an Algoma-type banded iron formation 

(BIF) containing 35% Fe. Mauritania 

is the 15th largest iron producer in the 

world and currently has about 1.1 billion 

tonnes (Bt) of crude iron ore reserves 

(USGS, 2012). Production is mainly controlled 

by Société National Industrielle 

et Miniere (SNIM), a parastatal company 

that is 78% owned by the government. 

Iron ores account for about 50% 

of the export earnings of the country. 

About 11 million tonnes (Mt) per year 

are shipped from three mines (Fig. 2), 

hosted in Mesoarchean (Guelb el Rhein) 

to Paleoproterozoic (Guelb Mhaoudat 

and the TO14 pit in the Kediat Ijil) 

rocks near Zouerate in the western 

Rgueïbat Shield, to loading facilities on 

the Atlantic coast at Nouadhibou via a 

700-km-long railway constructed exclusively 

for the purpose. In 2001, SNIM 

formed a joint venture with Australia’s 

Sphere Investments to study options for 

open-pit mining and beneficiation of 

the magnetite deposit at Guelb El Aouj. 

The deposit has measured, indicated, 

and inferred resources of 701 Mt of 

magnetite ore with a grade of 36.3% Fe. 

Planned production is 7 Mt/yr of direct 

reduction grade pellets (Mining Journal, 

2006). 

In the major iron-producing region 

surrounding Zouerate, Algoma-type 

magnetite-quartzite BIF deposits are 

hosted in the Mesoarchean Tiris Com - 

plex, which consists of high-grade 

gneisses and various granulite bodies. 

The magnetite quartzites are widespread, 

and are easily distinguished by their 

aeromagnetic response and by their 

tendency to form low ridges and guelbs 

(“guelb” is the Arabic word for “hill”) 

that crop out above the otherwise flat 

topography of the Tiris Complex. 

Individual iron-rich beds range from a 

few centimeters to 10 m in thickness 

(O’Connor et al., 2005). Economic 

deposits form where thicker BIF units 

are doubled or tripled by thrust stacking 

or folding. Delineation of such targets 

can be effectively accomplished by 

filtering of the aeromagnetic data as 

displayed in Figure 2. Numerous targets, 

Archean Tiris BIF Paleoproterozoic BIF Iron Occurrence 

Analytic Signal (masked to


... from 11 


into production in 2007, is located in 

the southwestern corner of the Rgueïbat 

Shield and is a world-class Paleoprotero - 

zoic(?) orogenic gold deposit. The producing 

Guelb Moghrein deposit occurs 

along a shear zone in Middle Archean 

rocks at the bend in the northern 

Mauritanides and is most commonly 

classified as an IOCG type of deposit 

(see next section). Both major deposits 

are surrounded by numerous prospects 

that show similar mineralization styles. 

Most of the Mesoarchean and 

Paleoproterozoic rocks of the Rgueïbat 

Shield in northern Mauritania are highgrade 

gneisses (e.g., Key et al., 2008; 

Schofield et al., 2012), which are not 

favorable for gold resources. However, 

the metamorphic grade in the shield 

appears to decrease to more favorable 

greenschist facies to the east and defines 

an area with potential for orogenic gold 

deposits in Paleoproterozoic rocks. A few 

small gold prospects (e.g., Conchita- 

Florence or Nsour, El Mheissat, Oued El 

Ma, and Bin-652), now being explored 

by Drake Resources Limited (Drake 

Resources Limited, 2012), are recognized 

north of latitude 21 o N, a region 

that includes most outcrops of ca. 2.1 

Ga Birimian rocks of the shield. Drake 

Resources Limited reports high-grade 

gold samples at Conchita-Florence, 

adjacent to a 140-km-long shear zone 

system of anomalous gold termed the 

Hendrix shear zone. This zone also represents 

the only distinct belt of volcaniclastic 

rocks defined to date in the eastern 

part of the shield (e.g., Bradley et 

al., in press a). The high gold samples 

also have anomalous concentrations of 

Ag, Au, Mo, Sb, Te, and W, and are 

associated with outcropping gold-bearing 

quartz veins in greenschist facies 

metapelites. Several 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dates on 

hydrothermal sericite from prospects to 

the southeast along this trend (Bradley 

et al., in press b) suggest that these 

prospects are Paleoproterozoic in age. 

Further assessment of the region will 

require detailed geochemical maps, re - 

gional metamorphic maps, and evaluation 

of existing regional structure. If 

permissive areas exist for important gold 

resources in the Rgueïbat Shield, then 

such areas are likely to be broadly 

defined as those of relatively low metamorphic 

grade, mainly of greenschist 

facies. They will likely be newly recognized 

metasedimentary rock belts similar 

to those that host the Conchita-Florence 

occurrences. These favorable areas would 

include rocks of the Lower and Upper 

Birimian supracrustal rocks that are 

located east of the Zednes fault zone. In 

addition, the relatively NNW-trending 

major faults cutting the eastern half of 

the shield are likely to be particularly 

permissive hosts for gold ores where 

present in lower grade metamorphic 

domains; margins of igneous rocks 

shown along some of these faults in any 

lower grade exposures should be carefully 

examined (Goldfarb et al., in press). 

The far southwestern corner of the 

Rgueïbat Shield (lat. 20°–21° and long. 

14°–16°) is the one area in the Meso - 

archean part of the shield with greenschist 

facies greenstone belts; the seven 

defined belts (Bradley et al., in press a) 

trend N-S in the west (e.g., Chami) and 

NE-SW in the east (e.g., Tirijit). The 

greenstone belts are exposed in the 

southern part of the Tasiast-Tijirit terrane 

of Schofield et al. (2012). They are 

located within a basement of ca. 

3.1–3.0 Ga migmatitic gneisses that 

were metamorphosed at ca. 2.97 Ga; 

0 20000 m 

Mapped BIF 

Rusty 

Aoueouat 

Chami 

Tasiast 

C-23 

N’Derek 

the greenstone belts are likely of similar 

age to the gneisses. Younger, voluminous 

tonalities and granodiorites, 

which form the cores of dome-like features, 

surround the basement rocks and 

greenstone belts (Key et al., 2008) and 

are dated at ca. 2.95–2.87 and 2.69–2.65 

Ga, respectively (Schofield et al., 2012). 

The Tasiast gold deposit (Fig. 3) is 

located along a N-S–trending shear system 

in the 70 × 15 km Chami greenstone 

belt. It has been mined since 

2008, first by Red Back Mining and currently 

by Kinross Gold Corp. (2012). 

Kinross Gold Corp. reports a world-class 

reserve + resource of at least 21 Moz Au 

at 1.47 g/t. The mine produces just over 

200,000 oz Au per year. The Tasiast 

deposit occurs as sheeted quartz-carbonate-albite-pyrrhotite 

veins, gold-bearing 

quartz-carbonate veinlets, and adjacent 

disseminated gold, hosted in an upper 

greenschist to lower amphibolite facies, 

magnetite-quartzite BIF and adjacent 

volcaniclastic rocks. The orebodies are 

present within two parallel zones that 

continue for 6 km along strike (Davis, 

Mapped Greenstone 

Belt 

Jurassic dikes 

Mesoarchean (?) dike 

Gold prospect 

Tijirit 

FIGURE 3. Reduced-to-pole aeromagnetic image of the southern Tasiast-Tijirit terrane, showing geophysical 

extensions under cover of Mesoarchean greenstone belts and locations of orogenic gold 

deposits and prospects. Intersections of greenstone belts and possible Mesoarchean (?) lineaments 

represent highly favorable targets for additional deposits. All linear NE-trending moderate amplitude 

anomalies relate to Jurassic dikes.


2011). The brittle orebodies follow a 

series of reactivated thrusts that include 

the Tasiast and Piment fault zones. 

Anomalous W, As, Ag, and Sb are 

reported at the deposit. Altered rock 

includes biotite, sericite, and chlorite 

(Davis, 2011). Reported K-Ar ages on 

hydrothermal sericite of 1.85 and 1.50 

Ga (Marutani et al., 2005) are unusual, 

as typically Mesoarchean rocks host 

Mesoarchean gold deposits and Paleo - 

proterozoic rocks host Paleoproterozoic 

deposits. A major NW-striking aeromagnetic 

lineament (Finn and Anderson, in 

press) intersects the Chami greenstone 

belt in the Tasiast mineralized area and 

may have important implications for 

explorationists (Goldfarb et al., in press; 

Fig. 3 and see below). 

Other prospective areas within a few 

tens of kilometers of the deposit could 

include the Rusty prospect to the northwest 

of Tasiast, where auriferous quartz 

veins are identified in folded BIF and 

mafic volcanic rocks. At prospect C-23, 

north of Tasiast and in the Chami 

greenstone belt, gold-bearing quartz 

veins occur along a sheared margin to a 

granodiorite body. To the south of 

Tasiast, in mainly sand covered areas, 

Drake Resources Limited reports gold 

anomalies from drill core from the 

southern part of the Chami greenstone 

belt. The above-mentioned aeromagnetic 

anomaly of Finn and Anderson 

(in press) also crosses the adjacent 

greenstone belts to the east and west of 

the Chami greenstone belt, and these 

locations are marked by additional small 

orogenic gold prospects. These intersections 

of greenstone belts and the lineament, 

which is perhaps an ancient craton 

margin boundary or fault parallel to 

the boundary just inside the ancient 

margin, are considered extremely favorable 

targets for new resources (Goldfarb 

et al., in press; Fig. 3). 

More detailed work in this southwestern 

part of the shield is likely to 

identify other large tonnage gold re - 

sources, because typically orogenic gold 

deposits do not occur as isolated single 

deposits, but rather as clusters of de - 

posits. Similar orogenic gold deposits 

are probably present at Tijirit, which is 

located in the Tijirit greenstone belt 

about 120 km ENE of the Tasiast deposit. 

Evidence for potential in this area is a 

NNE-trending shear zone containing 

auriferous quartz veins that continue 

for as much as 200 m along strike within 

basalt, gabbro, and schist (Goldfarb et 

al., in press). 

GUELB MOHGREIN AND 

THE POTENTIAL FOR 

ADDITIONAL IOCG 

The Guelb Moghrein Cu-Au deposit in 

the northern Mauritanides is considered 

by many to be an iron oxide coppergold 

(IOCG)-type deposit (Strickland 

and Martyn, 2001; Kolb et al., 2008; 

Kirschbaum, 2011). It shares many 

characteristics with IOCG deposits, 

including economic Cu+Au, structural 

control, abundant breccias in the ore 

zone, low Ti iron oxides, chalcopyrite 

and pyrrhotite as the dominant sulfides, 

and a lack of quartz veining. 

However, no other IOCG deposits have 

Fe-rich carbonate host rocks, so in that 

sense it is at least somewhat atypical of 

IOCG deposits (Kirschbaum, 2011) and 

there is a possibility that the mineralizing 

fluids are of metamorphic origin 

(Sakellaris and Meyer, 2008). 

Guelb Moghrein is located near 

Akjoujt in the Inchiri district in western 

Mauritania. In addition, there are 19 

other copper and/or gold occurrences in 

the Inchiri district, including the El 

Khader gossan, where the goethite-rich 

cap is currently being considered as a 

source of iron ore by PT Bumi Resources 

Minerals Tbk. Ancient copper workings 

at Guelb Moghrein were noted by the 

French military in 1931 and sampled by 

the Bureau Minier in 1946. Attempts to 

mine the deposit started in the 1950s 

and continued until the early 1990s, 

when General Gold International recovered 

five t Au (Gunn et al., 2004). First 

Quantum Minerals Ltd started commercial 

production in 2006. Mine production 

in 2011 was 3.61 Mt at an average 

grade of 1.4% Cu, with an additional 

1.1 t Au produced. Total proved and 

probable reserves as of December 31, 

2011, were 3.2 Mt at 1.09% Cu and 

0.79 g/t Au. Measured and indicated 

resources were 30.9 Mt of sulfide mineralization 

at 1.18% Cu and 0.77 g/t Au 

and 0.12 Mt of oxide mineralization at 

1.58% Cu and 1.30 g/t Au (Fernette, in 

press a, and references therein). 

The Akjoujt area is situated at a 

major bend in the Mauritanide belt, 

where it turns westward to follow the 

southern edge of the Rgueïbat Shield 

and the rocks consist of a system of 

overlapping thrust sheets. The Akjoujt 

package is bounded to the north and 

east by a sole-thrust contact with the 

Archean Amsaga terrane of the Rgueïbat 

Shield (Gunn et al., 2004). Supracrustal 

rocks in the Akjoujt area consist of 

metabasalts and BIF, overlain with 

angular unconformity by the siliclastic 

(meta)sediments capped by a thick section 

of submarine basalts and dolerites. 

Partially migmatized leucogranite sheets 

and pegmatites, which occur in areas of 

overthrust basement in the Akjoujt area, 

are the only intrusive rocks (Martyn 

and Strickland, 2004). 

Geochronological studies suggest 

that whereas the host rocks at Guelb 

Moghrein are Archean, the ores are 

probably earliest Paleoproterozoic. Two 

types of hydrothermal monazite and 

xenotime associated with primary sulfide 

ore were dated by Meyer et al. (2006). 

Type I grains yielded an age of 2492 

Ma, which was concluded to be the age 

of the mineralization. Type II grains 

showed an age of 1742 Ma, which was 

interpreted to indicate a later generation 

of hydrothermal fluid flow. 

Copper-gold mineralization at Guelb 

Moghrein occurs in discrete tabular 

breccia zones developed parallel to D 2 

shear zones within metacarbonate rock 

composed of magnesite and dolomite. 

The mineralization and host metacarbonate 

lie within a thrust zone that 

separates metarhyolite from metabasalt 

(Strickland and Martyn, 2001; Kolb et al., 

2006). The ore consists of carbonate breccia 

with a matrix of mainly Fe-Mg clinoamphibole 

and magnetite, with lesser 

chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and other sulfides. 

The massive sulfide-arsenide-gold 

mineralization formed at about 410°C 

and 2–3 kbars (Kolb et al., 2006). The 

metacarbonate host has been variously 

interpreted as a metasediment (Kolb et 

al., 2006; Kirschbaum, 2011) and as a 

hydrothermal alteration product (Martyn 

and Strickland, 2004). The wall rocks 

adjacent to the mineralized metacarbonate 

underwent albitization prior to and 

during greenschist to amphibolite grade 

metamorphism, and this was followed by 

a potassic alteration event (Kirschbaum, 

2011). Factor analysis of rock geochemical 

data show a strong ore-related correlation 

of Ag, As, Bi, Co, Cu, Ge, In, Ni, 

Se, Sn, Te, and Zn (JICA, 2005). 

Reconnaissance fluid inclusion studies 

of quartz veins from the footwall 

greenschist at Guelb Moghrein showed 

poly phase inclusions containing halite 

crystals in gas-rich inclusions (JICA, 

2005). Homogenization temperatures 

of the inclusions ranged from 240° to 

320°C and salinities from 33 to 39 wt % 

NaCl equiv. Sakellaris and Meyer (2008) 

indicate sulfide δ 34 S values 

cluster near zero, to page 14 ...


... from 13 


corresponding to either magmatic or 

metamorphic sulfur, and the δD fluid values 

are typical of metamorphic waters. 

The combined oxygen and hydrogen 

isotope composition of the fluid plots 

in the field of metamorphic waters, 

leading Sakellaris and Meyer (2008) to 

conclude that the sulfur and ore fluid 

are of metamorphic origin and that the 

most likely sources of metal were the 

host metabasalt units. 

Numerous workers (Gunn et al., 2004; 

Marutani et al., 2005, and references 

therein) suggest that there is potential 

for Guelb Moghrein-type Cu-Au mineralization 

in the southern Mauritanides. 

They refer to specific prospects, including 

Kadiar, Indice 78, Guelb En Naadj, 

Diaguili, and Guidamaka as IOCG occurrences. 

Kadiar is one of the most significant 

Cu prospects in the Mauritanide 

belt and is currently being explored by 

OreCorp Mauritania SARL, which considers 

it a VMS target (OreCorp, 2012). 

The prospect consists of a siliceous gossan 

with anomalous Cu and Au values, 

which overlies a lens of silicified ankerite 

with malachite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite. 

Salpeteur (2005) notes that the only 

iron oxide present at Kadiar is hematite 

and that magnetite is absent, and thus 

he questions whether Kadiar should be 

considered an IOCG-type occurrence. 

The Indice 78 prospect, originally identified 

by soil sampling, consists of a 4.5- 

km-long zone of propylitic alteration 

containing disseminated copper sulfides 

and numerous quartz veins, which is 

localized along the contact between 

meta-andesite and metarhyolite (Gunn 

et al., 2004). Within the alteration 

zone, carbonate occurs in veinlets and 

as irregular, coarsely crystalline patches 

that led Gunn et al. (2004) to suggest 

that the Cu mineralization might be 

similar to Guelb Moghrein; however, 

they conclude that the mineralization is 

more likely of the VMS type. 

The Cu ± Au occurrences in the southern 

Mauritanides are all associated with 

accreted metamorphic rocks, which in - 

clude ultramafic bodies that mark suture 

zones. The lenses of intense carbonate 

alteration, silicification, and quartz veining, 

often with associated Cr-rich micas, 

are typical “listwaenite” found at many 

orogenic gold deposits. The southern Cu 

occurrences, however, such as Diaguili 

and Guidamaka, are also associated with 

jaspilite (red jasper) and hematite, and 

there are podiform chromite occurrences 

in the same area, features that are common 

in Cyprus-type VMS deposits. 

