Advancing Science and Discovery
SEG
APRIL 2006
The Mineral Exploration Business:
Innovation Required
David J. Hall (SEG 1999 F), GoldQuest Mining Corp., Suite 1500, 67 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1J8,
Canada. E-mail: david@goldquestcorp.com, and Stewart D. Redwood (SEG 1992 F), Consulting Economic
Geologist, P.O. Box 0832-1784, World Trade Center, Panama, Republic of Panama. E-mail: info@sredwood.com.
INTRODUCTION
In this paper we investigate the man-
agement of the mineral exploration
business, focusing on precious and
base metal exploration. We define
exploration and discovery (E&D) as the
research and development (R&D) of
the mining industry, and draw com-
parisons from R&D in other industries.
We stress the need for innovation and
leadership among exploration geolo-
gists and exploration managers, who
need to understand clearly that explo-
ration is a business, competing for
funds from the investment community
and from the dwindling number of
major mining houses.
The mining industry, which com-
prises the mineral exploration, extrac-
tion, and processing sectors, is a rela-
tively small part of the global economy
in financial terms, yet an essential one.
However, the mining industry’s overall
record for the investment community
has not been good. Despite record prof-
its for many companies from high met-
als prices in the past two years, the
industry failed to produce returns that
met its cost of capital in the preceding
quarter century (McDonald, 2000). So it
is hardly surprising that the investment
community is shy and ambivalent
regarding mining investments.
Wealth Creation
in the SEG
Minerals Industry
www.seg2006.org May 14–16, 2006
NEWSLETTER
Mineral exploration is, of course,
intrinsically linked to the rest of the
mining industry: no mine exists without
the discovery and definition processes
that make up the business of mineral
exploration.
However, in an industry increasingly
concerned with improving its rate of
return to investors and attracting more
investment in a competitive market for
capital, the “exploration budget” is
always a tempting item for cost-cutting.
Exploration is too often considered an
expense, rather than seen as an invest-
ment.
Moreover, this financial vulnerability
is only one of the many ways in which
exploration groups have always been
something of a misfit in the mining
industry. The focus of the mining
industry is firmly on maximizing pro-
duction and profits from mines, and its
appeal to investors is all about steady
growth and stability from well-man-
aged production facilities. The manage-
ment of production is completely differ-
ent from that of exploration and is
typified by methodical, safety-conscious
staff who prefer to work regular hours
and who, like the investors, seek steady
growth rather than too much excite-
ment from their lives.
At the other end of the spectrum are
the truly speculative investor and that
Integrating Science, Business, and Education
www.segweb.org
NUMBER 65
close relative of the old-time prospector,
the exploration geoscientist. Manage-
ment of exploration involves the man-
agement of creativity—of corporate
mavericks, and of geologists who enjoy
the ride maybe more than the reward. It
is a distinctive business but one that has
to be reviewed in light of its association
with the extractive side.
THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
The mining industry is small relative to
other sectors; however, its importance
should not be understated. The global
mining industry’s market capitalization
stood at US$461 billion as of December
2004. The industry is dominated by the
four largest players—BHP Billiton, Rio
Tinto, Anglo American, and CVRD. At
US$43 billion, the market capitalization
of Anglo American, for example, is
small compared to BP in the oil sector
at US$228 billion, and GlaxoSmithKline
in the pharmaceuticals sector at US$152
billion. Another salutary comparison of
scale is that the entire gold mining
industry has a total market capitaliza-
tion less than McDonald’s (Dow, 2002).
Since 2000, a spate of mergers and
acquisitions has resulted in the disap-
pearance of a large number of familiar
mining company names,
including Amax, Asarco, to page 9
...
2006
Keystone, CO USA
PAID ADVERTISEMENT PAID ADVERTISEMENT

PAID ADVERTISEMENT
APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 3

SEG Contents
FEATURE ARTICLE
NEWSLETTER
1 The Mineral Exploration Business: Innovation Required

Nº 65 — APRIL 2006
NEWSLETTER COLUMNS
EXECUTIVE EDITOR 4 From the Executive Editor: Summary of Activities for the Year 2005
Brian G. Hoal 6 Presidential Perspective: Connecting with Communities
NEWS EDITOR 7 SEG Foundation: Officers and Trustees for 2006
Alice Bouley
PRODUCTION MANAGER SEG NEWS
Christine Horrigan 16 Mentoring: Jared Lubben (SEG 2006): An Interview
Society of Economic Geologists, Inc. 17 SEG Student Chapter News
7811 Shaffer Parkway
Littleton, CO 80127 USA 19 Geological Society of Perú Expresses Thanks
Tel. +1.720.981.7882
Fax +1.720.981.7874
Email: seg@segweb.org SHORT ARTICLES
WEB PAGE: 20 Feasibility of Asteroid Mining
http://www.segweb.org
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
Feature articles are
21–Africa · 23–Alaska · 25–Australasia · 28–Canada ·
peer reviewed before they
31–Contiguous United States · 33–Europe
are accepted for publication.
Please submit material to the
Executive Editor. MEMBERSHIP
39 SEG Membership: Candidates and New Fellows, Members and Student Members
Tel. +1.720.981.7882 41 SEG Membership Application
Fax +1.720.981.7874 42 Personal Notes & News
E-mail: director@segweb.org

ANNOUNCEMENTS
The SEG Newsletter is published quarterly in
January, April, July and October by the Society
2 Hugo T. Dummett Memorial Economic Geology Archive
of Economic Geologists, Littleton, Colorado, 36 XI Congreso Geologico Chileno
exclusively for members of the Society. 36 Gold Deposits: New Developments and Exploration (SEG Workshop)
Opinions expressed herein are those of the writ-
ers and do not necessarily represent official 36 Environmental Geology and Geochemistry of Mine Wastes (Pre-Congress Workshop)
positions of the Society of Economic Geologists. 37 Northwest Mining Association Annual Meeting
When quoting material from the SEG Newsletter 37 Economic Geology 100th Anniversary Volume
please credit both author and publication.
37 UNESCO-SEG-SGA Latin American Metallogeny Course
© 2006 The Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.
38 SEG-GSA Annual Meeting — Call for Papers
Designed & Produced by Type Communications
Westminster, Colorado
38 Earth and Ocean Sciences
38 12th Quadrennial IAGOD Symposium
Printed by Johnson Printing
Boulder, Colorado 43 SEG Announcements and Deadlines
47 SEG Announces Special Publication 12 (inside back cover)
— FOR CONTRIBUTORS — 48 SEG 2006 Conference: Wealth Creation in the Minerals Industry (back cover)
The SEG Newsletter is published for the bene-
fit of the worldwide membership of the 48 SEG Contact Information (back cover)
Society of Economic Geologists. We invite
news items and short articles on topics of
potential interest to the membership. If you PUBLICATIONS
have questions on submittal of material,
please call the SEG office at +1.720.981.7882
44-45 Publications Order Form
or send details by FAX to +1.720.981.7874; by
email to < s e g @ s e g w e b . o r g >
Format: Manuscripts should be double-spaced; CALENDAR
if possible, please submit paper copy AND a 46 Calendar
computer diskette in PC format, using WORD or
WordPerfect. Illustrations will be accepted in
digital format or in camera-ready form at publi- ADVERTISERS —
cation scale. All contributions may be edited 2 Actlabs, Ltd. (inside front cover) 13 Geocon, Inc. 2 PGC Publishing (inside front cover)
for clarity or brevity.
18 American Heritage Center 24 Kuhn, Paul W. 15 Phelps Dodge
Advertising: Paid advertising is solicited to
help offset publication and mailing costs; for 8 Anzman, Joseph R. 19 Laravie, Joseph A. 33 Recursos del Caribe S.A.
rates, contact the Production Manager. 17 Balbach Colorado, Inc. 29 LTL Petrographics 46 Resource Geosciences de Mexico
8 Big Sky Geophysics 13 Lufkin, John L., Ph.,D. 33 Shea Clark Smith
DEADLINE FOR NEWSLETTER #66: 24 DeRuyter, Vernon 17 McKelvey, G.E. 19 Sinclair Knight Merz

May 31, 2006 2 Exploration wth Aster

(inside front cover)
29 Mining Activity Update
46 Petrographic Consultants Intl.
37 Spectral International, Inc.
15 Zonge Engineering & Research
4 SEG NEWSLETTER
FROM THE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR 2005
2005 was a year during which Society
membership reached an all-time high
and we celebrated the one hundredth
anniversary of Economic Geology with a
landmark publication and the produc-
tion of a DVD archive of the journal from
1905. The SEG has never been in better
shape and future prospects are bright
indeed. Thanks are due to all the mem-
bers, journal subscribers, contributors,
and sponsors for making this possible.
Membership
SEG membership in all categories
totaled 3,818, about 7% higher than the
total of 3,573 at the end of 2004.
Members are currently distributed
through 82 countries worldwide, com-
pared with 81 countries at the end of
last year. About 61% of members work
for industry (corporate and self-
employed); the remainder for academia
and government. Approximately 67
percent of our members are from three
countries, namely the United States
(36%), Canada (18%), and Australia
(13%). About 80% of new applicants
are from outside the United States, with
the bulk of applications coming from
South America (28%) and Canada
(21%). For the year, the Society has pro-
cessed 482 new applications (10 Fellows,
283 Members, and 189 Student
Memberships). In addition, 28 Members
upgraded to Fellowship. The breakdown
of these applications is given by loca-
tion and category of membership in the
Admissions report.
The Society currently has 45 Student
Chapters located in Canada (14), the
United States (10), Australia (4), Peru
(2), United Kingdom (2), South Africa
(1), France (1), Germany (1), Bulgaria
(1), Switzerland (1), Hungary (1),
Argentina (1), Mexico (1), Greece (1),
Russia (1), Chile (1), Ukraine (1), and 1
inactive chapter in the United States
(Texas/El Paso). Students make up
about 9% of the membership.
The SEG Foundation continues to
provide important subsidies required to
sustain special membership classes such
as Students, Senior Fellows, and
Lindgren Awardees.
Conferences, Field Trips, and Short
Courses
In 2005, the Society organized, spon-
sored, or participated in the following
conferences, workshops, symposia, field
courses, and field trips:
• SEG was an exhibitor at the BCYCM
Mineral Exploration Roundup in
Vancouver, Canada, January 24–27.
A record 5,200 delegates from 29
countries, including over 200
exhibitors, attended this event enti-
tled “Discovering Our Future.”
• SEG sponsored the joint field trip by
SEG Student Chapters of the
Universite du Quebec a Montreal and
Universidad Nacional de la Plata in
Argentina (Feb. 27-March 7). The
field trip visited the Bajo de la
Alumbrera mine and was attended by
22 students.
• SEG organized five geology sessions
(“Mexico, Mineral Exploration and
Development Update – Alaska,”
“North America – Still Ripe for New
Base Metal Discoveries,” “Carlin-type
Gold Deposits – New Ounces and New
Ideas,” and “Precious Metals Geology”)
and exhibited at the SME Annual
Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb.
28–March 2. The SEG meeting coordi-
nator was Fred Barnard.
• SEG sponsored a three-day short
course entitled “Evaporites, Salt
Tectonics, and Brines: A Practical
Approach to Their Role in Mineral
Deposits,” March 2–4, in Golden,
Colorado. The short course was orga-
nized by the Colorado School of
Mines SEG Student Chapter.
• SEG sponsored the University of
Western Ontario SEG Student Chapter
short course in Ontario, Canada, on
March 4 entitled “The Geology and
Mineral Deposits of the Grenville
Province: A Land of Giants”.
• SEG conducted a pre-meeting joint
short course entitled “Charactersitics
of and Exploration for Epithermal
Precious Metal Ore Deposits” (pre-
sented by Jeff Hedenquist and Noel
White) and exhibited at the PDAC in
Toronto, Canada, March 6–9. The
main convention was attended by an
estimated 12,000 delegates, 283
exhibitors, and 362 exhibiting com-
panies. The SEG Council and SEG
Foundation Trustees’ meetings were
held on March 6 at the Holiday Inn
on King in Toronto.
• SEG sponsored the attendance of pre-
senters Jeremy Richards and Rich
No 65 • APRIL 2006
Goldfarb at
the East
Eurasian
Geological
Symposium
2005, March
9–11, in
BRIAN G. HOAL
SEG Executive Director
Ulaanbaatar, and Editor
Mongolia. Two
post-confer-
ence SEG short
courses on “Orogenic Gold” and
“Copper-Gold Porphyry Deposits”
were followed by a field trip to the
Boroo gold mine and Erdenet Cu-Mo
porphyry deposit. The meeting orga-
nizer was Sereenen Jargalan.
• SEG sponsored the Laurentian
University SEG Student Chapter work-
shop in Sudbury (April 11–16) enti-
tled “Target Selection Criteria for
Mesothermal Au and VMS Deposits.”
• SEG President, Murray Hitzman, pro-
vided the opening address to 30
attendees at the European Science
Foundation Exploratory Workshop on
Nonsulfide Zn-Pb Ore Deposits (April
21–23) in Iglesias, Italy. The work-
shop was organized by Maria Boni.
• SEG sponsored the attendance of
keynote lecturer Jeff Hedenquist
(“Epithermal Au and Ag-Au vein
Deposits: Old Styles, New Targets”)
and Regional Vice President for South
America, Pepe Perello (“Principal Cu-
Au Deposits of the Andes: A
Synopsis”), at the I Brazilian
Symposium on Metallogeny in
Gramado, Brazil (May 1–4). The SEG
exhibited at the meeting and was fur-
ther represented by the chairman of
the symposium, Jose Frantz.
• SEG held a one-day forum on
“Controversies on the Origin of
World-Class Gold Deposits: Carlin
and Witwatersrand,” May 14, prior to
the Geological Society of Nevada’s
symposium entitled “Window to the
World” in Reno, Nevada. John
Muntean was the meeting organizer.
SEG exhibited at the main meeting,
May 15–18.
• SEG exhibited at the IV International
Congress of Prospectors and Explorers
ProEXPLO 2005 meeting, May 24-27
in Lima, Peru.
• SEG exhibited at the 4th Annual
Meeting of the Geological Society of
South Africa in Durban, South Africa
APRIL 2006 • No 65
... from 4 From The Executive Editor (Continued)
(July 4–7) with the assistance of the
South Africa SEG Student Chapter.
• SEG sponsored the Gorden Conference
on Inorganic Geochemistry and Ore
Deposits held in Andover, New Hamp-
shire, USA, July 31–August 5. The
meeting focused on sources, transport
and deposition of metals in ore-form-
ing systems, and was organized by
Steve Garwin, Chris Heinrich, and
Jean Cline.
• SEG co-sponsored a MAC short
course entitled “Exploration for PGE
Deposits” at the 10th International Pt
Symposium in Oulu, Finland (Aug.
6–7). The course was organized by
Jim Mungall.
• SEG organized a technical session,
gold workshop and joint field trip
with IAGOD (Aug. 17–18) to copper
porphyries in Mongolia as part of its
contribution to the SGA 8th Biennial
Meeting in Beijing, China, August
18–21. The overall meeting theme
was “Mineral Deposit Research:
Meeting the Global Challenge” and
the SEG thematic session was entitled
“Exploration, Discovery, and Mine
Development in China.” SEG
President, Murray Hitzman, delivered
an address at the conference. The SEG
meeting coordinator was Craig Hart.
• SEG again sponsored student and
instructor participation at the 2004
UNESCO-SEG Latin America
Metallogeny course, this time in
Lima, Peru (Aug. 22–Sept. 2). The
course, devoted to the topic of acid
mine drainage, was organized by
Bernhard Dold.
• SEG provided publicity for the STOMP
– Structure, Tectonics, and Ore Miner-
alization Processes meeting in Towns-
ville, Australia (Aug. 29–Sept. 2). The
meeting was organized by the SEG
Student Chapter at James Cook
University.
• SEG sponsored a field trip for stu-
dents/young professionals to north-
east Queensland in Australia by
James Cook University (September
7–11). The SEG meeting coordinator
was Ricardo Presnell.
• SEG celebrated the Centennial of
Economic Geology at the GSA meet-
ing in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
(October 13–19). Events included a
special symposium, anniversary and
awards dinner, field trips to Bingham
Canyon and Lisbon Valley, technical
sessions, and an exhibit booth.
SEG NEWSLETTER
• SEG promoted and held an exhibit
booth at the New Zealand Minerals
Conference (November 13-19).
• The SEG Regional VP for South and
Central America, Pepe Perello, orga-
nized an exhibit booth at the VIII
Congreso Argentinode Geologia
Economica in La Plata, Argentina
(November 15–17).
• SEG sponsored a symposium, “New
Developments in Porphyry Copper
Deposits: Geologic Origins,
Exploration and Environmental
Aspects,” at the Northwest Mining
Associaton meeting in Spokane,
Washington, USA (December 5–9).
John Dilles was the session organizer.
Publications
The 100th Anniversary volume, 1148
pages, met the October deadline, with
leather-bound presentation copies ready
for the SEG 100th Anniversary banquet.
Also, the Hugo Dummett Memorial
Economic Geology Archive (1905-2004)
on DVD was launched on schedule for
the GSA meeting. Total non-subscrip-
tion sales revenue exceeded $141,000, a
two-thirds increase over the previous
year. Revenue was attributed to sales of
12 different Guidebooks (including 4
CD-ROMs), 11 Reviews volumes, 8
Special Publications, 3 Monographs, 17
Videos, as well as back issues and the
Index to Economic Geology. The most
popular print publication was the 100th
Anniversary Volume of Economic
Geology, edited by Hedenquist,
Thompson, Goldfarb, and Richards (592
volumes sold), and the most popular
digital publication was the Hugo
Dummett Memorial Economic Geology
Archive 1905-2004 (131 units sold). In
the Video series, Jeff Hedenquist’s Video
No. 3, The Porphyry to Epithermal
Continuum: Evidence from Volcanoes and
Ore Deposits and Characteristics of and
Exploration for Epithermal Gold Deposits in
the Circum Pacific, was the most popular
(37 tapes sold). The four scheduled
issues of the SEG Newsletter and 7 issues
of Economic Geology were released
through December. This included one
journal issue carried over from 2004.
Although the final two issues
(November and December) carried over
into 2006, we were only one issue
behind the typical schedule at year-end.
The online journal through GeoScience
World is now available to members and
subscribers, who can access it through
5
the SEG website. Guidebook 37, Lisbon
Valley Sediment-hosted Copper Deposits
and Paradox Basin Fluids, edited by Jon P.
Thorson, was available on CD-ROM for
the post-GSA Lisbon Valley field trip.
Special Publication 12, Wealth Creation
in the Minerals Industry – Integrating
Science, Business, and Education, edited
by John R. Parry and Michael D.
Doggett, remained on schedule for
delivery prior to the SEG 2006 Keystone
conference in May 2006. Special
Publication 11, Andean Metallogeny, was
the recipient of the 2005 Gold Ink
Award, a nationally recognized publica-
tions award. The awardee is selected on
the basis of composition, layout, and
quality of printing; SP 11 was cited in
the category for scientific and technical
publications. Two new videotapes were
also released, with lectures by Jean
Cline and David R. Cooke. Video 16,
Jean Cline, includes Characteristics and
Genesis of Carlin-type Gold Deposits, NV;
and Upwelling Hot Water at a Proposed
Nuclear Waste Repository. Video 17,
David Cooke, covers Breccias in
Epithermal and Porphyry Deposits: The
Birth and Death of Magmatic-
Hydrothermal Systems; and The Giant
Sediment-Hosted Zn-Pb-Ag Deposits of
Northern Australia. In May, SEG released
a non-audio CD entitled SEG Forum
2005: Controversies on the Origin of
World-Class Gold Deposits: Carlin and
Witwatersrand from a pre-GSN forum
organized by John Muntean.
Education
The SEG Foundation awarded student
research grants worth US$132,125 to 63
applicants, while the SEG Canada
Foundation awarded a total of
C$14,400 to four students. The awards
supported 44 Ph.D., 22 M.S., and one BS
(Honors) projects. Individual awards
were in the range $550-5,400 each and
averaged about $2,060. These grants
are designed to assist students with field
and laboratory expenses involving the
study of mineral deposits leading to
advanced degrees at accredited univer-
sities. A total of $405,000 was requested
by 104 student applicants from 56 uni-
versities and involved projects in 34 dif-
ferent countries. The 67 award recipi-
ents were based at 38 different
universities in 15 countries.
A further $12,732 plus
to page 7 . . .
promotional support was
provided by the
6 SEG NEWSLETTER
PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVE
Connecting with Communities
A recent series of anti-mining articles in
the New York Times and other U.S. media
illustrates the problem the minerals
industry continues to have with wider
community perceptions of its business.
This should be a real concern to SEG as
a learned society, as two-thirds of our
members are employed within the min-
ing industry.
Outside the United States, in other
communities where mining is an
important aspect of the economy, we
are frequently portrayed as an industry
which is dirty, distant, and dangerous.
Until the recent boom in mineral com-
modity prices we were regularly cast as
a sunset industry whose time was up.
It amazes me how these images,
mostly the product of an earlier era,
continue to haunt the modern mining
industry. It shows how easy it is to get a
bad reputation and how hard it is to
turn things around.
Today, exploration and mining are
high technology industries; there have
been orders of magnitude improvement
in safety performances over the past 10
years, and most miners got their envi-
ronmental house in order years ago. In
more remote locations the switch to fly-
in/fly-out operations has removed some
of the disincentives of distance. Mining
will rarely be a big-city business, but as
a career it by now should have
improved its appeal to top talent.
It is easy for knowledgeable insiders
to condemn the crusading nature of
investigative journalism with its factual
errors and emotive language and won-
der at the motives of the authors. But in
an age when the media is as much
about entertainment as it is about reli-
able reporting, this stuff sells newspa-
pers and in the process perpetuates the
popular prejudices and negative stereo-
types of mining.
Why, then, is there this continuing
unfortunate public perception? There
are several reasons, but let me suggest
three.
1. Miners and explorers have not
always seen themselves as an integral
part of wider society. It is easy for them
to work in isolation in remote locations
and have little daily contact with the
wider community. They hold strong
views on the economic value they con-
tribute to society but can have an
otherwise shallow perception of mining’s
other social impacts. Remember the
bumper stickers “Earth first—we’ll mine
the other planets later” or “If it can’t be
grown it must be mined”? That level of
in-your-face intellectual hubris is what
used to pass for community debate.
2. Communities nearer to mines per-
ceive this disdain, too. They ask, not
unreasonably, what benefits will flow to
them after the neighborhood is mined
out?
3. Indigenous communities, stirred
up by anti-mining and anti-global non-
governmental organizations, and now
linked globally to the internet, have
waged very effective media campaigns
against miners large and small. The
viewpoint of responsible miners can be
lost in the clamor.
Since the Mining, Minerals and
Sustainable Development project first
galvanized the world’s leading mining
companies in 2001, the notion of leav-
ing something sustainable after mining
is over has gathered widening support.
Sustainable development is what com-
munities are now demanding, and lead-
ing companies are seeing that engaging
constructively with their community
stakeholders is not only the right thing
to do but also makes smart business
sense, as well. This is probably the best
opportunity for miners to win back their
credibility with the wider community.
What Can SEG Members Do?
Developing improved community atti-
tudes and awareness requires the com-
mitment of all of us who make our living
from earth science. We have a role to
play and values and opinions to share
with friends, neighbors, our children’s
schools, and elsewhere. If we avoid the
public debate it is no wonder that pub-
lic attitudes towards the minerals indus-
try have become so unbalanced.
There are many good things being
done by the professional bodies that
speak for our industry. However, if we
expect our communities to take more
notice of the personal and corporate
values which guide exploration and
operational decision-making and why
these are important for all of society,
then we need to personalize the issues
and stand up and speak about them
ourselves. My sense is that most of us
No 65 • APRIL 2006
have personal
values not that
different from
those of our JOHN A.S. DOW
strongest critics. SEG President
2006
SEG itself can
be more proactive
in fostering debate
and improving social and community
awareness and understanding among
all of our members. We should encour-
age senior managers in the minerals
industry and our leading academics to
be more visible socially and politically.
And we should be more forthcoming on
our website in advancing ethical behav-
ior in the minerals industry and in rec-
ognizing the strong community connec-
tion to our profession.
There are other practical develop-
ments in the pipeline. For example,
there will be a keynote address on sus-
tainable development at the Society’s
“Wealth Creation” Conference at
Keystone, Colorado, in May this year, as
well as a workshop on the same topic.
We need to become more aware of this
critical aspect of our business.
Another very useful source of infor-
mation on sustainable community
development has just been published by
the International Council of Mines and
Metals (ICMM) in conjunction with the
World Bank. A practical toolkit and
handbook with a wealth of informa-
tion, as well as the social and economic
rationale for community development,
can be downloaded from the ICMM
website, <www.icmm.com/library_pub_
detail.php?rcd=183>.
Finally, as an example of an article
which does provide a better balance,
take a look at Patrick Moore’s report
from the Ntotoroso mine development
project in Ghana (Rocky Mountain News,
February 4, 2006). Moore, one of the
original founders of Greenpeace, con-
cludes, “Since my entry into the global
environmental movement in 1971—
and especially in the last decade—min-
ing has contributed to a more sustain-
able world economy, and key
beneficiaries of this progress are mining
workers, families and communities.
How unfortunate the media is missing
such an important part of the sustain-
ability discussion.” 1
APRIL 2006 • No 65
F O U N D AT I O N
Officers and Trustees for 2006
Officers and new Trustees were elected,
respectively, by the Board of Trustees
and the Foundation Members at their
meetings last November in Salt Lake
City, Utah, and took office on January
1, 2006. The SEG Foundation elected
officers and new Trustees are as follows:
President – John A. Thoms. John will
serve a second term as President. He
agreed to stand for re-election at the
request of the Board following advice
from César Vidal, the then Vice
President who was to succeed to the
presidency. Due to increased responsi-
bilities at his company, he regretfully
had to decline the opportunity. The
decision by César produced an in-depth
discussion among Board members on
succession planning.
Vice President – M. Stephen Enders.
Steve is the Vice President World Wide
Exploration for Newmont Mining
Corporation. He is a fourth-year Trustee
and currently serves on the SEGF Execu-
tive and Nominating Committees, and
the joint SEG-SEGF Budget Committee.
... from 5 From The Executive Editor (Continued)
Foundation and Society to student
chapters for a variety of activities
including seminars, short courses,
speakers, and field trips.
Awards and Lecturerships
A special awards dinner took place on
October 15, 2005, and the following
SEG Awards were presented: Penrose
Gold Medal to Richard W. Hutchinson,
Silver Medal to John J. Gurney, Ralph E.
Marsden Award to Thomas A. Loucks,
Lindgren Award to Anthony C. Harris,
and Brian J. Skinner Award to C. Eric
Seedorff and Marco T. Einaudi. Council
approved the following 2005 SEG
Awards for presentation in May 2006:
Penrose Gold Medal to Brian J. Skinner,
Silver Medal to Holly J. Stein, Ralph E.
Marsden Award to Tommy B.
Thompson, and Lindgren Award to
Stephen J. Piercey. Council further
approved the following Lecturer
SEG NEWSLETTER
Secretary – Donald M. Davidson, Jr.
and Treasurer – Harold J. “Harry”
Noyes. Both Don and Harry will con-
tinue to serve respectively as Secretary
and Treasurer. Don is a fourth-year
Trustee (Class of 2007), and has held
office for three years. Harry has served
as Treasurer for both SEG and SEGF
since 2003. Both the Secretary and the
Treasurer are elected annually.
Trustees – Class of 2010. The three new
Trustees are:
Leendert G. “Len” Krol. Len
recently served as President and
Director of Brazauro Resources, a
company actively exploring in
Brazil, and is a former Vice Presi-
dent International Exploration of
Newmont Gold Company. He pre-
viously served as a Foundation
Trustee 1998 – 2002, and currently
chairs the SEGF 2006 Nominating
Committee and serves on the joint
SEG/SEGF Audit Committee. He has
been an active fund-raiser for both
the Society and the Foundation.
appointments: Distinguished Lecturer –
John J. Gurney, International Exchange
Lecturer – Douglas J. Kirwin, Thayer
Lindsley Lecturer – A. James
Macdonald, and Regional Vice
President Lecturer – Nicolas J. Beukes.
The Traveling Lecturer program con-
tinued to provide great visibility to the
Society. International Exchange
Lecturer Michael D. Doggett (Queen’s
University, Ontario, Canada) presented
lectures in Canada (Dalhousie
University/St. Mary’s University SEG
Student Chapter), Ireland (Irish
Association of Economic Geology
Conference), Mexico (University of
Chihuahua, University of Sonora), Chile
(Santiago), Australia (Macquarrie
University, AusIMM in Perth), and
Brazil (Brasilia University, ADIMB,
Federal University of Minas Gerais).
Further lectures took place in Canada
(University of Alberta, University of
7
Richard
Leveille. Rich is
the President of
Phelps Dodge
Exploration J OHN A. T HOMS
Company, with SEG Foundation
President 2006
offices in
Phoenix,
Arizona. He was the Society’s
Regional Vice President Lecturer for
South America in 2005.
A. James Macdonald. James recently
left BHP Billiton where he was Global
Geoscience Leader based in Brisbane,
Queensland and is now an indepen-
dent consultant, retaining his resi-
dence in Brisbane. He is serving on
the SEGF Student Grants Committee
and the SEG 2006 Nominating
Committee, with previous service as
an SEG Councilor and as a member
of several Society committees.
Other Foundation News. A regularly
scheduled meeting of the
to page 8 . . .
Board of Trustees was
Ottawa, Acadia University) and are
planned for the USA (Colorado School
of Mines). Thayer Lindsley Lecturer
David R. Cooke (CODES, Tasmania)
gave lectures at MDRU, University of
British Columbia, Canada, at the
Colorado School of Mines, Golden,
Colorado, and at Colorado State
University. He gave additional lectures
in Chile and the Phillipines. Regional
VP Lecturer for 2005 Richard A. Leveille
(Phelps Dodge, Arizona, USA) delivered
lectures at ProEXPLO and UNESCO-SEG,
both in Lima, Peru. SEG Distinguished
Lecturer for 2005, Robert J. Bodnar
(Virginia Polytechnic Institute), deliv-
ered his lecture entitled “The role of
fluid inclusions in ore genesis research:
Yesterday, today and tomorrow” at the
one-day Centennial Celebration
Symposium in Salt Lake City, Utah. 1
8 SEG NEWSLETTER
... from 7 SEG Foundation (Continued)
held on March 4, 2006 in Toronto,
Ontario. Following are a few highlights
from the meeting:
2006 Budget. The previously
approved preliminary budget for 2006
was amended to accommodate an
increase of $21,500 for the Student
Research Grants program, bringing the
total for the program to $148,000,
based on the fact that interest and divi-
dends received for 2005 were signifi-
cantly higher than expected. As a con-
sequence, the total expense budget for
2006 increased from $345,650 to
$367,150.
2006 Student Grants. Evaluation of
the student research grant applications
has just been completed. A total of 85
applications were received compared
with 104 last year. Fifty-five grants
totaling $138,690 were awarded,
including six grants totaling US$14,645
awarded by the SEG Canada
Foundation. Although the number of
applications was down from 2005, the
overall quality of the 2006 applications
was judged to be better, and conse-
quently, the average individual grant
for 2006 was $2,522, up from $2,060 in
2005. Full details will be provided on
the SEG website no later than April 15,
and published in the July issue of the
SEG Newsletter.
New Initiative. A wide-ranging discus-
sion on the Foundation’s student grants
program identified a critical gap in
graduate student funding. Whereas
most students are likely to obtain finan-
cial support after they are established
for a year, incoming graduate students
commonly do not have funded research
Big Sky Geophysics
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
No 65 • APRIL 2006
projects and have to rely on their own new program would be complementary
resources to get through their first year. to, and funded separately from, the
A qualified student who does not have existing student research grants pro-
the resources to cover his or her first gram. The Foundation has the financial
year’s expenses probably will not enroll. resources to initiate the new program
Given the well-publicized shortage of on a small scale, but would then seek
trained economic geologists and the major funding to develop it to the point
fact that graduate student enrollments where as many as 10 or more graduate
have been declining for some time, fellowships per year could be awarded.
there is a critical need to attract new This is an exciting new program with
students to the field. After some discus- enthusiastic backing from both industry
sion, the Board concluded that a new and academia.
program to provide funding in the form That the Foundation is in a position
of fellowships for first-year graduate stu- to undertake new programs such as
dents should be developed. To be mean- the one described above is a clear mani-
ingful, such funding would have to be festation of the strong support that it
on the order of several thousand dollars has received, and continues to receive,
per semester, or perhaps as much as from SEG members and industry part-
$18,000–20,000 per year. An ad hoc ners. The Board of Trustees of the
committee chaired by Bob Barker has Foundation greatly appreciates that
been appointed to develop the concep- support and is working diligently to
tual and administrative framework for identify and fund “worthwhile projects
the program and has been asked to in economic geology.” If you haven’t
report its recommendations to the SEGF contributed to the Foundation recently,
Executive Committee at the time of the please do so now. We look forward to
SEG 2006 Conference at Keystone. This hearing from you! 1
TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE SEG FOUNDATION:
Please visit the Foundation website at http://www.segweb.org/contributions.htm
Checks may be mailed: Society of Economic Geologists Foundation, Inc.
7811 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, CO 80127-3732 USA
SEG CANADA FOUNDATION – CONTRIBUTION INSTRUCTIONS
Canadian taxpayers who wish to contribute to the SEG Canada Foundation
(SEGCF) should send their check or money order in Canadian dollars to:
SEG Canada Foundation
c/o G. G. Carlson, 500 - 625 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 2T6 Canada
Only SEGCF contributions should be sent to the above address.
JOSEPH R. ANZMAN
Exploration Geophysicist
• consulting
• interpretation
• project management
• geophysical surveys
• domestic & foreign
P.O. Box 370526 303-337-4559
Denver, Colorado 80237 telephone/fax
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
APRIL 2006 • No 65
... from 1 The Mineral Exploration Business: Innovation Required (Continued)
Battle Mountain, Cyprus, Homestake,
Lac, Magma, MIM, Noranda, Nor-
mandy, North, Rio Algom, Santa Fe,
and, most recently, Placer Dome. The
number of new names is far fewer,
Xstrata being the only significant one.
This consolidation began with the
fall in exploration expenditures for
nonferrous minerals exploration from
1997 to 2002, and somewhat surpris-
ingly, has continued as exploration
budgets have climbed back to their
1997 levels (Fig. 1; Metals Economics
Group, 2005a, b). The so-called junior
sector, an important generator and
discoverer of new projects, suffered
severely after the Bre-X scandal in
1997, the subsequent diversion of
investment into the technology boom,
and the profound depression of met-
als prices. The loss of exploration bud-
gets as a result of mergers has been
offset by a strong revival since 2003 in
the junior sector.
Although the substantial six-year
decline in exploration spending does
not appear to have had much effect on
existing production, the decline in new
discoveries moving up the pipeline will
probably significantly reduce new mine
development in the near future. The
consensus of senior executives at the
Reuters Mining Summit was that there
is serious lack of good new projects of
the kind that last for decades and make
a company’s fortune. Donald Lindsay,
Chief Executive of Teck Cominco,
expects “the scarcity of good explo-
ration projects to become a serious issue
in three to five years from now”
(Industry Outlook, International
Mining, September 2005, p. 29–30). It
has been pointed out that there are
large, unexploited gold resources avail-
able, if the gold price is right (Burton,
2003). However, the quality of these
deposits in terms of grade, metallurgy,
infrastructure, and legal-fiscal regimes
is often suspect. Indeed, Barrick’s gold
discovery at Alto Chicama in Peru illus-
trates how a near-surface oxide gold
deposit in a favorable mining country is
preferable to lesser quality orebodies
elsewhere despite their availability. In
terms of copper exploration, the avail-
able resources around brown-field sites
in the advent of better prices is vast,
and thus the exploration for new cop-
per deposits must take this into account:
the question is, are there quality targets
to compete? Zinc is very much in a
SEG NEWSLETTER
$6,000
$5,000
$4,000
$3,000
$2,000
$1,000
$0
1996 1997 1998 1999
FIGURE 1. Global exploration budgets for nonferrous metals, estimated totals in US$ million
(Metals Economics Group 2005a, b).
similar position, although the view is
that zinc oxide deposits (technology
driven) are the way forward.
Clearly, there is always going to be a
demand for new, quality projects,
because the major mining houses must
strike a balance between growth strate-
gies of exploration versus acquisition—
the product they deal in is finite and
has to be replaced. This bodes well for
companies involved in E&D, especially
for successful ones capable of providing
returns for investors on a par with, or
even better than, the high-technology
and dot.com sectors. Interestingly,
despite phenomenal returns for
investors in these sectors, the inability
to be profitable drove them into a spec-
tacular decline.
THE BUSINESS OF
EXPLORATION:
MEASURING SUCCESS
In order to determine whether or not
exploration is profitable, exploration as
a cost item must be compared with the
return generated as a result of this
expenditure (Doggett, 2000). This com-
parison is complicated by the long-term
nature of exploration. In even the most
favorable geological environments, it
will take, on average, several years to
discover and delineate an economic
9
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
mineral deposit—the basis for calculat-
ing returns from exploration. In this
respect, there is clearly a need to
shorten the time frame of exploration to
allow the returns to be seen by the rele-
vant company and the investor.
The most direct evidence that explo-
ration is profitable in the long term is
provided by the survival and growth of
individual companies (Doggett, 2000).
From the perspective of the exploration
industry, the market should provide an
indication of actual and expected prof-
its through valuation of exploration
companies and availability and cost of
funds required for exploration. The
average cost of exploration should not
exceed the average return from explo-
ration. From a corporate perspective,
this is the bottom line for survival. If the
profits from the development and pro-
duction of economic deposits do not
outweigh the costs of finding (or acquir-
ing) them, then economic ruin will be
the long-term outcome.
Yet E&D companies that do not
develop and produce cannot use rev-
enue as a measure of success. Survival
is about securing funding and beating
the probability of failure—in other
words, continual discovery.
Given the importance of R&D in
other business sectors
to page 10 . . .
and its high cost, many
companies struggle to
10
... from 9 The Mineral Exploration Business: Innovation Required (Continued)
determine how well they are doing
(Loch and Tapper, 2001). This can also
be said for E&D. It is interesting to note
that Loch and Tapper (2001, p. 459)
state that “evaluating results by finan-
cial criteria has not provided an
answer. In fact, companies using ONLY
financial measures in R&D funding
decisions perform worse than those
using qualitative criteria.” This finding
can be related to the fact that in E&D
the effort is not directly observable, and
there is great uncertainty about discov-
ery: at what point is it certain that you
have discovered an orebody? The incen-
tive to invest in what mining company
management perceive as risky is low,
especially if management cannot
“own” the benefits. For example, in
large corporations, a discovery may not
be credited back to the management
that discovered it.
The best means of measuring success
in R&D/E&D for any company is by
using the notion of benchmarking,
which implies that being at least as
good as the market leader is a prerequi-
site for being competitive. The first step
is to keep careful track of one’s own and
the competitors´ performance, looking
especially for unexpected success or for
unexpected poor performance, particu-
larly in areas where one should have
done well. The successes demonstrate
what the market values and will pay for
(Drucker, 1999)—they indicate where
the business enjoys a leadership advan-
tage. The failures should be viewed as
the first indication that either the mar-
ket is changing or the company’s com-
petencies are weakening.
The market for the exploration busi-
ness is the major mining houses. Non-
success in terms of lack of discovery or
product will ultimately cause an E&D
company to die because it will not be
able to secure funding, either from the
market or major mining houses. Yet in
major company exploration depart-
ments this urgency rarely exists. If an
E&D company is successful in discovery
but the market does not want the prod-
uct on the basis of size, location, or
whatever, then the company might
consider the option of developing the
product on its own. However, this
choice will likely be decided by the
resource banking sector: does it consider
the deposit worthy of funding? Of
course, as soon as a company goes from
E&D to mining, it immediately faces the
SEG NEWSLETTER
same questions as a major mining com-
pany with regards to exploration and
the role of this activity within the com-
pany. What level of profits does one put
back into exploration to balance risk
versus opportunity versus growth?
The message is therefore “perform or
die.” Exploration companies must inno-
vate if they are to compete and be suc-
cessful. Innovation is the specific instru-
ment of entrepreneurship. It is the act
that endows resources with a new
capacity to create wealth (Drucker,
1985). All survivors in this new business
era, whether individuals or corpora-
tions, must adopt an entrepreneurial
mind-set (Snow and Juhas, 2002, p. 14).
Entrepreneurial entities thrive on inno-
vation; however, most of the innovation
is not in high technology, but rather
incremental improvements in product
quality, more flexible management
approaches, better marketing concepts,
and better service to customers
(Drucker, 1985). What can exploration
companies do to embrace innovation?
It is appropriate at this point to exam-
ine how R&D is viewed in other busi-
ness sectors.
THE BUSINESS OF
EXPLORATION:
COMPARISON WITH R&D
We have compared the R&D process as
defined by Nellore (2001) with the
process of E&D in Table 1: the similari-
ties are clear. The R&D process within
TABLE 1. The Similarity of the Research and Development (R&D) Process of Industries in
General (Nellore, 2001) with the Exploration and Discovery (E&D) Process of the Mining
Industry
The R&D Process
Long-Range Research
General scientific/technology research
unrelated to any specific product
Advanced Product Engineering
Research and development focusing
on product lines
Product Engineering
Adapting the product concepts for
use in products
No 65 • APRIL 2006
the pharmaceutical industry provides a
good comparison of risk and opportu-
nity with that of the exploration and
mining business.
The stages, timing, and risks
involved in the drug development pro-
cess (Table 2) are remarkably similar
to the mineral exploration process. As
described by one of the major pharma-
ceutical companies, GlaxoSmithKline,
“It is getting more difficult and taking
longer—currently an average of 12
years—to develop new medicines.
Despite a substantial increase in global
R&D expenditure, fewer novel
medicines were launched in 2003 than
at any time during the last 20 years.”
(Glaxo SmithKline, 2005, p. ii). They
continue, “It takes well over £500 mil-
lion [US$900 million] and between 10
and 12 years to develop a new drug.
For every million compounds screened,
approximately 250 make it to pre-clin-
ical testing, 10 advance to clinical tri-
als and just one is approved for patient
use.” (GlaxoSmithKline, 2005, p. 6).
This sounds very similar to the mineral
extraction industry, and is something
that needs to be explained to the
investment market. Another compari-
son of risk is shown in Figure 2, from a
study by the Industrial Research
Institute of Washington, D.C. (1999),
which looks at the ideas that succeed
in all industries. A success rate of 1 in
3,000 to 5,000 compares well with that
often quoted for exploration projects (1
in 1,000). The point to make here is
that while exploration is a high-risk
The E&D Process
Grass-roots exploration
General exploration of country or region;
target generation exploration
Advanced Exploration
Exploration and discovery focusing on
quality economic orebodies incorporating
geology, mine engineering, metallurgy
and economics focusing on the product
Mine Engineering, Mineral processing
and Geological Modelling
Preparing the product – reserves for
mining and the market
APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 11