Finally, the age of the country rocks in 

the southern Mauritanides is Neopro - 

terozoic (Pitfield et al., 2004), in contrast 

with the Archean age of the Akjoujt area 

sequence. Based on the above, it is concluded 

that the Cu ± Au occurrences in 

the southern Mauritanides are not IOCG 

(Fernette, in press a; Taylor, in press a). 

URANIUM EXPLORATION 

Mauritania is the site of active uranium 

exploration and new discoveries are 

being made. There are currently at least 

six companies actively exploring for 

uranium in Mauritania. The country 

hosts 80 known uranium occurrences, 

mainly in the Paleoproterozoic part of 

the Rgueïbat Shield, which include both 

calcrete and granite-hosted types. In fact, 

much of the northern shield is anomalous 

in U as shown by widespread 

anomalies in airborne radiometric data. 

The granite-related occurrences are all 

within or proximal to major NW-trending 

fault zones. The anomalous granitic 

rocks provide the source for the U in 

the calcrete deposits (Fernette, in press 

b, and references therein). 

There are three granite-hosted and 

nine calcrete-type U deposits defined in 

the northern shield in Mauritania. The 

total combined resource of the deposits 

is 183.8 Mt, with an average grade of 

310 ppm U 3 O 8 . The calcrete deposits 

total 138.3 Mt at 331 ppm U 3 O 8 versus 

46.5 Mt at 248 ppm U 3 O 8 for the granite-hosted 

deposits. All of the deposits 

are held under license by either Forte 

Energy or Aura Energy. 

Forte Energy’s first exploration target 

was the Bir en Nar area (Fig. 1), where 

uranium mineralization was discovered 

by Cogema in the 1970s (Marot et al., 

2003). A recent estimate for the Bir en 

Nar deposits includes an indicated and 

inferred resource of 1.33 Mt at 704 ppm 

U 3 O 8 . The granite-hosted deposits consist 

of three NW-trending mineralized 

zones that dip moderately to the northeast. 

“Red” alteration is common in 

mineralized granite, although anomalous 

U values are also present in unaltered 

granitic rock. Syenite and episyenite 

pods within the shear zone also host 

mineralization (Fernette, in press b). 

The A238 and A238 NW deposits are 

located 135 km northwest of Bir en 

Nar, along the same shear zone. The 

deposits were discovered by follow-up 

of an airborne radiometric anomaly that 

located uraniferous calcrete. Drilling 

intercepted uranium mineralization in a 

shear zone below the calcrete zone. Both 

deposits are located within cataclastic 

zones along the mylonitized contact 

between two granitoid bodies. A large 

area of unmineralized silica-hematite 

alteration and smaller areas of silicification 

occur to the northeast of the A238 

deposit. The A238 NW deposit occurs on 

a splay of the main shear zone to the 

northwest of the A238 deposit (Fernette, 

in press b, and references therein). 

PHOSPHATE AND GYPSUM 

Phosphate deposits occur in outcrops of 

phosphatic limestones, mudstones, and 

sandstones of Eocene age exposed along 

the northern bank of the Senegal River, 

about 300 km from the coast. Two 

deposits have been extensively studied, 

one at the village of Bofal and another 

deposit at Loubboira. 

Reserves at Bofal are 70 Mt with an 

average thickness of 1.7 m, an average 

grade of 21% P 2 O 5 , and an average 

overburden of 8 m. In comparison, 

Loubboira has 29 Mt of reserves with an 

average thickness of 2 m, an average 

grade of 19% P 2 O 5 , and an average 

overburden of 7 m. These resources are 

open to the north at Bofal and to the 

southeast at Loubboira; total probable 

reserves could exceed 100 Mt (Gunn et 

al., 2004). Resources were also identified 

in several other zones to the south, 

which are less well known than the two 

principal areas. The deposits continue 

100 km farther to the southeast into 

Senegal at Matam, where a deposit 

exceeding 36 Mt at 28.7% P 2 O 5 has 

been identified. On the opposite bank 

of the river from Matam, at Sivé in 

Mauritania, resources of about 150,000 

t have been identified, where phosphate 

rock beds average 26–28% P 2 O 5 . 

These deposits have potential for use as 

direct application fertilizer and local 

farmers are extracting phosphate rock 

for this purpose (Gunn et al., 2004; 

Langer, in press). 

Additional occurrences of sedimentary 

phosphate deposits are widespread 

in the Taoudeni basin, although available 

information suggests those discovered 

to date are small and low grade 

(Gunn et al., 2004). Furthermore, their 

remote locations, far away from areas of


farming and food production, suggest 

that they are unlikely to be high-priority 

exploration targets. The host rocks 

are mainly late Neoproterozoic. The 

potential of these strata to host economic 

phosphate deposits remains 

unknown, but the Neoproterozoic–Early 

Cambrian time period is an important 

depositional interval, with significant 

resources of this age occurring in several 

countries in West Africa (Langer, in 

press). 

Possibly one of the largest gypsum 

deposits in the world occurs at Sebkha 

N’Drhamcha, 50 to 100 km northnortheast 

of Nouakchott. Both bedded 

evaporate- and dune-type deposits are 

present. The bedded gypsum deposits 

crop out chiefly along the eastern flank 

of the Sebkha N’Drhamcha, an evaporative 

pan just inland of the coast that 

was cut off from the ocean by a coastal 

sand belt, which formed within the 

past 4,000 years (Pitfield et al., 2004). 

The thickness of the deposits is greatest 

toward the center of the sebkha, 

decreasing to the west and north. There 

are several hundred million tonnes of 

resources, of which about 140 Mt are 

proven reserves (Gunn et al., 2004). 

Resources identified in dune deposits 

occur about 55 km from the highway 

that connects Nouakchott and Akjoujt. 

Limited sampling of these deposits, 

which are secondary accumulations in 

both active and indurated dunes, indicated 

grades of 92–93% CaSO 4• 2H 2 O 

with about 1.5% SiO 2 (Pitfield et al., 

2004). A provisional resource estimate 

suggested about 2 Mt in one small area 

of dunes. Extraction rates have been as 

high as 100,000 t/yr for plaster and 

cement production. The favorable location, 

close to the main road, together 

with the high grades and limited thickness 

of overburden make these deposits 

attractive for exploitation. They are 

capable of meeting Mauritania’s domestic 

requirements for plaster and derived 

products (Langer, in press). 

Pegmatites and pegmatitic veins are recognized 

in several areas of the Archean 

and Paleoproterozoic parts of the 

Rgueïbat Shield and are prospective for 

critical element and REE resources. More 

than 150 beryl pegmatites are known in 

the Khnefissat area of the Chami greenstone 

belt, and additional concentrations 

of pegmatites are known at Guelb 

Nich Sud in the Sebkhet Nich greenstone 

belt and in the northeastern part 

of the Amsaga complex (Gunn et al., 

2004). Owing to the small size of these 

deposits, they are unlikely to be economic 

unless additional value can be 

gained by processing contained minerals 

for industrial use. Vein and stockwork 

deposits containing anomalous Th 

and REE, as well as the above mentioned 

U, are present particularly in the 

Paleoproterozoic rocks of the Rgueïbat 

Shield. The small mafic alkaline complex 

at Tabatanet is associated with 

magnetic and radiometric anomalies 

and consists of a probable vein-type 

deposit that extends for 500 m. The 

hyperalkaline granite at Tigsmat may 

have REE enrichments in associated 

placers, but appears to be of low economic 

potential. Two other areas, at el 

Mrhader and at el Hajar, have indications 

of resource potential based on 

geophysical data and high scintillometer 

readings (Taylor, in press b). 

Another possibility for U, Th, REE, 

and associated element enrichments 

exists in association with carbonatite 

complexes in Mauritania. Studies suggest 

the presence of a carbonatite at 

SEMSIYAT STRUCTURE 

Guelb er Richat (Woolley et al., 1984; 

O’Connor et al., 2005), also known as 

the Eye of Africa; it is a distinctive landmark 

visible from space and was used as 

such during the Apollo missions (Fig. 

4). It is marked by a coincident high Th 

geophysical anomaly. The location of 

Guelb er Richat in an area of prominent 

ENE-trending structures that are coincident 

with two swarms of kimberlite 

intrusions suggests a deep-seated structure 

is present in the sub-Taoudeni cratonic 

basement, which could localize 

the emplacement of additional carbonatite 

(and kimberlite, see below) bodies. 

A feature referred to as the Semsiyat 

domal structure is also located along 

this lineament and may represent an 

additional carbonatite intrusion at depth. 

For the most part, most occurrences of 

Th, REE, and associated elements are 

poorly described, poorly understood, 

and underexplored. 

Diamond exploration was extensive 

in the late 1990s and was continuing at 

a lesser pace by Rio Tinto in the northeastern 

Rgueïbat Shield and northern 

margin of the Taoudeni basin at the time 

of the 2007 USGS field survey (Taleb 

Ould Abdival, Rio Tinto, oral commun., 

2007). Gunn et al. (2004) discuss the Rex 

Diamond project area to the east and 

northeast of Zouerate. They also note 

that De Beers worked with Rex Diamond 

Mining Corp on the Akchar Permit area 

in the southwestern Rgueïbat Shield 

and that De Beers ceased active explora - 

tion in late 2002. Rex 

to page 

Diamond Mining 

16 ... 

THE ADRAR ESCARPMENT 

REE, CRITICAL METALS, 

AND DIAMONDS IN ALKALINE 

ROCKS, CARBONATITES, 

AND KIMBERLITES 

Resources of U, Th, Nb, Ta, Be, rare earth 

elements (REE), and fluorite associated 

with alkaline rocks, pegmatites, and carbonatites 

are known in Mauritania and 

have been exploited in the past at the 

Bou Naga alkaline igneous complex. 

FIGURE 4. SRTM digital elevation model of the Guelb er Richat structure. Note smaller Semsiyat dome 

to the southwest.


... from 15 


Corporation was reported to have discovered 

a potential kimberlite area in 

the Tasiast-Tijirit terrane. Gunn et al. 

(2004, based on Rombouts, 2003) states 

there are two kimberlite provinces on a 

NNE-trending lineament within the 

Taoudeni basin that also localizes the 

Guelb er Richat and Semsiyat domal 

features thought to be carbonatite 

intrusions at depth. The western cluster 

is located near the Guelb er Richat 

dome. The poorly located eastern cluster 

contains 21 kimberlites, of which 7 

are diamondiferous (Rombouts, 2003). 

CONCLUSIONS 

As a result of the aggressive development 

of the exploration and mining sectors of 

the economy by the Mauritanian government 

through programs of data 

acquisition and synthesis such as those 

described above, Mauritania now can 

provide a greenfields exploration opportunity 

supported by a wealth of readily 

usable state of the art geoinformation. 

Additionally, the presence of geological 

environments that include Archean craton, 

Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary 

belts, Pan African orogenic belts, and 

major cratonic and coastal sedimentary 

basins, as well as the presence of several 

world-class ore deposits, should get the 

attention of any explorationist. We have 

summarized some of the more exciting 

potential areas for gold, IOCG, iron, 

uranium, gypsum, phosphate, REEs, critical 

metals, and diamonds in Mauritania. 

But we have not even touched on the 

more speculative potential for sedimentary 

rock-hosted base metals, VMS, 

shoreline placer titanium, or a variety of 

industrial minerals that, owing to their 

proximity to the Zouerate-Nouadihbou 

railway, may represent additional economically 

viable commodities. The raw 

data packages are available through the 

Ministry of Petroleum, Energy, and 

Mines in Nouakchott. The derivative 

maps and reports described will soon 

be available on the USGS Mineral 

Resources Program website (accessible 

at: http://minerals.usgs.gov/). 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Dennis Cox, Daniel Knepper, William 

Langer, and David Leach all participated 

in the early phases of the USGS- 

Mauritania project and are thanked for 

their contributions. Reviews by Karen 

Kelley and Andrew Killick greatly im - 

proved the manuscript. The Mauritanian 

Ministry of Petroleum, Energy, and 

Mines is acknowledged for their permission 

to publish this paper. 

Any use of trade, product, or firm names 

is for descriptive purposes only and does 

not imply endorsement by the U.S. 

Government. 

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Chardon, D., 1997, Notice explicative de la 

carte géologique à 1/200 000 de la feuille 

Chami (Mauritanie)—Prospection aurifère 

dans le Tasiast-Tijirit: Bureau de Recherches 

Géologiques et Minières, BRGM report no. 

2459, 32 p. 

Meyer, F.M., Kolb, J., Sakellaris, G.A., and 

Gerdes, A., 2006, New ages from the 

Mauritanides Belt: Recognition of Archean 

IOCG mineralization at Guelb Moghrein, 

Mauritania: Terra Nova, v. 18, p. 345–352. 

Mining Journal, 2006, Mauritania: London, 

Mining Journal Special Publication, 

February 2006, 12 p. 

O’Connor, E.A., Pitfield, P.E.J., Schofield, 

D.I., Coats, S., Waters, C., Powell, J., Ford, 

J., Clarke, S., and Gillespie, M., 2005, 

Notice explicative des cartes géologiques et 

gîtologiques à 1/200 000 et 1/500 000 du 

Nord-Ouest de la Mauritanie: Nouakchott, 

DMG, Ministère des Mines et de l’Industrie. 

OreCorp Ltd., 2012, Oua Oua project: 

http://orecorp.com.au/Projects/Mauritania/ 

Oua-Oua-project (accessed 8/245/12). 

Pitfield, P.E.J., Key, R.M., Waters, C.N., 

Hawkins, M.P.H., Schofield, D.I., Loughlini, 

S., and Barnes, R P., 2004, Notice explicative 

des cartes géologiques et gîtologiques à 

1/200 000 et 1/500 000 du Sud de la 

Mauritanie, Volume 1 Géologie: DMG, 

Ministère des Mines et de l’Industrie, 

Nouakchott, 314 p. 

Rombouts, L., 2003, Distribution of diamonds 

and kimberlites on the Rgueïbat 

Craton, Mauritania, 8th International 

Kimberlite Conference, Abstract 8P14, FLA 

0034, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 

June 22–27, Extended Abstracts. 

Sakellaris, G.A., and Meyer, F.M., 2008, A 

metamorphic origin of the Guelb 

Moghrein Fe oxide-copper-gold-cobalt 

deposit, Mauritania: Russian Mineralogical 

Society, Proceedings of XIII International 

Conference on Thermobarogeochemistry 

and IVth APIFIS symposium, v. 2, p. 

169–174, available at http://www.minsoc. 

ru/FilesBase/2008-1-101-1.pdf. 

Salpeteur, I., 2005, Perspectives minières 

dans le Sud de la Mauritanie. Levé géologique 

de l’extrême sud de la Mauritanie 

(projet PRISM): Orléans, DMG, Ministère 

des Mines et de l’Industrie, Nouakchott, et 

rapport BRGM/RC-54132-FR, 100 p. 

Schofield, D.J., Horstwood, M.S.A., Pitfield, 

P.E.J., Gillespie, M., Darbyshire, F., 

O’Conner, E.A., and Abdouloye, T.B., 2012, 

U-Pb dating and Sm-Nd isotopic analysis of 

granitic rocks from the Tiris Complex: New 

constraints in key events in the evolution 

of the Rgueïbat Shield, Mauritania: 

Precambrian Research, v. 204, p. 1–11. 

Strickland, C.D., and Martyn, J.E., 2001, The 

Guelb Moghrein Fe-oxide copper-goldcobalt 

deposit and associated mineral 

occurrences, Mauritania: A geological introduction 

in Porter, T.M., ed., Hydrothermal 

iron oxide copper-gold and related 

deposits: A global perspective, Vol. 2, 

Adelaide, PGC Publishing, p. 275–291. 

Taylor, C.D., in press a, Mineral potential for 

volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits in 

the Islamic Republic of Mauritania: USGS 

Open-File Report. 

Taylor, C.D., in press b, Mineral Potential for 

Incompatible Element Deposits Hosted in 

Pegmatites, Alkaline Rocks, and 

Carbonatites in the Islamic Republic of 

Mauritania: USGS Open-File Report. 

Taylor, C.D., Finn, C.A., Anderson, E.D., 

Joud, M.,Y., Taleb Mohamed, A., and 

Horton, J.D., in press, Algoma-, Superior-, 

and oolitic-type iron deposits of 

Mauritania: USGS Open-File Report. 

USGS, 2012, Mineral Commodity Summaries 

2012: U.S. Government Printing Office, 

Washington, D.C., 198 p., available online 

at http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/ 

mcs/2012/mcs2012.pdf. 

Woolley, A.R., Rankin, A.H., Elliott, C.J., 

Bishot, A.C., and Niblett, D., 1984, 

Carbonatite dykes, from the Richat dome, 

Mauritania, and the genesis of the dome: 

The Indian Mineralogist, p. 189–207. 1 

Future Understanding of Tectonics, Ores, Resources, Environment and 

Sustainability. 