TABLE 2. The Drug Development Process: What Happens and When, Compared with the Exploration and Discovery Process (Source:
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturing Association)

CLINICAL TRIALS
Early FDA
Research/ Review
Preclinical Process/
Testing Phase I Phase II Phase III Approval On Market Phase IV

Years 6.5 1.5 2 3.5 1.5 Took 15 years

to get HERE

Test Test Tube 20-80 100-300 1000- Patients

Population and animal healthy patients 3000
studies volunteers patients

Purpose Look for Determine Evaluate Confirm Post

safety, safety and effectiveness, effectiveness, marketing
desired activity dosage for look for look for surveillance
next phase potential side effects of the patients
toxic side from long term to look for
effects use potential
problems

SUCCESS 5000 5 compounds 1

RATE Evaluated enter clinical trials COMPOUND APPROVED

MINING EXPLORATION PRE-FEASIBILITY POSITIVE ECONOMIC

FEASIBILITY MINE

business, it is no more so than other The first-generation biotechnology corporate behavior. Scientists were sup-
industries. Therefore, it is worth consid- firms revolutionized how drugs were ported by management and touted as
ering what innovative approaches made and also created a new kind of the key ingredient for success. The
other R&D sectors have used to company environment. The focus was biotechnology industry showed itself to
increase their chances of success. on productivity, not established be extremely adept at creating new
ways to support the front end of the
process—discovery. The industry
WINNOWING AWAY became so successful that the large
Ideas succeeding at each new product-development stage pharmaceutical companies now devote
5000
Projects succeeding at each new discovery-development stage a hefty share of their R&D budget to
supporting research within these
M
smaller biotechnology companies
L L
R A
A
J
A 1000 (Robbins-Roth, 2000). It has long been
A R U 500
W S G
O
N recognized that managing R&D at a
M R
E C
corporate scale often does not produce
I A
L D
H
Log
D
E
I
D L
D
E
E
E
S 100
results proportional to the expendi-
A E V
V
E 50 Scale ture—you can’t just throw money at
S A P E
L
S R
O
L
O S
it—and that smaller R&D companies
U O
N S J P
P
M
U are far more successful in this regard
W U E M 10
C
R B C E
E
N C
because they are motivated and
I M T N 5
T I S T
T E focused. However, the same caveat
S
T S S
E
T
T
applies, that exploration success will
S
N E not necessarily be proportional to the
D
1 large increase in spending in the junior
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 sector (Metals Economics Group,
2005a).
1. Entry into country or region 5. Definition drilling In addition to investing in the
2. Regional exploration 6. Pre-feasibility study biotechnology sector, the major phar-
3. Drill targets 7. Positive feasibility study maceutical companies have tried to
4. Follow-up drilling after initial favourable results
emulate their success by copying their
structure and splitting their R&D into
smaller, competitive divisions. Pfizer,
the largest pharmaceutical company in
FIGURE 2. Winnowing away. Risk in all industries compared with risk in exploration and dis- the world with a £4.3 bil-
covery in the mining industry. Adapted from Industrial Research Institute, 1999. to page 12 . . .
lion ($7.7 billion) R&D
12
... from 11 The Mineral Exploration Business: Innovation Required (Continued)
budget in 2004, created eight separate
“Discovery Sites” and a Central
Development Site in 2000 with a view
to maintaining the excitement of a
small discovery unit (http://pfizer.com/
pfizer/main.jsp). GlaxoSmithKline, the
second pharmaceutical company with a
2004 R&D budget of £2.8 billion ($5.0
billion), also restructured their R&D in
2001 into six “international biotechnol-
ogy companies” which would compete
for resources and operate autonomously.
These are called “Centres of Excellence
for Drug Discovery” (CEDDs). The units
are divided along therapeutic or disease
lines (equivalent to commodities).
Their job is to deliver drugs with
“proof of concept” to GSK’s drug devel-
opment organization—in other words,
their role is discovery. They describe the
idea as being to maintain agility,
entrepreneurial spirit, and individual
accountability. The parent company
will then carry out the high cost devel-
opment (clinical trials, equivalent to
reserve definition and feasibility study
in the mining sector) in their
Development Organization. At that
time, GSK had a “less-than-ideal late-
stage pipeline”—i.e., a lack of new dis-
coveries—with 50 drugs at the trial
stage. In a mining company, this
equates to depletion of reserves and
lack of new projects. By 2004 they were
able to claim substantial R&D growth
from 118 to 140 projects in clinical
development between 2001 and 2004,
including an 80% increase in “New
Chemical Entities” in their pipeline.
Building on the success of the
CEDDs, they introduced six Medicine
Development Centres (MDCs) in 2004
to integrate R&D with manufacturing
and marketing in order to speed up the
delivery of new products to the market
(i.e., patients; GlaxoSmithKline, 2005).
However, in spite of high spending
and innovative management of R&D,
many of the big pharmaceutical com-
panies are failing to deliver significant
new products (Wood Mackenzie,
2005a), leading some analysts to ques-
tion the current R&D focus on block-
buster drugs (those with sales of over $1
billion per year—read, world-class
mines).
Yet there is a strong “junior” sector,
well-funded biotech companies develop-
ing new ideas. Why should biotechnol-
ogy companies share their ideas and
potential development with companies
SEG NEWSLETTER
that could be seen as competitors? It
comes down basically to survival, and
also that a major corporate partner pro-
vides credibility to that biotechnology
firm’s research.
Typical biotechnology/big pharma-
ceutical company deals include the fol-
lowing (Robbins-Roth, 2000):
• An up-front licensing fee that gives
the big pharmaceutical partner
rights to use the technology;
• R&D funding for the life of the agree-
ment (typically 3 to 5 years, ini-
tially), which covers the people and
supplies used by the biotechnology
partner to carry out the work;
• Milestone payments that give the
biotechnology partner rewards for
moving the project forward and
reaching benchmarks that are signif-
icant for product commercialization
(for example, filing for FDA permis-
sion to start clinical testing, starting
Phase I / II / III trials, filing for mar-
keting permission, product launch);
• A purchase of equity in the biotech-
nology partner by the big pharma-
ceutical partner.
The last point is not always included.
Robbins-Roth (2000) points out that the
big pharmaceutical companies do not
always see stock as useful commodity,
and usually buy shares only because
the biotechnology firm wants them to.
The amount of money a biotechnol-
ogy company can command for each of
these points is very dependent on the
perceived quality of the company and
its technology; i.e., whether the technol-
ogy is seen as “cutting edge” or the
third runner-up in an area, how crucial
the technology is to the big pharmaceu-
tical’s internal strategy, and how hun-
gry the big pharmaceutical partner is
for new product candidates to fill its
pipeline.
Although associations between
major mining companies and explo-
ration companies are becoming more
common, there is a need for innovative
financing models that require less capi-
tal to get to discovery, which means
that we need management teams that
can do more with less.
The oil business is in a similar situa-
tion to mining, with a decline in
reserves considered to be partly respon-
sible for the oil price reaching over $70
per barrel recently. Oil companies are
no longer replacing reserves through
No 65 • APRIL 2006
new discoveries (Wood Mackenzie,
2005b). Exploration spending is at two-
thirds of the 1998 level, resulting in a
50% decline in reserve replacement. The
reduction in exploration spending has
been caused by growing technical risks
and uncertain oil prices, and while this
has resulted in good returns for the
companies, it has been at the cost of
reserve depletion. This is due to the phi-
losophy of “capital discipline” which
has been in vogue since at least 1998
when the oil price last crashed
(Brethour, 2004). This is a conservative
strategy of risk-avoidance which focuses
on the short-term returns of quarterly
results at the expense of building
reserves. As a result, exploration spend-
ing is 73% of six years ago in the top 10
listed oil companies, down from $11 bil-
lion in 1998 to $8 billion in 2003. In rel-
ative terms, the fall has been even
greater, with the average annual explo-
ration expenditure per unit of produc-
tion falling from US$1.70/barrel of oil
equivalent (boe) to US$1.00/boe
between 1998 and 2003. This is at a
much lower level than the mid-cap peer
group where relative spends have fallen
from US$2.80 to US$2.50/boe (Wood
Mackenzie, 2004).
THE BUSINESS OF
EXPLORATION:
MANAGING FOR SUCCESS
Many articles have been written on the
ingredients required for success in
exploration (e.g., Miller, 1976; Bailly,
1979; Frost, 1980; Eggert, 1993; Sillitoe,
1995; Stevens, 1996). Sillitoe (1995), in
analyzing the case histories of the 54
most important discoveries made in the
Circum-Pacific region from 1970 to
1995, concluded that the most impor-
tant elements were the following: long-
term exploration, systematic and well-
planned, scientifically grounded
programs, quality of the geological
team; competitive remuneration to
attract and retain the right people, and
rock contact time of those quality peo-
ple. Yet from our experience, many
companies pay only lip service to these
ingredients.
The importance of people is a recur-
ring theme in analysis of exploration
success. Stevens (1996, p. 37) wrote that
“... best people, in my experience are
APRIL 2006 • No 65
the only competitive exploration
advantage.” The best people are a com-
pany’s distinctive capability. For the
purposes of strategy, the key distinction
is between distinctive capabilities and
reproducible capabilities (Kay, 2000).
Distinctive capabilities are those char-
acteristics of a company that cannot be
replicated by competitors, or can only
be replicated with great difficulty, even
after competitors realize the benefits
they yield for the originating company.
In terms of exploration management,
one must identify the distinctive capa-
bility of the company, i.e., quality peo-
ple, and seek to surround them with a
collection of reproducible capabilities or
complementary assets that enable the
company to sell its distinctive capabili-
ties in the market in which it operates;
e.g., exploration focused in a certain
region or deposit type.
If people are such a key component
for success, one would consider that the
major companies are in the best posi-
tion to attract such people by offering
lucrative remuneration packages.
However, this is no guarantee. Due to
the structure in such established firms,
innovation is often difficult. Firms may
employ the most capable people, but
then set them to work within processes
and business models that doom them to
failure, a problem not unique to the
mining industry (Christensen and
Overdorf, 2000), which is being
addressed in the big pharmaceutical
industry, as discussed above.
The other factor to consider is that,
with the market upturn, the mining
industry is now short of skilled people.
Many experienced geologists left the
industry during the past decade, either
released by the major companies in
mergers and cost-cutting, or forced to
seek alternative employment by the
lack of financing during the severe
John L. Lufkin, Consultant
University of Colorado/Denver
Ore Petrology/Microscopy
Feasibility Studies
Environmental Assessments
12505 W. 7th Avenue
Golden, CO 80401
(303) 284-2646
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
SEG NEWSLETTER
downturn in the junior sector. In
addition, universities have cut back on
geology and related degree programs,
so there are fewer new graduates com-
ing into the business.
On the understanding that the qual-
ity of the geological team is vital for
success, how can management of this
critical element further enhance a com-
pany’s competitive advantage?
Economic geologists fit a category of
employee defined as the knowledge
worker (Drucker, 1999). They own their
“means of production,” which is their
knowledge. An increasing number of
people who are full-time employees,
such as knowledge workers, have to be
managed as if they were volunteers
(Drucker, 1999). Volunteers have to get
more satisfaction from their work than
paid employees, precisely because they
do not get a paycheck. Knowledge work-
ers are paid, of course, but they have
mobility. They can leave. Money alone
does not motivate people to perform,
although dissatisfaction with the
money earned grossly demotivates.
Knowledge workers need, above all,
challenge. They need to know the com-
pany’s mission and to believe in it.
They need continuous training. They
need to see results. Drucker (1999)
believes that the productivity of the
knowledge worker is likely to become
the focus for the management of peo-
ple. But in terms of exploration groups,
as in R&D, one does not “manage” peo-
ple so much as lead them, and the goal
is to make productive the specific
strengths and knowledge of each indi-
vidual. It is in this context that the big
corporations, even if they maintain
exploration teams, are less likely to be
successful.
However, assembling a quality team
of geologists is not enough. As pointed
out by Sillitoe (1995), their value is
PROPERTY EVALUATIONS — PROJECT GENERATION
GEOCON, INC.
REGIONAL STUDIES — U.S. AND FOREIGN
RICHARD L. NIELSEN, CONSULTANT
Exploration and Mining Geology
13741 Braun Drive
Golden, CO 80401
13
enhanced by maximizing the rock
contact time of the exploration team.
It is often stated that the high cost of
exploration is one of the main disin-
centives for exploration. However, if
people—the geological team—are one
of the critical factors in exploration
success, this is actually a relatively
low-cost investment. Essentially, the
systematic testing of ideas is what
enables E&D companies to discover
and define resources. What is critical
in E&D is that unpromising properties
are eliminated at the earliest possible
time before expenditure becomes too
high, instead of becoming an expen-
sive mistake. This equates to Dow’s
(2002) conclusion that if exploration
geologists are to play a leading role
they have to understand the real
business difference between ore and
mineralization.
In terms of managing for success,
comparison with R&D is critical.
Management publications need to be
continually reviewed for ideas. An
example is a recent article by Thomke
(2001) which has some very enlighten-
ing pointers for the E&D sector. Briefly
stated, the writer points out that inno-
vation requires the right R&D (E&D)
systems for performing experiments
(fieldwork) that will generate the infor-
mation needed to develop and refine
products (resources, reserves) quickly.
The challenges are managerial as well
as technical:
1. Organize for rapid experimentation:
for E&D, organize for rapid explo-
ration;
2. Fail early and often, but avoid
mistakes;
3. Anticipate and exploit early
information;
to page 14 . . .
4. Combine new and tra-
ditional technologies.
Phone/FAX (303) 279-3118
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
14
... from 13 The Mineral Exploration Business: Innovation Required (Continued)
Under the first point, the main objec-
tives are to examine and if necessary
revamp entrenched routines, organiza-
tional boundaries, and incentives to
encourage rapid exploration.
The second point emphasizes the
necessity to embrace failures that occur
early in the development process
(exploration program) and advance
knowledge significantly. A critical yet
difficult concept for management to
understand, and even more so for
investors, is that failures should not be
confused with mistakes. Thomke (2001)
points out that mistakes produce little
new or useful information and are
therefore without value. A poorly
planned or badly conducted experiment
(exploration), for instance, might result
in ambiguous data, forcing researchers
(explorationists) to repeat the experi-
ment (drill again). Another mistake for
example, is repeating a prior failure or
being unable to learn from that experi-
ence. Unfortunately, even the best orga-
nizations often lack the management
systems necessary to distinguish care-
fully between failures and mistakes.
The third point is probably the most
significant. Thomke (2001) uses IDEO, a
leading design firm in Palo Alto,
California, as an example of following
the principle of the three Rs: Rough,
Rapid, and Right. The final R recognizes
that early prototypes may be incom-
plete but can still get specific aspects of
the product right. In terms of E&D, this
could be re-phrased as “recognizes that
early exploration models may be
incomplete but can still get specific
aspects of the style of mineralization,
the important controls on that mineral-
ization, and the spatial scale right.”
Establishing such a process generates
important information when it is most
valuable: at the early stages of explo-
ration. For the investor, the importance
of adding value (i.e., to the asset of the
company) or a property is good news.
In addition to saving time and money,
exploiting early information helps
product developers (explorationists) to
keep up with customers’ (major mining
houses) preferences that might evolve
over the course of a project.
Thomke (2001) introduces the bene-
fits of “front-loaded development”—i.e.,
solving problems early. In terms of an
exploration project, this requires the
input of mining engineers, metallur-
gists, legal-fiscal back-up, as well as
SEG NEWSLETTER
geology to determine if a specific prop-
erty (product) will make it to the market
(major mining houses). The solving of
problems early equates to shortening
the time frame of exploration.
Lastly, Thomke (2001) notes that the
increased automation of routine experi-
ments will not remove the need for the
human element in innovation.
However, he points out that automation
will allow people to focus on areas
where their value is greatest, i.e., in
generating novel ideas and concepts,
learning from experimentation, and
ultimately making decisions that
require judgment.
In E&D terms, advances in database
management and better geochemical
and geophysical data do not remove
the human element in exploration.
However, they do allow geologists to
focus on interpreting their data better,
learning from on the ground explo-
ration, and ultimately making decisions
on the economic potential of a prospect
or area. The value of the geologist as a
knowledge worker actually increases,
because he is, firstly, in a position to use
his knowledge to decide if the data are
of value, especially if the data are from
an area he is familiar with. Secondly,
they can focus on target areas with
potential, rather than doing routine
fieldwork to define targets. Finally, the
geologist knowledge worker is in a posi-
tion to turn over prospects rapidly in
order to define quality targets, thus
focusing on shortening the time from
exploration to discovery.
CONCLUSIONS
Mineral exploration, although inti-
mately linked with the mineral extrac-
tion and processing industry, is a dis-
tinctive business sector. E&D is the R&D
sector of the mining industry, and can
be defined as the generation and appli-
cation of scientific knowledge to the dis-
covery of new orebodies, either by grass-
roots exploration or in the vicinity of
existing mines.
There is a shortage of new precious
and base metal exploration, develop-
ment, and production projects in the
pipeline. This shortage could signifi-
cantly reduce new mine development in
the near future. This follows a six-year
decline in exploration activity, and
even though exploration expenditures
No 65 • APRIL 2006
have recovered in the past two years,
the decline is compounded by the loss of
senior geologists from the industry and
the shortage of new graduates.
The exploration business needs to
attract investment, and if exploration
geologists are going to play a leading
role in this business, they must innovate.
The business must get better in terms of
shortening the time frame to discovery,
and being as cost effective as possible
without wasting vital funds. It must also
find better financial models and must
learn to manage people better. People,
i.e., the quality of the geological team,
are the only competitive advantage an
exploration company has over its rivals.
The ability to motivate these people is a
part of the innovative capacity that
management must develop.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank the many
people with whom the topic of explo-
ration has been discussed over the
years. We are particularly indebted to
critical reviews by Richard Sillitoe,
Owen Bavinton, Graham Brown, Fred
Daley, John Thompson, Bill Williams,
and Walter Sellmer, to name a few. The
SEG reviewers kindly pointed out many
aspects of the original draft that needed
critical rewriting and we are much
indebted to them.
REFERENCES
Bailly, P.A., 1979, Managing for ore discover-
ies: Mining Engineering, v. 31, p. 663–671.
Brethour, P., 2004, Oil: Too much discipline
at $50: The Globe and Mail, October 2,
2004, p. B5.
Burton, P., 2003, Elephants: World Gold,
April 2003, p. 1.
Christensen, C.M. and Overdorf, M., 2000,
Meeting the challenge of disruptive
change: Harvard Business Review, March-
April 2000, p. 67–76.
Doggett, M.D., 2000, Exploration in the new
millennium: Will it be profitable?: Paper
presented at the Prospectors and
Developers Association of Canada Annual
Meeting, March 2000, 6 p.
Dow, J.A.S., 2002, Exploration geology—
business and leadership challenges for the
future: SEG Newsletter, no. 50, July 2002, p.
17–21.
Drucker, P.F., 1985, Innovation and
entrepreneurship: New York, Harper &
Row, 277 p.
——1999, Management challenges for the
21st century: New York, HarperCollins
Publishers, 224 p.
APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 15

Eggert, R., 1993, Managing for successful
exploration: Resources Policy, September
1993, p. 73–176.
Frost, J.E., 1980, The successful exploration
organization—an entrepreneurial
approach: Mining Congress Journal, v. 66
(5), p. 35–40.
GlaxoSmithKline, 2005, New challenges,
new thinking: Annual Review 2004. 32 p.
(Available online at http://www.gsk.com/
financial/reports/ar2004/annual-review-
04)
Industrial Research Institute, 1999,
Innovation in industry survey: Washington,
D.C., Industrial Research Institute.
Kay, J., 2000, Strategy and the delusion of
Grand Designs, in The University of
Chicago et al., Mastering strategy: London,
Financial Times Prentice Hall, p. 5–10.
Loch, C., and Tapper, S., 2001, Measures of
success for R&D teams, in Pickford, J.,ed.,
Mastering management 2.0: London,
Financial Times Prentice Hall, p. 459–464.
McDonald, R.J., 2000, The economic perfor-
mance of an old industry—mineral extrac-
tion and processing: Mining Finance, June
2000, p. 35–41.
Metals Economics Group (MEG), 2005a,
World exploration trends: A Special Report
for the PDAC 2005 International
Convention, 4 p. (available online at
www.metalseconomics.com)
——2005b, Preliminary 2005 estimate of Wood Mackenzie, 2004, Development expen-
worldwide nonferrous exploration budgets diture on upstream projects is at record
reaches US$5.1 billion: Press Release, high according to New Wood Mackenzie
September 21, 2005. (available online at Report: Edinburgh, Wood Mackenzie, press
www.metalseconomics.com/frame_press_re release October 11, 2004. (Available online
lease.html) at www.woodmacresearch.com)
Miller, L.J., 1976, Corporations, ore discov- ——2005a, $44.5bn investment in R&D to
ery, and the geologist: Economic Geology, deliver poor returns for big pharma says
v. 71, p. 836–847. Wood Mackenzie: Edinburgh, Wood
Nellore, R., 2001, R&D structures to keep Mackenzie, press release June 5, 2005.
focus on products, in Pickford, J., ed., (available online at www.woodmacre-
Mastering Management 2.0: London, search.com)
Financial Times Prentice Hall, p. 453–457. ——2005b, Oil & gas exploration, reserve
Sillitoe, R.H., 1995, Exploration and discov- replacement down worldwide: Edinburgh,
ery of base- and precious-metal deposits in Wood Mackenzie, press release October
the Circum-Pacific region during the last 25 2005. (Available online at www.wood-
years: Tokyo, Metal Mining Agency of macresearch.com) 1
Japan, 127 p.
Snow, G.G., and Juhas, A.P., 2002, Trends
and forces in mining and mineral explo-
ration: Society of Economic Geologists
Special Publication no. 9, p. 1–16.
Stevens, D.L., 1996, Mineral exploration
management challenges in the next
decade: CIM Bulletin, v. 89 (997), p. 34–38.
Robbins-Roth, C., 2000, From alchemy to IPO:
The business of biotechnology: Cambridge,
Massachusetts, Perseus Publishing, 253 p.
Thomke, S., 2001, Enlightened experimenta-
tion: The new imperative for innovation:
Harvard Business Review, February 2001, p.
66–75.

GEOPHYSICAL SERVICES

• Geophysical Consulting, Survey Design,

Data Interpretation

• Subsurface Structural Mapping

• Ground Water Delineation

Electromagnetic
• Minerals Exploration (EM) Techniques,
Induced Polarization
• Rentals (IP) Techniques, Gravity,
Magnetics, Shallow Seismic,
• Equipment Sales & Downhole Techniques

• Physical Properties Lab

ZONGE
ENGINEERING & RESEARCH ORGANIZATION

1-800-523-9913 or 520-327-5501
Fax 520-325-1588, seg@zonge.com, www.zonge.com

Offices World Wide

USA: -Tucson, Arizona -Sparks, Nevada -Anchorage & Fairbanks, Alaska
Other: -Australia -Chile -Brazil -Indonesia
PAID ADVERTISEMENT PAID ADVERTISEMENT
SEG NEWS 16
MENTORING
The Mentoring column is a regular feature of the SEG Newsletter, with contributions of up to 700 words. If you would like to contribute
to this column via an interview or have a personal anecdote, please contact Steve Garwin (Steve.Garwin@geoinformex.com) or Lucy
Chapman (Lucy.Chapman@jcu.edu.au).
Jared Lubben (SEG 2006): An Interview
Jared Lubben graduated from Winona
State University with a B.S. (geology) in
2000, and in 2004 completed an M.S.
(economic geology) at the University of
Nevada, Las Vegas,on the Betze-Post
Carlin-type gold system located in north-
central Nevada. Betze-Post is a Barrick-
owned mine and Jared had the opportunity
to address critical questions regarding ore
fluid properties, sources, and migration
pathways. At the time, he was working full-
time as an exploration geologist for Placer
Dome. Throughout his two years at Placer
Dome, Jared had been charged with the
responsibilities of project development
along the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold
trend located in north-central Nevada.
Jared was interviewed by Steve Garwin over
the telephone and by e-mail in February.
Q: When did you know that you wanted to
be a geologist? Was there an experience
that led to this decision?
A: My exposure to geoscience before col-
lege was minimal. My interest in geology
was sparked by my enrollment in an intro-
ductory class my freshman year. Through
learning basic geologic principles and dis-
covering the unique opportunities geolo-
gists are provided with in terms of projects,
travel, and working environments, I dis-
covered that geology was the career path
for me.
Q: What attracted you to work in the min-
ing & exploration industry in Nevada? Is it
all that you thought it would be?
A: I am most interested in field methods
and mineral system genesis. This combina-
tion led me into exploration. My attraction
to exploration in Nevada developed
through my thesis work on Carlin-type
deposits and has been most of what I
thought it would be. Most surprising is the
generation gap between experienced and
new incoming geologists. The average age
difference is approximately 20 years. I
think this shows a glaring need for strong
mentoring relationships in today’s indus-
try.
Q: Do you see yourself following a career
in the exploration businesses? If so, what
drives you in this direction?
A: The thrill and challenge of the hunt is
what drives me to exploration and keeps
my interest strong. Furthermore, explo-
ration involves problem solving in a team
environment. I get great satisfaction from
contributing to a group that may someday
SEG NEWSLETTER
by Steve Garwin (SEG 1996 F)
be responsible to finding the next major
successful mine. The rewards can be over-
whelming.
Q: You have worked in industry for almost
two years now; what are your experiences
with mentoring?
A: Early on, I experienced situations where
positive interaction took place between
senior geologists and myself, both in the
office and field environments. However, I
feel that the increased pace of the explo-
ration industry has limited my exposure to
mentoring activities. Since my recent pro-
motion to project geologist, it has been dif-
ficult to gain constructive evaluation of my
project work.
Q: Where do you see yourself profession-
ally in 10 years?
A: In 10 years I hope to have had a contin-
uous career in mineral exploration and fill
an exploration management position for a
company that is considered one of the
leaders in the industry. Over those 10 years
I hope to have successfully transformed
from a mentee into a solid leader who
places high value on mentoring students
and young professionals. I also wish to
contribute to the consistent flow of new
young talent into the mining industry.
Q: What would you like to see more of in
the actions of companies today that would
attract young geoscientists like yourself to
the industry?
A: Throughout my undergraduate studies
and into my graduate work, I found myself
as one of only a few students working
towards a degree in economic geology and
one of a few students hoping to obtain a
job in the mining industry. Increasing the
awareness of what the mining industry
can offer young geologists would change
this trend. A conscious effort to interact
with potential mineral explorationists
from undergraduate level would greatly
increase the number of students interested
in economic geology. I fear the mining
industry has a stigma that turns students
off to any potential exploration career.
This may solely be based on a lack of
understanding. Thus, informing students
about opportunities early in their school-
ing could develop their desire to work in
the mining industry.
I think companies could offer programs
to junior geologists that enable continued
learning and development including men-
toring in the work place as well as by
No 65 • APRIL 2006
sponsorships on field trips and related
short courses. The learning curve is steep
and based on discussions with other young
geologists, many new hires are not fully
prepared for the challenges this business
presents.
Q: How could industry contribute to uni-
versity to help prepare graduating students
for future work?
A: Short courses and field trips on topics
that specifically address the skill set needed
to successfully conduct mineral explo-
ration. Provide summer employment
opportunities in a setting where students
fulfill roles that normal employees fill.
Furthermore, provide them with the same
responsibilities that a normal junior
employee would have while providing
experienced support (mentoring) through-
out the process. This, I think, is critical to
increasing the number of students inter-
ested in economic geology and would help
maintain a solid influx of young quality
professionals into industry.
Q: It was stated by James MacDonald
(mentoring column, January 2005) that a
system “where the mentor and mentee are
placed together by a structured process is
doomed for failure.” This article goes on to
state that corporations should be chal-
lenged with creating “an environment in
which mentoring occurs naturally and
informally.” What is your opinion?
A: I agree and disagree with the state-
ments. I fear that with the speedy pace of
the mineral exploration business, a system
where the onus of mentoring young geolo-
gists is strictly on the mentor may get “lost
in the shuffle,” so to speak. On the other
hand, based on my experiences, a mentor
cannot be forced to provide leadership and
knowledge for mentees. I think a balance
should be found in the work place where
there is time for mentoring. It is very
important to me to work for a company
that holds mentoring as a core value
(something that I have found not to be a
common in the exploration business). It
should be up to management to develop a
system that creates a working environment
that promotes mentoring of young profes-
sionals.
Thank you Jared!
If you would like to get in touch with Jared, or
would like to contribute to this column via an
interview, please contact Steve Garwin or Lucy
Chapman (contact information above). 1
APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 17

SEG NEWS
SEG STUDENT CHAPTER NEWS
䊴 DALHOUSIE-SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITIES SEG STUDENT CHAPTER 䊳

FIELD TRIP REPORT: Exploration in the context of mineral supply: Focus on copper
Michael Doggett (SEG 2001), Department of Geological Sciences and
Geological Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
SONORA, MEXICO FIELD TRIP TO CHILE
During February of 2005 a group of stu- Au-Ag open-pit mine of “La Herradura,” SEG-DAL-SMU sponsored a field trip to
dents from Saint Mary’s and Dalhousie owned by Minera Penmont. During that Chile led by Marcos Zentilli. Between
Universities went on a field trip to study visit the students learned about epither- August 29 to September 15, 21 partici-
the geology, mineral resources, and cul- mal Au-Ag deposits. The last two days pants studied the development of the
ture of Sonora, northern Mexico. The trip, focused on the porphyry deposit of “La Andean orogen, with traverses at the
co-organized with the University of Caridad” in northeastern Sonora, which latitudes of Antofagasta, the
Sonora, began in the capital city of is owned by Grupo Mexico and is one of Aconcagua, and the Maipo Rivers, cov-
Hermosillo, where the students visited the largest open-pit copper mines in ering structure, stratigraphy, magma-
the geology department of the University North America. Not only did the students tism, ore deposits, petroleum geology,
of Sonora and got to know some of the learn about the geology of Cu-Mo deposits, geomorphology, and environmental
faculty and laboratory facilities. During but also about open-pit mining and the geoscience. The following ore deposits
the next two days, Dr. Francisco Paz of different metallurgical processes by which were visited: El Soldado manto type Cu
the University led a trip to the Pinacate Cu and Mo are extracted from the ore. deposit, the Andacollo porphyry Cu de-
quaternary volcanic field, which focused The trip provided a positive link posit, the El Peñón low-sulfidation Au-
mostly on volcanic rocks and volcanic between SMU-Dal and the University of Ag deposit, and the Chuquicamata
structures. Day 3 consisted of a visit to the Sonora. porphyry copper deposit. Workshops
and lectures completed an enormously
educational trip.

Some of the Chile Field Trip members at El Peñón, Meridian Gold.

Christian Cubelli, Superintendent Mina El Peñón, Meridian Gold, is
second from right.
Sonora Field Trip 2005 members, representing the SEG-DAL-
SMU Student Chapter. to page 18 . . .

G.E. McKelvey
Professional Geologist
Mineral Exploration & Discovery

P.O. Box 1599 [928] 476-6550

6454 Ruin Hill Loop, Lot 57 mobile: [602] 769-2480
Pine, Arizona fax [928] 476-6572
85544-1599 gempress@earthlink.net

PAID ADVERTISEMENT PAID ADVERTISEMENT

SEG NEWS 18 SEG NEWSLETTER No 65 • APRIL 2006

... from 17 SEG Student Chapter News (Continued)

䊴 LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY SEG STUDENT CHAPTER TRIP 䊳

ORE DEPOSITS AND GEOLOGY OF ARIZONA, USA

The Laurentian University SEG student
chapter led a successful trip to Arizona
from February 17 to 28, 2005. Over this
time, we toured four currently produc-
ing copper-molybdenum porphyry
deposits—Mineral Park mine, Bagdad
mine, Sierrita mine and Morenci
mine)—as well as the Hoover Dam,
Electrowinning at Mineral Park.
Petrified Forest National Park,
Meteor Crater park, Grand
Canyon National Park, and
Sunset Crater Volcano National
Monument. Participants in the
trip included four graduate stu-
dents from the Laurentian
University Department of Earth
Sciences: Stephen Zubowski,
Kimberley Bailey, Stephanie
Hocker and Robert Jones.
The trip was a very posi- Students gather for a group photo at Morenci.
tive experience for each Laurentian students who participated were
Stephen Zubowski, Stephanie Hocker, Kimberley
participant and helped us
Bailey, and Robert Jones.
develop an understanding
for a completely different
style of mineralization than the ization, mining, and ore processing.
volcanic massive sulfide and The added benefit of touring such
magmatic deposits we are used to places as the Petrified Forest, Meteor
seeing. Each mine tour focused on Crater, the Grand Canyon, and Sunset
a different aspect of mine opera- Crater Volcano was that these sites gave
tions: geology, exploration, min- us a better understanding Arizona geol-
ing, and ore processing. By the ogy, as well as allowing us to see some
end of the trip, we had a very of the most scenic places in the
good appreciation for the mecha- American Southwest.
nisms of porphyry-style mineral- Stephen Zubowski 1

Look for complete reports and more student news on the SEG website:
<http:www.segweb.org/ChapterReports.htm>

PAID ADVERTISEMENT
APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 19

SEG NEWS
Geological Society of Perú Expresses Thanks
Translation:
SOCIEDAD GEOLOGICA DEL PERU

Lima, February 21st, 2006

Mr. Lewis Teal
Director of Exploration
Minera Yanacocha S.R.L.

On behalf of the Geological Society of Perú, it is a pleasure to

express our gratitude regarding the donation of the Economic
Geology collection along with two shelves for its exhibition.
In addition, we ask that you extend our sincere gratitude to
Dr. William Atkinson of the University of Colorado (U.S.A),
Dr. Brian Hoal, Executive Director of the Society of
Economic Geologists, and Minera Yanacocha Engineers Julio
Rodas, Carlos Loayza, Jaime Gómez, and you, who all coop-
erated in taking the necessary steps to make this donation pos-
sible for our institution.
Again, the donation of this important collection by Minera
Yanacocha will be of great value to the library of the
Geological Society of Perú.
Sincerely,
Barbara Bruce Ventura, President
Sociedad Geológica del Perú

Standing in front of their newly acquired collection

of Economic Geology, displayed on shelves
donated by Minera Yanacocha, are Dr. Silvia
Rosas, Vice-President of Sociedad Geologica del
Perú, and Mr. Jaime Gomez, Yanacocha senior
exploration geologist.

Joseph A. Laravie M. Sc. Exploration Geologist For specialists in hydrothermal mineralization

135 Flora Place GIS Programmer Epithermal Complete petrology services
Orogenic gold deposits Integrated prospect studies
Spring Creek, NV 89815 Porphyry Mineralization models
jlaravie@frontiernet.net Skarn Training courses
775-777-8223 VHMS Field visits
775-397-1424 (Cell)
Mapinfo - MapBasic
Discover
ArcView-ArcGIS
GIS datasets
contact: Dr Phil White email: pwhite@skm.co.nz
Au
www.greatbasingis.com tel: +64 9 913 8914 fax: +64 9 913 8901
www.skmconsulting.com/minerals
DETAILED GEOLOGIC MAPS IN GIS VECTOR FORMATS Sinclair Knight Merz has offices throughout the world