Townsville, Australia 

2nd - 5th June 2013 

Noel White Symposium on ore deposits: current 

understanding and future directions in research & exploration 

Co-sponsors: EGRU, SEG and SGA 

Conveners: Zhaoshan Chang, David Cooke & Richard Goldfarb 

Dave Cooke, Anthony Harris - Porphyry 

Larry Meinert - Skarn 

Noel White - Magmatic hydrothermal system 

Robert Loucks - Magma fertility 

Martin Fairclough - U-bearing IOCG 

Steve Scott - VHMS Deposits 

Jean Cline - Carlin-type 

Ross Large - Sediment-hosted Au 

Rich Goldfarb - Orogenic Au 

Craig Hart - Intrusion related Au systems 

Cam McCuaig - Multiscale structural controls on mineral systems 

David Leach - SEDEX/MVT 

Chusi Li - Magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE deposits 

David Groves - Summary, and discussion on future directions 

Tectonics Symposium 

Convener: 

Tom Blenkinsop 

Basins and Energy Symposium 

Convener: 

Eric Roberts 

Mineral Systems Approach to GIS-based Prospectivity 

Mapping Symposium 

Convener: 

John Carranza 

Vladimir Lisitsin 

Franco Pirajno 

Alok Porwal 

Greg Partington 

Environment Preservation Symposium 

Convener: 

Christa Placzek 

Abstract Deadline: 1 March 2013 

Presentation: Oral and poster 

Registration Early Bird Cut Off: 1 April 2013 

Expressions of interest to register 

can be sent to futores@jcu.edu.au 

Short Courses and Field Trips: The conference invites 

futores@jcu.edu.au 

Sponsorship and Exhibition: 

Expressions of Interest can be sent to futores@jcu.edu.au 

Conference Location: 

Jupiters Townsville Hotel 

Sir Leslie Thiess Drive 

Townsville QLD 4810 Australia 

Tel: +61-7-4722 2333 

Conference Host: 

EGRU (Economic Geology Research Unit) 

James Cook University 

Townsville QLD 4811 Australia 

Email futores@jcu.edu.au 

Web www.jcu.edu.au/futores



SEG GEOMETALLURGY FORUM 

Drivers of Sulfide Ore Flotation 

E-mail: stevewilliams@geomettech.com 

Geometallurgy is about how the nature 

of the ore that is being milled affects its 

response, either by grindability or flotability. 

In this article we will review how 

the ore influences its flotation response 

when milled. Briefly, it is all about the 

mineralogy of the ore—and we will 

examine this further. 

To begin, we need to look at flotation 

as a system. The subject was studied 

and the results published by R. 

Klimpel in 1995. He described flotation 

as a complex system with many influencers. 

Klimpel broke the system into 

three major subcategories: chemistry, 

equipment, and operation. Geometallur - 

gical influence, as we now understand 

it, is within these operational components. 

However, there are many other 

components to a flotation response, 

with most of them regarded as classic 

metallurgical parameters of flotation 

(such as flow sheet design, flotation 

plant equipment, and reagents). What 

we will look at now are just those 

geometallurgical components of flotation 

performance. 

There are five key geometallurgical 

parameters for flotation that are discussed 

below. These are: head grade, 

mineralogy, grain size and liberation, 

surface effects, and other mineralogically 

related influences (such as water 

chemistry). All five categories are mineralogically 

related and highlight the 

importance of the role of mineralogy in 

flotation and the need to really understand 

the mineralogy of the ore.The 

other key observation that should be 

made about flotation is that the system 

produces a flotation concentrate at a 

particular concentrate grade (of both 

payable and penalty elements) and at a 

particular recovery to concentrate of 

the elements of interest. That is, there 

are two outcomes from a flotation system 

that will be demonstrated with 

geometallurgical models: grade and 

recovery. As an example, consider a 

porphyry copper-gold deposit with 

some significant arsenic concentration. 

In this case it is possible to envision at 

least five geometallurgical models for 

forecasting flotation performance, 

including copper recovery to concentrate, 

gold recovery to concentrate, copper 

grade in concentrate, gold grade in 

concentrate, and arsenic grade in concentrate. 

1. Head grade: It is a truism that 

head grade will have an influence on 

flotation recovery, whereby higher head 

grade leads to higher recovery. 

Typically, the influence will manifest 

itself in a response curve, as shown in 

Figure 1. Figure 1 is an example from a 

gold ore in which gold recovery is plotted 

against gold head grade (from an 

epithermal gold deposit). This type of 

curve is seen in many types of ores. 

Because of this relationship, it is usual 

to expect that head grade of the primary 

desired element will be part of 

any mathematical model that attempts 

to forecast flotation recovery of the primary 

desired metal. 

2. Mineralogy: Modal mineralogy of 

the sulfide and nonsulfide gangue minerals 

is critical information that will be 

used in geometallurgical models. 

Continuing with our example of a porphyry 

copper-gold ore, we would determine 

the mineralogy of the copper 

minerals, other sulfide minerals, and 

the non-sulfide gangue mineralogy. 

The copper mineralogy will identify 

significant occurrences of copper sulfide 

speciation (such as chalcopyrite, chalcocite, 

covellite, tetrahedrite, tennantite, 

and enargite) and copper oxide 

mineralogy (such as malachite, azurite, 

and chrysocolla). The variety and variability 

of this speciation will lead to 

variable copper recovery and copper 

concentrate quality from flotation. 

Several observations can be 

made here. It is often the case 

that chalcocite can be more 

problematic to recover than, 

for example, chalcopyrite. 

The occurrence of tennantite 

and/or enargite will lead to 

important recovery of arsenic 

to the copper concentrate 

unless specific measures are 

taken to mitigate against this. 

Copper oxide minerals in a 

copper sulfide flotation plant 

are typically lost to final tailings 

unless there is a specific 

approach designed for their 

recovery. 

STEVE WILLIAMS 

(SEG 2010) 

Other (noncopper) 

sulfide 

minerals can 

often play a very 

important role in 

the performance 

of a copper sulfide 

flotation plant. Particularly problematic 

are pyrite, marcasite, and 

pyrrhotite. The significant occurrence 

of these minerals will typically result in 

poorer copper recovery to flotation concentrate. 

Pyrite is a common mineral in 

ores and the occurrence of this often 

varies notably throughout a deposit, so 

it will have an important influence on 

copper recovery and, consequently, 

often be part of any geometallurgical 

model forecasting flotation performance. 

Finally, certain non-sulfide gangue 

minerals can have a very strong influence 

on flotation recovery of valuable 

sulfide mineral(s). The mineral products 

of strong alteration are quite problematic. 

These include clays, talc, and 

sericite. All these minerals can be recovered 

to the concentrate and so require 

mitigation strategies that inevitably 

lead to loss of valuable mineral recovery. 

Clay and sericite commonly create 

problems with porphyry copper-type 

deposits, and talc is often problematic 

with nickel and massive sulfide ores. 

3. Grain size and liberation: The 

design of the metallurgical flow sheet 

will take into account the “best” primary 

grind size and regrind size for a 

particular deposit. However, it is 

inevitable that there will be variability 

100.0 

90.0 

80.0 

70.0 

60.0 

50.0 

40.0 

30.0 

20.0 

10.0 

0.0 

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 

FIGURE 1. Metal recovery (%) (y axis) vs. metal head grade 

(x axis).


in the grain size and texture of the ore 

throughout the deposit that will lead to 

variation in liberation when the ore is 

fed to the concentrator. Poorer liberation 

than the design liberation can 

result in poorer recovery and/or poorer 

concentrate quality (and vice versa). 

Geological factors that influence grain 

size include faults, strong folding, temperature 

variance from the mineralization 

events, and metamorphism. 

Therefore, it is inevitable that there will 

be grain size and textural variability 

throughout a deposit. 

4. Surface effects: Flotation is affected 

by physical and chemical forces acting 

on mineral surfaces. The readiness of a 

mineral surface to receive chemical and 

physical bonds will therefore have a 

strong influence on the flotation performance. 

Typically, we see “clean” mineral 

surface ready for flotation. 

However, there can still be variability 

here as well. Obviously, mineral surfaces 

closer to the weathering horizon 

may be more oxidized or tarnished due 

to the ready permeation of oxygen in 

these areas. However, it is also possible 

to see tarnished surfaces at greater 

depths—usually in zones closer to 

important faults, where water and oxygen 

can penetrate deeper. This is often 

an influence of lesser importance than 

those listed above but should at least be 

considered when trying to understand 

important ore variability. 

5. Water chemistry: As described 

above, flotation is a mineral surface 

chemical (and physical) reaction. The 

chemical makeup of the water, within 

which we perform the flotation, can 

and will influence flotation performance. 

Usually, the water chemistry is 

controlled by the chemical reagents we 

add in flotation and the water used for 

flotation (such as recycled water or 

“fresh” water). However, there are some 

ore factors that can influence water 

chemistry and flotation performance. 

An example of this would be a shallowlying 

VMS-type deposits that may have 

a significant amount of chalcocite/covellite. 

In this case, it is possible to see 

oxidation of these minerals, releasing 

Cu +2 ions into water and leading to promotion 

of the floatability of other minerals 

such as sphalerite and pyrite, 

which would be problematic for a flotation 

where we are trying to selectively 

float copper and zinc. The same deposit 

may exhibit this characteristic at shallow 

mining depths but not at greater 

depths, where chalcopyrite may be the 

dominant copper mineral specie. In this 

example, variability in flotation performance 

will be observed because of the 

change in mineralogy, leading to a 

change in water chemistry. Again, this 

factor is usually of lesser importance 

that others described here but it should 

be considered, and in extreme cases it 

can be the most dominant influence 

that an ore may have on the variability 

of flotation performance. 

It can be seen from this brief description 

that there are many factors of the 

ore, and the variability that will exist in 

the ore, that can influence flotation 

performance. These should be understood, 

and the key drivers should 

always be incorporated into a geometallurgical 

model to predict flotation performance. 

1 


7 th ANNUAL WORKSHOP 

ORE DEPOSITS MODELS AND EXPLORATION 

Sponsored by: 

SEG, SGA, Asia Now Resources 

SUN YAT-SEN (Zhongshan) University 

Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, 

Chinese Academy of Sciences 

Geological Bureau of Guangdong Province, China 

January 13-19, 2013; Guangzhou, China 

Lecture and Laboratory Instructors 

Steven Scott, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada–VMS 

Dave Leach, formerly US Geological Survey, Denver, USA–MVT&SEDEX 

Noel White, Consultant, Brisbane, Australia–epithermal and iron ores 

Richard Goldfarb, US Geological Survey, Denver, USA–gold 

Chusi Li, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA–magmatic Ni, Cr, Pt 

Kaihui Yang, Asia Now Resources, Toronto, Canada–exploration in China 

Zhaoshan Chang, James Cook University, Australia–skarns and porphyry 

Huayong Chen, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS, China–IOCG 

For further information, contact Dr. Huayong Chen



Distinguished Lecturing 

in Australia 

Dan Wood, SEG 2012 Distin guished Lecturer, gave talks 

in Australia earlier this year. Below, Dan, seated left, is 

treated to a meal at the Australian National University 

in Canberra. To the lower right, he is shown speaking to 

students at the University of Tasmania (CODES), Hobart, 

extolling the benefits of membership in SEG. 1 


Mineral Deposits Studies Group 

ANNOUNCEMENT 

The 36th Annual Winter Meeting of the MDSG will take place on 

2-4 January 2013, 

hosted by the Department of Geology, University of Leicester, UK. 

Strategic metal supply to the UK 

Crustal to micro-scale controls on gold deposits 

New developments/discoveries in exploration 

Presentations from students and industry 

are particularly encouraged 

Richard Sillitoe 

(SEG International Exchange Lecturer) 

Tony Naldrett (University of the Witwatersrand) 

Richard Goldfarb (USGS) 

For further information, contact Dave Holwell. Email: mdsg2013@gmail.com Tel: +44 (0)116 252 3804 

www.mdsg.org.uk www.le.ac.uk/gl/mdsg2013 Twitter: @MDSG2013


Rio Tinto – SEG Special Publication 

Geology and Genesis of 

Major Copper Deposits and Districts of the World: 

A TRIBUTE TO RICHARD SILLITOE 

(Publication in late 2012) 

Major deposits 

Geology and exploration progress at the 

Resolution porphyry Cu-Mo deposit, 

Arizona: C. Hehnke (Rio Tinto) et al. 

Updated geology of the Bingham Canyon 

porphyry Cu-Au-Mo system, Utah: 

J. Porter (Rio Tinto) et al. 

Geology, alteration and metal deportment of 

the Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit, 

Alaska: J. Lang (HDI Mining) et al. 

Updating the geologic setting 

and Cu-Mo mineralization features of the Chuquicamata district, 

northern Chile: S. Rivera (CODELCO) et al. 

Geologic overview of the Escondida porphyry copper district, 

northern Chile: M. Hervé (Minera Escondida Ltda.) et al. 

Regional tectonic setting and evolution of the Los Pelambres 

porphyry Cu-Mo and Cu-Au deposits, central Chile: J. Perelló 

(Antofagasta Minerals) et al. 

Protracted magmatic-hydrothermal history of the Rio Blanco-Los Bronces district, central Chile: Development of world’s greatest 

known concentration of copper: J.C. Toro (Anglo American), P. Cuadra (CODELCO) et al. 

Geologic overview of the Oyu Tolgoi porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposits, Mongolia: D. Crane (Ivanhoe Mining) et al. 

Ertsberg/Grasberg porphyry copper-gold system: History of discovery 

and the magmatic and structural evolution: M. Cloos (University of 

Texas) et al. 

Geology and geochemical zonation of the Olympic Dam iron oxide 

Cu-U-Au-Ag deposit, South Australia: K. Ehrig (BHP Billiton) et al. 

Geology of the Tenke-Fungurume sediment-hosted stratabound Cu-Co 

district, DR Congo: W. Schuh (Freeport) et al. 

Dzhezkazgan and associated sandstone copper deposits in Kazakhstan: 

S.E. Box (US Geological Survey) et al. 

Premier provinces 

Cenozoic Tectonics and Porphyry Copper deposits of the Chilean Andes: 

C. Mpodozis (Antofagasta Minerals) et al. 

Geologic setting and hypogene mineralization of the Laramide porphyry 

Cu province, southwestern North America: R. Leveille (Freeport) et al. 

Tectonomagmatic settings, architecture, and metallogeny of the Central Asian Cu 

province: A. Yakubchuk (Orsu Minerals) et al. 

Mineral deposits and metallogeny of the Central African Copperbelt: M. Hitzman 

(Colorado School of Mines) et al. 

An overview of the European Kupferschiefer deposits: G. Borg (Halle University) et al. 

The iron-oxide copper-gold systems of the Carajás mineral province, Brazil: R. P. 

Xavier (Universidade Estadual de Campinas) et al. 

Genetic themes 

Cu-rich magmatic Cu-Ni-PGE deposits: D. Burrows (Vale) et al. 

Magmatic controls on porphyry Cu genesis: A. Audetat (University of Bayreuth) et al. 

Hydrothermal controls on Cu and Au distribution in porphyry systems: 

K. Kouzmanov (University of Geneva) et al. 


Photos courtesy of Rio Tinto.


Presenters… 

SEG-CSM Sediment-hosted 

Zn-Pb-Ag Deposits Course 

SEG Course Center, Littleton, Colorado, USA 

8–9 November, 2012 

This workshop will present an overview of sediment-hosted 

Zn-Pb-Ag ores from syngenetic and diagenetic environments to 

high temperature carbonate replacement with a strong emphasis 

on exploration. The workshop will focus on clastic-dominated 

(SEDEX), Mississippi Valley-type, sandstone-hosted, salt diapir 

environments and high temperature polymetallic vein and carbonate 

replacement deposits. The course will review the origin 

of the ore fluids, 

metal solubility, 

transport and precipitation 

mechanisms, 

igneous 

associations, and 

alteration. Pre - 

sentations on the 

ge ologic and tectonic 

controls on 

their distribution in 

the Earth’s crust 

through time will 

provide in sight into 

where and how 

sediment-hosted 

Zn-Pb-Ag deposits 

form and the implications 

for exploration. 

Classic sediment-hosted 

Zn-Pb-Ag deposits 

will be described 

and samples of 

ores and alteration 

products from 

around the world 

will be available for 

the participants to 

examine. 

Registration after September 30, 2012: 

Members (US$ 595), Non-Members (US$ 695), 

SEG Students (US$ 295), Non-member Students (US$ 345) 

Register at www.segweb.org/events#12RBASEMET 

David L. Leach 

(SEG 1979 F) worked 

for the US Geological 

Survey for more than 

30 years and is pres - 

ently a consultant to 

the minerals industry. 

He has authored or 

co authored more than 

200 papers on the ge - 

ology and geochemistry 

of ore deposits and is a recognized 

expert on sediment-hosted base metal 

de posits. His career focused on hydrothermal 

mineral-rock interactions with 

special in terest on Mississippi Valleytype 

and CD (SEDEX) Pb-Zn deposits, 

ore formation in metamorphic environments, 

global metallogeny and deposit 

targeting using global geodynamics and 

secular distributions of ore deposits. 

David Leach also conducted research at 

the University of Paris VI as a High Level 

CNRS Visiting Scientist, at the Univer - 

sity of Western Australia as a Gledden 

Research Fellow and is currently active 

as an Adjunct Professor at the Uni versity 

of Western Australia and Honorary 

Professor at the Chinese Academy of 

Geo science. He served as President of 

SGA and was a SEG International 

Exchange Lecturer. He received a 

Meritorious Service Medal from the 

United States Department of the Interior 

and in 2010, received the Penrose Gold 

Medal from the Society of Economic 

Geologists. 