PAID ADVERTISEMENT PAID ADVERTISEMENT

 20 SEG NEWSLETTER
Feasibility of Asteroid Mining
Michael W. Busch†, Division of Geology and Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology
MC 150-21, Pasadena, California 91125
About 2% of meteorites observed to fall to
Earth are near-pure nickel-iron, implying TABLE 2. Precious Metals in Nickel-Iron
Meteorites
SHORT ARTICLES
NiFe objects somewhere in the solar sys-
tem. Over the last decade, radar observa- Concentration
tions of asteroids have located four such Element Average Highest
objects (Table 1). The NiFe asteroids are
the largest accessible reserve of platinum- Platinum 20 ppm 30 ppm
group elements (PGEs) in the solar system. Palladium 10 ppm 20 ppm
Nickel-iron meteorites contain about 60 Ruthenium 10 ppm 30 ppm
ppm of PGEs on average, uniformly dis- Gold 5 ppm 20 ppm
Iridium 5 ppm 20 ppm
tributed in the NiFe matrix. The richest
Osmium 3 ppm 35 ppm
contain over 150 ppm (Table 2).
Carbonyl processing, similar to opera- Averages over nickel-iron meteorites
tions at the International Nickel plant at from Krinov, 1960; the highest PGE con-
Sudbury, Ontario, is the best method of tents are from the type IIA irons
extracting PGEs from an asteroid on an (Goldberg et al. 1951, Crocket 1972)
industrial scale (Lewis and Lewis, 1987).
Since the PGEs are uniformly distributed,
the entire mass must be ground and parts, however, so a crew is desirable to
reacted with CO to form carbonyls, which maintain the equipment. A crew of four to
are then decomposed according to species. six in a closed-cycle life support system
This process requires about 40 Mw of solar adds 60 t to the Earth-orbit mass. The cost
thermal and electrical power to process of such a 250-t spacecraft would likely be
3.25 million metric tonnes (t)/year. Other in the vicinity of $5 billion, including the
methods, such as thermal separation, are cost of assembly before launch. For com-
far more energy-intensive. parison, the initial cost of an Earth-based
The largest contributor to the cost of platinum-palladium mine producing 22
any space mission is the total mass t/yr of PGE is about $1 billion (Impala
needed in Earth orbit, since launch costs Platinum, 2005).
are currently about US$15,000/kg (all The revenue from selling 180 t/yr of
costs are in January 2006 U.S. dollars). PGEs in the ratios present in nickel-iron
Therefore, the target should require the depends on Earth demand. Using price
smallest possible velocity change from and production data for the last decade,
Earth orbit, to decrease the mass of fuel assuming linear price elasticity and
that must be brought up from Earth. The adjusting for inflation, I estimate the rev-
target should also have the highest possi- enue at $1.9 to $2.8 billion/yr, with the
ble solar flux, to minimize the mass of price of PGEs decreasing by up to 35%.
the power plant. Asteroid 1950 DA is the The range represents uncertainty in the
best known target. Earth production and price elasticity of
If 1950 DA has an average concentra- each species. For example, I have not
tion of PGEs, a total system mass of included the effects of a decrease in PGE
about 190 t in Earth orbit is sufficient to prices on Earth-based mining.
process 3.25 million t/yr and return the Because an asteroid mining mission
resulting 180 t/yr of metal from the aster- must be able to operate almost indepen-
oid to the Earth’s surface. The carbonyl dently of Earth, operating costs are much
process requires a large number of moving smaller than the uncertainty in my rev-
enue estimates. Revenue of $1.9
† E-mail: busch@caltech.edu
billion/yr is sufficient to repay a $5 bil-
lion initial cost within three years,
TABLE 1. Known Nickel-Iron Asteroids
Asteroid Volume Surface Est. PGE Content (troy oz) ∆v Solar
(km3) density Pt Pd Au (km/s) flux
(g/cm^3)
16 Psyche ~3.3×106 ~5 1.1×1016 5.3×1015 2.7×1015 14.60 0.12
216 Kleopatra ~670,000 ~3.5 1.5×1015 7.5×1014 3.8×1014 14.10 0.13
1986 DA ~4 ~5 1.3×1010 6.5×109 3.2×109 7.13 0.15
1950 DA ~0.8 ~5 2.6×109 1.3×109 6.4×108 6.86 0.40
Notes: PGE contents were computed using the volume and surface density for each object
and the average concentrations from Table 2; Dv is the approximate velocity change
required to go from low Earth orbit to the object; the solar flux is averaged over the orbit
and expressed relative to Earth; 1986 DA and 1950 DA are on eccentric orbits that bring
them close to the Earth at intervals, while Kleopatra and Psyche never leave the asteroid
belt; volumes and surface densities are derived from radar observations (Ostro et al. 2002)
No 65 • APRIL 2006
assuming a discount rate of 6%. If the
initial cost is higher than $5 billion, the
time to repay increases. Costs up to $14
billion would be repaid within a decade.
The reserves in 1950 DA are compara-
ble to the Bushveld Complex, although
the PGE concentrations are much higher
(Cawthorn, 1999). At several times the
extraction rate given above, the reserves
would last for centuries. If the profits
from the mission described are applied
exclusively to financing additional mis-
sions, the revenue can exceed $7 bil-
lion/yr within a decade of the start of the
first mission.
No one has applied carbonyl tech-
niques in space on any scale, so a tech-
nology demonstration mission would be
the logical first step in a mining venture.
One such mission would be a 1/100th-
scale version of the mission described
above, obviously without a crew. The
demonstration: go to 1950 DA, process
some tens of tonnes of material and
return the resulting kilogram of PGE to
Earth. This smaller spacecraft would cost
some hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars,
because fixed costs such as the launch
vehicle must be considered.
The potential of asteroid mining is
theoretically great, although the cost of
any large-scale mission is quite high.
There are good launch opportunities to
1950 DA throughout much of this cen-
tury. A demonstration mission could be
launched in 2008 or 2010, with the large
mission launching a few years later. The
first profits would be made within a
decade of today.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author thanks Roger Scoon for his
helpful review.
REFERENCES
Cawthorn, R.G., 1999, Platinum and palladium
resources of the Bushveld Complex: South
African Journal of Science, Nov/Dec 1999.
Crocket, J.H, 1972, Some aspects of the geo-
chemistry of Ru, Os, Ir and Pt in iron mete-
orites: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v.
36, p. 517–535.
Goldberg, E., Uchiyama, A., Brown, H., 1951,
The Distribution of nickel, cobalt, gallium,
palladium and gold in iron meteorites: Geo-
chimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 2, p. 1-25.
Impala Platinum, 2005, 2005 Annual Report:
Johannesburg, Impala Platinum.
Krinov, E.L., 1960, Principles of meteoritics,
Oxford, Pergamon Press.
Lewis, S.J. and Lewis, R.S., 1987, Space
Resources, Columbia University Press.
Ostro, S.J., Hudson, R.S., Benner, L.A.M.,
Giorgini, J.D., Magri, C., Margot, J.-L.,and
Nolan, M.C., 2002, Asteroid radar astronomy,
Asteroids III: Tucson, University of Arizona
Press, p. 151–168 p. 1
APRIL 2006 • No 65
AFRICA
Regional Correspondent:
Judith Kinnaird (SEG 2002)
SEG Regional Vice President Africa
School of Geosciences
University of the Witwatersrand,
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 7176583
Fax: +27 11 7176579
E-mail: kinnairdj@geosciences.wits.ac.za
ANGOLA
Petra Diamonds report that kimberlitic
occurrences at Alto Cuilo increased to
about 1,323 ha in estimated surface
area and 33 kimberlitic occurrences
have now been confirmed by drilling. A
third core drill rig was ordered in 2005
to expedite drilling of the substantial
number of anomalies and 350 alluvial
pits are now complete.
BOTSWANA
Mount Burgess commenced an infill
drilling program at its Kibhabe base
metals project to bring the 2.4-km zone
of zinc, lead, silver anomaly with cop-
per and vanadium credits into a JORC-
compliant resource/reserve. Earlier
results from four drill sections showed
average grades of 3% zinc, 1% lead,
and 28 g/t silver.
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
South African-based Metorex Ltd has
announced it will begin cobalt produc-
tion at its Ruashi mine by April 2006
with an initial output expected to be
around 1,000 tpa.
Banro Corporation states that
drilling results from its wholly owned
Namoya project on the Twangiza-
Namoya gold belt include 7.98 m at
38.63 g/t , 7 m at 16.01 g/t, 15.74 m at
7.46 g/t and 10.4 m averaging 4.5 g/t.
GABON
SouthernEra Diamonds has com-
menced micro-diamond testing of kim-
berlite bodies, confirming the discovery
of seven new kimberlitic bodies, one of
which contained five high-pressure G10
garnets, while others contained spinels.
SEG NEWSLETTER
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
GUINEA
The government of Guinea has granted
a mining concession for Global
Alumina Corp (GAC) to supply its
refinery. GAC has signed an agreement
with Glencore International AG which
will take 420,000 tpa of alumina over a
20-year period. GAC has now secured
20-year off-take agreements for 55% of
the planned 2.8 Mt/yr capacity of its
proposed operation, including 40% to
be shipped to Dubai Aluminium Corp.
Ltd.
LESOTHO
Letseng diamond mine, producer of
some of the biggest diamonds in recent
years, produced 19 658 carats which
fetched an average $1,708 per carat in
the six months to September 2005. The
recovered grade was 1.71 ct/100 t.
LIBERIA
Mano River Resources has confirmed
that the kimberlite pipe K007 at Kpo is
diamondiferous. Kpo is being explored
in a joint venture with Trans Hex.
Approximately 600 kilos of weathered
kimberlite obtained by pitting was
washed, jigged, and concentrated on
site and then examined in Mano’s
recently established diamond labora-
tory in Monrovia. A single >3 mm gem-
quality diamond weighing 0.4 carats
was recovered from the sample. A
3,000-m drilling programme is now
planned.
MADAGASCAR
Pan African Mining Corporation has
discovered a nickel-bearing laterite
above an ultramafic complex in north-
ern Madagascar. The highly weathered
deposit on the company’s Nickel Valley
property is about 1 km long and 250 m
wide and oval in shape. Sampling by
auger-drilling, trenching and pitting
have been completed to depths of 10 m
with the best grades being 2 m at 2.6%
Ni.
Jubilee Mining has intersected 48 m
of high-grade nickel-copper mineraliza-
tion 15 m below surface in borehole
ANT1 on its Antsahabe property on the
Londokomanana concession. Bulj-min-
ing weighted average grades are up to
0.64% nickel and 0.13% copper.
21
MALAWI
Paladin Resources began re-examining
the Kayelekera uranium deposit in late
2004 following the improved uranium
outlook. Revised resources based on
assays and down-hole gamma-logging
(after standard radiometric calibration)
are given at two cutoff grades, as the
company expects the economic cutoff
for any mine developed at Kayelekera
would be between 300 and 600 ppm
U3O8. Measured resources would be 2.20
Mt based on 300 ppm with 13.11 Mt
indicated and 3.40 Mt inferred. At a cut-
off of 600 ppm, measured resources
would be 1.58 Mt with 6.98 Mt indi-
cated and 1.19 Mt inferred.
NAMIBIA
Afri-Can, a Canadian-based company,
has signed an agreement with marine
mining contractor International Mining
and Dredging Holding Ltd (IMD) to
undertake a US$2.5 million offshore
diamond exploration program on its
994 km2 Block J marine concession be-
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
ginning in early 2006. Afri-can currently
holds a 70% interest in Block J with
“black economic empowerment” com-
pany Woduna Mining Holdings own-
ing 30%. The concession, which lies 105
km north of Luderitz, has water depths
ranging between 70 and 170 m and
work will begin with a geophysical sur-
vey of up to 3,100 line-km followed by
collection of around 300 large samples.
Rio Tinto is to expand the Rossing
uranium mine in the Namib desert in a
US$112 M program that will extend the
life of mine by seven years. Annual out-
put will be increased from 3,600 tpa to
4,000 tpa of uranium oxide. The mine
is unusual in that it extracts primary
uranium from granite dikes rather than
secondary sedimentary-hosted uranium.
Paladin Resources has 44,000 t of
uranium oxide at its Langer Heinrich
project in and it is expected to start pro-
ducing within a year. This new open-
cast sedimentary-hosted uranium mine
is situated about 85 km east of
Swakopmund, in the Namib Naukluft
National Park. The Park is doing a great
deal to protect the environment, espe-
cially around the site, and there are
strict requirements to ensure the protec-
tion of plant, animal,
to page 22 . . .
and insect life. This
includes keeping
 22
... from 21 Exploration Reviews (Continued)
driving routes around the site to a mini-
mum. There are a number of challenges
associated with completing this fast-track
project, one of which is the remote loca-
tion of the site. The dirt road to the site is
85 km long and corrugated, there is no
water immediately available on site, and
getting water to site is an ongoing logisti-
cal challenge as some of the water has to
be trucked in from Swakopmund.
NIGER
Orezone Resources Inc. and
Greencastle Resources have formed a
gold exploration joint venture. Under
the terms of the agreement Orezone can
earn a 50% interest in Greencastle’s
Namaga and Koyria properties in dif-
ferent greenstone belts. Orezone must
spend USS1 M on each property over
the next three years and can raise its
interest to 75% in either property by
completing a bankable feasibility study
on the property.
NIGERIA
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
Although Nigeria is not one of the top
destinations for mining investment in
Africa and mining contributes just 1% to
the country’s GDP, under the present
leadership of General Olusegun Obesanjo,
the federal government has refocused its
attention on the mining sector under the
project entitled “Accelerated develop-
ment of Nigeria’s solid mineral poten-
tial.” In spite of this, artisanal and small-
scale mining continues to constitute over
90% of the nation’s mining activities. In
early 2005, the World Bank approved
US$120 M for a project to integrate the
artisanal sector into the formal econ-
omy. The World Bank report on Nigeria
in 2005 reports the percentage of firms
reporting bribery has declined signifi-
cantly. ignificant interest is therefore
now focussing on alluvial and eluvial
gold in schist belts in northwest and
southwest Nigeria, particularly in the
Anka, Maru, Tsohon Birnin Gwari,
Gurmana, and Bin Yauri areas. Coltan-
bearing pegmatites are widespread in
the Pan-African basement and cassiterite
deposits associated with the Jurassic ring
complex granites has been worked since
the 1920s.
SIERRA LEONE
Titanium Group Resources Ltd, an
AIM-listed company, has resumed
SEG NEWSLETTER
dredging after an 11-year break. Sierra
Leone was once a major producer of
rutile, accounting for 75% of the coun-
try’s exports but the site was overrun by
rebels in 1995. The company’s initial
production plans are 100,000/yr of
rutile and 15,000 tpa of ilmenite. A sec-
ond dredge planned for commissioning
in 2007 will double rutile output.
Meanwhile, TRG has rehabilitated its
bauxite mining operations with produc-
tion planned at 1.2 Mt/yr and with first
shipments about to made.
SOUTH AFRICA
Anooraq Resources, the Canadian-
based company, reports significant plat-
inum group metal mineralization on
the farm Cyferkuil 1 JQ, one of three
farms on the eastern Bushveld under
the Thusong joint venture with Anglo
Plats. More than 700 m of drilling on
four vertical holes has been completed.
In TH002, weathered Merensky reef
was intersected between 23.3–24.2 m
with upper and lower chromitite bands
at the contacts. The underlying UG2
was intersected at 46.4–47.3 m depth
dipping westward at 26°.
Canadian-based Platinum Group
Metals Ltd. has announced increased
resources on its Western Bushveld joint
venture. (37% PTM, 37% Anglo
Platinum, 26% Africa Wide) The
updated independent resource calcula-
tion shows an increase in indicated
platinum, palladium, rhodium, and
gold resources for the project of 96%
from 1.31 to 2.57 Moz. In addition,
inferred four-element resources have
grown by 32% from 3.91 to 5.14 Moz.
About 40% of the prospective project
area has now been classified as a
resource by the drilling to date. Drilling
is planned to continue as the prefeasi-
bility advances.
Recent drilling confirms increased
resources are accessible with lower capi-
tal cost declines rather than the more
expensive vertical shaft option that was
investigated in previous studies. The
prefeasibility study now underway is
concentrating on the decline option.
With these results the project team con-
tinues to target the prefeasibility study
for summer 2006 and full feasibility
study by December 2006.
First Uranium, a subsidiary of
Simmer and Jack Mines, has completed
a SAMREC-compliant mineral resource
No 65 • APRIL 2006
estimate for all surface tailings dams at
Simmers Buffelsfontein as the first
steps in a feasibility study to determine
the viability of uranium extraction. The
dams are estimated to contain mea-
sured and indicated resources of 43.6
Mlb of U3O8 grading at 0.15 lb/t and 2.8
Moz of gold grading at 0.3 g/t.
Harmony Gold Mining Company
has announced that ih has acquired a
total of 44.99 million shares in western
areas on the Witwatersrand goldfield.
Lonmin, the third largest producer of
platinum, has increased output by 31.5%
in the December quarter to 196,045 oz
compared to 149,066 oz for the same
period in 2004. Palladium output also
rose from 64,615 oz in the December
quarter 2004 to 68,452 oz in 2005 and
rhodium production similarly increased
from 16,141 to 18,641 oz. They expect
to produce 1 Moz of platinum in the
year ending September 2006.
Sasol, the world’s biggest producer of
synthetic fuel from coal, has invested 46
million rand to form a joint coal-min-
ing venture with Eyesizwe Coal. Sasol,
which will own 65% of Igoda Coal, will
provide 46 million rand in equity, and
Eyesizwe, which will own the rest, will
provide 25 million rand. The company
will mine, market, and supply utility
coal for the international export mar-
ket. Igoda will produce a minimum
export production of 3.6 M tpa and will
supply about 4 M tpa of middlings coal
to Sasol. Igoda Coal has coal reserves
for around 30 years.
ZAMBIA
The substantial improvement in base
metal prices since the end of 2003 has
led to increased production following
privatization of the larger copper-min-
ing companies in 2000. In order to
reduce dependency on copper, the
Chamber of Mines has proposed that
government reduces withholding tax on
mining operations conducted outside
the country from 15% to 10%. This
would encourage mining operations in
neighboring countries to process their
output in Zambia, which has some of
the most efficient smelters and refineries
in the world. This, coupled with the cen-
tral location, makes it an attractive
focus for processing especially for neigh-
boring countries such as the Republic of
the Congo, which have infrastructure
constraints.
APRIL 2006 • No 65
Outukumpo of Finland has been
awarded a contract to design and
deliver a new copper flash smelter for
Konkola Copper Mines. This follows
the decision by Vedanta Resources,
which has a controlling stake in KCM,
to invest US$ 125 M in expanding the
Nkana smelter. It is anticipated that it
will be commissioned in 2007. Copper
concentrate will be sourced largely from
KCM’s mines to produce 300,000 tpa
copper.
Gemfields Resources, the newly
AIM-listed company is reevaluating the
emerald production. Zambia already
produces up to US$100 M worth of good
quality rough emeralds annually, but it
is a highly fragmented industry.
Gemfields assets include 50% of the
Livingstone amethyst mine Kariba
Minerals—the largest in Africa, and the
Mbuva-Chibolele emerald project
south of Kitwe, which covers a kilometer
along the strike of the Purala belt in the
Ndola Rural Emerald restricted area. A
mineral resource of 18 Mt has been
identified to a depth of 150 m, giving a
10-year life of project. Working costs of
$15–17/t compare with an expected rev-
enue averaging $42/t.
ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Limited
(Zimplats) is not closing despite an
ongoing problem sparked by govern-
ment plans to amend the Mines and
Minerals Bill to enable a 51% state
takeover of foreign owned mines. A
South African platinum mining giant,
Implats has a controlling stake of 86%
in Zimplats and has indicated its inten-
tion to invest $US2 billion as part of an
expansion drive.
ALASKA
Regional Correspondent:
Curtis J. Freeman (SEG 1996)
Avalon Development Corp.
P.O. Box 80268
Fairbanks, AK 99708
Tel. 1.907.457.5159, Fax 1.907.455.8069
E-mail: avalon@alaska.net
Website: www.avalonalaska.com
Alaska is off to a fast start in 2006: it
has already seen start-up of its first
major gold mine in 5 years (Pogo) and
approval of permits for the Nixon Fork
copper–gold mine. We also saw
announcement of substantial increases
in copper, gold, and molybdenum
resources at two advanced exploration/
SEG NEWSLETTER
development projects (Donlin Creek
and Pebble). New development plans
were offered for heap leaching at the
Fort Knox gold mine and initial funding
was approved for evaluation of a coal-
to-liquids facility at the Beluga coal
deposits. Red Dog and Greens Creek
reported stellar operating results, in
part due to robust metals prices. As for
exploration plans, there are dozens of
programs in the offing. All in all, not a
bad way to start off a year that promises
to be very busy. So, as the old cowboy
said, “When the pony runs, you ride.”
WESTERN ALASKA
Teck Cominco American announced a
$325 M operating profit for the year at
its Red Dog mine. The mine produced
568,000 tonnes (t) of zinc in concentrate
from ore averaging 22.3%. The mine
also produced 102,000 t lead in concen-
trate from ore averaging 6.6% while
mill recoveries decreased to 55.7%.
NovaGold Resources and new part-
ner Barrick Gold (which took over
Placer Dome in late January)
announced increased resources at the
Donlin Creek deposit in southwestern
Alaska. Measured and indicated
resource categories increased by 3.7
Moz or 33% to 14.8 Moz of gold grading
2.76 gpt gold using a 1.2 gpt cutoff
grade. Inferred resources decreased by
0.7 Moz to 13.6 Moz grading 2.72 gpt
gold through conversion of those
ounces to the measured and indicated
category. Total gold resource is now
28.4 Moz in all categories.
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd
announced new resource estimates at its
East zone at the Pebble deposit near
Iliamna. At a 1.00% Cu equiv cutoff,
the inferred mineral resources are esti-
mated at 947 Mt grading 0.77% copper,
0.48 gpt gold and 0.040% molybdenum
(1.28% Cu equiv), containing 16.0 bil-
lion lb of copper, 14.5 Moz of gold, and
830 Mlb of molybdenum. The Pebble
East deposit is open to expansion in all
directions. Plans for 2006 include
30,500 m of drilling at a budgeted cost
of US$20 M.
St. Andrew Goldfields announced
that all permits have been approved for
the operation of the Nixon Fork gold-
copper mine near McGrath. Plans
include upgrading and refurbishing the
existing gold mill, including the instal-
lation of a cyanide leach circuit. In
addition, facilities will be installed to
extract and retreat the existing tailings
from the previous operation which
23
contain an estimated 30,000-oz gold
resource. Retreatment of the existing
tailings is expected to begin in July with
processing of underground ore expected
in the early fall.
Full Metal Minerals Ltd. and Triex
Minerals Corporation announced that
several new geochemical anomalies
have been identified at their Boulder
Creek uranium prospect on the Seward
Peninsula. These results suggest poten-
tial extensions along strike to the exist-
ing deposit, as well as potential new
deposits along the same granite-sand-
stone contact. Additionally, four new
areas with multi-element geochemical
anomalies covering a strike length of
approximately 9 km were identified.
Several of the anomalies are larger in
area and stronger in terms of element
abundances than the baseline data col-
lected over the known extent of the cur-
rent resources at Boulder Creek.
Planning is currently underway for a
3,000-m drill program including down-
hole geophysical surveys.
Liberty Star Gold Corp. announced
preliminary results from its Big Chunk
copper-gold project near Iliamna. The
Baltusrol project is hosted by felsic por-
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
phyry intrusives, intrusive breccias, and
porphyry-style alteration and mineral-
ization and returned 50 ft grading 1033
ppm copper and 0.0018 gpt gold. A sin-
gle drill hole at the Point Grey prospect
intercepted 0.0078 gpt gold over 177 ft
including 10 ft of 0.059 gpt gold. At the
Augusta prospect on the western side of
the claim block the company has out-
lined a 5.7 × 2 mile area of anomalous
gold and molybdenum in vegetation
samples.
INTERIOR ALASKA
Kinross Gold is currently conducting
preliminary feasibility-level work on the
possibility of adding a heap leaching
circuit to its Fort Knox mine operations
near Fairbanks. The company indi-
cated that evaluations are on-going on
a possible 160-million-ton valley-leach
operation in the Walter Creek drainage
above the current tailings impound-
ment. Geotechnical studies identified
Walter Creek as a suitable site for the
valley leach, which the company hopes
will operate at approximately one-third
the cost of it current 40,000-tpd milling
operation. If economic evaluations are
positive, initial ground work for the pro-
to page 24 . . .
ject could occur as
soon as late 2006.
 24 SEG NEWSLETTER No 65 • APRIL 2006

... from 23 Exploration Reviews (Continued)

Freegold Ventures announced addi- confirmed mineralization in the previ-

tional results from trenching completed
at their Golden Summit project near
Fairbanks. The six-trench program
encountered two new veins at surface
with gold grades of 35.3 gpt gold over 5
ft (grab sample of 63.7 gpt gold) and
28.6 gpt gold over 5 ft (grab samples of
139.0, 22.1, and 12.0 gpt gold). In addi-
tion, the strike length of the Wackwitz
vein was extended to 730 ft where the
shear zone hosting the vein returned 10
ft grading 2.89 gpt gold. Two additional
short trenches were excavated along the
Wackwitz vein and returned 59 ft grad-
ing 6.4 gpt gold with four grab samples
of the vein returning grades ranging
from 0.38 to 16.35 gpt gold.
The biggest news so far in 2006
came from Teck Cominco and partner
Sumitomo, who announced that the
Pogo mine poured its first gold bar, a
31.55-kg brick, on February 12. With
this pour the mine and mill began a
several-month shakedown of operating
systems with the goal of reaching full-
scale production in the second quarter
of 2006. For those of you counting, the
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
ALASKA RANGE
Usibelli Coal Mine recently celebrated
two milestones for their 63-year-old
operations near Healy. The first was
the completion of a full year of opera-
tions without a lost time accident dur-
ing 2005. This seminal event is accom-
panied by a coveted Sentinels of Safety
award to be issued by the Mine Safety
and Health Administration in conjunc-
tion with the National Mining Assoc.
The second milestone was passing 700
days without a lost time accident, a
record the company has never
exceeded. Congratulations, Usibelli!
Piper Capital announced results
from the Long Creek prospect on its
Golden Zone project in the central
Alaska Range. Highlights include 7 gpt
gold, 20.1 gpt silver, and 0.72% copper
over 12.2 m and 2.35 gpt gold, 80.1 gpt
silver, and 0.55% copper over 3 m in
exploration trenches while diamond
drill holes returned 0.08 gpt gold, 29.2
gpt silver, and 0.62% copper over 6.1 m
and 1.11 gpt gold, 36.1 gpt silver, and
0.40% copper over 3.0 m in hole 05 LC-
ously reported Revelation Vein and
identified three new prospects desig-
nated Shoeshine, Train, and Saddle
prospects. Highlights of grab and chip
sampling from this effort include 34.4
gpt gold, 8.1 gpt silver, and 0.1% cop-
per in a vein on the Revelation
prospect, 112.5 gpt gold, 245 gpt silver,
and 0.13% copper in an intrusive-
hosted vein on the Shoeshine prospect,
23.8 gpt gold, 91.4 gpt silver, and
0.33% copper in a sulfide boulder train
on the Train prospect and 7 gpt gold
and 1.9 gpt silver in a mineralized dike
on the Saddle prospect.
Nevada Star Resource Corp.
announced that JV partner Anglo
American Exploration (USA), Inc.
intends to continue exploration on the
MAN project in 2006. A spring 2006
drill program has been approved to test
high-ranking targets, including electro-
magnetic geophysical anomalies, multi-
element geochemical anomalies and
predicted down-plunge extensions of
surface nickel-copper sulfide showings.
The Alaska Industrial Development

Pogo deposit was discovered in 1994
and has been under continuous explo-
ration and development since then.
Total construction costs for the mine are
now estimated at $347 M. Congratula-
tions, Teck Cominco and Sumitomo!
Geoinformatics Exploration
announced that its partner, Midas
Resources Ltd., plans to conduct a win-
ter drilling program at the Uncle Sam
gold project in the Richardson district.
The RC program will follow-up past
drilling by Kennecott Exploration that
returned 11 m at 2.4 gpt gold, 8 m at
2.1 gpt gold, 6 m at 10.6 gpt gold, and
5.5 m at 4.9 gpt gold.
1. Mineralization was extended more
than 1.5 km south from the trenched
and drilled area with rock chip samples
which contained up to 3.73 gpt gold,
163 gpt silver, and 1.25% copper. Gold-
copper-silver mineralization at Long
Creek is characterized by crudely strata-
bound disseminated to massive carbon-
ate replacement zones in limestone and
calcareous conglomerate which are cut
by northeast-striking massive sulfide
veins.
Piper Capital also announced that it
has staked the South Estelle prospect in
the south-central Alaska Range. Recon-
naissance sampling by the company
and Export Authority has approved a
$500,000 contribution to a $1.5 M feasi-
bility study of a proposed coal-to-liquids
alternative fuels plant in the Beluga
River coal fields 50 miles west of
Anchorage. The funding is contingent
on private partners in the study com-
pleting their financing of the remaining
$1 M needed for the study. The project
is being proposed by Alaska Natural
Resources to Liquids LLC, an Alaska
company that could act as developer.
The coal-to-liquids project would
require approximately 17 million tons
of coal a year for 40 years. If the project
is feasible, the plant could require an

Vernon DeRuyter PAUL W. KUHN

Exploration Geologist
Registered Professional Geologist
Tel: 520-419-2645, 744-8600 6880 West Ina Road
Fax: 520-744-8601 Tucson, Arizona 85743 Worldwide mine exploration/production
E-mail: <deruyter1@mindspring.com> Exploration project generation/management
• International and domestic mineral projects •
Exploration • Development • Production
PK 69, Kavaklıdere PTT, 06691 Ankara, TURKEY
Prospect Generation and Evaluation
Tel: +90-542-675-1603 or +90-536-875-1333
Geologic Mapping • Drilling Projects U.S. mobile tel: 1-509-990-6786
Resource Estimation e-mail: kuhnpw@cs.com

PAID ADVERTISEMENT PAID ADVERTISEMENT

APRIL 2006 • No 65
investment of $5 billion and would pro-
duce about 80,000 barrels per day of
clean diesel and other products for U.S.
markets.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA
Hecla Mining (29.73%) and Kennecott
Mining (70.27%) announced 4th quar-
ter and year-end production results
from its Greens Creek mine near
Juneau. For the year the mine produced
9,665,428 oz silver, 72,758 oz gold,
21,913 t lead and 64.611 t zinc. Cash
operating costs were negative $0.66/oz
while total operating costs were
$2.18/oz. Average head grade mined for
the year was 18.17 gpt silver. Year-end
proven and probable reserves stood at
2,223,872 tons grading 0.12 gpt gold,
14.5 gpt silver, 3.9% lead, and 10.2%
zinc. Inferred resources stood at 654.214
tons grading 0.14 gpt gold, 14.5 gpt sil-
ver, 4.1% lead, and 11.2% zinc.
Due to the number and length of news
releases relating to mineral activity in
Alaska during the quarter and the
space limitations allowable for Alaskan
activities in the SEG Newsletter, not all
activities can be included here. An
unabridged version of this section of the
SEG Newsletter can be found on the
SEG’s website (http://www.segweb.org/
RecentArticles.html) or at Avalon
Development’s website (www.avalon
alaska.com).
AUSTRALASIA
Regional Correspondent:
Brent McInnes (SEG 1999)
CSIRO Exploration and Mining (CEM)
With contributions from
Jim Beeston
Queensland NRMW
Tony Christie (SEG 1992) – New Zealand
NZ Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences
Sue Daly – PIRSA
Geoff Green (SEG 2000)
Mineral Resources Tasmania
Tim McConachy (SEG 1987 F)
CSIRO Exploration & Mining
Russell Meares (SEG 1996) –
New South Wales
Malachite Resources
TASMANIA
Zinifex Ltd. has discovered a new ore-
body at the Rosebery mine 400 m north
of K Lens. There are four economic
intersections so far with values such as
SEG NEWSLETTER
11.7 m (apparent thickness) @ 26% Zn
and 1.4 g/t Au.
Lefroy Resources Ltd. has
announced a JORC Inferred Resource
for the Pinafore reef at Lefroy of
304,000 tonnes (t) at 22.9 g/t Au, based
on a reef thickness of 2 m.
Allegiance Mining NL has
announced upgraded resource figures
for the Avebury deposit that amount to
an 89% increase in the amount of con-
tained nickel in the deposit. The new
global resource is 11.59 Mt @ 1.02%
nickel, for a contained 118,000 tof the
metal. The initial reserve in the smaller
feasibility study area is 4.4 Mt @ 1.16%
Ni above a 0.85% cutoff.
Zelos Resources NL has announced
an inferred resource of 4 Mt @ 40% iron
at the Nelson Bay River prospect near
Temma.
Bass Metals Ltd. has defined a com-
bined indicated and inferred resource of
370,000 t @ 1.7% Cu, 4.2% Zn, 1.4% Pb,
64 g/t Ag, and 0.3 g/t Au in the Que
River “S” lens, 3.5 km SW of Hellyer
and has recently reported a number of
intersections of Cu-rich mineralization
outside the resource envelope. Bass is
also drilling at the Mount Charter
prospect, 3 km further to the SW and
has reported near surface intersections
of Au-Ag-Zn-Pb mineralization (e.g.,
15.4 metres grading 2.1 g/t Au, 38 g/t
Ag, 4.8% Zn and 1.9% Pb from 56 m).
Bass, together with joint-venture part-
ners Geoinformatics and Zinifex Ltd.
have identified 13 exploration targets
on the Hellyer mine lease.
TasGold Ltd. has intersected Au
mineralization in the 666 Lode that
parallels and lies 100 m NE of the
Higgs deposit near Moina in northern
Tasmania with intersections of 31.9 m
@ 1.2 g/t Au and 2.0 m @ 14.8 g/t Au in
separate holes.
The Beaconsfield gold mine joint
venture partners have announced the
first drill hole at Middle Arm Gorge,
near Beaconsfield, has intersected 1.9 m
of quartz-ankerite-sulfide alteration.
Assaying is underway.
QUEENSLAND
Straits Resources have discovered a
large mineralized system beneath the
old Yandan epithermal gold mine. An
initial intersection of 176 m @ 2.4 g/t
Au, including a high-grade zone of 27.5
m @ 8.1 g/t Au, was followed up with
another encouraging intersection of 194
m @ 2.1 g/t Au including 30.5 m @ 8.6
g/t Au.
25
Newcrest and Sedimentary
Holdings Ltd. continue to explore the
newly discovered Kilkenny structure
west of the Cracow mining operation.
Initial and subsequent high-grade inter-
sections have been reinforced by addi-
tional drilling results, including 12 m @
8.9 g/t and 4.4 m @17 g/t Au.
Republic Gold Ltd. reported drilling
at its Hodgkinson Basin projects in
north Queensland. Recent Tregoora
project drilling at the prospect targets
include 9 m @ 3.4 g/t Au and 15 m @
1.59 g/t Au at the Honey prospect; 11 m
at 3.92 g/t Au and 4 m at 3.89 g/t Au;
16 m at 2.40 g/t Au at Retina Far North.
Deep resource modelling diamond
drilling was undertaken by Resolute
Mining Ltd. at the Mount Wright pro-
ject to assist in the technical aspects of
the project feasibility study. Results
included 37 m @ 4.34 g/t Au from 559
m, 26 m @ 3.97 g/t Au from 559 m and
62 m @ 5.43 g/t Au from 602 m. The
resource of 9.8 Mt at 3.35 g/t Au will
now be developed.
Echelon Resources Ltd. has drilled
the first hole at the Cockatoo/Parsons
prospect 700 m south of the old Mount
Leyshon open pit. Results included 5 m
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
@ 37 g/t Au, 56 g/t Ag, 0.1% Cu, 0.4%
Pb, and 3.1% Zn from 975 m downhole.
Kagara Zinc Ltd. announced an
interim upgraded resource of 3.3 Mt at
3.9% Cu, 18 g/t Ag and 0.43 g/t Au at
their Balcooma project in North
Queensland. Further high grade drill
results from four drill holes outside the
resource include 57 m @ 3.1% Cu,
including 9 m @ 8.6% Cu; 43m @ 4.0%
Cu, including 10 m @ 7.2% Cu; 17 m @
4.5% Cu, including 6 m @ 8.0% Cu; 17
m @ 10.2% Cu, including 11 m @ 14.4%
Cu.
Glengarry Resources Ltd.
announced Co-Mo mineralization inter-
sections at its Maitland prospect within
the Greenvale project. Results in one
hole included 12 m @ 4.27% Cu from
160 m including 7 m @ 5.59% Cu from
165 m and 5 m @ 0.31% Mo from 153
m. Continuous, high-grade Cu mineral-
ization has now been intersected in five
holes.
Copper Strike Ltd. announced cop-
per intersections from drilling at its
Einasleigh project northwest of
Townsville. Intersections reported
include 15 m @ 11.76% Cu from 244 m,
11 m @ 3.10% Cu from 269 m and 2 m
@ 9.83% Cu from 235 m. Later results
released included 3 m
to page 26 . . .
@ 6.93% Cu from 232
m, 13 m @ 6.71% Cu
 26
... from 25 Exploration Reviews (Continued)
from 241 m, and 30 m @ 9.2% Cu. An
inferred resource for Einasleigh is
840,000 t at 3.6% Cu, 0.19 g/t Au, and
16 g/t Ag. The inferred resource at the
nearby Kaiser Bill prospect is 11 Mt at
0.84% Cu, 0.15 g/t Au and 6.3 g/t Ag.
CopperCo Ltd. reported that drilling
at the Lady Annie project yielded an
intersection of 22 m @ 6.7% Cu from
173m downhole below the Lady Annie
oxide resource. Other intersections
included 23 m @ 0.45% Cu from 103 m
and 10 m @ 0.82% Cu from 144 m.
Recent drilling at Mount Kelly fault
zone near Flying Horse gave results of
24 m @ 4.7% Cu, 18 m @ 4.22% Cu,
and 25 m @ 1.58% Cu.
Matrix Metals Ltd. reported 28 m @
2.93% Cu from 235 m at its McCabe
deposit south of Cloncurry. This drilling
was to test extensions to the existing
mineralization. The latest follow up
drilling gave 18 m @ 3.5% Cu, and 8 m
@ 3.39% Cu.
Current exploration in Queensland is
being assisted by the Department of
Natural Resources, Mines and Water’s
$20M Smart Exploration initiative
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
which is currently running ground
gravity and airborne geophysics surveys
in the Mount Isa region to expand dis-
covery in one of the world’s largest cop-
per and base metals province.
NEW SOUTH WALES
The search for Intrusion Related Gold
Deposits (IRGD) in New South Wales
has accelerated, particularly in the Sn-
W terrains of central and eastern New
South Wales. In the Lachlan Fold Belt
(LFB), Moly Mines Dargues Reef
deposit is a recognized member of this
deposit type, and farther west Cullen
Resources is searching for similar
deposits and their W analogues. In the
New England fold belt (NEFB) the only
recognised IRDG deposit is the mined-
out Timbarra Au-Bi-Mo deposit, how-
ever Malachite Resources Phoenix dis-
covery also displays characteristics
typical of this deposit type.
At Boonoo Boonoo in the northern
NEFB, Macmin Silver has drilled four
Au-Ag lodes with best results of 5 m @
3.45 g/t Au and 133 g/t Ag at the Star
of Hope Lode. Farther east, Drake
Resources has recently completed a
drilling program which has emphasized
the potentially valuable zones of Zn in
a previously defined resource below the
SEG NEWSLETTER
Strauss pit at Drake. Intersections include
drill holes DP19 (20 m @ 6.2 g/t Au and
2.03% Zn from 17 m depth, including 2
m @ 9.1% Zn) and DP20 (11 m @ 3.8 g/t
Au and 3.93% Zn from 6 m depth).
In the LFB, very significant high-
grade assays have been received for two
infill holes in Triako Resources’ Hera
Au-base metal deposit. Economic mod-
elling of the project during the prefeasi-
bility study concluded that the return
from developing the Hera project is
most sensitive to changes in head
grade, in particular the gold head
grade. These new high-grade assays will
further enhance the economics of the
project.
Also in the LFB, results received by
Alkane Resources from diamond drilling
continue to add high-grade intercepts
within the Wyoming One resource.
Intercepts include holes WY 838D (9 m
@ 9.57 g/t Au from 207 m including 5
m @ 15.6 g/t gold from 208 m) and WY
839D (15 m @ 4.43 g/t Au from 99 m,
and 6 m @ 7.98 g/t Au from 151 m).
Visible gold was observed in several
intervals and these will be checked by
screen fire assay. These results follow on
from the recent discovery of a new high-
grade structure intersected by WY 831D,
which returned an intercept of 66 m @
19.49 g/t Au from 268 m.
News from the Broken Hill province
has been scarce lately with all the oper-
ators very busy. However, another major
has recognized the potential for world-
class base metal deposits with Teck
Cominco entering into a JV with a syn-
dicate of local NSW-based companies
over the Stephens-Centennial project.
In the NE section of the province, the
Koonenberry belt is considered highly
prospective, in part due to the recent
mapping work by the Geological
Survey of NSW. Black Range Minerals
has reported high-grade Cu intersec-
tions at its Flagship prospect at Broken
Hill, including 7 m @ 5.51% Cu located
2 km west of the existing workings.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Joint venture partners Adelaide
Resources and Iluka Resources
announced the discovery of significant
heavy mineral sand occurrence at the
Tripitaka prospect in the Eucla basin. A
mineralized zone up to 2 km in length
and over 1 km in width has been identi-
fied, with drill traverse lines identifying
No 65 • APRIL 2006
a central core of heavy mineral sands
containing 68% zircon. Some of the
better intersections include: 21 m at
5.6% HM from 1.5 m below surface, 21
m at 4.1% HM from 1.5 m below sur-
face, 19.5 m at 3.5% HM from 6 m
below surface.
Gunson Resources reported the
results of a deep drilling program at its
Chianti Cu prospect at Mount Gunson
in the Gawler craton. Hole MGD 34,
completed to a depth of 600 m returned
2 m at 3.4% Cu and 0.2 g/t Au from
549-551 m. The mineralization occurs
as bornite and chalcopyrite in hematite-
rich granite breccia.
Havilah Resources intersected new
Cu-Au-Mo mineralization at a PIRSA-
support PACE drilling project 6 km S of
its Kalkaroo Cu deposit. Best results
include 63 m @ 0.4% Cu and 69 m @
0.67 g/t Au. The Kalkaroo deposit has a
resource estimated of 70 Mt @ 0.47%
Cu, 0.46 g/t Au, and 124 ppm Mo.
Marathon Resources has com-
menced a 19-hole drilling program tar-
geting the Hodgkinson, Mt Gee, and
Armchair-Streitberg U prospects located
in the Mt. Painter inlier in the Northern
Flinders Ranges. Best results from the
first three diamond holes from the
Hodgkinson prospect include 12 m @
0.46% uranium oxide from 51 m and 2
m @ 0.23% uranium oxide from 53 m.
Maximus Resources have com-
menced drilling to explore the downdip
potential of the historic Bird in Hand
gold mine in the Adelaide Hills. Initial
results include 9 m (true width esti-
mated at 6.5 m) at 31.2 g/t Au, 58.3 g/t
Ag, 5.8% Pb, and 4.6% Zn from 158 m.
Metals Exploration acquired the
Wingellina Ni laterite project in the
Musgrave Range province and under-
took at 20,000 m RC drill program.
Wingellina contains an estimated 227
Mt of ~1% Ni and 0.07% Co in a pre-
dominantly limonitic host assemblage
associated with a layered dunitic intru-
sive complex. Drilling results include
184 m @ 1.05% Ni, and 0.09% Co from
8 m and 132 m at 1.18% Ni and 0.08%
Co from surface.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Renison Consolidated Mines has com-
pleted a 20-hole diamond drilling pro-
gram at its Tom’s Gully gold mine,
located 90 km south east of Darwin.
The resource estimate for the deposit is
APRIL 2006 • No 65
now around 2 Mt at an average grade
of 7.9 g/t Au.
Following a $4 M capital raising,
Redbank Mines (formerly Burdekin-
Pacific) acquired the breccia-hosted
Redbank Cu deposit in the Northern
Territory. The company reports a min-
eral resource estimate of 4.2 Mt at an
average grade of 1.5% Cu, for approxi-
mately 63,000 t of contained Cu. The
first stage of production in March 2006
will target a 54,000-t Cu oxide portion
of the orebody with a 6% Cu grade.
Thor Mining reported new resource
estimates for its Molyhil W-Mo explo-
ration project, located 220 km northeast
of Alice Springs within the Proterozoic
Eastern Arunta Block. The updated
resource estimate for the skarn deposit
has increased significantly to 2.4 Mt at
0.8% combined WO3 and MoS2.
XStrata Zinc announced a $66 M
plan to extend the life of the McArthur
River Zn-Pb-Ag mine by 25 years by
moving from an underground to open-
cut mining operation. Located 900 km
SE of Darwin, the HYC deposit became
a mining operation in 1995, 40 years
after the MIM discovery of sediment-
hosted Pb-Zn mineralization at the
remote McArthur River Station. The
shallow-dipping stratiform deposit of
Middle Proterozoic age has measured,
indicated, and inferred resources of
around 124 Mt at approximately 13%
Zn, 6% Pb and 60 g/t Ag. Annual pro-
duction is around 160,000 t Zn and
30,000 t Pb.
The redevelopment plan will require
a number of environmentally sensitive
changes to the existing site, including
the rechannelling of a 5.5-km section of
the McArthur River. XStrata says that if
the open cut plan is not approved, the
mine will be forced to close. Approval
for the development plan rests with the
NT Minister for Mines and Energy.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
CBH Resources reports new drilling
results and resource estimates from its
Sulphur Springs VMS Cu-Zn project
located 160 km SE of Port Hedland in
the Pilbara region. The new resource
calculation based on open pit cut-off
grades have substantially increased the
resource estimate to a total of 13.8 mil-
lion tonnes @ 3.7% Zn, 1.4% Cu, and
21 g/t Ag (or 6.4% zinc equiv). CBH
Resources also announced a joint-ven-
ture deal with Teck Cominco to explore
the Napier Range section of the
Lennard Shelf zinc-lead province.
SEG NEWSLETTER
Ivernia is ramping up production at
its unique Magellan Pb-oxide deposit
near Wiluna to around 100,000 tpa Pb
by mid-2006—equivalent to 3% of
world production. Ivernia has stated its
measured and indicated resources as
21.4 Mt grading 5.8% lead and contain-
ing 1.24 Mt of lead, plus an inferred 7.2
Mt at 4.6% lead.
Jubilee Mines has conducted an in-
fill and exploration drilling program to
firm up a resource estimate for its
Prospero Ni deposit at 911,500 t grad-
ing 6.64% nickel for 60,500 t of nickel.
Intersections include 7 m grading 8.4%
Ni, 4.3 m at 5.2% Ni and 3.4 m at
10.6% Ni. The deposit remains open in
two dimensions.
Fox Resources has announced a new
Zn discovery at its Ayshia prospect,
located 1.6 km NE of its West Whundo
VMS Cu-Pb-Zn deposit near its Radio
Hill Ni mine, 30 km SE of Karratha.
Significant drill results include 14 m @
10.4% Zn and 32.3 g/t Ag from 30 m,
4m @ 3.2% Zn, and 35 g/t Ag from 28
m, and 4 m at 5.2% Zn and 43 g/t Ag
from 33 m. Four of the eight holes
showed no significant mineralization.
The company is targeting an open-pit
operation exploiting the West Whundo
resource of 894,000 t grading 2% Cu,
1.4% Zn, and 3.3 g/t Ag.
Abra Mining Ltd. reported significant
diamond drilling results from its Mulgul
Pb-Zn-Cu project, located 200 km N of
Meekatharra. Hole AB28 returned a
high-grade zone of 12 m @ 12.6% Pb
within an overall intersection of 178 m
@ 4.5% Pb, 0.1% Zn, and 0.12% Cu
from 358 m. Hole AB33 had a high-
grade zone of 8 m @ 20.2% Pb, within
an overall intersection of 276 m @ 3.1%
lead, 0.1% zinc, and 0.11% copper from
344 m. The high-grade zone, which typ-
ically assays in excess of 10% Pb, has
now been identified over an area of
approximately 200 m diameter. The
polymetallic deposit, discovered in 1981
by GeoPeko, has characteristics similar
to sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) Pb-
Zn deposits but with a poorly under-
stood zone of Cu-Au enrichment.
Jabiru Metals reported further
encouraging drilling results at its
Jaguar VMS Cu-Zn deposit, including
79.5 m @ 3.9% Cu, 3.5% Zn, 79 g/t Ag,
and 0.2% Pb. Development work is
underway at the project with produc-
tion planned to begin in mid-2007. The
Jaguar mine is expected to produce
123,400 t zinc, 41,000 t copper and
3.921 Moz of Ag over its five-year life.
27
NEW ZEALAND
Neptune Minerals commenced a 3 mil-
lion pounds sterling (~US$5 M) explo-
ration project for sea-floor massive sul-
fide deposits on inactive vents along the
Kermadec Arc, northeast of the Taupo
Volcanic Zone. The Kemadec 2005
expedition, completed in December
2005, collected 23 cores, 29 sea-floor
samples, and 70 line km of high-resolu-
tion multi-beam swath mapping of the
sea-floor bathymetry. Assays confirm
that sampled massive sulfide chimneys
have elevated base and precious metal
content.
Aurora Minerals Ltd. completed 350
m of diamond drilling in 3 holes and
1,600 m of RC drilling in 16 holes in
their Backyard prospect of the
Hazelbrook epithermal gold project in
Northland. A fourth diamond hole was
started. Drilling intersected quartz vein-
ing and brecciation, but assays avail-
able to date for the 3 DDH returned
only trace gold.
Glass Earth Ltd. acquired HPD New
Zealand Ltd. and its 20 permits total-
ing 4,040 km2 in the Coromandel,
Marlborough, and Otago regions. In the
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
Taupo Volcanic Zone, Glass Earth com-
menced detailed CSAMT resistivity sur-
veying over 16 of its 21 priority epither-
mal gold target areas, in conjunction
with soil geochemical surveys, Drilling
is planned to commence in April 2006.
Underworld Resources (NZ) Ltd.
completed EM and resistivity surveys,
and follow-up trenching at the Lottin
Point VMS prospect in the East Cape
area, North Island. Results are being
evaluated to define drill targets.
Auzex Ltd. completed reconnais-
sance exploration on their Buller and
Ross permits in western South Island.
Tungsten and Mo-Cu mineralisation
was confirmed at Mt Radiant (Buller)
and Kirwans (Ross), and mapping at
the historic Lyell gold mine (Buller)
enhanced its potential for Au mineral-
ization. Laser ablation analysis has
confirmed that the granites near Ross
and Buller have the potential to host
granite gold systems. Detailed geochem-
ical and drilling programs are being
planned.
OceanaGold commenced drilling at
the Inkerman/Supreme mesothermal
gold prospect 2.5 km south of their
Globe-Progress project in the Reefton
gold field, South Island. The Globe-
Progress mine devel-
to page 28 . . .
opment is proceeding
with a target gold
 28
... from 27 Exploration Reviews (Continued)
production by the end of 2006, mining
tenders and construction contracts are
currently being let. In Otago, Frasers
underground project is expected to com-
mence cutting a new portal in April
2006.
A joint venture between Great
Australian Resources and Southwest
Exploration completed 501 m of RC
drilling in 22 holes in the Arethusa
mesothermal gold prospect of the
Longwood Range in Southland. Best
reported result was 3 m @ 1.61 g/t Au
from surface in hole ARAC002.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
The truism that sovereign risk is
inversely proportional to metal prices is
reflected by increasing exploration
investment in Papua New Guinea and
more confidence in the regulatory and
fiscal policies of the PNG government.
The Yandera copper-molybdenum
prospect is back in the news with Perth-
based explorer Marengo Mining buy-
ing out its join-venture partner for a
cash and script offer of AUD$6 M.
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
Yandera has been intermittently
explored by a number of major compa-
nies since the 1960s, including BHP,
Kennecott, and Phelps Dodge. Marengo
is aiming to establish a resource of
around 100 Mt at 1% copper equiv.
Allied Gold reported a resource of
about 17.1 Mt @ 1.3 g/t Au for 712,000
oz Au at the Simberi gold deposit in the
Tabar Island Group west of Lihir Island.
Optimization studies suggest mining
75,000 oz/yr over a mine life of 7.8
years with operating costs of around
US$256/oz. Total capital cost estimate
for the project is around $44 M. The
most recently reported exploration
drilling results from the Sorowar
prospect include 10 m at 29.9 g/t Au
from 73 m.
Following the election of a new
autonomous government in 2005 there
have been reports of recent meetings
between Bougainville Copper and the
PNG government discussing the possible
resurrection of the Panguna Cu-Au
mine which contains a resource of
around 625 Mt @ 0.4% Cu and 0.4 g/t
gold. Previous cost estimates at restart-
ing the Panguna operation have been
put at more than AUD $1 billion. There
has been a moratorium on any form of
exploration on Bougainville Island
since the closure of the mine in 1989.
SEG NEWSLETTER
In the waters of PNG, Placer Dome
Inc., through its subsidiary Placer
Dome Oceania Ltd, completed a major
drilling program at the Suzette prospect
in the Eastern Manus basin ~100 km
north of Rabaul, where high-grade Cu-
Au sea-floor massive sulfide deposits
were discovered in the early 1990s by a
joint CSIRO-University of Toronto
expedition. Ltd. details of this pioneer-
ing work have been provided by Placer’s
joint-venture partner, Nautilus
Minerals, which pegged the ground in
1997. Placer Dome has committed to
spend US$7 M by April 2006 to earn a
40% interest in all deposits with at least
3 g/t Au, with rights to earn a further
35%. Under the terms of the farm-in
agreement, Nautilus retains the exclu-
sive right to any rich Cu-Zn deposits
with less than 3 g/t Au. Drill samples
have been sent for assay.
CANADA
Regional Correspondent:
T.G. (Tom) Schroeter (SEG 1988 F)
300-865 Hornby Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada V6Z 2G3
Tel. 1.604.660.2812
E-mail: Tom.Schroeter@gov.bc.ca
With contributions from
Monique Lavergne – Manitoba
Ross Sherlock (SEG 1989 F) –
Nunavut and NWT
Daniel E. Jiricka (SEG 2000) – Saskatchewan
MANITOBA
Exploration expenditures in Manitoba
are expected to exceed $53 M for 2005,
a 47% increase in spending from 2004.
The bullish sentiment for nickel has
restored interest in former producing
properties and camps in Manitoba.
Inco announced in August that it will
spend $45 M to develop the 1-D Lower
orebody in Thompson. Inco also con-
tinues to search for new ore sources in
the prolific Thompson Nickel Belt (TNB)
and in 2005 spent approximately $6.5
M for in-mine and surface exploration.
In addition, Inco has joint-venture part-
nerships in place with Canadian
Royalties on the TNB South project
and with Nuinsco Resources on the
Mel project. Crowflight Minerals con-
ducted an extensive winter drill cam-
paign in the Thompson and Wabowden
No 65 • APRIL 2006
areas on their large portfolio of proper-
ties under option from Falconbridge. A
feasibility study on the Bucko deposit at
Wabowden determined an indicated
resource of 1.8 M tonnes (t) of 2.1% Ni.
A summer surface in-fill drill program
increased Bucko’s indicated resource
base by 300,000 t. Seymour Explora-
tion is exploring on mineral leases
which cover the past-producing Lynn
Lake nickel mine. A recent independent
resource calculation confirmed that the
property contains measured and indi-
cated resources of 5.8 Mt grading 0.85%
Ni and 0.39% Cu, remaining in-situ.
In southeast Manitoba, Mustang
Minerals’ Maskwa nickel deposit con-
tains an indicated open-pit and under-
ground resource of 6.0 Mt grading
0.74% Ni and 0.15% Cu. In 2005,
Mustang discovered a wide zone of
nickel-copper mineralization at their
nearby Mayville property, with inter-
vals such as 33.6 m grading 1.06% Cu
and 0.50% Ni, within 61 m of slightly
lower-grade sulfides. Lac des Iles Mines
(LDI) entered an agreement to earn a
50% interest in Gossan Resources’ Bird
River property. The project covers 21
km of the Bird River Sill, which contains
concentrations of PGEs, nickel, copper,
zinc, and chromite.
In the Flin Flon-Snow Lake area,
Hudbay Minerals (formerly OntZinc
Corporation) acquired Hudson Bay
Mining and Smelting from Anglo
American in late 2004. In February,
Hudbay announced that they would
spend $10 M on exploration in the Flin
Flon greenstone belt.
Bema Gold and Wolfden Resources
completed 70 holes during winter and
summer/fall drilling at their
Monument Bay property in northeast
Manitoba. Inferred resources at
Monument currently (not including
2005 drill results) stand at 1.07 Mt grad-
ing 15.36 g/t Au, using an 8 g/t cutoff.
Claude Resources and partner Pioneer
Metals conducted drilling to test the
strike potential of the Nokomis Lake
gold zone near Sherridon. Claude was
also conducting work at the former pro-
ducing Tartan Lake gold mine near
Flin Flon. Drilling completed by Black
Pearl Minerals defined new high-grade
gold shoots at the Gold Dust and
McCafferty zones at Wekusko Lake. At
Gold Dust, two shoots were discovered,
returning values up to 17.4 g/t Au over
4.5 m; a new shoot discovered at
APRIL 2006 • No 65
McCafferty returned 63.74 g/t Au over
1.45 m. San Gold Resources and Gold
City Industries amalgamated to form
the new company San Gold
Corporation. San Gold owns the Bissett
gold operation in southeastern
Manitoba which consists of an 1100-tpd
mill and mine with proven and proba-
ble reserves of 818,000 t grading 9.2 g/t
Au. First production is scheduled for
April 2006, with production forecast at
30,000 oz for 2006. The company also
has three other near-surface gold deposits
located near the Bissett operation that
can supply additional feed to the mill.
Wildcat Exploration completed winter
drill programs at their Poundmaker and
Siderock properties near Bissett. Drilling
near the Poundmaker shaft intersected
near-surface mineralization grading 41.5
g/t Au over 0.6 m.
The search for diamonds in
Manitoba heated up again in late 2004
as interest shifted to the Hudson Bay
Lowland and Seal River areas west of
Churchill. De Beers Canada secured a
20,000 km2 land package at Seal River
based on positive sediment samples
obtained in earlier surveys. Western
Warrior Resources has outlined 35
kimberlite targets at their Eppler Lake
property near Seal River. Drilling is
planned for 2006. In the Hudson Bay
Lowland, juniors Falcon Ventures,
Diamonds North Resources, Foran
Mining, and Indicator Explorations
acquired exploration licences to search
for diamonds. Diamonds North
Resources and Stornoway Diamonds
entered a 50:50 joint venture agreement
to explore Diamonds North’s Manitoba
Highlands project.
The recent surge in uranium prices
has renewed exploration interest in the
northwest corner of Manitoba. The area
received considerable exploration for
uranium in the 1960s and 1970s.
CanAlaska Ventures conducted
◆ News Summaries
◆ Deposit Statistics
◆ Research Information
100 Lemming Dr. • Reno, Nevada 89523
phone: 775 345-2343 • fax 775 345-1317
http://www.activityupdate.com • info@activityupdate.com
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
SEG NEWSLETTER
prospecting and a detailed lake-sedi-
ment sampling survey on their North
East Athabasca project, and Santoy
Resources acquired a mineral explo-
ration licence adjoining CanAlaska’s
property to the northeast.
NUNAVUT
Starting in the east in the Qikiqtaaluk
(Baffin) region and working west,
Commander Resources is planning a
5,000-m drill program on its gold pro-
jects on Central Baffin Island.
Baffinland Iron Mines is continuing to
work on the Mary River iron ore project
in northern Baffin Island and have
announced a 7,000-m drill program
and plans to advance the project to a
bankable feasibility stage. In 2005,
Stornoway Diamond Corporation and
Contact Diamond Corporation con-
ducted a 76-day field program in south-
central Baffin. Results from an aero-
magnetic survey directly led to the
staking of approximately 75,000 acres
in the south central region of Baffin
Island which will be followed up in
2006.
In the Kivalliq (Keewatin) region,
Cumberland Resources is advancing
the Meadowbank project with a final
EIS hearing that was scheduled for
March 27, 2006, and has recently
announced a 9,000-m drill program
directed at adding additional resources
at the newly defined Cannu zone.
Comaplex Minerals has updated the
resource estimate on the Tiriganiaq
deposit, part of the Meliadine group of
deposits near Rankin Inlet, resulting in
1.2 Moz indicated and 1.6 Moz inferred.
In 2006, Comaplex is planning a
15,000-m drill program, with the goal
of advancing the deposit to production.
In 2006, newly listed Kaminak Gold is
planning on drill testing it’s Western
Churchill gold project and has
ORE AND THIN SECTION
PETROGRAPHY
35 YEARS EXPERIENCE WITH
ROCKS AND ORES FROM ALL OVER
T H E W O R L D . O P T I C A L M I C R O S C O P Y,
SEM AND MICROPROBE.
340 Sparrow Way
Carson City, Nevada 89704
29
optioned its Baker Lake uranium pro-
ject, to Pacific Ridge Exploration who
has committed to spending at least
$250,000 during 2006. Kaminak Gold’s
Matrix project, optioned to Newmont
Canada, has been successful in outlin-
ing auriferous conglomerate and
Newmont has announced that in 2006
they will be drill testing this target.
Committee Bay Resources has
regained 100% control of the
Committee Bay greenstone belt as
Goldfields Exploration converted their
interest into common shares. In 2006,
Committee Bay plans an aggressive
exploration program that will include
drilling at Three Bluffs and the new
discovery areas West Plains, Raven,
and Anuri. Starfield Resources is con-
tinuing to advance the Ferguson Lake
Ni-Cu-PGE project; between 1999 and
2005 Starfield drilled about 92,000 m
on the project and are continuing with
metallurgical work and advanced
exploration in 2006.
Strongbow Exploration and
Bayswater Ventures acquired the
North Thelon uranium project, consist-
ing of 330,794 acres over the northern
part of the Thelon basin in Nunavut.
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
The Thelon basin represents an under-
explored, major Proterozoic sandstone
basin that shares many geological char-
acteristics with the Athabasca basin
located in Saskatchewan, approxi-
mately 350 km to the south.
The Churchill diamond project is
comprised of mineral rights to more
than 2 million acres, located near the
community of Rankin Inlet and
Chesterfield Inlet in the Kivalliq region.
The project is owned by joint venture
partners Shear Minerals (51% and
operator), Stornoway (35%), and BHP
Billiton (14%). The partners recently
announced high counts of G10 pyrope
to page 30 . . .
garnets and kimber-
lite fragments within
LTL Petrographics
L . T. L A R S O N , P H D .
Phone: 775-849-0587
Email: RockdocL@Netscape.net
LTLPetrographics@yahoo.com
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
 30
... from 29 Exploration Reviews (Continued)
a till sample from the Sedna Corridor.
Follow-up detailed ground magnetics
and potentially drilling are planned.
The Aviat Joint Venture is a partnership
between Stornoway (70% and opera-
tor), BHP Billiton (20%), and Hunter
Exploration Group (10%) that covers
approximately 4 M acres of the Melville
Peninsula. To date, a cluster of nine
kimberlite bodies within a confined
area have been identified, all of which
are significantly diamondiferous, with
favorable early-stage microdiamond
distribution. Diamonds North will con-
tinue to be active in Nunavut, and with
the recently acquired 100% interest in
the 5-million-acre Amaruk property,
work in 2006 will include drilling,
prospecting, and geophysical surveys.
In the Kitikmeot (Slave province)
region of Nunavut, Miramar Mining is
starting a 34,000-m drill program on its
Hope Bay project. The final EIS hearing
on the Doris North project was con-
ducted in Cambridge Bay in late
January 2006 and the results are
expected by early March. In 2006,
Dundee Precious Metals will be con-
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
ducting a 25,000-m drill program on its
Back River project, mainly testing the
Goose and George Lake deposits.
Wolfden Resources is rapidly
becoming the major landholder in
Nunavut, with the recent acquisition of
the Izok, Hood, and Gondor base
metal projects from Inmet and the
acquisition of the Lupin mine from
Kinross. In the last several years
Wolfden’s main focus as been the High
Lake base metal project and the Ulu
gold project, both in the High Lake
greenstone belt in the northern Slave
province. The Izok deposit is one of the
world’s highest grade undeveloped base
metal deposits. The acquisition of
Lupin provides significant infrastruc-
ture in the region, as well as potential
for near-term production. Also with
base metal projects, Sabina Silver will
be commencing a winter drill program
on its Hackett River silver-zinc project
in March-April.
Strongbow Exploration had a suc-
cessful 2005 season in the Regan Lake
and Anialik belt, optioned from
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
(NTI). This will allow them to focus
their efforts in 2006 on priority targets
within these prospects. Tahera
Diamond completed construction and
began production from the Jericho
SEG NEWSLETTER
deposit in 2005, following in the foot-
steps of the Ekati and Diavik diamond
mines in the NWT. This has become
Canada’s third diamond mine and
Nunavut’s only producing mine.
Tahera is planning further exploration
on the Rockinghorse property and the
Hood River claims along with bulk
sampling of the Muskox kimberlite,
part of Tahera’s Polar project.
NORTHWEST
TERRITORIES
In the NWT, Seabridge Gold started a
15,000-m drill program at its 100%-
owned Courageous Lake gold project.
This project covers 53 km of the
Matthews Lake greenstone belt which
hosts the 2-km-long FAT deposit. The