Peter K.M. Megaw (SEG 1982 F) 

Consulting Exploration Geologist Presi - 

dent of IMDEX/Cascabel and co-founder 

of Min era Cascabel 

and MAG Silver. His 

Ph.D. work at the Uni - 

versity of Arizona was 

an exploration-fo cused 

geological/geochemical 

study of the Santa 

Eulalia Ag-Pb-Zn Dis - 

trict, Chihuahua and 

Carbonate Replace - 

ment Deposits (CRDs) 

in general. He has published 

extensively on CRDs and is a frequent 

speaker at international academic 

and technical symposia. His primary 

exploration foci are CRDs, Epi thermal 

Vein Deposits and Porphyry Cop per 

Deposits and he and his team are credited 

with the significant discoveries at 

Juanicipio-Fresnillo, Zacatecas; Platosa, 

Durango; and Cinco de Mayo-Pozo Seco, 

Chihuahua. Peter was awarded the Soci - 

ety of Mining Engineers 2012 Robert M. 

Dreyer Award for excellence in Applied 

Economic Geology and the Carnegie 

Min eralogical Medal for 2009.


The reserve estimates that form 

the basis for final feasibility studies 

leading to the construction of 

a mine are, to a greater or lesser 

degree, almost invariably wrong. 

Unfortunately, the error is in only 

one direction. The tonnage of ore 

mined may exceed the tonnage 

predicted by the “feasibility re - 

serve,” but the grade of ore actually 

mined is almost invariably 

lower than the grade envisioned 

in the feasibility study. As a re - 

sult, the financial profitability of 

the operation very rarely meets 

the feasibility forecast. This course 

is NOT a course in financial evaluation 

or geostatistics, although 

both of these subjects are discussed, 

nor is it a collection of 

“cookbook” recipes for reserve 

estimation. It is intended as a dis - 

cussion of various aspects of re - 

serve estimation that are often 

neglected in the real world, and 

which contribute to the above 

situation. Various exercises, mostly based 

on actual operations, are presented to illustrate 

points important to the evaluation of 

any mineral deposit. The course will be of 

interest to geologists dealing with the practical 

aspects of reserve estimation and mining 

engineers, as well as to decision-makers 

in economic geology in general. Course 

materials will include a copy of the latest 

edition of SEG’s consistently well-received 

Special Publication Number 3 Ore Reserve 

Estimates in the Real World, by John G. 

Stone and Peter G. Dunn. 

Early Registration (until Oct. 31, 2012): 

Members (US$ 995), 

Non-Members (US$ 1,095), 

SEG Students (US$ 595), 

Non-member Students (US$ 645) 

Late Registration (after Oct. 31, 2012): 

Members (US$ 1,095), 

Non-Members (US$ 1,195), 

SEG Students (US$ 645), 

Non-member Students (US$ 695) 

Ore Reserve Estimates 

in the Real World 

Three-day Workshop — November 28–30, 2012 

SEG Course Center, Littleton, Colorado, USA 

PRESENTERS 

JOHN G. STONE 

John G. Stone received his undergraduate training at Yale University, and a PhD 

degree in economic geology from Stanford University. Following graduation, he 

joined the Hanna Mining Company as a staff geologist, and for the next 30 years 

served in various positions in exploration and mine geology, project management, 

mine development and financial analysis of new and existing mining ventures. In 

1979 he was named manager of Hanna’s Pilot Knob operation in Missouri, and 

from 1982 until 1989 served as Chief Geologist, Mineral Resources. During the 

course of his career, he has been involved with the exploration, evaluation, development 

or management of direct shipping, “taconite” and volcano genic iron 

deposits, porphyry copper, copper-zinc VMS, magmatic copper-nickel, MVT leadzinc, 

epithermal vein and disseminated gold, nickel laterites, and placer gold and 

gold-diamond deposits. He has worked in Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, 

Colombia, and Brazil. 

PETER G. DUNN 

Peter G. Dunn received a B.S. degree in geology from Yale University in 1955 

and started work as a mining engineer at Miami Copper Company in Arizona. He 

received an M.Sc. degree in mining geology from Stanford University in 1958 and 

subsequently migrated to Australia where he worked for the Australian Bureau of 

Mineral Resources and Mount Isa Mines. After returning to the United States 

he worked in both North and South America, Australia and Asia for Kennecott, 

Quintana Minerals, Chevron Resources and as a consulting geologist in porphyry 

copper exploration and property evaluation. 

Please note that this course is limited to 30 participants. SEG reserves the right to cancel this event should 

minimum attendance numbers not be met by October 31, 2012. Register at www.segweb.org/events#12RSEGORE. 

Ore Reserve Estimat i 

Special Publication Number 3 

Special Publication Number 3 

FOURTH EDITION 

Ore Reserve Estimates 

in the Real World 

Feasibility Study 

& Mining Report 

Prefeasibility 

Study 

Geological 

Study 

FEASIBILITY AXIS 

F 

1 

2 

3 

Economic 

Potentia ly 


Intrinsicaly 


3 

2 1 

ECONOMIC 

AXIS 

E 

John G. Stone and Peter G. Dunn 

SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS, INC. 

111 

1 

Detailed 

Exploration 

General 

Exploration 

Prospecting 

Reconnaissance 

2 3 4 

GEOLOGICAL AXIS 

G


SEG STUDENT CHAPTER NEWS 

STUDENT NEWS 

ROUND I 2013 STUDENT CHAPTER FUNDING PROPOSAL 

Submission Deadline is April 30, 2013! 

SEG Stewart R. Wallace Fund Student Chapter Support Available 

Student chapter funding support is available from the SEG Stewart R. Wallace Fund. Wallace, 

who served as the SEG President in 1992, is well known in the exploration community, especially 

for his role in the discovery of molybdenum at what became the Climax and Henderson mines. 

Active student chapters may submit requests for funding of field-based educational activities. 

The application can be found at: 

www.segweb.org/pdf/forms/Student-Chapter-Funding-Guidelines-Form.pdf. 

Please note that in order for your application to be accepted, your SEG Student Chapter: 

must be active; 

must have submitted an Annual Report by the September 30, 2012, deadline; 

must have submitted an updated Student Chapter Membership Information Form with the 

Annual Report; 

must meet ALL other eligibility requirements as outlined in the Student Chapter Guidelines. 

Applications that are organized and detailed may be successful in receiving as much as 

US$1,500.00 (possibly more, for exceptional applications). The 2012 budget brings an increase in 

available funds for those student chapters submitting successful applications. We encourage all 

chapters to seriously consider the assessment criteria used by the Student Affairs Committee in 

planning your activities to ensure the best chance of receiving the highest level of funding. The 

assessment criteria are clearly stated on the Student Chapter Funding Form. 

Visit: www.segweb.org/StudentChapterGuidelines for more details. 

Contact studentprograms@segweb.org with any questions and 

to report chapter revisions and updates. 

1 

STUDENT CHAPTER 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

● Student Chapter Fund - 

ing Support, Round 

II, application deadline 

is October 31st! 

● Student Chapter 

Funding Support, 

Round I, 2013 application 

deadline is 

April 30th, 2013! 

● Graduate Student 

Fellowship 2013 

application deadline 

is February 1, 2013! 

● Student Research 

Grants 2013 application 

deadline is 

March 1, 2013! 

For more news and 

information about SEG 

student activities, 

please go to 

www.segweb.org/students 

PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT 

SEG Foundation Student-Dedicated Field Trip 

PRECIOUS METALS DEPOSITS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN US 

May 12–18, 2013 

Field Trip Leaders: 

Dr. William X. Chávez, Jr., New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology 

Dr. Erich U. Petersen, University of Utah 

No. 11 in the SEG Foundation-sponsored series of student field trips will examine a variety of epithermal gold occurrence 

types in different geologic settings, from southwestern Arizona to northern Nevada. Deposit types to be visited include 

detachment and volcanic hosted, and both low- and high-sulfidation systems in open-pit and underground exposures. 

Travel will be via charter motor coach (the SEG “mobile classroom”), to facilitate interaction between student and professional 

participants and the field trip leaders. 

This field trip is open to economic geology students worldwide—student participation is limited to 16 students. Selection is 

very competitive with strong preference given to SEG student members. The Student Application Form and instructions 

will be available in due course at www.segweb.org/StudentFieldTripProgram. 

There is space for a maximum of four professional mentors to participate in, and contribute to, the field trip; those interested 

should contact Borden Putnam, Chair of the SEGF Field Trip Program, for further information: bputnam@mionecapital.com. 

General inquiries can be directed to: studentprograms@segweb.org. 

A detailed itinerary will be posted on the SEG website soon. 

Application Deadline: March 10, 2013


Field Trip to Minas Gerais, Brazil — March 2012 

University of Quebec at Montreal Student Chapter 

In March 2012, 21 students from the University of Quebec 

at Montreal (UQAM) SEG student chapter embarked on a 

two-week field trip to Minas Gerais, Brazil. This famous mining 

region was chosen for its rich polymetallic mineralization 

and for its very close geological history to that of 

Quebec. Prof. Michel Gauthier, who led the trip, was 

accompanied by three professional participants. 

The trip started in Brasilia, where Profs. Onildo Marini 

(ADIMB) and Detlef Walde (University of Brasilia) gave 

attendees some insights into the geology of Brazil. The first 

stop was the Vazante mine, an unusual willemitic ore 

deposit located in the largest zinc district of Brazil. Still in 

the state of Goiás, we visited the Copebrás mine of 

AngloAmerican. This alkaline complex is exploited for both 

phosphate and niobium in phoscorites and carbonatites. 

The next visit was to study the carbonatite of CBMM in 

Axará. CBMM’s mine is the world’s first producer of niobium, 

holding 80% of the market and exporting this metal 

to more than 60 countries. 

A four-day stay in Ouro Preto was next. This former 

colonial mining town, located in the Serra do Espinhaço 

mountains, is designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO 

because of its outstanding Baroque architecture. Profs. Luis 

Seixas and Fernando Alkmim, from the Federal University 

Prof. Michel Gauthier (UQAM) and geologist Bruno Riffel (CBMM) pose by 

the bust of Prof. Djalma Guimarães, discoverer of the Araxá niobium mine. 

of Ouro Preto, gave us a short course on the geology of Minas 

Gerais and on the Iron Quad rangle, a major producer district 

of iron, gold, and gems. An impressive visit was then made to 

the giant Alegria iron ore mine (a banded iron formation), 

owned by Samarco Mineracão. Our two 

last visits were to the Anglo Gold 

Ashanti mines of Cuiabá-Lamego and 

the emerald mine of Belmont at Nova 

Era, where the gem is produced at on 

industrial scale. We capped off this 

wonderful field trip with a few days in 

the amazing city of Rio de Janeiro. 

We would like to thank our tour 

leaders for their time and generous contributions 

to the field trip. Major funding 

was provided by Osisko, Photonic 

Knowledge, Aurizon, WC Exploration, 

GéoMégA, Quest Rare Minerals, New 

Millennium Iron, and SEG. 

Samuel Pierre, Treasurer 

UQAM SEG student chapter 1 

STUDENT NEWS 

Field trip participants gather for a photo at the AngloAmerican Copebrás phosphate mine. 

Petrographic Consultants International, Inc. 

Paula Hansley, owner & mineralogist 

plhansley@gmail.com 

720-890-2628 

Transmitted & ore petrography, X-ray, SEM 

Mineral Occurrence and 

Land Status Databases 

in GIS format (MapInfo or ArcGIS) for: 

Colombia, the Greater Antilles, Central America 

www.cbmap.net for more information 


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McGill SEG Student Chapter 

STUDENT NEWS 

Group photo in the LaRonde underground mine at almost 2 km depth with David Pitre (Agnico-Eagle). 

Photo: N. Hurtig. 

Discussing drill core with Martin Demers and colleagues (Aurizon). Photo: N. Hurtig. 

Field Trip to the 

Abitibi Greenstone Belt 

June 5-9, 2012 

The McGill SEG student chapter field 

trip to the Abitibi greenstone belt was 

attended by 12 students at different 

academic levels, including Ph.D. and 

M.Sc. candidates, undergraduates, and 

post-docs. The trip was not only a successful 

learning experience but also a 

good team-building event for the department’s 

economic geology group. 

Highlights included a detailed introduction 

to the regional geology in outcrops 

along the famous Larder Lake-Cadillac 

Break in the Kirkland Lake area, visits to 

the classic LaRonde underground mine 

and the recently opened Malartic openpit 

mine, an overview of the Joanna 

gold exploration project, and a visit of 

the Spinifex Ridge outcrop. 

Several styles of gold mineralization 

are present in the greenstones and the 

Timiskaming Group sediments. Orogenic 

quartz-carbonate-gold veins are prominent 

around Kirkland, where we studied 

the outcrops. The drill core of the 

Joanna deposit triggered interesting discussions 

since it is closely associated 

with the Cadillac break but is, atypically 

for orogenic deposits, large and 

disseminated. LaRonde is an excellent 

example of rare gold-rich VMS mineralization 

and we were able to observe the 

massive, steeply dipping orebody at 

2,000-m depth underground, where 

spectacular metal zoning patterns are 

present. For the giant Malartic deposit, 

a porphyry model explains its large and 

disseminated nature and we had a 

chance to observe alteration and mineralization 

features in the pit and in drill 

core. Finally, Spinifex Ridge is one of 

the world’s few locations where komatiite 

flows are preserved in outcrop and 

we spent some time deciphering the 

different flow types and layers. 

We thank the Ontario Geological Sur - 

vey, Agnico-Eagle, Osisko, and Aurizon 

for their very warm welcome to the 

Abitibi and the invaluable expertise they 

shared with us. Financial support was 

received from AQUEST, PDAC, and from 

the Earth and Planetary Sciences Depart - 

ment and PGSS, McGill University. 

Volker Möller 1 

PROPERTY EVALUATIONS — PROJECT GENERATION 

GEOCON, INC. 

REGIONAL STUDIES — U.S. AND FOREIGN 


RICHARD L. NIELSEN, CONSULTANT 

Exploration and Mining Geology 

13741 Braun Drive E-mail: RLNGeocon@aol.com 

Golden, CO 80401 Phone/FAX (303) 279-3118 

Joseph A. Laravie M. Sc. 

803 Clover Dr. 

Spring Creek, NV 89815 

jlaravie@frontiernet.net 

775-777-8223 

775-397-1424 (Cell) 

Mapinfo - MapBasic 

Discover / 3D 

ArcView-ArcGIS 

Nevada GIS datasets 

Exploration Geologist 

GIS Programmer 

Au 

www.greatbasingis.com 

NEVADA GEOLOGY AND EXPLORATION GIS DATA SETS 

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University of Geneva Student Chapter 

Field trip to Brusson-St. Marcel Area, 

Val D’Aosta, Western Alps, Italy 

June 7–8, 2012 

The field trip started in the village of 

Chatillon-St. Vincent, Val D’Aosta, in 

northwest Italy, at the border with 

Switzerland and France, with 16 participants 

from the University of Geneva, the 

University of Lausanne (Switzerland), 

and the University of Grenoble (France). 

The field trip leader was Prof. Larryn 

Diamond (University of Bern, Switzer - 

land). Larryn began working in the area 

as a Ph.D. student and has returned 

throughout his career for various 

research projects. Consequently, he has 

acquired extensive and thorough knowledge 

of orogenic gold deposits of the 

Brusson area and surroundings. 

The first stops, to the northwestern 

Alps dominating the Aosta Valley, were 

dedicated to a general overview of the 

tectonic framework and nappes architecture 

of this part on the internal Alps. 

The group then visited the Servette copper-iron 

deposit that was mined for 

chalcopyrite and pyrite from the 15 th to 

the 19 th centuries. It is hosted by coarsegrained 

metabasites and the silicate 

mineralogy re veals 

HP and LT metamorphism. 

Meta - 

morphic silicate 

mineralogy permits 

the identification 

of this as a 

metamorphosed 

VHMS deposit 

with (1) a garnettalc-chloritoid 

zone corresponding 

to a Mg- and 

Al-enriched zone, 

likely representing 

the metamorphosed 

chloritealtered 

basalt; (2) a zone of pyritequartz-garnet 

veins likely illustrating a 

metamorphosed stockwork; (3) a 

zoisite-paragonite-glaucophane-garnet 

zone away from the deposit. We also 

visited the nearby Praborna manganese 

deposit, type locality of the Mn-epidote 

“piemontite.” 

The second day was fully dedicated 

to the visit to the Brusson gold deposit 

through key outcrops and exploration 

of historical areas where exploitation 

was abandoned in the 1950s. The veins 

The group from Geneva, Lausanne, and Grenoble pose around Larryn 

Diamond below the Servette metamorphosed VHMS deposit. 

crosscut a variety of rock types such as 

ultramafic rock, limestone, orthogneiss 

and calc-schist. Group members could 

observe the products of reaction of the 

ore fluids with different host rock and 

assess the components of these fluids 

directly from field observations. 

Stefano Gialli and Cyril Chelle- 

Michou (University of Geneva) are 

thanked for the logistical organization 

of the trip. Larryn Diamond is thanked 

for sharing his knowledge of the study 

area. Nicolas Saintilan 1 

STUDENT NEWS 

Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Bogotá Student Chapter 

The activities scheduled for 2012 have 

included courses to enhance the academic 

work of the student chapter of 

Universidad Nacional de Colombia- 

Bogotá. To date, two short courses have 

been given. 

On May 25 and 26, William Chávez, 

2012 SEG Honorary Lecturer, presented 

his first lecture at UN Bogota on the 

topic “Geochemistry applications in 

exploration using element mobility in 

the weathering environment.” 

Approximately 80 people attended, 

including undergraduate and graduate 

geology students from the university as 

well as economic geology professionals. 

The Colombian Society of Geology and 

Advisor Luis Obregón of Carboandes S.A. 

helped to organize this event. 

SEG student chapter members 

pose with Bill Chavez 

and Navid Mojtabai (third 

and fourth from the left, 

respectively). 

In addition, Juan Carlos Molano, MSc, and Reinaldo Brito, PhD, 

researcher with CPRM of Brazil, gave a two-day theoretical-practical 

course on PGE mineralization associated with basic and ultrabasic 

rocks, with typical Brazilian examples and references to 

Colombian deposits. This course, given on June 29–30, and was 

attended by 25 people, most of whom were student members. The 

presenters were named honorary members of the student chapter. 

Claudia Ximena Correa Rojas 

President, UN Bogotá SEG Student Chapter 1 

Student chapter members with course presenters (left to right): 

Jonathan Franco, MSc Juan Carlos Molano, Claudia Correa, PhD 

Reinaldo Brito, and Milton Morales.


Oregon SEG Student Chapter 

STUDENT NEWS 

Field Trip to Southeastern Oregon 

and Northern Nevada 

June 18–21, 2012 

The Oregon student chapter, including 

Oregon State University (OSU) and the 

University of Oregon (UO), organized a 

four-day field trip to examine epithermal 

Hg-Au deposits in eastern Oregon 

and northern Nevada and to visit a 

Carlin-type gold deposit at the Marigold 

mine, at the northern margin of the 

Battle Mountain-Eureka trend in Nevada. 

An assorted group of graduate and 

under graduate students from both 

schools participated, as well as a visiting 

scientist from Iran. During a twohour 

pre-trip seminar, we discussed 

some of the re gional geology and mineralization 

types that we would be seeing 

while on the trip. 

The trip focused on three broad 

themes: (1) general geology of the High 

Lava Plains (HLP) and northwestern 

Basin and Range of Oregon and associated 

geothermal activity, (2) Hg-Au epithermal, 

steam-heated quartz-alunite 

alteration and associated cinnabar mineralization 

and (3) a visit to the Marigold 

mine in northern Nevada. 

The general geology of the HLP segment 

included stops at two phreatomag - 

matic eruptions, crescent dune formation 

and wave cut terraces in the Warner 

Valley, poorly sorted landslide deposit 

shed off the Winter Rim fault and the 

Glass Buttes rhyolite dome complex on 

the Brothers fault zone. We also had the 

opportunity to camp at two hot springs, 

Crystal Crane and Hart Mountain. Glass 

Buttes (HLP) was mined for mercury in 

small quantities from the 1950s to 1973 

in pervasive silica sinter deposits. This 

is also the site of an ongoing geothermal 

prospect (Ormat). 

Oregon student chapter members at the Marigold mine, northern Nevada. Left to right: 

Matt Loewen (OSU), Mark Ford (OSU), Chris Gibson (OSU), Kevin McCartan (UO), Tim 

Stimpson (UO) and Goldcorp geologist Greg Eisen. 

Our second day was spent in the area 

of the Buckskin National mine, just 

south of the Oregon-Nevada border, 

Tim Stimpson (left–UO) and Chris Gibson (right– 

OSU) discuss the brecciated silicic cap and 

cinnabar mineralization at Glass Buttes, Oregon. 

which is another epithermal system. 

Buckskin Mountain is capped by a thick 

package of silicic sinter with vein de - 

posits, mined primarily in the 1920s 

and 1930s. 

The pinnacle of the trip was a visit 

to the Marigold mine (jointly owned by 

Goldcorp and Barrick) where we got a 

great, all-encompassing tour and discussion 

of Carlin-type gold deposits from 

chief geologist James Carver. This visit 

to a large, active mine was a first for 

many in the group and it was a wonderful 

learning experience. 

We would like to extend a thank you 

to the seminar speakers, Luc Farmer, 

Mark Ford and Steffi Waffron, and to 

faculty advisor John Dilles for his support. 

We would like to extend a special 

thank you to James Carver, Greg Eisen, 

and Dan Deveny of the Marigold mine 

for their tour. A special thanks also goes 

to SEG for providing financial support. 

Mark Ford 1 

Dale Sims 

Geologist 

FAusIMM CP(Geo), MAIG, FSEG 

Resource and mining geology, project reviews, 

training, 3D modelling and data analysis. 

Specialising in Leapfrog and Vulcan 

modeling software. 

Email: dalesims@tpg.com.au 

Ph: +61 (0) 2 4930 1927 

Mob: +61 (0) 457 405 229 


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Notice: Views expressed in the Exploration Reviews do not necessarily reflect those of the Society of Economic 

Geologists, Inc., and columnists are solely responsible for ascertaining that the information in this section is correct. 

To read additional exploration reviews for countries, visit www.segweb.org/newsletter for SEG Newsletter supplement. 

ALASKA 

Regional Correspondent: 

Curtis J. Freeman (SEG 1996) 

Avalon Development Corp. 

P.O. Box 80268 

Fairbanks, AK 99708 

Tel. 907-457-5159, Fax 907-455-8069 

E-mail: avalon@alaska.net 

Website: www.avalonalaska.com 

More than a year ago, Natural Resource 

Holdings published a report, entitled 

“How rare are one million ounce gold 

deposits?” At that time, they summarized 

296 gold deposits that have more 

than 1 Moz of gold in all resources categories. 

The same firm recently published 

a more comprehensive follow-up report, 

entitled “Global gold mines & deposits 

2012 ranking.” The new report ranks 

gold deposits above 1 Moz with numbers 

that have increased to 439 deposits 

with total resources of 3,015,542,164 oz 

of gold. Some new factoids involving 

Alaska were brought out by this study. 

For example, there are only 33 gold 

deposits in the world that have +20 Moz 

and Alaska has three of them: Pebble 

(at 107.3 Moz, ranked no. 1), Donlin 

Creek (45 oz, ranked no. 10) and Liven - 

good (20.6 Moz, ranked no. 31). Alaska 

also had four other +1 Moz deposits on 

the list—Fort Knox, Whistler, Vinasale, 

and Golden Summit. 

Casting a little doubt on the reliability 

of this study was its exclusion of 

Alaska’s largest operating gold mine, 

Sumitomo’s Pogo mine, where they just 

poured their 2-millionth ounce from a 

+5 Moz pre-mine resource and Alaska’s 

newest, the Coeur d’Alene Mines Ken - 

sington mine, with published resources 

of 1.3 Moz. To add insult to injury, I 

know of at least two other Alaska 

deposits with published gold resources 

of +1 Moz that for some reason did not 

make the final list. Okay, so the study 

was not perfect but neither did it claim 

to be. Regardless of the shortfalls in the 

report, those 33 +20 Moz deposits, comprising 

only 7.5% of the total number 

of +1 Moz deposits, contain over 41% 

of the world’s total gold resources. 

More sobering was this fact: the average 

producing gold mine today has a head 

grade of 1.06 grams of gold per tonne. 

However, the average grade of all undeveloped 

gold deposits is only 0.82 grams 

of gold per tonne (37% lower). The 

conclusion here is clear: even if we try 

to maintain current gold production 

rates, costs are going to rise because 

we’ll need to mine and process 37% 

more rock than we do today. Perhaps 

even more important is the finding that 

the increased price of gold in the last 

several years has had no effect on the 

rate of new gold discoveries. The current 

producers, many of whom are also 

producing from +1 Moz deposits, churn 

out 90 Moz of gold per year. Assuming 

that this production figure is maintained 

and, barring the unlikely possibility 

that multiple high-grade, multimillion-ounce 

discoveries will occur 

every year, the report indicates that 

“peak gold” production will occur 

between 2022 and 2025. Time will tell 

whether “peak gold” will be as elusive 

to pin down as “peak oil” has been. 

AUSTRALASIA 


Russell Meares (SEG 1996) 

Malachite Resources Limited 

Sydney, Australia 

E-mail: rmeares@malachite.com.au 

Website: www.malachite.com.au 

With contributions from 

Roger Thomson (SEG 1983) 

Western Australia 

Lucy Chapman (SEG 2000)–Queensland 

Tony Christie (SEG 1992)–New Zealand 

Geoff Green (SEG 2000)–Tasmania 

Steve Russell (SEG 2009)–NT 

Peta Abbot–South Australia 

Bianca Pietrass-Wong–NSW 

Peter O’Shea–Victoria 

SUMMARY 

News of a significant greenfields Ni-Cu 

discovery in a poorly explored remote 

mineral province is welcome to an 

exploration industry that is constrained 

by an aversion to risk by investors in 

the currently nervous global markets. 

Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, 

and it was the announcement by Sirius 

Resources of the first drill hole at its 

Nova prospect in the Fraser Range 

province in the southeast of WA that 

saw the share price skyrocket from 6c to 

56c—a stellar result, indeed! The hole 

was testing the source of a 1 km × 300 

m EM conductor and intersected a body 

of massive sulfides (pyrrhotite-pentlandite-chalcopyrite) 

that assayed 4 m 

@ 3.8% Ni and 1.42% Cu from 191 m. 

The second hole intersected 15 m of 

matrix to massive sulfide up-dip from 

the discovery intersection and assay 

results are awaited. The discovery was 

made beneath transported overburden 

and is well located, less than 40 km 

from the port of Esperance on the south 

coast of WA. See further details in the 

WA report by Roger Thomson in the 

online version, where other exploration 

news from Down Under appears. Our 

Queensland correspondent (Lucy Chap - 

man) has also written a very comprehensive 

update of exploration news 

from her State. 

Elsewhere on the Australasian scene, 

explorers are winning on some fronts 

and losing on others. There has been a 

swing to elect conservative pro-business 

State governments in recent elections, 

and they are progressively recognizing 

that the local exploration and mining 

industry is hampered by bureaucratic 

red tape resulting in time delays and 

excessive costs to the industry. One of 

the first governments to respond has 

been recently elected Queensland, which 

has introduced legislation to cut red 

tape by 20% and to streamline the tenement 

management and approvals process. 

Victoria is also conducting a review 

of ways to cut red tape and make the 

State more attractive to explorers. 

On the other side of the coin, Aus - 

tralia’s gold output declined for the 

third consecutive quarter, ending March 

2012, to 62 tonnes (in line with our 

“gold medal drought” at the London 

Olympic Games!). This decline was 

partly in response to the 

to page 

impact of unseasonal 30 ... 

EXPLORATION REVIEWS


... from 29 

Exploration Reviews (Continued) 


heavy summer rains but should be re - 

versed by increasing gold output from a 

number of current and new gold mining 

operations. The most significant 

will be the opening of Newcrest’s 

Cadia East underground mine, which 

is scheduled to commence production 

at the end of 2012 and will boost the 

combined Cadia operation’s output to 

an annual rate of 700–800 koz of gold 

and 100 kt of copper. The mine will be 

the deepest panel cave operation in the 

world and Australia’s largest underground 

mine. 

In addition, gold production will 

increase during the year when a number 

of copper-gold operations start up. 

These include the Sandfire Resources 

new DeGrussa mine in WA, and 

Ivanhoe Australia re-commencing production 

at its Osborne/Kulthor operation 

in NW Queensland. 

MEXICO 


Erme Enriquez MSc, CPG (SEG 1984 F) 

Minera Canasil, S.A. de C.V. 

Alheli No. 142, Fracc. Jardines de Dgo 

Durango, DGO 34200, Mexico 

E-mail: eenriquez@canasil.com.mx 

MEXICO’S 

EXPLORATION TRENDS 

Mexico’s exploration expenditures are 

the highest in Latin America, reaching a 

record of almost US$1 billion in 2011, 

according to the latest report released 

by the Metals Economics Group (MEG), 

a think-tank based in Halifax, Canada. 

According to “Corporate exploration 

strategies” (CES), Mexico accounted for 

23% of total nonferrous exploration 

budgets for the Latin American region 

and 6% of the overall global budget 

allocation for 2011. MEG estimates that 

the total 2011 worldwide exploration 

budget reached $18.2 billion. 

Since 2003, exploration spending 

grew faster than the world average, 

improving Mexico’s global rank from 

eighth to fourth place. MEG attributes 

much of this accelerated growth to 

increased spending by Canadian junior 

explorers. 

In terms of the types of companies 

exploring in Mexico, 80% of the active 

explorers tracked are juniors and the 

majority of them are based in Canada. 

Despite increased volatility in recent 

months, MEG concludes that metal 

prices—the primary driver of exploration 

spending—remained relatively strong 

through most of 2012. As a result, 

exploration budgets were up 50% from 

2010, settiing a new all-time high. 

NORTHERN EURASIA 


Alexander Yakubchuk (SEG 1999 F) 

Orsu Metals Corp, London, UK 

E-mail: ayakubchuk@orsumetals.com 

Detailed information can be found at 

http://gold.prime-tass.ru 

NORTHERN EURASIA 

GENERAL 

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed 

that the Russian state must fund 

exploration, emphasizing that it cannot 

be fully delegated to private companies. 

He also called for more efficiency in 

this area and for the allocation of more 

funds. The Russian Ministry of Natural 

Resources proposed a draft law to in - 

crease the maximum allowed foreign 

participation from 10 to 25% by companies 

working on licences of federal 

importance. There is also a shift to 

increase the threshold for strategic gold 

deposits (also limiting foreign participation) 

from 50 tonnes (t) of contained 

gold to 250 t. 

Another potentially important development 

is the award of two licences for 

development of nickel and PGM deposits 

in the Voronezh region in European 

Russia and Taimyr region in the Siberian 

part of Russia to companies that are not 

related to Norilsk Nickel, which controls 

up to 95% of Russian production 

of these metals. This can be viewed as 

an attempt to break a monopoly. Presi - 

dent Putin has also recently called to 

end the long-lasting corporate conflict 

inside Norilsk Nickel. In the Taimyr 

region, a licence for development of the 

southern part of Norilsk-1 deposit was 

awarded to Artel Amur, part of Russ - 

kaya Platina Group. Amur is mining 

platinum at the Kondyor placer deposit 

in Khabarovsk region in the Russian Far 

East. This may create a conflict of interest 

and infrastructural challenges within 

Norilsk Nickel, which is mining the 

northern part of Norilsk-1 deposit. The 

auction for the western flank of the 

Oktyabrskoye deposit (part of huge 

Talnakh deposit) did not take place 

because all applications were made from 

Norilsk Nickel. The potential licence 

would cover 50 km 2 . The forecast re - 

sources of this area in the P2 category 

are 9.6 Mt ore with 74.9 kt Ni and 135 

kt Cu. 

Nordgold (formerly part of Severstal) 

provided an additional update on combined 

JORC compliant proved and probable 

ore reserves of 12.7 Moz for its 

deposits in the former Soviet Union and 

Africa. The company’s total JORC compliant 

mineral resources are 29.5 Moz 

gold (up 30% from 22.7 Moz in June 

2011) of which 16.7 Moz are measured 

and indicated resources (up 39% from 

12.0 Moz) and 12.7 Moz are in ferred 

resources (up 20% from 10.6 Moz). The 

average gold grade in ore reserves shows 

a decrease from an average of 1.30 to 

1.15 g/t since the last update, owing to 

inclusion of the resource base at Gross 

(see detailed reviews for this low-grade, 

robust heap leach project in Russia with 

low stripping ratio and high recoveries) 

in the company’s reserves. Excluding 

the Gross project, average reserve grade 

has increased from 1.30 to 1.59 g/t. 

Russia continues its attempts to de - 

velop several major copper projects. The 

media have it rumored that Millhouse 

Group is running negotiations with 

BHP Billiton to develop the Peschanka 

porphyry copper deposit in the Baimka 

district in Chukotka, seeking $750 M 

payment. Millhouse won a license for 

this area back in 2008 by paying ca. $35 

M. The licence covers 1,300 km 2 . The 

estimated resources of Peschanka are 

7.9 Mt Cu and 450 t Au. The potential 

upside is 27 Mt of contained Cu and 

1,600 t Au. 

On the processing side, some analysts 

acknowledged that pressure oxidation 

technology is becoming popular in 

Russia for treatment of refractory gold 

ores. Petropavlovsk plc and Polymetal 

International have independently 

commissioned POX plants, albeit technologically 

different, in Russia over the 

last 2 years. 

The Kazakhstan government declared 

the beginning of construction of a re - 

finery plant in Astana, with capacity of 

25 t of gold and 50 t of silver. Currently, 

all locally produced gold is being sold 

unrefined or in concentrate. The commissioning 

of the plant is scheduled for 

2013. The president of Kazakhstan 

called for increase of annual gold production 

to 70 t by 2015.


CONTIGUOUS 

UNITED STATES 


Roger C. Steininger (SEG 1978) 

COO & Director, Acquisitions & Exploration 

NuLegacy Gold Corp. 

4790 Caughlin Parkway #765 

Reno, NV 89519-0907 

Tel. 1-775-742-6333 

E-mail: audoctor@aol.com 

You know investors’ wallets have closed 

and exploration activities have slowed 

when . . . 

• Drilling companies that wouldn’t 

give you the time of day last year are 

calling to buy you lunch; 

• Assay turnaround time is now 

within the same year the samples are 

submitted; 

• There is a constant flow of property 

submittals, some of that even have 

potential; 

• The weekly emails from GSN 

announcing job openings have ceased 

and recruiters have stopped calling; 

• To keep people interested in Junior 

exploration companies, the flow of news 

releases has increased. Most of which are 

of little importance, such as-Golden 

Fleece is now leaving the office to commence 

field work, or they are thinking of 

drilling a hole once money is available; 

• Stocks that were selling for over a 

dollar recently are now $0.15 (U.S. or 

Canadian, it doesn’t matter); 

• Management and directors are 

being “retired.” You can now trade a 

CEO for a fifth round draft pick at most 

graduate schools; 

• Graduates are not being given 

“signing bonuses,” even if they can find 

a job. 