FAT deposit contains an estimated 3.72
Moz in the measured and indicated cat-
egories (plus an additional estimated
5.23 Moz in the inferred category). Tyhee
Development continues to advance the
Yellowknife gold project with a prefea-
sibility study on the Ormsby zone.
Fortune Minerals continues to advance
the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth deposit
towards a bankable feasibility study
and recently announced an agreement
to purchase the Golden Giant mill for
the project. The deposit is proposed to
be mined by a combination of under-
ground and open pit methods, and the
ore would be processed in a 3,000 tpd
mill and hydrometallurgical plant to
produce gold doré, cobalt cathode, and
bismuth concentrate.
De Beers is developing the Snap
Lake project—an underground dia-
mond mine in the NWT, with construc-
tion through 2006 and production
scheduled for 2007. In addition, De
Beers has an advanced evaluation pro-
ject at Gahcho Kué in the NWT.
Peregrine Diamonds is completing a
bulk sample on the DO-27 kimberlite
and has started a drill program at the
Pellatt Lake property. Both of these
projects are located near the Diavik and
Ekati mines.
SASKATCHEWAN
The year 2005 was a stellar year for
mineral exploration in Saskatchewan;
estimated expenditures are CAN $120
M, up from $60 M last year.
Approximately $67 M (56%) of the
total exploration expenditures were
No 65 • APRIL 2006
spent in the search for uranium. The
uranium spot price has ballooned from
$7 (US) per pound in 2001 to $37 (US)
currently. Consequentially, in the two
years since Dec. 1, 2003, land disposi-
tions have almost doubled in number,
and quadrupled in area from 1,300
totaling 1.4 M ha to 2,355 totaling 5.6
M ha. There are more than 70 regis-
tered disposition holders in the
Athabasca region, mostly concentrating
on grassroots exploration and deposit
delineation.
Exploration results in 2005 were
impressive. COGEMA and UEX have
found more high-grade uranium at
their Shea Creek project south of the
former Cluff Lake mine. Recently
reported intersections included 5.4%
U308 over 37.7 m and 5.8 U308 over
13.7 m, among the best ever intersected
in the Athabasca basin. Under its par-
ticipation agreement, UEX can earn a
49% interest in 10 western Athabasca
projects, including Shea Creek, by fund-
ing $30 M in exploration over 11 years.
Cameco’s exploration efforts in the
Athabasca basin remain a combination
of brown-field (around existing mines)
and green-field (throughout the remain-
der of the basin) targets. Brown-field or
advanced exploration programs were
completed at Rabbit Lake, Dawn Lake,
Cree Extension, and McArthur River,
with all programs encountering signifi-
cant results
The Millennium discovery on the
Cree Extension project 35 km north of
Key lake remains Cameco’s most
advanced exploration project. Diamond
drilling last year was concentrated on
the deposit and directed towards increas-
ing the indicated resource inventory.
Green-field exploration continues to
get encouraging results at the
Centennial discovery on the Virgin
River project located 125 km west-
northwest of Key Lake. Intersections of
up to 5.83% U308 over 6.4 m have been
reported from this zone.
UEX’s Hidden Bay project, have
announced results of 4.93% U308
over10.1 m at their West Bear deposit
and 4.52% U308 over 0.5 ms at the
newly discovered Telephone Lake
drilling area.
JNR Resources Inc. and lnterna-
tional Uranium Corp. (IUC) have
reported results from summer drilling at
Moore Lake, southeast of Key Lake.
Two new zones of unconformity-style
APRIL 2006 • No 65
uranium mineralization were reported,
the most significant of which was the
Maverick Northeast yielding an inter-
section of 0.47% U308 over 3.5 m.
Canalaska Ventures Limited
reported encouraging results from its
Northeast Athabasca project near the
Saskatchewan-Manitoba border.
Highlights reported included uranium
boulder trains with boulders grading 0.2
% to 11.1 % U3O8 and mineralized out-
crops with grab samples containing up
to 9.5 % U308.
Approximately $9.7 M was spent
exploring for gold in 2005 (8% of the
total). The only current producer is the
Seabee mine, which has produced
700,000 ounces since Dec. 1991. Claude
Resources Inc. bulk sampled the Porky
West zone, located three km north of
the Seabee mine, and completed
dril!ing at Santoy 8 and 8 East. At
Santoy, about 14 km east of Seabee,
inferred mineral resources of 910,000 t
have been delineated in the area aver-
aging 8.7 glt Au, uncut. Claude is plan-
ning a ramp and bulk sampling pro-
gram in the first quarter of 2006.
Wescan Goldfields Inc. is taking
another look at the Jasper area north of
La Ronge. Cameco’s Jasper mine oper-
ated in 1990 and 1991, mining near-
surface ore and producing 155,000 t
grading 0.54 glt Au. The ore was pro-
cessed at the nearby Star Lake mill, pro-
ducing 83,700 oz gold.
Golden Band Resources holds a
land package of more than 73,000 ha
within the La Ronge gold belt. This
includes seven known gold deposits,
four former producing mines and a
licensed mill. Recently, the company
has concentrated on the Waddy Lake
area (particularly Tower East and
Memorial) and the Bingo deposit,
where an exploration decline helped
define the deposit.
Diamond exploration accounted for
$37.36 M, about 32% of total explo-
ration expenditures. Claims have dou-
bled from 2,012, totaling 710,000 ha in
December 2003, to 3,416 dispositions,
totaling 1.4 M ha in November 2005. In
the Fort a la Corne area, De Beers
Canada and Shore Gold are the main
players. Shore in particular has recov-
ered over 35,000 t kimberlite from its
Star underground test mine, containing
5,188 carats worth an estimated $135
per carat. Shore Gold has merged with
Kensington Resources, a 42.25% part-
ner with De Beers in the Fort a la Corne
(FALC) kimberlites adjacent to Shore’s
Star property. Shore also negotiated an
SEG NEWSLETTER
agreement with minority partner
Cameco, giving it an effective 58% vot-
ing majority on all properties in the area.
Great Western Diamonds Corp. has
defined two large kimberlite pipes con-
taining diamonds in the Candle Lake
area. The Candle Lake project is 110 km
northeast of Prince Albert, and north of
Smeaton.
CONTIGUOUS
UNITED STATES
Regional Correspondent:
Roger C. Steininger (SEG 1978)
Consulting Geologist
3401 San Mateo Ave.
Reno, NV 89509
Tel. 1.775.323.7775 Fax 1.775.323.1134
E-mail: audoctor@aol.com
ARIZONA
American Bonanza released resource
estimates for the Copperstone deposit
in La Paz County. The measured and
indicated resource is 1.07 Mt (Mt) at
0.313 opt Au with an additional
inferred resource of about 200,000 t at
0.317 opt Au. This higher grade core is
within a broader resource of about 3 Mt
with an average grade of 0.16 opt Au.
Phelps Dodge is moving ahead with
development of the Stafford copper
mine in Graham County. This is the
first totally new major copper mine to
be opened in the United States in more
than three decades.
Quincy Resources completed a
drilling program at their uranium-
bearing Rose breccia pipe in Coconino
County. Two mineralized zones were
encountered; one 49.5-ft interval aver-
ages 0.14% eU3O8 and a second 10-ft
interval averages 0.065% eU3O8. These
zones are 1400–1450 and 1756–1766 ft
down the drill hole.
Augusta Resources completed a
large drilling program at the Rosemont
copper-molybdenum deposit (Pima
County) to improve the resource esti-
mate. As a result, the deposit contains
a measured and indicated resource of
442 Mt of 0.51% Cu and 0.015% Mo,
with an additional inferred resource of
145 Mt of 0.45% Cu and 0.015% Mo, all
at a 0.20% Cu cutoff.
Quadra Mining acquired the
Carlota oxide copper deposit (Gila
County) and plans to develop a SX-EW
operation that will produce about 66
Mlb of copper per year for 11 years.
31
CALIFORNIA
Canyon Resources drilled 18 reserve
circulation and one core hole at Briggs
(Inyo County) with the intent of defin-
ing sufficient mineralization to restart
the mine. This drilling was around the
margins of the Briggs mine and between
Briggs and the Goldtooth mine. Several
10- to 15-ft intervals of 0.2X opt Au and
wider intervals of 0.0X opt Au were en-
countered and supplied sufficient encour-
agement to plan additional drilling.
MONTANA
Mining operations were suspended in
October 2005 at Montana Tunnels
(Jefferson County) and a notice of layoff
was recently given to all employees.
This sounds like the end of the line for
Montana Tunnels.
United Balero started development
of two molybdenum properties. Mining
is moving forward at Bald Butte (Lewis
and Clark County) and ore will be
shipped to a 1,000 tpd mill in Phillips-
burgh. The historic resource is about
131 Mt with an average grade of
0.077% Mo. Permitting is also under-
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
way at the Cannivan Gulch (Beaver-
head County) molybdenum deposit
which has a resource of about 300 Mt
with an average grade of 0.100% MoS2.
Of particular interest is a higher grade
zone within the deposit that might be of
more economic interest.
NEVADA
Nevada claim filings increased 14.4% in
2005 over 2004, and 2004 was up
24.9% over 2003. Unfortunately, there
is no way to track the number of claims
that are re-papered every 90 days to
avoid the filing fees. At least that part
of the industry uses a lot of paper which
helps keep the loggers busy.
Is Rob McEwen, ex-Goldcorp, intent
on buying Nevada? Initially he
invested several million dollars to buy
controlling interest, or at least signifi-
cant stakes, in U.S. Gold, White Knight
Resources, Coral Gold Resources,
Nevada Pacific Gold, and Tone
Resources. The next move was to offer
slightly north of $250 M to buy each of
these companies. McEwen stated goal is
to form the “premier exploration com-
pany” in Nevada, or maybe he just likes
living along the Battle Mountain-
Eureka Trend?
to page 32 . . .
White Knight
continues to report
 32
... from 31 Exploration Reviews (Continued)
results from last year’s drilling at Gold
Pick in Eureka County. Nineteen reverse
circulation holes totaling 11,700 ft were
drilled to test the extent of the gold
deposit. Most of the mineralized inter-
vals are in the 10- to 25-ft range with
grades up to 0.10 opt Au. At their
Slaven Canyon project (Lander County)
initial results are encouraging, with a
50-ft intercept that averages 0.092 opt
Au starting at about 80 ft below the sur-
face. Gold is hosted in brecciated chert
and argillite of the Slaven Chert.
Gateway Gold released a resource
estimate for the Big Springs deposit in
Elko County. Several cutoff grades were
used but the largest reported resource
was at a 0.025 opt Au cutoff and contains
about 15.4 Mt with an average grade of
0.078 opt Au. Drilling has apparently
not defined the entire deposit.
As Cortez Mines begins development
of the Cortez Hills deposit (Lander
County) two adits were started to pro-
vide underground access for exploration
of the deeper portion of the deposit.
This is the first modern underground
development along the Battle
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
Mountain-Eureka Trend.
Given the higher metal prices, Quadra
Mining reevaluated its reserves at
Robinson (White Pine County) and
concluded that the deposits contains an
aggregate proven and probable reserve
of about 145.5 Mt with an average
grade of 0.69% Cu and 0.007 opt Au,
plus by-product molybdenum. The pro-
jected mine life was increased from 8.3
to 10.3 years.
Queenstake Resources continues to
expand the Starvation Canyon gold
deposit (Elko County). Since October
2005, an additional 27 core and reverse
circulation holes have been completed,
totaling 15,544 ft. Two of the more
impressive holes contain 60 ft of 0.357
opt Au and 45 ft of 0.413 opt Au. The
deposit is still open in several directions.
Midway Gold continues to explore
the Spring Valley gold deposit (Pershing
County). Gold mineralization is beneath
50 to 300 ft of alluvium in the basal por-
tion of the Rochester rhyolite that con-
sists of intercalated lithic tuff, welded
tuff, flow banded rhyolite, and spherulitic
rhyolite. Mineralization is along the
northeast margin of a large diatreme
with secondary breccias. Gold occurs in
a hydrothermal breccia, stockwork veins
along the diatreme margin, and stock-
work veins and breccias in the rhyolites.
SEG NEWSLETTER
Gryphon Gold is in the midst of a
large drilling program in the Borealis
mine area (Mineral County) and identi-
fied additional resources around the
exist pits and significant expansions of
the Graben deposit. Significant
mineralization was also identified in an
area not previously drilled between the
East Ridge and Northeast Ridge pits.
One hole in this area contains an inter-
val of 145 ft of 0.021 opt Au, starting
from the surface. One hole at the north-
eastern margin of the Freedom Flats
deposit encountered 245 ft of 0.054 opt
Au, including 35 ft of 0.189 opt Au. Two
holes along the eastern margin of the
Graben deposit near Freedom Flats,
encountered 85 ft of 0.069 opt Au and
250 ft on 0.061 opt Au. All of these min-
eralized areas are still open.
Gold Summit is renewing drilling at
Monte Cristo (Esmeralda County) and
completed a 43-101 evaluation of the
property. The document puts the inferred
resource at 365,000 t with a grade of
0.19 opt Au opt Au and 0.60 opt Ag.
It is only fair to report all of the
action on a property. Remember those
drill hole intercepts that New Sleeper
Gold announced from the Sleeper prop-
erty (Humboldt County)? They were so
good that New Sleeper has terminated
the agreement with X-Cal and took a
write-down of about $20 M.
Metallic Ventures completed a 14-
hole reverse circulation drilling pro-
gram totaling 6,300 ft at Gemfield and
again failed to define the edges of the
deposit. Most of the holes encountered
significant intervals (up to 100+ ft) of
low- to mid-0.01X opt Au. Much of the
mineralization is oxidized and occurs in
the Sandstorm Rhyolite Formation.
Hecla Mining is developing under-
ground access for drill stations at the
Hollister Development Block of the
Ivanhoe property (Elko County). About
2,700 ft from the portal the Gwenivere
veining was intersected. Channel sam-
pling of the west and east ribs produced
an average thickness of 11.7 ft with an
average grade of about 1.4 opt Au.
The last issue of this column con-
tained a summary of favorable results
at AuEx Ventures’ Pequop drilling
(Elko County). After those results were
released, NewWest Gold Corp. stepped
forward and notified AuEx that it owns
the mineral rights to a substantial por-
tion of the Long Canyon mineralized
area. After much soul-searching and
No 65 • APRIL 2006
renewed land-status investigations, AuEx
concluded that the NewWest claim has
“merit.” Two actions are on-going,
negotiations between the two compa-
nies are in progress, and every landman
in Nevada is searching their records to
see if they have any liability. In the lat-
ter case there are several calls to insur-
ance agents for liability insurance.
Miranda Gold reports that Barrick
Gold completed a 1,500+ ft core hole at
their Horse Mountain project (Lander
County). The hole encountered the
Roberts Mountains thrust at about 940
ft which contained some gold mineral-
ization in the upper plate rocks and a
substantial thickness of gold mineral-
ization in the Roberts Mountains Forma-
tion below the thrust. The interval is
96.2 ft thick with an average grade of
0.023 opt Au. The interval is strongly
decalcified, oxidized, argillized, and
brecciated. I continue to ask the question
about these types of deep plays to test
under the Roberts Mountains thrust:
now what? It is really expensive to chase
low-grade gold mineralization at these
depths in the hope that the gold zone
will become higher grade and larger.
Klondex Mines’ on-going drilling at
Fire Creek (Lander County) continues
to intersect high-grade gold mineraliza-
tion. The latest release of assays con-
tains a 10-ft section of 1.73 opt Au, with
others in the 5- to 10-ft range of 0.25
opt Au and greater.
Royal Standard Minerals completed
14 holes in and around the POD
resource (Elko County) to collect metal-
lurgical samples and to further test the
high-grade core of the deposit. One hole
intersected 110 ft of 0.134 opt Au, which
resulted in extending the core of the de-
posit and opened addition possibilities.
Staccato Gold Resources drilled
three core holes at its South Eureka
project (Eureka County) which in a pre-
vious life was known as Ratto Canyon.
All holes intersected higher grade gold
intervals that are sulfide bearing. The
best interval is 65 ft of 0.344 opt Au.
NEW MEXICO
When was the last time any mining
news from New Mexico appeared in the
column? Amazing what the price of
uranium will do to the mining industry.
Miners will go to places previously
unthinkable. Quincy Energy, remem-
ber them in Oregon as Quincy Gold,
APRIL 2006 • No 65
optioned the Crownpoint property in
McKinley County. They estimate a
resource of 9.966 Mt of 0.1048 eU3O8.
UTAH
Western Utah Copper/Palladon
Ventures intersected about 15 ft of
3.7% Cu and 24.6 opt Ag in a drill hole
near the Beaver carbonate mine
(Beaver County). This is part of a wider
exploration program in the San
Francisco and Beaver Lake Mountains
districts. Farther to the east in the Rocky
Range of Beaver County, the joint ven-
ture drilled three holes into the Candy
B deposit and intersected from 100 to
150 ft of from about 1% Cu to 0.50%
Cu. This drilling is part of development
plans for several small skarn copper
deposits in the district.
WASHINGTON
This I could not resist. You know you
are in a boom cycle if a local indige-
nous group decides to vote on lifting the
moratorium on mining on the reserva-
tion and to consider molybdenum min-
ing at Mount Tolman. Is Mt. Emmons
next? Those are about all the molybde-
num deposits that are left on the shelf.
EUROPE
Regional Correspondent:
Mac Canby (SEG 2003)
Phelps Dodge Exploration Corp.
Cobham, Surrey KT11 3HY
United Kingdom
Tel. +44 1932 865 367
E-mail: mcanby@phelpsd.com
Contributions from
Peter Kodera (SEG 2002) – Slovakia
This and next few quarters are key peri-
ods in development decisions at major
advanced exploration and expansion
MINERALS EXPLORATION &
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY
Advanced survey, analytical and interpretational methods
for exploration through exotic overburden.
Plant • Soil • Gas • Rock • Standards
Specialty Sample Preparation
P.O. Box 18325, Reno, Nevada 89511
Tel: 775-849-2235 • Fax: 775-849-2335
SheaClarkSmith@compuserve.com
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
SEG NEWSLETTER
projects across Europe, including Rosia
Montana Au (Romania), Chelopech
CuAu (Bulgaria), Copler Au (Turkey),
Surikusiko Au (Finland), and Caldag
Ni (Turkey). While previous exploration
news has largely come from Cenozoic-
Mesozoic magmatic-related districts in
southern and eastern Europe, gold
exploration in the Precambrian of
Fennnoscandia has rather quietly suc-
ceeded and continuously expanded;
odds are that one of these projects will
evolve into another world-class meta-
morphic-hosted Au terrain. Meanwhile,
juniors continued further diversification
into silver and uranium, reflecting a
market appetite for these.
ARMENIA
Iberian Resources’ scoping study for
Lichkvaz Au (8.86 Mt at 3.78 g/t Au,
23.9 g/t Ag, 0.31% Cu) confirms a
potential low cash-cost producer (total
cash operating costs of approximately
US$200/oz Au equiv). Initial stage-one
capital cost is approximately US$4 M.
Preliminary financial assessment indi-
cates the project will be cash flow posi-
tive in the 4th quarter of 2006.
BULGARIA
Thanks to their dogged persistence
against the forces of evil to derail their
work, EurOmax Resources Ltd. will
resume exploration activities on its
Petelevo high-sulfidation Au target on
Popintzi license as soon as possible,
since the injunction restraining the
Company from exploring was termi-
nated on March 3, 2006.
Teck Cominco and Euromax initi-
ated an agreement wherein Teck may
earn up to 70% interest in Euromax’s
granitoid-hosted Trun Au targets (Big
Hill and K prospects). Previous Euromax
work returned trenches with up to 40 m
Recursos del Caribe, S.A.
Contract Mineral Exploration in Central
America and the Caribbean Basin
Carl E. Nelson, President
Tel: 303-939-9517 • www.CBMap.net
33
at 4.3 g Au and 257 g Ag, and drill
intercepts with up to 108 m at 0.8 g Au
and 18 m 1g Au with 163 g Ag.
The Supreme Environmental Council
of Bulgaria voted in favor of a resolu-
tion to approve Dundee Precious
Metals Environmental Impact
Assessment (“EIA”) for the Chelopech
CuAu expansion project. Final approval
awaits signature of the Minister of
Environment and Water of the resolu-
tion on or before March 15, 2006
SE Europe Geoscience Foundation
(SEEGF), completed a two-day epither-
mal-porphyry short course by Jeff
Hedenquist in January. SEEGF also
awarded over $45,000 in 16 research
grants to a broad range of geoscience
students in five countries. If you are not
currently involved in this excellent effort
at supporting young geoscientists, please
consider doing so—it is remarkably
effective support of student work largely
on behalf of the mining community.
Cambridge Minerals/Asia Gold
reports a drill intersection of 9 m of 1.29
g Au, 40 g Ag from a six-hole, 1293.3-m
core program at a newly recognized tar-
get at the southern part of their Tash-
laka Hill low-sulfidation epithermal
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
target, Rhodopes mountains. Intercepts
of chalcedonic and brecciated amethys-
tine quartz, not seen hitherto at Tashlaka,
contains high Ag/Au ratio which Cam-
bridge interprets as potential above-ore
mineralization. Adjacent holes hit low-
grade mineralization including 11.0 m
at 0.46 g Au, 12 g Ag. Asia Gold has
spent $1.14 M to date on the project.
CYPRUS
Eastern Mediterranean drilled the
North Alestos, Kilrou and South Pano
Koutrafas Cu-Zn prospects; best results
were at North Alestos, where holes par-
tially tested deep EM
to page 34 . . .
and IP targets within
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
 34
... from 33 Exploration Reviews (Continued)
a magnetic low. All holes intersected
~150 m of chlorite-altered, sulfidic pil-
low lavas apparently typical of periph-
ery of Cyprus-style copper deposits, and
contained up to 4.0 m at 0.4% Cu, 0.2%
Zn; drilling has thus established Cu-
bearing, strong alteration over 1 km at
North Alestos. Eastern Mediteranean
expects the alteration system to extend
further under cover, thus making it
large enough to host several 10 Mt cop-
per pods that they seek.
SPAIN
Cambridge Minerals acquired the Masa
Valverde massive sulfide deposit which,
by their own preliminary resource mod-
eling, contains inferred resources at 0.5%
cutoff, of ~80 Mt 0.76% Cu 0.38% Pb
1.28% Zn 22.4 g Ag and 0.43 g Au. Masa
Valverde was discovered by Penarroya-
ADARO, the former Spanish state-owned
consortium, by drilling a 1,000 × 850 m
gravity anomaly.
Despite recent high-grade Au drill
intersections from “Area 107” located
~250 m from its existing underground
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
workings, Rio Narcea will close the El
Valle/Carles Au operations in 2006,
partially as a result of the Asturias
region’s August 2005 rejection of their
“change of land use” application
required to develop the intrusion-hosted
Salave Au project, some 70 km distant.
Salave concentrates were intended for
processing at El Valle.
Eurozinc announces that surface
drilling (2,170 m/6 holes) extended the
Neves orebody 190 m westward, with
intersections of up to 9.5 m (true) of
massive sulfides, including 5.1 m 2.08%
Cu, 2.44% Pb and 5.82% Zn. Average
thickness of massive sulfide in the
recent drilling is 12.2 m. These and pre-
vious results substantially extend the
deposit over a 1 km strike length.
Updated reserves/resources at Neves
Corvo total 16.81 Mt of 5.47% (proven
and probable) Cu ore; 10.6 Mt of 7.86%
Zn (probable) as Zn ore; total resources
(measured and indicated) are 18.67 Mt
of 5.97% Cu, 0.26% Pb, 1.1% Zn; and
indicated Zn resources are 24.1 Mt at
0.41% Cu, 1.4%Pb, 5.5% Zn, 62.05g Ag.
TURKEY
Anatolian Mineral-RT joint venture
reported encouraging preliminary
flotation tests on supergene-enriched Cu
SEG NEWSLETTER
(Au-Mo) mineralization at the
Kizilviran porphyry, with recoveries of
95% Cu, 92% contained Au and
80–85% Mo. The exploration commu-
nity awaits news of a resource number
on this interesting deposit, which likely
represents Turkey’s largest porphyry
Cu(AuMo) discovery to date, as well as
indication whether it will be developed
by RT. Meanwhile, feasibility study for
Anatolia’s 1.8-Moz Çöpler oxide Au
resource was on track for completion by
the end of the first quarter 2006; the
study contemplates a 5,000 tpd mill
and a 10,000 tpd heap leach, generat-
ing in excess of 150,000 oz Au per year.
Odyssey Resources embarked on a
100-hole/2,800 m RVC drill program on
100-m grid at its Tavsan epithermal Au
target. The program will cover a 3-km
strike length from the Sivri zone in the
south, north to the End zone in the
north. Much of the large shallow-dip-
ping slab of gold-bearing jasperoid at
Tavsan has never been drilled.
Ariana Resources discovered Au-
bearing epithermal quartz float
containing 2.2–6.1g Au on their
Cinarpinar license, western Turkey.
Rock chip samples at Kösedere returned
up to 0.19% Cu and 0.25% Zn. Ariana
continues to report encouraging chan-
nel samples at their low-sulfidation
Kepez Au vein target in Balikesir
Province, western Turkey. All five chan-
nel samples intersecting significant
mineralization including 8.68 g/t Au
over 16 m and 6.28 g/t Au over 11 m;
one of which ended in >8 g/t Au at each
end. The KV vein at Kepez has now
been mapped for 475 m and remains
open along the strike. Evaluation of an
ASTER target, located 0.5 km south of
KV, was scheduled to resume in April.
Channels spaced at 40-m intervals
along 240-m of strike at the Arzu,
Kepez, intersected from 1.25 g/t over
17.5 m to 2.12 g/t over 12.0 m; the sys-
tem is open in all directions and several
trenches terminated in mineralization.
Vein textures and trace elements indi-
cate the upper part of an epithermal
system and, supported by historic drill
data, gold grades are expected to
increase with depth
European Nickel (ENickel) reported
that pilot recoveries at its Çaldag pro-
ject reached 73.2% Ni and 75.8% Co,
exceeding planned recoveries of 70%
used in the feasibility study announced
in November.
No 65 • APRIL 2006
Eurasian Minerals reports weak
Au(Cu) intersections in 4 core holes/520
m from Barrick’s second drill phase at
the Sissorta high-sulfidation Au target,
northern Turkey, best of which was 33.7
m of 0.47g Au, as well as intervals of
~200 to 400 ppm Cu, downdip and
along strike of previous intervals con-
taining somewhat higher grades.
Barrick has terminated its potential
earn-in on Sissorta.
Eldorado Gold continues to report
isolated encouraging drill intervals of
up to 144.9 m at 0.75 g Au and 0.81%
Cu within a cluster of lower-grade adja-
cent drill intervals (~0.1–2 g Au and
0.1–0.3% Cu) at its 50% joint venture
AS porphyry CuAu target, western
Turkey. Eldorado’s aggressive 2006 pro-
gram of $6 M and 25,000 m drilling
suggests there may be more here than
meets the eye.
ROMANIA
Carpathian Gold Inc. reports encour-
aging intersections in both holes drilled
into quartz-magnetite stockworked
microdiorite at the previously identified
Colnic Au(Cu) porphyry on its Rovina
license including 244.5 0.86 g Au and
0.13% Cu in angle hole RCD-1; both
holes bottomed in mineralization.
Carpathian will expand on these
results. Carpathian also intersected of
2.5 m at 2.83 g Au and 63.7 g Ag in cal-
careous sediments at 25 m below sur-
face on the Carbunari-Stinapari
prospect, Oravita License.
European Goldfields signed a JV with
General Samara whereby they can earn
80% of the Magura Tebii Au target by
taking the project to full feasibility.
Magura Tebii hosts phreato-magmatic,
hydrothermally altered polymictic brec-
cia within neogene quartz-amphibole
andesites, containing NW-striking quartz
veins and quartz andesite dikes. Historic
workings indicate a ~800 × 300 m zone,
where several trenches on 80 m spacings
show from 9 m at 2.9 g Au to 55 m at
2.8 g Au. Deva Gold S.A. grab sampling
confirms grades of 2 to 5 g Au. At
Pitigus Au, 7 km from European
Goldfield’s Certej Au deposit, gold occurs
in a north striking quartz-calcite-barite
vein system with several associated
splays and adjacent potassic/argillic
altered andesites between the veins, over
a strike of 300 m with an average true
width of 12 m. Drilling on ~80 × 30 m
APRIL 2006 • No 65
grid returned from 1 m at 1.1 g Au to 23
m 2.8 g Au 3 g Ag. At Hondol Carol,
0.5 km from Certej, diamond drilling on
20 × 30 m grid works to define an open
pittable resource; mineralization is
hosted in three crosscutting quartz-
barite vein systems and in potassically
altered andesites.
Gabriel Resources reports positive
developments at Rosia Montana Au
and has launched a concerted media
campaign on the merits of Europe’s
largest potential new open-pit metal
mine, a porphyry deposit in scale if not
in geology. Gabriel reports that reserves
are expected to decline by approxi-
mately 5%, primarily as a result of
expanding the buffer zone around the
protected area (reducing the size of
three of the four pits), as well as a more
conservative estimating method. Their
EIA was on track for completion at end
of 1st quarter 2006 and construction
permits are expected in 2nd half 2006,
with first gold pour expected in spring
2009. Successful start-up of this mine
would be a historic milestone for a new
generation of mining in Europe.
UKRAINE
Eurogold reports that the first five of its
94-hole underground confirmation and
resource expansion drill program show
early signs of confirming the 578,000-oz
Au resource (categories C1+C2 by Soviet
system) defined historically at Saulyak.
Intercepts to date, including 8.82 m at
7.88 g Au and 7.08 m at 5.58 g Au, so
far confirm previous results.
SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
Eurasian Mineral’s delineated a coher-
ent Au soil anomaly with 0.03 g to
0.328 g Au at their Bukovic high-sulfi-
dation Au target, Plavkovo license; sys-
tematic rock samples within this
anomaly contain 0.005 to 1.74 g Au
and average 0.267 g, with a high of 8 m
0.62 g Au. At the adjacent Plavkovo
target, located 2700 m NE of Bukovik,
chip sampling along 360 m strike across
a 150-m, east-west striking zone of
quartz-sulfide veinlets returned up to 8
m 1.41 g Au and 26.7 m 0.37 g Au,
including 16.2 m of 0.21% Cu; the
“gypsum zone” located ~400 m east
yielded 14.2 m 0.58 g Au, suggesting
possible a potential mineralized strike
of 800 m if the two zones are connected.
At Eurasian Mineral’s Gradiste tar-
get, a 200-m soil grid defines a central
zone 2,500 × 500 m containing 100 to
SEG NEWSLETTER
450 ppm Cu, flanked by a peripheral
Au soil anomaly with 0.036 to 0.489 g
Au including an isolated sample with
8.66 g Au; outcrops within the zone
contain up to 6 m at 0.56% Cu and
0.482 g; mineralization occurs as
quartz-carbonate veins and veinlets, as
well as CuBiAuAg veins similar to the
abandoned Aldin Do mine nearby.
Float samples in the Miljanina Cuka
area averaged 10.8 g Au 0.32% Cu with
a maximum of 55 g gold.
SLOVAKIA
Tournigan drilled 3 holes/1,500 m at
their Jahodná U-Mo target to confirm
results from 53 preexisting holes. Best
intervals include 0.9 m of 10.33% U3O8
and 1.13% Mo. According to previous
exploration, Jahodná hosts a resource
of 19 Mlb U3O8 and 19 Mlb Mo at
0.39% U3O8 and 0.38% Mo, hosted by
quartz-carbonate stockwork zone 500 m
along strike, 500 m down dip, and 2.54
m thick, in Permian volcanic-sedimen-
tary rocks. The top of the potentially
underground-minable resource block
begins approximately 150 m below sur-
face.
Eastern Mediterranean Resouces
seeks bedrock source of historical placer
deposits Zlatníky Au, and announced
anomalous stream sediments including
0.226 g and 0.183 g Au; float vein
quartz from a third adjacent stream
assayed 3.9 g Au.
FINLAND
Agnico-Eagle upgraded confidence lev-
els at Suurikuusikko Au to 2.3 Moz of
probable reserves (13.8 Mt at 5.3 g Au);
measured and indicated resources are
1.9 Mt at 4.2 g Au for 252,000 oz Au;
inferred resources are 6.7 Mt 4.4 g Au or
934,000 oz Au. A feasibility study near-
ing completion contemplates 3,000 tpd
initially from open pit and transition-
ing to underground; capital expendi-
tures are estimated at ~$170 M.
Taranis Resources, joint ventured
with Royal Gold Inc., continued
drilling on Kettukuusikko Au prospect.
Northland plans a next phase of
diamond drilling at Barsele Au as soon
as permits are obtained and drill rigs
are available. Highlights at Barsele
include 178 m @ 1.26 g Au. European
Diamonds began first stage processing
of 500 t of kimberlite from the
Lahtojoki pipe, southern Finland, at
the Geological Survey of Finland’s dia-
mond facility at Outokumpu. Sunrise
35
Diamonds reports a further kimberlite
discovery as a result of follow-up
drilling of a geophysical anomaly some
200 m away from of the Anomaly 45
kimberlite at Kuusamo; 4.4 m of kim-
berlite hosted in granite was intersected
at a down-hole depth of 12.2 m.
SWEDEN
Mawson Resources Ltd will drill five
Au targets in Sweden, including a 150-
hole, ~1,500 m “peek hole” bedrock
program at Middagsberget North,
where the company discovered bonanza
grade Au in surface boulders during
2005; the large angular boulders con-
tained from 0.01 g Au to 60.8 g Au,
averaging 6 g Au. The drilling program
will attempt to locate the boulder
source. At Vargbäcken Au, RC drilling
will test a new soil Au anomaly located
600 m to the north east of main miner-
alized body, associated with a gold-
bearing diorite. Mawson added to its
existing uranium portfolio at Flitsjarn,
with acquisition of uranium targets at
Duoblonn, Klappibacken, and Tasjo.
Mawson’s Angesdal Au project lies on
the southern “gold line” and a 75-hole
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
bedrock drill program is planned to test
magnetic anomalies located 7 km
along strike from Lappland Goldminers’
1.9 Moz Fäboliden gold project, cur-
rently under prefeasibility.
Tumi Resources Ltd is aggressively
acquiring Ag and Ag-polymetallic tar-
gets in the Bergslagen district. 1
SEG DECEASED MEMBERS
FOR 2005
G. Christian Amstutz (SF 55)
Amado Anda (M 99)
Ross L. Andrew (F 94)
Edward M. Bennett (LF 63)
David F. Blight (F 89)
Johannes J. Brummer (SF 54)
Stanton W. Caddey (F 85)
Keith B. Duguid (F 04)
Alaster C. Edwards (M 79)
Christopher B. Gillette (M 98)
Tsu-Ming Han (SF 60)
William P. Johnston (SF 51)
Richard A. Keele (M 04)
Colin D. McLachlan (M 03)
Horacio A. Magliola-Mundet (F 78)
James J. Norton (SF 52)
 36 SEG NEWSLETTER No 65 • APRIL 2006