I just attended the reopening of the 

Climax mine, where I started my career. 

With a new mill in operation and trucks 

in the pit it was great to see the mine 

back in production. 

Even during these difficult times, 

several companies believe in the future. 

Barrick Gold has 50 drills operating in 

Nevada, 12 of which are at Goldrush 

deposit, Eureka County, Nevada. The 

Barrick news release states that the limits 

of Goldrush have not been identified 

in most directions and that a “significant 

increase” in the resource estimate 

is expected by year’s end. 

Have we entered an era of high-grade 

gold discoveries? Or is that all that is 

worth reporting? There has been a substantial 

increase in the number of 

SEG at GSA 

2012 GSA Annual Meeting & Exposition 

GEOSCIENCES: INVESTING IN THE FUTURE 

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA – November 4–7, 2012 

reported “high-grade” intercepts. 

Admit tedly, some are calling 1–2 g/t 

“high-grade,” but who am I to criticize? 

Evolving Gold and Gold Standard have 

reported high-grade intercepts in the 

southern Carlin Trend. Canamax re - 

ported 360 feet (118.1 meters) of 0.119 

opt Au (4.08 g/t) at Bruner in Nye 

County, Nevada. Even Yukon-Nevada is 

getting into the act, reporting several 

high-grade gold intercepts at the Smith 

mine, Jarritt Canyon, Elko County, 

Nevada. 

An interesting report recently landed 

on my desk (it is a mystery how these 

things appear), which lists the 439 worldwide 

gold deposits that contain at least 

1 Moz of gold. Slightly more than 10% 

occur in the United States, mostly in 

Nevada and Alaska, with Nevada having 

about 7% of the total. Admittedly, 

several of these may never be mined 

and there is some grouping into units 

such as in the Carlin Trend, and Pipeline- 

Cortez Hills, which if reported separately 

would expand the list. It does point out 

that Nevada and Alaska (that is another 

column) are great geological environments 

for gold deposit exploration. 

Adding in a few of the smaller deposits 

there are at least 200 Moz of in situ 

gold known in Nevada, and growing. 1 

SEG Meeting Coordinator: Jim A. Saunders 

Email: saundja@auburn.edu 

GSA Conference Website: 

www.geosociety.org/meetings/2012 


T36. Geology and Mineral Resources of the Carolina Slate Belt: A Tribute to Robert 

Carpenter 

James A. Saunders (SEG 1981 F), Jeffrey C. Reid, Doug Crowe (SEG 1986 F) 

The Carolina Slate belt is an accreted Cambrian island arc terrane with significant 

past mining history, and a modern-day gold rush ongoing. 

T38. Subduction-Related Mantle Preparation and Subsequent Magmatism and Ore 

Genesis 

James A. Saunders (SEG 1981 F), Jeremy P. Richards (SEG 1985 F), 

Matthew Brueseke (SEG 2008) 

This session explores how subduction at convergent plate boundaries enriches 

the overlying lithospheric mantle with volatiles and metal(loids)that are easily 

incorporated into late- or post-subduction magma- and ore-forming processes. 

T39. Weathering of Mineral Deposits in Semi-Tropical and Tropical Climates 

James A. Saunders (SEG 1981 F), Dennis LaPoint (SEG 1983 F), 

J. Richard Kyle (SEG 1983 F) 

Weathering can upgrade the value of mineral resources, allows for geochemical 

exploration for them, can lead to the formation of new (secondary) mineral 

resources, and also can cause substantial environmental problems.



A Swiss-based partnership 


PAUL W. KUHN 

President 

paulk@avrupaminerals.com 

www.avrupaminerals.com 

Direct: +351-253274070 Portugal mobile: +351-925972240 

Fax: +351-253615041 U.S. mobile: +1-509-990-6786 

Petrography, Mineralogy, Geology and Geochemistry 

for the mining industry 

Dr. Antoine de Haller 

dehaller@genevamineralservice.com / Tel. +41(0)78 756 73 50 

Dr. Susanne Th. Schmidt 

schmidt@genevamineralservice.com / Tel. +41(0)79 609 29 13 

www.genevamineralservice.com 


JOSEPH R. ANZMAN 

Exploration Geophysicist 

• consulting 

• interpretation 

• project management 

• geophysical surveys 

• domestic & foreign 

P.O. Box 370526 

Denver, Colorado 80237 Office: 303-337-4559 

geophjoe@comcast.net Cell: 303-519-0658 


PAID ADVERTISEMENT


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SEG MEMBERSHIP NEWS 

CANDIDATES FOR 1 FELLOWSHIP 

To All SEG Fellows: 

Pursuant to the Society’s Bylaws, names of the following candidates, who have been recommended for Fellowship by the Admissions 

Committee, are submitted for your consideration. Each applicant’s name and current position are followed by the names of their 

SEG sponsors. If you have any comments, favorable or unfavorable, on any candidate, you should send them, in writing prior to 

November 30th. If no objections are received by that date, these candidates will be presented to Council for approval. 

Address Comments To 

Chair, SEG Admissions Committee 

SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS • 7811 Shaffer Parkway • Littleton, CO 80127-3732 • USA 

Arndt, Nicholas T. University of Grenoble, St. Martin 

d’Hères, France: Yasushi Watanabe, Luis Fontboté; 

Campbell, Christopher M. Newmont Mining Corporation, 

Orange, Australia: Antonio Arribas, Stephen J. Turner; 

Chamberlain, Claire M. Teck Resources Ltd., Santiago, 

Chile: John F. H. Thompson, Andrew Davies; 

Corlett, Graeme J. Ivanhoe Australia Ltd., Cloncurry, 

Australia: Douglas J. Kirwin, Rohan Wolfe; 

Cowan, Ewen Jun Orefind Pty. Ltd., Fremantle, Australia: 

Brett K. Davis, T. Campbell McCuaig; 

Dale, Paul J. Barrick (Australia Pacific) Ltd., Brisbane, 

Australia: Craig McEwan, François Robert; 

Hodkiewicz, Paul F. BHP Billiton, Nedlands, Australia: T. 

Campbell McCuaig, David Ian Groves; 

Houston, Robert A. Oregon Department of Geology and 

Mineral Industries, Springfield, Oregon: John H. Dilles, 

Mark H. Reed; 

Ridley, William Ian U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, 

Colorado: Richard J. Goldfarb, Erin Marsh. 

MEMBERSHIP 

The Society Welcomes 

The Following 

NEW1FELLOWS: 

Beresford, Stephen W., North Perth, 

Australia; Colpron, Maurice, White - 

horse, Canada; Doyle, Martin, Toronto, 

Canada; Echavarria, Leandro E., Lujan 

de Cuyo, Argentina; Fletcher, Timothy 

A., Bolton, United Kingdom; Graham, 

Rodney W., Scott City, Kansas; Gray, 

Timothy M., Henley-on-Thames, United 

Kingdom; Hancox, Philip J., Melville, 

South Africa; Hawkins, Alan J., Subiaco, 

Australia; Hennigh, Quinton T., Long - 

mont, Colorado; Leichmann, Jaromir, 

Brno, Czech Republic; Lowenstein, 

Tim K., Binghamton, New York; Matos 

Salinas, Gerardo R., La Paz, Bolivia; 

McNulty, Kevin W., Dublin, Ireland; 

Strashimirov, Strashimir B., Sofia, Bul - 

garia; Tunningley, Andrew J., Keighley, 

United Kingdom; Turmagnai, Daramjav, 

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Woodbury, 

Michael J., Yanchep, Aus tralia; Xavier, 

Roberto P., Campinas, Brazil. 


The Following 

NEW1MEMBERS: 

Mbodji Abdoul, Stratex West Africa, 

Dakar, Senegal; Michael Adams, Silver - 

lake Resources, Perth, Australia; Eric T. 

Allison, Casimir Capital LP, New York, 

NY; Nicolas C. Anguita, Capstone 

Chile SpA, Santiago, Chile; Sergio R. 

Bacelar Huhn, Vale S.A., Natal, Brazil; 

Thais N. Battestin, Teixeira Consultoria 

e Servicos Ltda., Santo Andre, Brazil; 

Jeffrey J. Bickel, Southwest Geology 

and Mineral Exploration LLC, Phoenix, 

AZ; Michel Boily, GÉON, Montreal, 

Canada; Jose M. Braga, Jr., Companhia 

Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracoa, 

Anaxa, Brazil; Andrew G. Bull, Barrick 

Gold Corporation, Kalgoorlie, Australia; 

Daniel Garcia de Figueiredo Camacho, 

Sr., Yamana Gold Inc., Ribeirao Preto, 

Brazil; Arthur J. Cardoso da Silva, Vale 

S.A., Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil; 

Adriana Castro Ramirez, Anglogold 

Ashanti Colombia, Bucaramanga, 

Colombia; Cleber F. Chagas, Yamana 

Desenvolvimento Mineral, Parnamirim, 

Brazil; Carlos Charre Otero, Silver 

Standard Resources Inc., Lima, Peru; 

Miguel A. Cortes, Captstone Chile SpA, 

Quintero, Chile; Paul Joseph Dale, 

Barrick (Australia Pacific) Limited, Bris - 

bane, Australia; Richard Dallwig, Altus 

Strategies Ltd., Freiburg, Germany; 

Jonas J. C. de Oliveira, SRK Brasil, Belo 

Horizonte, Brazil; Peter J. Dodds, Anglo 

American PLC, Matlock, United 

Kingdom; Okelia A. Douse, Curabe Re - 

sources Jamaica Ltd., Greater Portmore, 

Jamaica; Eibhlin M. Doyle, Department 

of Communications, Energy and Natural 

Resources, Dublin, Ireland; Tim 

Dunnett, Ivanplats Ltd., Mokopane, 

South Africa; Victor J. Espinosa, Argo - 

naut Gold - Pitalla Mining Company, 

Hermosillo, Mexico; Marco Fazzi, Kin - 

ross Gold Corporation, Linares, Chile; 

Felix Aurelio Ganoza Pena, Oban 

S.A.C., Lima, Peru; Jack O. Garman, 

First Quantum Minerals, London, 

United Kingdom; Stephen J. Grubiss, 

Environmental Geoscience, Inc., El 

Prado, NM; Claire V. Hardgrove, Katana 

Iron Pty Ltd, Petersham, Australia; 

Ruben Hinostroza, Consorcio Minero 

Horizonte SA, Lima, Peru; Ruben 

Horbach, Horbach Geologia Ltda., Porto 

Alegre, Brazil; Zhihui Eric Hou, Eldorado 

Gold, North Vancouver, Canada; Alfredo 

J. Jauregui Herrara, PL Geoexplomin 

EIRL, Lima, Peru; Peter A. Kleespies, 

North Country Gold Corp., Edmonton, 

Canada; Dennis J. Krasowski, Geovet 

Consulting, LLC, Salmon, ID; Raymond 

K. Kudzawu-D’Pherdd, Goldfields 

Exploration Ghana, Ghana; Raul M. 

Kuyumjian, Universidade de Brasilia - 

UNB, Brasilia, Brazil; Jeff W. Kyba, 

Government of British Columbia 

Integrated Land Management Bureau, 

Smithers, Canada; Carlos A. Leite, 

Vicenza Mineracao e Participacoes S.A., 

Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Caroline Lewis, 

Sandfire Resources, Wembley, Australia; 

Luiz Claudio Lima, Mineracao Aurizona 

S.A., Nova Lima, Brazil; Harris S. Lucas, 

African Eagle Resources PLC, Ottery St. 

Mary, Devon, United Kingdom; Esteban


Manrique, Universidad Nacional de 

Ingenieria, Lima, Peru; Pablo Xavier do 

Prado Martin-Cocher, MBAC Fertilizers 

Corp., Indaial, Brazil; Carlos E. Martinez 

Cornejo, Consorcio Minero Horizonte 

S.A., Lima, Peru; Armando J. Massu - 

catto, Clarice Consultoria Geológica, 

Santa Barbara, Brazil; John M. Meyer, 

Independent, Basalt, CO; Gabriel 

Mineo Ito, Yamana Gold, Sao Paulo, 

Brazil; Carlos Moreno Aliga, South 

American Management S.A.C., Lima, 

Peru; Jonas Mota e Silva, Votorantim 

Metals, Brasilia, Brazil; Jonathan 

Olazabal Mondragon, Pan American 

Silver Peru S.A.C., Lima, Peru; Noel K. J. 

Ong, Siburan Resources Ltd., Nedlands, 

Australia; Marcio M. Paim, Coffey Min - 

ing, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Matthew J. 

Perkins, ASVI Technical Services Group, 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Nikolay P. 

Petrov, First Quantum Minerals Ltd., 

Sofia, Bulgaria; Carolina P. Prescott 

Ferraz, Yamana, Brasilia, Brazil; Maurice 

D. Re, St. Barbara Limited, Trigg, WA, 

Australia; Maximiliano P. Reato, 

Mineracao Caraiba SA, Jaguarari, Bahia, 

Brazil; Anthony J. Reid, Geological 

Survey of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, 

Australia; William Ian Ridley, US 

Geological Survey, Denver, CO; Rory R. 

Ritchie, Rory Ritchie Geological Con - 

sulting, Vancouver, Canada; Meredith 

Roik, North Country Gold Corp., Ed - 

monton, Canada; Silvia Rosas Lizarraga, 

Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, 

Lima, Peru; Gabriel Rossi, Teixeira 

Consultorie e Servicos, Santo Andre, 

Brazil; Diallo Saikou Oumar, Stratex 

West Africa Ltd., Dakar, Senegal; Ozgur 

Sapanci, Asia Minor Mining Corp. Co., 

Ankara, Turkey; Wladimir F. Silva, 

China Yunnan Copper Resources Ltda., 

Santiago, Chile; Clyde L. Smith, High - 

lands Geoscience, Delta, Canada; Quinn 

E. Smith, MMG Ltd, Vancouver, Canada; 

Ricardo Souza, Rio Novo Mineracao 

Ltda., Nova Lima, Brazil; Anil G. Sub - 

ramanya, Rio Tinto Iron Ore, Dianella, 

Australia; Charles E. Sulfrian, ZyMin 

Corporation, Colorado Springs, CO; 

Bruce E. Taylor, Geological Survey of 

Canada, Ottawa, Canada; Christina L. 

Taylor, Hudbay, Vancouver, Canada; 

Daniel Tommasini, Mineraçao Ltda., 

Sao Paulo, Brazil; Adriaan H. van Herk, 

Reliance Resources Ltd./Pt Gemala 

Borneo Utama, Monado, Indonesia; 

Felipe J. Villela Brandao, CODELCO 

do Brasil Mineracao Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, 

Brazil; Albrecht von Quadt, ETH Zurich, 

Zurich, Switzerland; Greg D. Waters, 

BHP Billiton, Perth, Australia; Karen-Jane 

Weir, Vancouver, Canada; Andrew R. 

White, Micromine Pty. Ltd., Beijing, 

China; John Williamson, North 

Country Gold Corp., Edmonton, 

Canada; Christopher J. L. Wilson, 

Monash University, Clayton, Australia; 

Henry H. H. Wong, Eurasian Minerals 

Ltd., Jakarta, Indonesia. 


The Following 

NEW1STUDENT MEMBERS: 

Carolina Amaya, Universidad Nacional 

de Colombia, Itaqui, Antioquia, Colom - 

bia; Ricardo Augusto O. Anoni, Federal 

University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto 

Alegre, Brazil; Tracy C. Armstrong, 

James Cook University, Townsville, 

Australia; Kiddy N. Aulia, Padjadjaran 

University, Jatinangor, Indonesia; 

Matthew J. Booth, University of Lei - 

cester, Holmfirth, United Kingdom; 

Izabela A. Camisassa, Universidade 

Federal de Oura Preto, Belo Horizonte, 

Brazil; Daniela Cardona, EAFIT Uni - 

versity, Medellin, Colombia; Andrew 

D. Clark, Australian National Univer - 

sity, Lyneham, Australia; Preston D. 

Colledge, Utah Valley University, 

Lindon, UT; David J. Derham, James 

Cook University, Townsville, Australia; 

Gabriel A. Diez Gomez, National Uni - 

versity of Salta, Salta, Argentina; Carlo 

S. Divasto, Universidad Catolica del 

Norte, Antofagasta, Chile; Alejandra J. 

Espinoza, Universidad Catolica del 

Norte, Antofagasta, Chile; Rian 

Fajartama, Padjadjaran University, 

Jatinangor, Indonesia; Oscar E. Finster - 

busch Lagos, Universidad Catolica del 

Norte, Antofagasta, Chile; Jaime A. 

Gajardo Belmar, Universidad Catolica 

del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile; Mauricio 

A. Galarce, Universidad Catolica del 

Norte, Antofagasta, Chile; Victor E. 

Hernandez Monsalve, Universidad 

Catolica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile; 

Diego M. Jaldin Quiroz, Universidad 


Juan P. Kania Zelada, Universidad 


Reghina Karyadi, Padjadjaran Univer - 

sity, Jatinangor, Indonesia; Emmanuel 

O. Kazimoto, Christian Albrechts 

Universitat zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany; 

Geysson de A. Lages, University of 

Brasilia, Recife, Brazil; Amelia C. Lees, 

University of Leicester, Leicester, United 

Kingdom; Juan F. Lujan, EAFIT Uni - 

versity, Medellin, Colombia; Simon E. 