GOLD DEPOSITS: NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND EXPLORATION (SEG workshop)

The Society of Economic Geologists is offering its very successful Gold Deposit Workshop as a two-day course to be held
in Antofagasta, Chile after the XI Chilean Geological Congress. This course will be given in English and is similar to
those previously held in Beijing and Moscow. Speakers will include Richard Goldfarb (USGS) - Orogenic Gold Deposits,
Noel White (consultant, Brisbane) - Epithermal Gold Deposits, Craig Hart (Yukon Geological Survey and Centre for
Exploration Targeting, University of Western Australia) - Intrusion-related Gold Deposits and Steve Garwin (ex-
Newmont, now part of Geoinformatics Exploration, Perth) - Carlin-type Gold Deposits. Materials presented will be rich
in geological descriptions of some of the world’s best examples of these deposit types, and include sections on tectonic-
and structural-settings, geochemical and geophysical signatures and exploration methods.
This workshop will be of interest to all geologists, particularly those involved in gold exploration. Those interested in
attending the workshop should contact Steve Garwin in order to ensure a place.
DATE & PLACE: 12-13 August, 2006, in Antofagasta, Chile
SPEAKERS: Richard Goldfarb, Noel White, Craig Hart and Steve Garwin (in English).
ENROLLMENT: professionals and students
FEES: Early registration (prior to 16 June) – 300 USD for industry, 180 USD for academic staff and 50 USD for students.
Late registration (after 16 June) – 375 USD for industry, 225 USD for academic staff and 65 USD for students.
SEG members receive a discount of 80 USD for professionals and 25 USD for students.
Professionals wishing to receive the discounted fee may submit an application to join the SEG along with the course
registration payment or apply in person on the first day of the course. For those students who are not already members
of the SEG, the course registration fee will include a one-year SEG membership.
STUDENT TRAVEL SUBSIDY: South American students who wish to attend the course and are in need of assistance with
travel / accommodation costs should contact Steve Garwin.
SPONSORS TO DATE (ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME): AngloAmerican – Chile, AngloGold Ashanti – Colombia,
Barrick – Chile, Coeur d’Alene – Chile, Goldfields – Chile, Hochschild – Peru, Newcrest – South America; Teck-Cominco –
Chile, and the SEG Foundation
CONTACT: Steve Garwin (steve.garwin@geoinformex.com).
REGISTRATION: Download form at: <www.segweb.org/ChileGoldCourse.pdf>.

XI CONGRESO
GEOLOGICO CHILENO
August, 7–11, 2006 — Antofagasta, Chile
Antofagasta, situated in the heart of the northern
Chilean copper province, is hosting the XI Congreso
Geológico Chileno.
The Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas of the
Universidad Católica del Norte, invites you to this
international event and encourages you to present your
research papers to the geological community.
Several symposia and thematic sessions on topics
highly relevant to South American metallogeny as well
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pre-Congress Workshop
Environmental Geology and
Geochemistry of Mine Wastes
This workshop will take place from August 4th
until 6th in Copiapó, Chile, and includes a field
visit to the Chañaral area. The activity is coordi-
nated with the XI Congreso Geológico Chileno and
is designed for professional geologists, advanced
level students as well as mining engineers and met-
allurgists interested in the environmental aspects of
mine wastes. The course will be concentrated on
geochemical and geomicrobiological processes, as
well as recognition and remediation of sources of
contamination. The course will be taught in
Spanish by Dr. Bernhard Dold, University of
Lausanne, Switzerland. Registration is open until
May 31, 2006. Cost for professionals: 230'000

Pesos Chilenos (~ 435$ US) a limited number of

as intra-meeting field-trips to the mines of Escondida,
Chuquicamata and El Peñon are planned.
CONTACT:
Secretaría Ejecutiva, XI Congreso Geológico Chileno 2006,
Av. Angamos 0610, Antofagasta Chile
e-Mail: congreso2006@ucn.cl – www.congresogeologico2006.cl
students will be admitted free of charge.
CONTACT: Thomas Bissig, tbissig@ucn.cl;
B. Dold, bernhard.dold@unil.ch.
Further information and preliminary program
available on: http://www.congresogeologico
2006.cl/?topshow=cursogeologia
APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 37

NORTHWEST MINING ASSOCIATION TAKES ITS 112TH The best selling Economic Geology
ANNUAL MEETING, EXPOSITION & SHORT COURSES 100th Anniversary
TO RENO ... Volume celebrates the
DECEMBER 4 - 8, 2006
centenary of the journal.
JOHN ASCUAGA’S NUGGET H OTEL & CASINO RESORT The volume has three
SPARKS, NEVADA parts: Earth environments
SHORT COURSES INCLUDE and processes, ore de-
Uranium ◆◆Using Remote Sensing Effectively for Exploration ◆◆ posit types, and regional
U.S. Forest Service Permitting Case Studies metallogeny. Its goal is
MINERAL DEPOSITS, GEOLOGY AND E XPLORATION SESSIONS to meet the needs and
SEG’s Session ◆◆ State & Province Reports ◆◆ Geology and Exploration in the interests of economic
Cortez Hills/Battle Mountain - Eureka Mineral Belt ◆◆ Alaska Projects Moving geologists in industry,
Toward Development ◆◆ New and Re-discoveries ◆◆ Large Left Lateral Leaps government, and
◆◆ Nevada Exploration Update: New Successes & Significant Developments

◆◆ Re-Discoveries and New Ideas ◆◆ Tungsten & Molybdenum ◆◆

academia, both profes-
Diamonds & Other Precious Stones ◆◆ Industrial Minerals sional and student, for
BUSINESS AND F INANCE SESSIONS concise and up-to-date
Education & Workforce Issues ◆◆ GrowthCompanies ◆◆ overview papers that provide a
Mineral Development synthesis of important topics in economic geology.
OPERATIONS SESSIONS
Canadian Juniors Doing Business in the U.S. ◆◆ Health and Safety ◆◆ Editors: Jeffrey W. Hedenquist, John F.H. Thompson,
Metallurgy ◆◆ New Technologies ◆◆ Underground Mining Richard J. Goldfarb, and Jeremy P. Richards
LEGISLATIVE & PUBLIC AFFAIRS SESSIONS Society of Economic Geologists
Sustainable Development ◆◆ Nevada Issues ◆◆ Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Hard cover, 1146 pages
E NVIRONMENTAL SESSIONS 95 color plates
Reclamation Successes ◆◆ Restoration of Abandoned Mines CD-ROM with supplemental material

For more information contact NWMA Price: $100 (members, $80)

Phone: (509) 624-1158 Fax: (509) 623-1241
Email: pheywood@nwma.org Web: nwma@nwma.org Online Bookstore: <https://store.agiweb.org/seg/>

UNESCO-SEG-SGA Latin
American Metallogeny Course
Antofagasta, Chile –
June 6–16, 2006
This year the course is devoted to
Metallogeny of Magmato-
Hydrothermal Processes
Instructors:
Dr. Fernando Barra, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
Dr. Thomas Bissig, Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile
Dr. Eduardo Campos, Universidad de Concepción, Chile
Dr. Larryn Diamond, University of Bern, Switzerland
Dr. Lluís Fontboté, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Dr. Diego Morata, Universidad de Chile, Chile
Dr. Richard Tosdal, MDRU, University of British Columbia, Canada
Dr. Fernando Tornos, IGME, Spain (International Academic
Coordinator)
For information contact:
ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dr. Thomas Bissig,

Universidad Católica del Norte, Depto. Ciencias Geológicas
Av. Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile
Tel. + 56 55 355 968 (o directo:...234), Fax. +56 55 355 977
303.403.8383 pusa@rmi.net E-mail: tbissig@ucn.cl
www.specmin.com Website: <http://www.unige.ch/sciences/terre/
mineral/seminars/latinometal.html>
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
 38 SEG NEWSLETTER No 65 • APRIL 2006

12th Quadrennial IAGOD Symposium

Moscow, 21-24 August 2006

CALL FOR PAPERS —

ABSTRACT DEADLINE:
JULY 11, 2006
International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (IAGOD)
Society of Economic Geologists (SEG)
Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) SEG at GSA
Department of Earth Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting
Federal Agency of Mineral Resources,
Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Moscow State University
October 22–25, 2006
The 12th Quadrennial IAGOD Symposium - 2006 “UNDERSTANDING THE GENE-
SIS OF ORE DEPOSITS to meet the demands of the 21st Century” is devoted Topical Session T26:
to bringing together professionals in different fields of economic geology, “Experimental Investigations into
geochemistry and mineralogy: academic researchers and experts, students, Hydrothermal Systems: Implications
and mining and exploration company personnel. Join us in Moscow to share for Mass Transfer in the Earth’s
understanding and to define common goals for today and the future! Crust” Coordinated by Brian Rusk
(bgrusk@usgs.gov) and John
SEG 2006 International Exchange Lecturer Keynote Speaker Kaszuba (jkaszuba@lanl.gov)
Douglas J. Kirwin (SEG 1997 F)
Topical Session T43:
Website: <http://www.iagod.sgm.ru/> “Addressing Present and Future
Energy, Mineral, and Water Issues
in the Classroom: The Need to
Prepare Both Educated Citizens
and Geoscientists” Coordinated by
Andy Buddington (abuddington@
scc.spokane.edu) and Eric Cheney
(vaalbara@u.washington.edu)

For Meeting Information contact:

John F. Slack, U.S. Geological
Survey, National Center, MS 954,
Reston, VA 20192
Tel: 703-648-6337,
Fax: 703-648-6383,
E-mail: jfslack@usgs.gov

→ Note that no SEG

Symposium, Luncheon,
Field Trips, or Business
meetings will be held
ANNOUNCEMENTS

during this meeting

APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 39

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 before June
15, 2006. 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 • USA
Henckel, Johannes, Placer Dome Exploration (Africa Eurasia) Neff-Kirkpatrick, Linda M., Economic Geology Consulting,
Ltd., Bedfordview, South Africa; Andrew A. Mitchell, Fort Collins, CO: Tommy B. Thompson, Brian G. Hoal;
R. N. Scoon; Robinson, Michelle, Minera Camargo SA de CV, Mazatlan,
Krcmarov, Rob L., Barrick Gold, Toronto, ON, Canada: Mexico: Colin I. Godwin, Alastair J. Sinclair;
John A. S. Dow, Brian G. Hoal; Salfity, Jose A., CONICET, Salta, Argentina: Peter J. Wormald,
McCuaig, T. Campbell, University of Western Australia, Ricardo N. Alonso;
Crawley, WA, Australia: David I. Groves, Richard J. Scott, Michael J., MSA Projects Pty. Ltd., Craighall Park,
Goldfarb; South Africa: Laurence J. Robb, Morris J. Viljoen;
McDonald, Dean W., Committee Bay Resources, Ltd., Tămaş, Călin-Gabriel G., Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca,
Vancouver, BC, Canada: R. W. Hodder, Norman A. Duke; Cluj, Romania: Gary V. O’Connor, Jeffrey W. Hedenquist;
Mercier-Langevin, Patrick, Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., Val d’Or, Theart, Hendrik F. J., University of Pretoria, Pretoria,
QC, Canada: Mark D. Hannington, Benoit Dubé; South Africa: A. M. Killick, R. P. Viljoen.

The Society Welcomes Darcy E. L. Baker, Equity Engineering Inc., St. John’s, NL, Canada; Ed Dewitt,
The Following Ltd., Vancouver, BC, Canada; Douglas B. US Geological Survey, Denver, CO;

NEW 1 FELLOWS:
Barnett, Battelle, Prosser, WA; Colin T. Dominique Doucet, Sirios Resources, Inc.,
Barnett, Boulder, CO; Charles Beaudry, St. Bruno de Montarville, QC, Canada;
Falconbridge Limited, Toronto, ON, Russell J. Dow, Newcrest Mining Limited,
Canon, III, R. Travis, Rangsit, Thailand:
Canada; Enrique R. Bernuy, CIA Minera East Perth, WA, Australia; Buddy J. Doyle,
Cassidy, Kevin F., Geoscience Australia,
Oro Candente S.A., Lima, Perú; Warwick Lithosphere Services, Inc., Burnaby, BC,
East Perth, WA, Australia; Conway, Clay
S. Board, Snowden Mining Industry Canada; Charl P. Du Plessis, AngloGold
M., Gaeaorama, Inc., Blanding, UT;
Consultants, Inc., Vancouver, BC, Ashanti Limited, Johannesburg, Gauteng,
Eggleston, Ted L., Consulting Geologist,
Canada; Maeve A. Boland, Golden, CO; South Africa; Paul B. Dunham, Newcrest
Hillside, CO; Eppinger, Robert G., U.S.
Alex J. Boronowski, North Vancouver, Mining Ltd., South Orange, NSW, Australia;
Geological Survey, Denver, CO; Farrell,
BC, Canada; Jason R. Bressler, Pathfinder Peter W. Edwards, Zinifex Ltd., Melbourne,
Clifton W., Nuclear Energy Institute,
Mineral Services, LLC., Anchorage, AK; VIC, Australia; Eddy O. Escalante, Pan
Washington, DC; Hoal, Karin O.,
Daniel T. Brost, BHP Billiton, Tucson, AZ; American Silver Corporation, La Paz,
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO;
Andrew Browne, GeoSynthesis Pty. Ltd., Bolivia; Edward D. Fields, Silverfields,
Huston, David L., Geoscience Australia,
Toowong, Australia; Michael D. Inc., Idaho City, ID; Marco L. Fiorentini,
Canberra, ACT, Australia; Juras, Stephen
Buchanan, Anglo American Exploration Centre for Exploration Targeting, Crawley,
J., Eldorado Gold Corporation, Vancouver,
(Canada) Ltd., Vancouver, BC, Canada; WA, Australia; Eugene T. Flood, North
BC, Canada; Lorge, David L., Geologic
Robert Cann, Entrée Gold, Inc., Vancouver, BC, Canada; Fess Foster,
Consultant, Fernley, NV; Marschik,
Vancouver, BC, Canada; Garry J. Consultant, Whitehall, MT; John R. Fraser,
Robert, Ludwig-Maximilians-University,
Carlson, Gradient Geology and Fraser Geological Services, Inc., North