Lukoviek, Universidad Catolica del 

Norte, Santiago, Chile; Elias Martins 

Guerra Prado, Universidade de Brasilia, 

Brasilia, Brazil; Peter J. McPhee, Univer - 

sity of Durham, Penrith, Cumbria, 

United Kingdom; Jorge E. Morales Leal, 

Universidad Catolica del Norte, Anto - 

fagasta, Chile; Veronica Moreno 

Rodriguez, Universidad Nacional 

Autonoma de Mexico, Hermosillo, 

Mexico; Evangelos Mouchos, Aristotle 

University of Thessaloniki, Volos, Greece; 

Melany B. Munoz Peralta, Universidad 


Ronald P. L. Ng, Queen’s University, 

Aurora, Canada; Francis M. Ngugi, 

James Cook University, Townsville, 

Australia; Herza Nurkusumariani, 

Padjadjaran University, Jatinangor, 

Indonesia; Omero F. Orlandini, Uni - 

versity of Colorado, Lafayette, CO; Zie 

Ouattara, University of Cocody, Abidjan, 

Cote d’Ivoire; Sheyla Q. Pinto Amaro, 

San Marcos University, Lima, Peru; 

Bernhard Pribil, Montanuniversitat 

Leoben, Leoben, Austria; Hector H. 

Ramos Klein, Universidad Catolica del 

Norte, Antofagasta, Chile; Valeria C. 

Retamal Encalada, Universidad 


Juan C. Rios Contesse, Universidad 


Grisel I. Rivera Pena, Universidad 


Claudia P. Rojas Toro, Universidad 


Tyler R. Roses, Oregon State University, 

Corvallis, OR; Ana M. Saldarriaga, 

EAFIT University, Medellin, Colombia; 

Kessar Deo Saragih, University of 

Padjadjaran, Jatinangor, Indonesia; 

Fulvio Sciaraffia Schenke, Universidad 


Pooya Seyed Salehi Naini, Azad Uni - 

versity, Tehran, Iran; Tyler J. Stewart, 

Monash University, Melbourne, Aus - 

tralia; Takuma Suga, Kyushu University, 

Fukuoka, Japan; Lorenzo Tapia Escobar, 

Universidad Catolica del Norte, Anto - 

fagasta, Chile;Camilo A. Uribe, EAFIT 

University, Envigado, Antioquia, Colom - 

bia; Rivaldo Vieira Santos, Universi - 

dade Federal, Salvador, Brazil; Enrico 

Vigna, Universite Joseph Fourier - 

Grenoble, Seyssins, France; Sebastian 

Villar, Universidad Catolica del Norte, 

Antofagasta, Chile; Herman A. Villegas 

Estay, Universidad Catolica del Norte, 

Antofagasta, Chile; Patricio A. Vivanco, 

Universidad Catolica del Norte, Antofa - 

gasta, Chile; Nadya Widiyanti, Padjad - 

jaran University, Jatinangor, Indonesia; 

Dharani Raja Yarra, Brock University, 

Toronto, Canada; Samuel J. Ybarra, 

Arizona State University, Avondale, AZ; 

Marco F. Zapata, Universidad Nacional 

Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. 1 

MEMBERSHIP


Just Released 

SEG Compilation 6: 

Ore Deposits of the Andes (DVD) 



Northwest Mining Association’s 

118 th Annual Meeting, 

Exposition & Short Courses 

Editors: T. Felts, S.F. Simmons, and R.J. Goldfarb 

ISBN 978-1-934969-40-3 

ISSN 1939-1438 

Ore Deposits of the Andes: 

A Compilation 

1919–2011 

Selections from SEG and 

Economic Geology Publications 

Edited by Thomas Felts, Stuart F. Simmons, 

and Richard J. Goldfarb 

© 2012 Society of Economic Geologists 

Classic papers on ore deposits of the 

Andes, from 1919 to 2011, have 

been assembled from a variety 

of SEG publications including 

Economic Geology, Special 

Publications, Reviews, 

Economic Geology 

SEG Compilations 

Volume 6 

Monographs, SEG 

Newsletters, and the 

Economic Geology 

100 th Anniversary 

Volume. 

The compilation is 

divided into nine sections 

reflecting eight different 

sub-types of ore mineralization 

and one section on regional 

metallogeny. The deposits described 

are porphyry Cu (Mo-Au), polymetallic 

Ag-Sn-W, epithermal, IOCG, skarn, 

sedimentary rock-hosted base-metal, VMS, and miscellaneous such as diamonds, 

fluorite, nitrates, iron ore, PGEs, and gold . 

Members: US$68.00 

Non-members: US$85.00 

www.segweb.org/Store/detail.aspx?id=COM-06 

in a Technology Based World 

December 3 - 7, 2012 

Spokane Convention Center 

Spokane, Washington USA 

Don’t Wait ~ Register Today! 

Northwest Mining Association 

10 N Post Street ~ Suite 305 

Spokane, Washington 99201-0772 

Phone: 509.624.1158 Fax: 509.623.1241 

Email: nwma_info@nwma.org 

Websites: www.nwma.org 

www.themoreyoudig.com 

Introduction to the Physics and Chemistry of 

Hydrothermal Ore Deposits 

February 16-23, 2013, Ottawa 

MEMBERSHIP 

A Practical Guide to the Ore Elements 

Feb. 16 & 17 (Sat-Sun) 

Physics and Chemistry of Ore Fluids 

Feb. 18 & 19 (Mon-Tue) 

Processes of Hydrothermal Alteration 

Feb. 20 & 21 (Wed-Thu) 

Fluids in Porphyry, Epithermal, and VMS 

Feb. 22 & 23 (Fri-Sat) 

Thomas Monecke (Colorado School of Mines) 

Mark Hannington (University of Ottawa) 

Steve Ingebritsen (U.S. Geological Survey) 

Iain Samson (University of Windsor) 

Dan Kontak (Laurentian University) 

Fee: $50 per session for students ($75 after December 14). 

$500 per session for professionals. Includes lunches, 

reception, and course notes. Credits applicable to grad 

programs/professional development where permitted. 

Registration begins October 15, 2012. Contact icsr@uottawa.ca 


PAID ADVERTISEMENT


Society of Economic Geologists 

Short Course on the Geology of Gold Deposits 

Dates: 

Location: 

February 2–3, 2013, immediately prior to Mining Indaba 

The University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa 

COURSE DESCRIPTION 

SEG is again offering its highly successful Gold Workshop at the University of Cape 

Town on February 2–3, 2013, the weekend prior to the Mining Indaba meeting. The 

course will focus on the distribution, geology, important characteristics (geochemistry, 

geophysics, structure, alteration, mineralogy), genesis, and exploration criteria 

of the most important gold deposit types. Upper level undergraduate and graduate 

students in economic geology, as well as industry geologists, will find the course useful. 

Deposit examples include material from Africa, as well as throughout the world. 

This course filled up quickly in Cape Town in 2012—We recommend registering early for the 2013 event! 

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED INSTRUCTORS INCLUDE: 

Hartwig Frimmel is a professor of geology at the University of Würzburg (Germany) and 

an honorary research associate of the University of Cape Town, where he spent 15 years 

as lecturer and, eventually, professor. His main research fields include the interplay 

between tectonics, paleoclimate, ocean chemistry, and ore mineralization, especially in 

Precambrian times, as well as various aspects of economic geology. More than 20 years 

of experience with the Witwatersrand goldfields earned him international recognition as 

leading expert on this type of mineralization. He has over 140 research articles/book contributions 

to his credit with over 1300 ISI citations. 

Richard J. Goldfarb is a senior research geologist with the Minerals Program of the U.S. 

Geological Survey, where he has been employed for more than 32 years. His major expertise is in the area of the geochemistry 

and geology of ore deposits, with emphasis on Phanerozoic orogenic gold. Much of his earlier career work was concentrated 

on the Tertiary orogenic gold deposits of southern Alaska. Results from this work were used to develop ore genesis 

models for giant gold deposits elsewhere in Alaska and in other parts of the North American Cordillera. In recent years, Rich 

has conducted detailed studies on the understanding of the distribution of orogenic gold deposits through space and time, 

compiling the most comprehensive global description of their distribution and evaluating the controlling tectonic/geologic 

features. He has senior-authored and co-authored more than 195 refereed publications in economic geology. 

Brian Rusk received his PhD from the University of Oregon in 2003, where he studied the genesis of the famous Butte, 

Montana, porphyry copper deposit. He applies both field studies and microanalysis to understanding the formation of hydrothermal 

ore deposits and specializes in the application of mineral geochemistry and fluid inclusion microanalysis to the 

evolving pressure-temperature and composition of hydrothermal fluids in ore-forming environments. Brian’s initial research 

led to significant advances in our understanding of the origins and compositions of fluids that form porphyry Cu (Au-Mo) 

deposits. He has spent the better part of the previous four years as a research associate at James Cook University in 

Australia, studying IOCG systems, with a focus on the Cloncurry region of Australia and the Carajas region of Brazil. Brian 

is an expert in numerous advanced laboratory microanalytical techniques. He is currently a research associate at Western 

Washington University, in Bellingham, Washington. 

Stuart F. Simmons is a research professor (Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines) and a consulting 

geoscientist, with >30 years of research experience in hydrothermal processes, epithermal mineralization, and geothermal 

resources. He has a PhD in economic geology (University of Minnesota), and much of his professional career was spent in New 

Zealand, at the Geothermal Institute, University of Auckland. As a consultant, he serves clients around the Pacific rim in the 

exploration and development of gold-silver and geo - 

thermal resources (website: www.hotsolutions.co.nz). 

SHORT COURSE REGISTRATION FEES 

EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE: January 7, 2013 

Early registration fees: 

SEG Members (US$895), Non-Members (US$995), 

SEG Students (US$395), Non-Member Students (US$445) 

Late registration fees: 

SEG Members (US$995), Non-Members (US$1095), 

SEG Students (US$445), Non-Member Students (US$495) 

Maximum number of students allowed — 20% of registrants 

Register at www.segweb.org/events#13RGOLDUCT

38 S E G N E W S L E T T E R No 91 • OCTOBER 2012 


Announcements 

& Deadlines 

Extracted from a 

PRESS RELEASE 

dated 9-20-2012 

Elsevier and the Society of Economic Geologists Deliver 107 Years of 

Scientific Maps through Geofacets 

New collaboration will create unmatched resource for geoscientists in metals and 

mineral exploration by January 2013 

MEMBERSHIP 

New York, September 20, 2012 — Elsevier, a world-leading 

provider of scientific, medical and technical information 

products and services, today announced its collaboration 

with the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) to incorporate 

thousands of maps from SEG’s leading journal, Economic 

Geology, into Geofacets, Elsevier’s premier research tool for 

geoscientists working in exploration for the metals, mining, 

and oil and gas industries. 

The move underlines Elsevier’s continued drive to accelerate 

geoscientists’ discovery of hard-to-find scientific maps 

through Geofacets, supporting confident decision-making in 

a high-risk exploration environment. This collaboration particularly 

boosts Geofacets’ ability to support metals and mineral 

exploration, given SEG’s well-established footing in the 

industry. By January 2013 the joint venture will add a further 

14,800+ maps collated over the past 107 years from Economic 

Geology into Geofacets, bringing the total maps within the 

research tool to more than 240,000. 

“A significant part of SEG’s mission is to disseminate geological 

information and aid those working in exploration, 

mineral resource appraisal, mining and metal extraction,” 

said Brian Hoal, Executive Director at SEG. “Collaborating 

with Elsevier to make our maps and information much easier 

to discover, and therefore easier to apply to their work, will 

help geoscientists combat specific industry challenges such as 

low drilling success rates and the increasing difficulty in finding 

new orebodies.” 

“We see and hear excitement from our users in the metals 

and mining industry every time we mention the upcoming 

integration of SEG content into Geofacets,” said Phoebe 

McMellon, Senior Product Manager Geofacets at Elsevier. “By 

incorporating the unique content of such a renowned society 

as SEG, we are able to help Geofacets users discover critical, 

niche content that could otherwise remain buried in volumes 

and centuries’ worth of publications.” 

ABOUT GEOFACETS 

Geofacets is an innovative research tool for geoscientists that 

offers map-based search and access to over 225,000 geological 

maps from Elsevier and its content partners. With all maps 

downloadable and 148,000 georeferenced, it integrates with 

GIS and other presentation software. Developed to complement 

the way geoscientists work, Geofacets is used by leading companies 

around the world for exploration research projects 

such as regional studies for new ventures, land lease opportunity 

evaluations, prospect and play ranking, and more. 

ABOUT THE SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS 

The Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) is the leading organization 

dedicated to advancing science and discovery in the 

field of economic geology. The Society’s nearly 7,000 members 

are based in over 100 countries and include representatives 

from industry, academia, non-profit, and government 

institutions. SEG has close ties with two independent corporations, 

SEG Foundation and SEG Canada Foundation, that 

fund educational geoscientific programs endorsed by the 

Society. Publications, conferences, short courses, and field 

trips ensure active communication of economic geologyrelated 

concepts within the membership and with the economic 

geology profession at large. For more information, visit 

www.segweb.org. 

ABOUT ELSEVIER 

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and 

medical information products and services. The company 

works in partnership with the global science and health communities 

to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The 

Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including 

major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier’s 

online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, 

ClinicalKey and Mosby’s Nursing Suite, which enhance the 

productivity of science and health professionals, and the 

SciVal suite and MEDai’s Pinpoint Review, which help 

research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes 

more cost-effectively. 

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier 

employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of 

Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information 

provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC 

and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext 

Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL 

(New York Stock Exchange).


personal notes & news 

CAREER-RELATED 

CHANGES 

ZHAOSHAN CHANG (SEG 2004 F) is the new 

director of the Economic Geology Research 

Unit (EGRU) at James Cook University, Queens - 

land, Australia. Zhaoshan earned a Ph.D. in 

geology from Washington State Uni versity. 

Before joining James Cook University, he was 

with CODES at the University of Tasmania. 

EVER MARQUEZ (SEG 2000) has been 

appointed vice president of exploration for 

Condor Resources Inc. 

AWARDS 

NICHOLAS ARNDT (SEG 2007) was recently 

awarded the 2012 A L du Toit Memorial lectureship 

by the Fellows Committee of the 

Geological Society of South Africa. Nick, a 

professor at the Université de Grenoble, 

France, presented a lecture entitled 

“Barberton komatiites: Creation and crystallization 

of the world’s hottest magmas.” The 

lecture was given at various South Africa 

venues in August. Nick earned a Ph.D. from 

the University of Toronto in Canada in 

1975, then worked in the exploration industry 

internationally before becoming a professor 

at the Université de Rennes 1, France, in 

1990. In 1998 he moved to the Université de 

Grenoble, where he holds the position of 

professor, classe exceptionnelle, échelon 2. 

DEATHS 

ALLEN F. AGNEW (SEG 

1961 SF) died September 

12, 2012, in Corvallis, 

Oregon, at the age of 94. 

As a teenager living in 

Ogden, Illinois, in the 

early 1930s, Allen ran a 

trap line with his brother 

and transported hides by 

rail to a Chicago company. He graduated 

from the University of Illinois in 1940 with 

highest geologic honors, publishing his 

bachelor’s and master’s work on micro - 

paleontology in professional journals. Allen 

and his wife, Frances, began married life 

sleeping on U.S. Army cots while he mapped 

geology in Death Valley, California, for the 

U.S. Geological Survey. He served as South 

Dakota state geologist and held positions as 

director with the water resource centers for 

several states. After an eight-year stint as 

senior specialist in mining and minerals at 

the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 

Allen retired to Corvallis in 1982 and taught 

part-time at Oregon State University, finall 

retiring from teaching in 1988. 

DONALD J. GRYBECK (SEG 1979 SF) died 

August 24, 2012. He had retired after a career 

dedicated to working for the U.S. Geological 

Survey. 

PAUL A. BAILLY (SEG 1960 SF) 

Paul Alain Bailly 

died July 2, 2012, at 

the age of 85. Paul 

suffered from amyotrophic 

lateral sclerosis 

(ALS) and 

passed away peacefully 

at a care facility 

in Shelburne, Ver - 

mont, where he had 

lived since 2007. 

Paul was born 

December 3, 1926, 

in Paris, France, and 

obtained geologic 

training at the 

Portrait of Paul Bailly 

painted by his niece, 

Kathy Jorgenson. 

University of Nancy. He came to the United 

States to pursue graduate studies, first at 

Yale University, then at Stanford, where he 

received his Ph.D. degree in 1951. After a 

tour of military service as a paratrooper in 

North Africa, he joined Kennecott Copper 

Corp. in North Africa, immigrated to the 

United States, and was employed by Bear 

Creek Mining Co.— an exploration subsidiary 

of Kennecott Copper Corp.—from 

1955 to 1967. As president of Bear Creek 

from 1961 to 1967, Paul directed six exploration 

districts in the United States and 

oversaw a porphyry-copper molybdenum 

geology research unit, a pioneering group 

applying computers to reserve estimation 

and discovery probability, and a deep-ocean 

nodule exploration team. During Paul’s 

years at the helm, Bear Creek discovered 

important copper deposits in Arizona and 

Alaska, a Cu-Ni deposit in Minnesota, lead 

deposits in Missouri, a sediment-hosted Cu- 

Ag deposit in Montana, and a large field of 

Mn-Cu nodules in the Pacific Ocean. 

Paul Bailly joined Occidental Petroleum 

Corp. in 1968 and helped create an international 

mining division, Occidental Minerals, 

which he led as president through 1983. 

Under his leadership, Oxymin discovered 

zinc deposits in Tennessee and developed in 

situ leaching of three copper oxide deposits 

in Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona. Oxy - 

min discovered the McClean Lake high-grade 

uranium deposit in Saskatchewan and a 

new gold orebody near Kalgoorlie, Australia. 

In 1984, Bailly joined Fulcrum Manage - 

ment as president. Fulcrum was the management 

company of a venture capital and 

private equity group that invested in new 

gold mining ventures. Investments were 

made in 12 projects in the United States, 

Canada, and Australia; six mines were successfully 

developed. 

Paul’s management style was to guide 

and lead a team and create a framework 

that would help people work their best. He 

was an inspirational mentor to many young 

exploration geologists. Paul’s contribution 

to the mining industry includes 26 papers 

on mineral resources, exploration management, 

and public land issues. He served on 

four committees on mineral problems for 

the National Academy of Sciences. The 

AIME honored Paul with its Mineral 

Economics award and he received the SME 

Jacking award for “his leadership in bringing 

quantitative rationality to mineral 

exploration, the impact of his efforts on 

mineral policy issues, and his effective managerial 

role in major mineral discoveries.” 

He was president of the Geological Society 

of America in 1983 and served on several of 

its committees. In 2009, he was inducted 

into the National Mining Hall of Fame. 

Paul Bailly believed the large group of 

volunteer members was a great source of 

strength for the Society of Economic 

Geologists. For 35 years he contributed time 

and extraordinary talent in management 

and organization to the benefit of all parts 

of the Society. Paul served on Council and 

as president of the Society of Economic 

Geologists in 1981. He was a trustee of the 

SEG Foundation and a director of PUBCO. 

He was one of three members of the “Blue 

Ribbon” committee appointed in 1983 to 

consider the future of SEG. Recommenda - 

tions generated by the committee led to the 

growth and financial well-being the Society 

has enjoyed in recent years. The SEG 

Newsletter was recommended and the success 

of this publication has generated much 

interest in the Society and its activities. Paul 

Bailly served on numerous other SEG committees 

and, along with Art Barber, raised 

contributions of over $100,000 that ensured 

the success of the Society’s first stand-alone 

meeting, “Integrated Methods in 

Exploration and Discovery,” in 1993. He 

received the Ralph W. Marsden award in 

2000 for outstanding service to the Society. 

Paul was diagnosed with ALS in 2007. 

He compensated for physical handicaps and 

sustained an admirable attitude and as 

much activity and quality of life as possible 

until the very end. His wife, Florence Bailly, 

and brother Jean Bailly predeceased him. He 

is survived by his brother Pierre, sons, 

Philip and Jacques, daughter-in-law, Leslyn 

Hall, and two grandchildren, as well as 

many relatives and friends in France, 

Minnesota, and elsewhere. 

Contributions in Paul’s memory may be 

made to the Havern School of Littleton, CO, 

www.havernschool.org/our-school, and to 

the Mineral Information Institute of the 

SME Foundation, for which Paul also volunteered, 

at www.smenet.org/foundation. 

Contributed by Richard L. Nielsen 

MEMBERSHIP



Society of Economic Geologists and SEG Canada Foundation 


September 24–27, 2013 

Whistler, BC 

THE CONFERENCE: 

The technical program will focus on those areas of academic 

research in economic geology that lead to the important 

practical issues of improved exploration concepts, technologies 

and, ultimately, discovery. Three days of technical talks 

will be supplemented by related poster sessions, field trips 

and short courses. 

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 

The Whistler 2013: Geoscience for Discovery Conference 

Technical Program Committee invites you to submit an 

abstract for presentation at the conference. Abstracts will 

be accepted for oral presentations and poster displays. 

The deadline to submit an abstract is April 1, 2013. SEG 

student members whose abstracts are accepted are eligible 

to apply for financial support to attend the conference. 

All submitted abstracts will be reviewed by at least 

three reviewers. Notification of abstract acceptance or 

rejection will be sent in the first week of June 2013. Visit 

http://www.seg2013.org/submit-an-abstract to submit 

your abstract online. 

TOPICS 

GLOBAL VIEW Tectonics, Terranes and Metallogeny 

– the geoscience building blocks 

REGIONAL VIEW Metallogenic Provinces and Belts 

– regional and deposit controls 

DEPOSIT VIEW Discovery 

– ideas, data, and technology producing results 

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM OVERVIEW 

PRE-CONFERENCE Field Trips • Short Courses 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 

• Registration opens 

• Welcome Reception 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 

• Tectonics, terranes and metallogeny 

• Arc terranes 

• Regional metallogeny – China, Mongolia and Russia 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 

• Regional metallogeny – classic districts 

• Regional metallogeny – western North America 

• Regional metallogeny – the continental margin 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 

• Exploration, Discovery and Deposits I 

• Exploration, Discovery and Deposits II 

POST CONFERENCE 

• Field Trips • Short Courses 

IMPORTANT DATES 

September, 2012 

January, 2013 

April 1, 2013 

June 30, 2013 

July 31, 2013 

Online abstract submission opens 

Registration opens 

Abstract submission deadline 

Early Bird registration closes 

Presenting Author registration deadline 




September 24-27, 2013 Whistler, BC 

www.seg2013.org

OCTOBER 2012 • No 91 S E G N E W S L E T T E R 41 

FIELD TRIPS 

Join us before or after the conference for one of the following 

exciting field trips to enhance your conference experience. 

● Alaska: Tour of advanced and historic gold deposits in 

eastern Alaska — September 21–24, Curt Freeman 

● Mexico: Tour of new and historical mines of the Mexican 

Altiplano — September 19–24, Erme Enriquez 

● Vancouver Island - Myra Falls: Mine tour of Myra Falls with 

field stops to visit local outcrops of interest in Sicker Group 

volcanics — September 23–24, Rick Sawyer and Tyler Ruks 

● Bralorne: One day tour of BC’s most prolific and recently reactivated gold mine — September 28, Matt Ball 

● Nevada - Carlin Trend: Tour of Northern Nevada with a mix of classic Carlin deposits and recent discoveries — 

September 28 – October 4, Moira Smith 

● Porphyry Systems of Central and Southern BC: Tour of central BC porphyry deposits from Prince George to Princeton — 

September 28 – October 3, Jim Logan and Tom Schroeter 

Note: Field trips are subject to confirmation and minimum numbers. More details about 

the trips are available on www.seg2013.org. 

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES 

Sponsorship and exhibit opportunities are 

numerous and provide maximum exposure for 

your company or organization. Please visit 

www.seg2013.org to download the Sponsor 

Prospectus. 

By sponsoring SEG 2013, not only will you be 

supporting the strongest economic geology technical 

program to be presented in Canada in many 

years, but you will be supporting and encouraging 

students, the key to the future of our industry. 

CONFERENCE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

Gerry Carlson, Conference Co Chair 

President – SEG Canada Foundation 

Craig Hart, Conference Co Chair 

Director, Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) 

University of British Columbia 

Brian Hoal, SEG Representative 

Executive Director – Society of Economic 

Geologists 

John Thompson, Technical Program Co Chair 

PetraScience Consultants Inc. 

Murray Hitzman, Technical Program Co Chair 

Charles F. Fogarty Professor of Economic 

Geology – Colorado School of Mines 

Ian Walton, Treasurer 

Executive VP & CFO – Aurizon Mines Ltd. 

SHORT COURSES 

Extend your conference experience by attending one of the following Short 

Courses. 

● Gold Deposits: Their Structure and Setting: This two-day short course 

will review the structure, style, architecture and ore shoot controls in gold 

only and gold-silver deposits, with particular emphasis on orogenic 

(mesothermal), epithermal, Carlin/Carlin-like and intrusion-related gold 

deposits. 

● Understanding Alteration: Use in exploration and development: This 

course will use comprehensive case studies from a variety of environments 

to demonstrate the importance of interpreting alteration as part of integrated 

exploration targeting. The application of alteration mineralogy to 

geometallurgy will be introduced. 

● Exploration Geochemistry: Topics covered in this course will include 

primary dispersion, secondary environment, seeing through cover, geochemical 

survey design, data validation and QA/QC, data interpretation 

and data visualization and spatial representation. 

● Exploration Geophysics 

● Exploration Undercover Techniques 

Note: Short courses are subject to confirmation and minimum numbers. More details 

about the courses are available on www.seg2013.org. 

w w w . s e g 2 0 1 3 . o r g 

s e g 2 0 1 3 @ s e a t o s k y m e e t i n g s . c o m


Star (Í) indicates new entry. Send entries to the SEG Office, 

attn. SEG Production Director: 7811 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, CO 80127 USA 

Tel. +1.720.981.7882 /Fax +1.720.981.7874. 

SOCIETY OF 

ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS 

2012 

Oct. 23–26. Diamonds and their Pri mary 

and Secondary Sources. University of 

Pretoria, South Africa. 

Oct. 25–26. SEG-Midland Valley Work - 

shop: Modeling Structural Evolution to 

Improve 3D Models for Exploration and 

Mine Development, SEG Head quarters 

Course Center, Littleton, Colo rado, USA. 

Nov. 4–7. GSA 2012 Annual Meeting, 

Char lotte, North Carolina, USA. See p. 31. 

Í Nov. 8–9. SEG Sediment-Hosted Zn-Pb- 

Ag Deposits Course, SEG Headquarters 

Course Center, Littleton, CO, USA. See p. 22 

for course details and registration fees. 

Register at . 

Í Nov. 26–29. Quebec Mines 2012-Cross - 

roads of Geoscience and Mineral Re - 

source, Québec City Convention Centre, 

Québec, QC, Canada. Website: . 

Í Nov. 28–30. SEG Ore Reserve Estimates 

in the Real World Three-Day Workshop, 

SEG Headquarters Course Center, Littleton, 

CO, USA. See p. 23 for course details & registration 

fees. Register at . 

Dec. 3–7. 118 th Annual Northwest Min ing 

Association Meeting, Spokane, Wash ington, 

USA. Website: . See p. 36. 

2013 

Jan. 2–4. 36th Annual Winter Meeting of 

the MDSG, University of Leicester, UK. 

Website: . See p. 

20 for details. 

Í Jan. 13–19. 7 th Annual Workshop on Ore 

Deposits Models and Exploration, Guang - 

zhou, China. Contact Dr. Huayong Chen for 

more information Email: huayongchen@gig. 

ac.cn. See p. 19 for details. 

Í Feb. 2–3. SEG Gold Workshop, University 

of Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to the 

Indaba Mining Meeting. See p. 37 for course 

details & registration fees. 

Í Apr. 10–13. Latin American Geosciences 

Student Conference, Medellin, Colombia. 

More information at . 

May 27–29. Bali 2013-East Asia: Geol ogy, 

Exploration Technologies and Mines. 

Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel, Jalan Hang Tuah 

46, Sanur, Bali, Indonesia. For information 

contact jaytee@iinet.net.au. 

Í Jun. 2–5. FUTORES 2013 (Future Under - 

standing of Tectonics, Ores, Resources, 

Environment, and Sustainability), Townsville, 

QLD, Australia. Website: . See p. 17 for details. 

Sept. 24–27. Whistler 2013: Geoscience 

for Discovery, Whistler Conference Centre, 

Whistler, BC, Canada. SEG and SEG Canada 

Foundation Conference. Abstract submission 

is available online: website: . See p. 40–41 for call for papers 

announcement. 

2014 

Í Sept. 1–4. IMA 2014, Sandton Convention 

Centre, Gauteng, South Africa. Website: 

. 

Í Sept. 27–30. SEG Keystone 2014 – Build ing 

Exploration Capability for the 21 st Century, 

Keystone Resort, Colorado, USA. See back 

cover for “Save the Date” first announcement. 

OTHER EVENTS 

2012 

Í Nov. 23–25. Extracting Value from Geo - 

chemical Data Short Course, Université 

Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada. Web - 

site: . 

Í Dec. 1–8. International Workshop on 

Magmatic Ore Deposits, Bengaluru, India. 

Website: . 

Í Dec. 3–4. GEOS 2012, Hotel Fort Canning, 

Singapore. Website: . 

2013 

Í Feb. 16–23. Introduction to the Physics 

and Chemistry of Hydrothermal Ore 

Deposits, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, 

Canada. This 8-day modular course will examine 

the physical and chemical controls on the 

origin and evolution of ore-forming fluids − 

from drill core to phase diagrams − and the 

implications for exploration. Open to professionals 

and graduate students. Contact: icsr@ 

uottawa.ca. See p. 36 for details. Website: 

. 

Í Sept. 30–Oct. 2. Second AusIMM Inter - 

national Geometallurgy Conference, 

Brisbane, Australia. Website: . 

Nov. 18–21. 26th International Applied 

Geochemistry Symposium (IAGS), Ro - 

torua, New Zealand. The biennial conference 

of the Association of Applied Geo chemists. 

Website: . 

LOGEMIN S.A. 

Mineral exploration consultants 

3 generations of experience in applied geology 

Bogota, Colombia 

www.logemin.com, ageo@logemin.com 

Skype: logemin1, Telephone: +57-1-643 5364 


Resource Geosciences Inc. 

Resource Geosciences de Mexico S.A. de C.V. 

Exploration Services Throughout the Americas 

Project Management; Technical, Logistical and Administrative Services 

NI 43-101 Technical Reports (for long term clients) 

TerraSpec Vis/NIR Spectrometer Mineral Analysis 

Dr. Matthew D. Gray, C.P.G. #10688 – President 

Calle 14 de Abril #68 Colonia San Benito Tel. +52 (662) 214 -2454 

Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico 83200 Fax +52 (662) 214 -2455 

resourcegeosciences.com 

mail@resourcegeosciences.com 

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we are building a capable team to 

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Kinross seeks enthusiastic, technically-oriented 

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Contact SEG 

Society of Economic Geologists, Inc. 

Society of Economic Geologists Foundation, Inc. 

7811 Shaffer Parkway · Littleton, CO 80127-3732, USA 

Tel. +720.981.7882 · Fax +720.981.7874 

E-mail: seg@segweb.org · Website: www.segweb.org 

EXECUTIVE Tel. Extension E-mail Address 

Brian G. Hoal.....................209 ............ director@segweb.org 

Christine Horrigan.............210 ............ christinehorrigan@segweb.org 

ACCOUNTING Tel. Extension E-mail Address 

Anna Thoms ......................203 ............ accounting@segweb.org 

FOUNDATION Tel. Extension E-mail Address 

Marketing and Fundraising: 

Nikki Jamison ...................213 ............ anikajamison@segweb.org 

IT/WEBSITE Tel. Extension E-mail Address 

Jeff Doyle..........................206 ............ jeffdoyle@segweb.org 

MEMBERSHIP Tel. Extension E-mail Address 

Sydney Crawford...............212 ............ sydneycrawford@segweb.org 

PUBLICATIONS Tel. Extension E-mail Address 

Publications Editing: 

Alice Bouley ......................202 ............ editing@segweb.org 

Graphic Design: 

Vivian Smallwood ..............207 ............ viviansmallwood@segweb.org 

Newsletter Production: 

Chris Brandt......................221 ............ publications@segweb.org 

Newsletter Ads & Announcements: 

Christine Horrigan.............210 ............ christinehorrigan@segweb.org 

Publication Sales: 

Frances Kotzé ...................222 ............ franceskotze@segweb.org 

Journal Subscriptions: 

Shirley King ......................208 ............ subscriptions@segweb.org 

STUDENT PROGRAMS Tel. Extension E-mail Address 

Vicky Sternicki..................204 ............ studentprograms@segweb.org 


NEWSLETTER 

7811 SHAFFER PARKWAY 

LITTLETON, CO 80127-3732 • USA 



September 27-30, 2014 

Keystone, Colorado, USA 

SEG 2014 CONFERENCE 

Building Exploration Capability 

for the 21st Century 

SAVE THE DATE! 

As the global exploration industry confronts 

increasing raw material demand 

and depletion of near surface deposits, 

we need to build a capability to rise to 

this challenge. Doing this will require 

the best new science, the best new 

tools and the best new ways of pragmatically 

applying them. It will also 

need new concepts and technologies 

from fields that we currently do not 

consider as economic geology. Much 

of this is already happening today. 

The goal of SEG Keystone 2014 is to 

provide a forum to bring together in 

one conference the key new work that 

is contributing to this new capability. 

The conference will be a meeting 

where the broadest spectrum of economic 

geology stakeholders can interact, 

covering advanced academic 

studies to practical application. 

To facilitate this, the program will be organized around 

six key sub themes: 

Fundamental Advances in Economic Geology – 

including relevant science not currently considered traditional 

economic geology 

Mineral Systems Science – 

focusing on how the various process components that make 

ore bodies fit together across scales 

Deposit Footprints – 

with an emphasis on how footprints can be expanded and 

documented. 

Innovations in Exploration Technology – 

new tools and smarter ways of applying old tools 

Exploration Management, Targeting Science 

and Mineral Economics – 

optimizing the business of mineral exploration and its interface 

with the science 

Case studies of 21 st Century Exploration Success – 

learning from real examples: what worked and what did not 

work

SEG - Society of Economic Geologists

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