Munich, Germany; Morritt, Robin F. C.,
Morritt Pty Ltd., Nedlands, WA, Australia.
The Society Welcomes
The Following
NEW 1 MEMBERS:
Borohul Adiya, Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia,
Inc., Ulaanbaatab, Mongolia; Dani J.
Alldrick, British Columbia Geological
Survey, Saanichton, BC, Canada; Gavin S.
Andrews, Harmony Gold Perú, Lima,
Perú; Irvine R. Annesley, Saskatchewan
Research Council, Saskatoon, SK, Canada;
Jose Francisco Arata, MedOro Resources
Ltd., Toronto, ON, Canada; Jorge Artal,
Antofagasta Minerals S.A., Santiago,
Chile; Munkhbat Baatar, Ivanhoe Mines
Mongolia Inc., Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;
Geophysics, Missoula, MT; John A.
Chapman, J. A. Chapman Mining
Services, Surrey, BC, Canada; William J.
Charter, Kilmacolm, Scotland; Brian J.
Christie, National Bank Financial,
Toronto, ON, Canada; Juan A. Coetzee,
Placer Dome S.A. Pty. Ltd., Pretoria
(Doornpoort), South Africa; Fabrizio
Colombo, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Brent
K. Cook, Solana Beach, CA; Richard
Cote, Ville Lasalle, QC, Canada; Robert
A. Creaser, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, AB, Canada; William J.
Cronk, Dundee Precious Metals, Argonne,
WI; Michel L. Cuney, CNRS - UHP -
Nancy I, Vandoeuvre les Nancy, France;
Barry Dawes, Martin Place Securities Pty.
Ltd., Sydney, Australia; Mel De Quadros,
Ymir Consulting, Toronto, ON, Canada;
Charles F. Dearin, South Coast Ventures,
MEMBERSHIP
Vancouver, BC, Canada; Andrew T.
French, Richmond, BC, Canada; Hubert
B. Gamarra, Minera Antores Perú S.A.,
Arequipa, Perú; Michael B. Gareau,
Burlington, ON, Canada; Gary H. Giroux,
Giroux Consultants Ltd., Vancouver, BC,
Canada; John W. Glasscock, Cowboy
Exploration & Development, Jelm, WY;
Raymond Goldie, Salman Partners Inc.,
Toronto, ON, Canada; Tony Green,
Mississauga, ON, Canada; David M.
Greenan, Homeland Uranium Inc., Cortez,
CO; Jennifer M. Gressier, Gold Fields
Campamento, El Callao, Bolivar, Vene-
zuela; Nutu D. Groza, Rosia Montana
Gold Corporation, Rosia Montana, Alba,
Romania; William S. Hamilton, W. S.
Hamilton Geological
to page 40 . . .
Consulting Ltd.,
Toronto, ON, Canada;
 40
... from 39 SEG Membership News (Continued)
R. E. Harmer, African Platinum PLC,
London, Great Britain; Brent Hemingway,
Salient Resources, Surrey, BC, Canada;
Thomas A. Henricksen, Norsemont
Mining, Inc., Spokane, WA; John B. Hite,
Marifil Mines Ltd., Spokane, WA; Wolfgang
Hofmeister, Johannes-Gutenberg
University, Mainz, Germany; Mark P.
Holdstock, Aurum Exploration Ltd., Navan,
Ireland; Yeny Ingaruca, Corporacion
Minera San Manuel S.A., Lima, Perú;
Jeffrey A. Jaacks, Geochemical Applica-
tions Intl. Inc., Centennial, CO; Dorjsuren
Javkhlanbold, Mineral Resources and
Petroleum Authority of Mongolia,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Robert J.
Johansing, San Salvador, El Salvador;
Robert J. Johnston, Mincord Exploration,
Vancouver, BC, Canada; Kathryn P.
Kavanagh, Metalleia Exploration CC,
Rivonia, South Africa; Thomas R. Kilbey,
Newcrest Resources Inc., Sparks, NV; Ugur
Kiziltepe, Teck Cominco Arama va
Madencilik San Tic A.S., Ankara, Turkey;
Roger Lainé, Laval, QC, Canada; Justin
M. Legg, Falconbridge Ltd., Toowong, QLD,
Australia; Sikhonangenkosi D. Lembede,
Placer Dome Exploration, Isipingo, KZN,
South Africa; Eugenia Lermanda Arias,
Servitem, Santiago, Chile; Tom A. Less,
Mining Journal, London, Great Britain;
Don W. T. Lewis, Oregon Dept. of
Geology & Mineral Industries, West Linn,
OR; Paul A. MacRobbie, Teck Cominco
American Inc., Spokane, WA; Timothy M.
Marsh, Bell Resources Corporation, Mesa,
AZ; Manuel E. Martinez, C. M. Quebrada
Blanca, Iquique, Chile; Mashudu M.
Mashau, Placer Dome Exploration,
Polokwane, Limpopo, South Africa;
Richard H. Mazzuccheli, Searchtech Pty.
Ltd., Kalamunda, WA, Australia; Tracy L.
McCrum-Jensen, Queenstake Resources
USA, Elko, NV; Clifton T. McGilvray,
Arafura Resources, Darwin, NT, Australia;
Bruno R Medrano, Minera Barrick
Misquichilca S.A., Lima, Perú; Andrew L.
Mellgard, Goldman Sachs & Co., London,
Great Britain; David G. Mooney, PGE Geo
Consulting Ltd., Broederstroom, South
MEMBERSHIP
Africa; Brice Mutton, Mining Associates
Pty. Ltd., Brisbane, Australia; Trent T.
Newkirk, Newmont Mining Corporation,
Carlin, NV; Ron Nichols, Santoy Resources
Ltd., Vancouver, BC, Canada; John A.
Nicholson, Starfield Resources Inc.,
Vancouver, BC, Canada; David G. Nixon,
Gosnells, WA, Australia; Michael J.
Nugus, Anglo Gold Ashanti, Perth, WA,
Australia; Pekka A. Nurmi, Geological
Survey Finland, Espoo, Finland; Sean J.
O’Brien, Geological Survey, St. John’s, NL,
Canada; Olufemi Ogedengbe, Geological
Survey of Nigeria Agency, Abuja, Nigeria;
Rodney Orr, Golden Band Resources Inc.,
Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Morou F.
Ouedraogo, Goldbelt Resources (West
Africa) SARL, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso;
Juan J. Pascual, Cia Minera Oro Candente
S.A., Lima, Perú; Thomas J. Peters, Con-
sulting Geologist, Elk, WA; David W. Philip,
SEG NEWSLETTER
D. W. Philip Mining Services, North
Vancouver, BC, Canada; Bianca Pietrass,
Malachite Resources NL, Lindfield, NSW,
Australia; Robert H. Pinsent, Vancouver,
BC, Canada; Iain K. Pitcairn, Aberlady,
Scotland; Simon C. Pollard, Placer Dome
Australia - Henty Mine, Queenstown, TAS,
Australia; Jose S. Preciado, Sheridan
Platinum Group Ltd., Saskatoon, SK,
Canada; James D. Rasmussen, Riverton,
WY; Laura B. Reed, Englewood, CO;
Adrian J. Reynolds, Randgold Resources,
Houghton, Gauteng, South Africa; Alberto
M. Rios, Aruntani SAC, Lima, Perú; Stanley
D. Robinson, Lakota Resources Inc.,
Downsview, ON, Canada; Erik C. Ronald,
Rio Tinto Minerals, Centennial, CO; Dean
M. Rossell, Kennecott Exploration Com-
pany, Oro Valley, AZ; Robert L. Russell,
Idaho General Mines, Inc., Spokane, WA;
Michael J. Savell, Falconbridge Limited,
Toronto, ON, Canada; Mikkel P. Schau,
Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada; Karl
Schimann, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Jose
R. Sereneo, Guyana Goldfields Inc.,
Winnipeg, MB, Canada; John R. Simmonds,
NYIICI P/L, Subiaco, WA, Australia; Errol
Smart, Mandorin Goldfields Inc., Sydney,
Australia; Simon F. W. Smith, Newmont
Mining, Alice Springs, NT, Australia; Xinyu
Song, SRK Consulting, Beijing, China; John
Stanner, Rally Financial Group Ltd., Las
Condes, Chile; Robert Stewart, Integeos
Inc., Bedford, NS, Canada; James Sullivan,
Moto Gold Mines, Perth, WA, Australia;
Edward Summerhayes, Kimberley
Diamond Company, Derby, WA, Australia;
James W. Sweeney, Aurum Exploration
Ltd., Dromore, Ireland; Dene J. Tarkyth,
Bruce, AB, Canada; Rogeg G. Taylor,
Rinkbowl Pty. Ltd., Townsville, QLD, Aus-
tralia; Harvey Thorleifson, Minneapolis,
MN; Hoover I. Torres Taipe, Perubar S.A.,
Lima, Perú; Arthur G. Troup, Sultan Min-
erals, Inc., Vancouver, BC, Canada; Ken-
neth N. Tullar, Nevada Gold Exploration,
Inc., Reno, NV; Geoffrey R. Turner,
Exploration Management Services Pty.
Ltd., Strathfieldsaye, VIC, Australia; Glen
A. Van Kerkvoort, Dudgerim, Australia;
Patricio Vazquez Calvo, Rio Tinto Min-
ing and Exploration, Godoy Cruz, Mendoza,
Argentina; Andrew J. Vigar, Mining Asso-
ciates Pty. Ltd., Brisbane, Australia; John
A. Wakeford, Miramar Mining Corp.,
North Vancouver, BC, Canada; Janus D.
Westraat, Placer Dome Exploration Africa,
Voelklip Hermanus, South Africa; Michelle
White, Golden Star Resources Ltd., Lake
George, CO; Robert A. Yambrick, Strata
Gold Guyana Inc., Georgetown, NC, Guyana.
The Society Welcomes
The Following
NEW1STUDENT MEMBERS:
Lina K. Alexandropoulou, University of
Athens, Athens, Greece; Shannon J.
Andrew, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, BC, Canada; Akwinga V.
No 65 • APRIL 2006
Asaah, Technical University of Clausthal,
Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany; Etienne K.
Assie, Technical University of Clausthal,
Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany;
Baatartsogt Baldorj, University of
Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany; Sheila M.
Ballantyne, Dartmouth, NS, Canada;
Eniko Bari, University of Miskolc,
Tibzapalkonya, Hungary; Munktur
Batbold, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Bayarmaa
Batdorj, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Tsogtbadrakh
Batsaikhan, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Tankhildulam
Bayambajav, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Bayanmunkh
Bayarjargal, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Elena A.
Belyavtseva, Russian State Geological
Prospecting University, Moscow, Russia;
Steve R. Beyer, Kingston, ON, Canada;
Enkhjargal Boldbaatar, MUST School of
Geology, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Todd A.
Bonsall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA;
Jeffrey D. Boyce, Finis Terre Exploration
Ltd., Vancouver, BC, Canada; Kevin C.
Butak, Southern Illinois University,
Carbondale, IL; Vito Coppola, Dept.
Geofisica Vulc., Napoli, Italy; Alan
D’Hulst, Université Laval, Québec,
Canada; Kleopatra Detsi, Athens, Greece;
Melissa I. Dimeo, New Mexico Institute of
Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM;
Hamdy A. El Desouky, Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Heverlee,
Belgium; Abraham M. Emond, University
of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Dandar
Enkhbayar, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Molor
Erdenebat, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Odontuya
Erdenebat, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Michael N.
Feinstein, University of Texas, El Paso, TX;
Matthieu Gagnon, University of Ottawa,
Ottawa, ON, Canada; Eric Gloaguen,
Université d’Orléans, Orléans, France;
Belinda Godel, Université du Québec,
Chicoutimi, QC, Canada; Malcolm R.
Golban, Dunedin, New Zealand;
Jargaljav Gombojav, MUST School of
Geology, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Andrew
M. Govert, Golden, CO; Daniel D.
Gregory, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, BC, Canada; Tara D.
Gunson, University of Alberta, Edmonton,
AB, Canada; Shohreh Hassanpour,
Karaj, Tehran, Iran; Matthew H.
Hastings, Reno, NV; Patrick C. Hayman,
Monash University School of Geosciences,
Clayton, VIC, Australia; Daniel Hennig,
Technische Universitat Clausthal,
Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany; Thomas
C. F. Herbort, ETH Zurich, Zurich,
Switzerland; Mauricio Ibanez Mejia,
Universidad Nacional de Colombia,
Bogota, DC, Colombia; Paul C. Jago,
MDRU, Vancouver,
to page 42 . . .
BC, Canada;
Gantulga
APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 41

SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS

Membership Application
Membership in the Society is open to all geoscience graduates holding a bachelor’s degree. Student Members
must be full-time students. Subscriptions to the journal, Economic Geology, and the quarterly SEG Newsletter
are included in the membership. Applicants should submit this form with the appropriate sponsor signature to:
Society of Economic Geologists, Inc., 7811 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, Colorado 80127-3732, USA
Phone: +1.720.981.7882; Fax +1.720.981.7874; E-mail: seg@segweb.org

SECTION I (TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT)

Personal Information: (TYPE OR PRINT)

Ms / Mr / Dr ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________

LAST NAME FIRST NAME MIDDLE INITIAL DATE OF BIRTH

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

COMPANY / INSTITUTION MAILING ADDRESS

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CITY STATE / PROVINCE POSTAL CODE COUNTRY

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PHONE FAX E-MAIL

Education: UNIVERSITY AND LOCATION YEARS (FROM – TO) DEGREE YEAR

HIGHEST DEGREE: ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

OTHER DEGREES : ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

Professional Experience: (LIST IN ORDER FROM MOST RECENT AT THE TOP)

FROM (Month/Year) — TO (Month/Year) POSITION EMPLOYER

_________________PRESENT _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

____________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________

____________________________ ______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________

____________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________

SECTION II (TO BE COMPLETED BY THE SPONSOR WHO MUST BE A FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY)
I sponsor the above-named individual for Membership Student Membership
To the best of my knowledge the information provided by the applicant is correct.

MEMBERSHIP
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SPONSOR’S NAME (TYPE OR PRINT) E-M AIL ADDRESS OR TELEPHONE NUMBER

FELLOW, SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS

________________________________________________________________________ HEAD, EARTH SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

SIGNATURE DATE (FOR STUDENT SPON SORSHIPS)

WHEN THE APPLICATION IS APPROVED, I AUTHORIZE THE SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS TO CHARGE THE APPROPRIATE
MEMBERSHIP DUES TO: __Visa __MasterCard __AmericanExpress __Discover US$_______________

_________________________________________________________________________________
CARD NO. EXPIRATION DATE

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES AND BENEFITS ARE DETAILED ON THE REVERSE SIDE -- PLEASE INDICATE YOUR SELECTION

Signature of Applicant

_________________________________________________________________ DATE _________________

 42 SEG NEWSLETTER No 65 • APRIL 2006

... from 40 SEG Membership News (Continued)

Jargalsaikhan, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Owen J. Jung,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB,
Canada; Georgios E. Kaisar, University of
Athens, Athens, Greece; Bernard V.
Kavanamur, Kagoshima University,
Kagashima City, Japan; Khongorzul
Khayanhyarvag, MUST School of
Geology, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;
Georgia D. Kotsifaki, Ethnikis, Athens,
Holargos, Greece; Jean-Yves Landry,
University of Ottawa, Crysler, ON,
Canada; Robert G. Lee, Oregon State
University, Corvallis, OR; Said Lkhagva-
Ochir, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Claire L.
McMahon, University of Tasmania,
Hobart, TAS, Australia; Nicolas Michael,
Athens, Greece; Janina Micko, University
of British Columbia MDRU, Vancouver,
BC, Canada; Veselin P. Mladenov, Sofia
University St. Kliment Ohridski, Sofia,
Bulgaria; Marilyn E. Moll, Laurentian
University, Sudbury, ON, Canada;
Catherine E. Morgan, Colorado School of
Mines, Golden, CO; Philip A. Mroz,
Queen’s University, Stoney Creek, ON,
Canada; Stehanie M. Murillo Maikut,
New Mexico Institute of Mining and
Technology, Socorro, NM; Kelvin C.
Mwamba, University of Johannesburg,
Auckland Park, Gauteng, South Africa;
Purevdorj Naidan, MUST School of
Geology, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Samuel
A. Ndur, New Mexico Institute of Mining
and Technology, Socorro, NM; Jacqueline
L. Nelsen, North Vancouver, BC, Canada;
Manchuk Nuramkhaan, MUST School of
Geology, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Nesbert
Nyama, Witwatersrand University,
Johannesburg, South Africa; Ochirbat,
MUST School of Geology, Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia; Alberto J. Orozco-Garza,
Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS,
Canada; Lara B. Owens, New Mexico
Institute of Mining and Technology,
Socorro, NM; Emmanuel A. Owusu,
International Institute for Geo
Information Science, Enschede, The
Netherlands; Ismail O. Ozen, New Mexico
Institute of Mining and Technology,
Socorro, NM; Tamal Pal, University of
Delhi, Delhi, India; Roshelly Paliza, New
Mexico Institute of Mining and
Technology, Socorro, NM; Amanda L.
Palko, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON,
Canada; Fani I. Papageorgiou, Agios
Dimitrios, Greece; Scott R. G. Parsons,
University of Western Ontario, London,
ON, Canada; Heidi E. Pass, University of
Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia;
Alfredo J. Penny, Ombudsman Education
Serv., Homestead, FL; Nathaniel D
Proctor, Colorado School of Mines,
Golden, CO; Charles D. C. Rands,
University of Otago, Timaru, S.
Canterbury, New Zealand; Oyunchimeg
Renchin, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Maria A.
Rodrigues da Silva, CSD UNB, Brasilia,
DF, Brazil; Daniel P. Russin, University of
Arizona, Tucson, AZ; Patrick J. Sack,
University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS,
Australia; Dessy W. Sapardina, Gadjah
Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia;
Rachel L. Shannon, Cornell University,
Ithaca, NY; Benjamin A. Teschner,
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO;
José Texidor-Carlsson, Acadia University,
Wolfville, NS, Canada; James S. Tolhurst,
Tolhurst Mineral Exploration and
Consulting, Cobden, ON, Canada; Stavros
S. Triantapyllidis, University of Athens,
Athens, Greece; Shubham Tripathi,
University of Delhi, Delhi, India; Gansukh
Tserenjab, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Bayartsengel
Tseveendorj, MUST School of Geology,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Gyorgyi Tuba,
Eotvos Lorand University, Vecses,
Hungary; Bayarsaikhan Tugs-Erdene,
MUST School of Geology, Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia; Derick L. Unger, Auburn
University, Auburn, AL; Edina Vago,
Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest,
Hungary; Bram I. Van Straaten,
University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, BC, Canada; Tyler L.
Vandruff, University of Arizona, Tucson,
AZ; Elizabeth S. Vaughn, Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, CO; James F.
Venendaal, Lakewood, CO; Stefan
Wallier, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, BC, Canada; Desiree T.
Wentland, Golden, CO; Maria I. Zavala,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; Aaron
Zimmerman, Colorado State University,
Fort Collins, CO; Nicholas E. Zulinski,
University of Ottawa, Cornwall, ON,
Canada. 1

personal notes & news

C A R E E R - R E L A T E D
C H A N G E S
CHRISTOPHER J. CARLON (SEG
MEMBERSHIP
D E A T H S KIMBERLITE RESEARCH UNIT ANNOUNCED
DONALD W. The University of British Columbia will establish
LINDGREN (SEG 1962 a Kimberlite Research Unit within the Mineral

1989) has been appointed Vice
President-Geosciences within
Anglo American plc based in
London and has moved from his
position as Vice President-Explora-
tion South America with Anglo
Chile in Santiago. His new
address is as follows: Anglo
American plc, 20 Carlton House
Terrace, London SW1Y 5AN,
United Kingdom; tel: +44 (0)207
968 8595; e-mail: ccarlon@anglo
american.co.uk.
MURRAY W. HITZMAN (SEG 1987 F)
has been named as a director of
Cardero Resources.
SF) died February 2
in Rock Island,
Illinois. He was 81
years old. Born
October 3, 1924,
Donald received his master’s degree
from the University of Wisconsin
and served in the U.S. Navy dur-
ing World War II. For 40 years he
worked for various companies in
mining and metallurgy, establish-
ing Lindgren Exploration Company
in 1959. He was a member of sev-
eral professional and community
groups, and a director of several
companies. Donald is survived by
his wife, Lois.
Deposit Research Unit (MDRU), the industry-uni-
versity consortium at the UBC. Eira Thomas, CEO
of Stornoway Diamonds Corp., and D. Grenville
Thomas, honorary chairman, founder, and direc-
tor of Aber Diamond Corp., have pledged $1 mil-
lion dollars on behalf of the Thomas family
toward the new unit. Goals for the Kimberlite
Research Unit will be to promote a better under-
standing of kimberlites and their diamonds
through research, training of geoscientists, and
continuing education. Barbara Scott Smith has
been named Kimberlite Coordinator, and JOHN
GURNEY (SEG 2004 F) will be a visiting professor
at the MDRU later this year. For additional infor-
mation, contact DICK TOSDAL (SEG 1996 F),
Director of MDRU (rtosdal@eos.ubc.ca), or Rory
Moore, Mineral Services (tel. 1.604.817.2600).
APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER
S EG
SEG Announcements
& Deadlines
Call for Nominations for Penrose and SEG
Silver Medals and Marsden Award for 2006
Penrose Gold Medal Committee Chair
SEG Councilor, Judith L. Hannah (SEG 1989 F)
SEG Silver Medal Committee Chair
SEG Councilor, David R. Burrows (SEG 2002 F)
Ralph W. Marsden Committee Chair
SEG Councilor, Reimar Seltmann (SEG 2001 F)
Nominations for the Society’s Penrose Gold and Silver Medals and the
Marsden Award are due by September 1, 2006, for review by the SEG
Council. Members and Fellows of the Society are urged to par-
ticipate in this important process by nominating outstanding
candidates for these prestigious honors.
The SEG award nomination form may be obtained from the SEG web-
site. Go to <http://www.segweb.org/AwardNom.pdf> to download the
form. If you do not have access to our website, you may request a copy of
the nomination form from SEG Headquarters. Tel: +1.720.981.7882, ext.
210, Fax: +1.720.981.7874; e-mail: seg@segweb.org. To access the SEG
awards website go to <http://www.segweb.org/awards.htm>
Call for Nominations – Lindgren Award for 2006
Committee Chair – Maria Boni (SEG 1991 F)
The Society of Economic Geologists is soliciting nominations for the 2006
Lindgren Award. The Lindgren Award is offered annually to a geologist
whose published research represents an outstanding contribution to eco-
nomic geology. The contribution shall be measured by consideration of
one to three papers published by age 35. The recipient must be less than
37 years of age on January 1 of the year in which the award is presented.
The award shall not be restricted as to the candidate’s nationality, place
of employment, or membership in the Society.
The deadline for submitting nominations is August 31, 2006.
Please go to <http://www.segweb.org/Lindgren.html> for details on nomi-
nation process. Nominations should be sent, preferably in electronic
format, to: Society of Economic Geologists
Attn: Lindgren Award Committee
7811 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, CO 80127-3732 U.S.A.
Tel: +1.720.981.7882, ext. 210, Fax: +1.720.981.7874
E-mail: seg@segweb.org (preferred method)
Call for Nominations –
SEG Distinguished Lecturer for 2006
Committee Chair – J. Richard Kyle (SEG 1983 F)
Now is the time to support your Society and reward a colleague by nomi-
nating him or her for the highly respected and widely recognized SEG
Distinguished Lecturer Award. The 2006 nominee will be selected on the
basis of his/her preeminence in economic geology in some phase of sci-
entific research or application of the science to minerals exploration
and/or development. See the list of previous winners at <http://www.seg-
web.org/Distinguished Prior.html>. Please include the following informa-
tion with your nomination: name of nominee, nominee’s e-mail address,
reason for nomination, brief bio of nominee, and confirmation that
nominee is willing to be proposed. Send all nominations to:
Society of Economic Geologists
Attn: Distinguished Lecturer Committee
7811 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, CO 80127-3732 U.S.A.
Tel: +1.720.981.7882, ext. 210, Fax: +1.720.981.7874
E-mail: seg@segweb.org (preferred method)
43
SEG Welcomes Newly Appointed
Regional Vice Presidents
Vertrees M. Canby (SEG 2003), Europe
Isidoro B.A. Schalamuk (SEG 1996 F),
Latin America & Caribbean
Alexander S. Yakubchuk (SEG 1999 F), North Eurasia
SEG Regional Vice-President
Lecturer for 2006
Nicolas J. Beukes (SEG 1985 F) is professor
in geology and co-leader of the Paleo-
proterozoic Research Group (PPM) at the
University of Johannesburg. He is essen-
tially a field geologist with a special inter-
est in Precambrian paleo-environmental
reconstructions. Nic has a very broad-
based knowledge of early carbonate suc-
cessions, manganese ore deposits, and
iron-formations with associated high-
grade iron ore deposits. He is perhaps best
known for his work on basin analyses and sedimentary ore
deposits of the Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic Transvaal Super-
group in southern Africa. However, he has also worked extensively
on the siliciclastic gold-bearing beds of the Mesoarchean Wit-
watersrand and Pongola Supergroups and was the first to prove
that they are correlative and had been deposited in the same
basin. He received the Draper Medal, the highest award from the
Geological Society of South Africa, in 2002, and Honorary
Fellowship from the Geological Society of America in 2004.
During the past four years Nic, together with the other co-
leader of PPM, Jens Gutzmer, and students have focused much
of their research on the origin of giant high-grade BIF-hosted
hematite iron ore deposits in South Africa, India, and Brazil,
basin analyses of the various late Paleoproterozoic red-bed suc-
cessions of southern Africa, and the Mesoarchean
Bushmanland Group that is host to the economically impor-
tant Aggeneys Cu-Pb-Zn deposits. Their stratigraphic work is
coupled with paleomagnetic studies and detrital zircon age dat-
ing to allow paleogeographic and provenance reconstructions.
Apart from lecturing at various universities in South Africa,
Nic is also planning to visit universities in Botswana, Namibia,
Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Tanzania,
and Ghana.
Nic will be available to speak on four topics:
• Genesis of superlarge high-grade BIF-hosted iron ore deposits
and relevance to deposits in Africa;
• Paleoenvironmental and biological significance of
Precambrian iron-formations, ironstones and laterites;
• The origin and distribution of major sedimentary manganese
ore deposits through time with special reference to Africa;
• Genetic and sequence stratigraphic controls on gold mineral-
ization in the Mesoarchean Witwatersrand-Pongola basin.
Requests for lectures should be addressed to Christine A. Horrigan,
Traveling Lecturers Secretary; e-mail, christinehorrigan@segweb.org;
tel. 1.720.981.7210 (direct); fax: 1.720.981.7874,
Society of Economic Geologists,
7811 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, CO 80127-3732.
 44 SEG NEWSLETTER No 65 • APRIL 2006

SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS

Publications Order Form
Full details on publications are available on-line at www.segweb.org / Publications

TITLE LIST MEMBER TITLE LIST MEMBER

PRICE PRICE PRICE PRICE

GUIDEBOOK SERIES: REVIEWS IN ECONOMIC GEOLOGY SERIES:

GB 8: Industrial Mineral Resources of the Delaware Basin, Rev. 5: Sedimentary and Diagenetic Mineral Deposits:
Texas, and New Mexico: J.R. Kyle, Editor; 1990, 203p. $24.00 $19.20 A Basin Analysis Approach to Exploration: E.R. Force,
J.J. Eidel & J.B. Maynard, Editors $10.00 $8.00
GB 28: The Carlin-Type Gold Deposits Field Conference:
P.G. Vikre, et al., Editors; 1997, 294p; 3 colored figures $36.00 $28.80 Rev. 6: PART A: The Environmental Geochemistry of Mineral Deposits:
Processes, Techniques, and Health Issues; G.S. Plumlee & M.J. Logsdon,
GB 29: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Oquirrh and Wasatch
Editors; PART B: The Environmental Geochemistry of Mineral Deposits:
Mountains, Utah: D.A. John & G.H. Ballantyne, Editors;
Case Studies and Research Topics; L.H. Filipek & G.S. Plumlee,
1997 (Revised 1998), 308p; 19 colored figures, 2 oversize
Editors; 1999, Volume set total 583p. Sold only as a set $55.00 $44.00
colored plates (in pocket) $40.00 $32.00
Rev. 7: Applications of Microanalytical Techniques to
GB 30: Gold Deposits of Northern Sonora, Mexico: K.F. Clark, Understanding Mineralizing Processes: M.A. McKibben,
Editor; 1998, 252p.; 12 colored figures, 1 oversized figure, W.C. Shanks, III, & W.I. Ridley, Editors; 1998, 271p. $34.00 $27.20
2 oversized plates (in pocket) $36.00 $28.80
Rev. 8: Volcanic-Associated Massive Sulfide Deposits:
GB 31: Epithermal Mineralization of the Western Carpathians: Processes and Examples In Modern And Ancient Settings:
F. Molnár, J. Lexa, & J.W. Hedenquist, Editors; 1999, 274p. $36.00 $28.80 C.T. Barrie & M.D. Hannington, Editors; 1999, 416p. $40.00 $32.00
GB 32: PART I. Contrasting Styles of Intrusion-Associated Rev. 9: Ore Genesis and Exploration: The Roles of Organic Matter:
Hydrothermal Systems: J.H. Dilles, et al., Editors; T.H. Giordano, R.M. Kettler, & S.A. Wood, Editors; 2000, 340 p. $49.00 $39.20
PART II. Geology & Gold Deposits of the Getchell Region;
Rev. 10: Techniques in Hydrothermal Ore Deposits Geology:
E.J. Crafford, Editor; 2000, 234p. $40.00 $32.00
J.P. Richards & P.B. Larson, Editors; 1998, 264 p. $34.00 $27.20
GB 33: Svecofennian Ore-Forming Environments: Volcanic-
Rev. 11: Metamorphosed and Metamorphogenic Ore Deposits:
Associated Zn-Cu-Au-Ag, Intrusion-Associated Cu-Au,
P.G. Spry, B. Marshall, & F.M. Vokes, Editors; 2000, 310p. $44.00 $35.20
Sediment-Hosted Pb-Zn, and Magnetite-Apatite Deposits
of Northern Sweden: R.L. Allen, O. Martinsson, and P. Weihed, Rev. 12: Application of Radiogenic Isotopes to Ore Deposit
Editors; 2004, 175 p. AVAILABLE ON CD ONLY. $36.00 $28.80 Research and Exploration: D.D. Lambert & J. Ruiz,
Editors; 1999, 208p. $32.00 $25.60
GB 34: Epithermal Gold Mineralization and Modern Analogues,
Kyushu, Japan: C.A. Feebrey, T. Hayashi, & S. Taguchi, Rev. 13: Gold In 2000: S.G. Hagemann & P.E. Brown,
Editors; 2001 188p. AVAILABLE ON CD ONLY. $36.00 $28.80 Editors; 2000, 560p.; 8 colored figures $69.00 $55.20
GB 35: PART I. Proterozoic Iron and Zinc Deposits of the Adirondack Rev. 14: Structural Controls on Ore Genesis: J.P. Richards
Mountains of New York and the New Jersey Highlands: J.F. Slack, & R.M. Tosdal, Editors; 2001, 190p. $45.00 $36.00
Editor; PART II. Environmental Geochemistry and Mining History of SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS SERIES:
Massive Sulfide Deposits in the Vermont Copper Belt;
J.M. Hammarstrom & R.R. Seal II; 2001, 294p. $36.00 $28.80 SP 3: Ore Reserve Estimates in the Real World:
J.G. Stone & P.G. Dunn; Third Edition, 2002, 121p. $37.00 $29.60
GB 36: Cretaceous Porphyry-Epithermal Systems of the
Srednogorie Zone, Bulgaria: K. Bogdanov & S. Strashimirov, SP 4: Carbonate-Hosted Lead-Zinc Deposits:
Editors; 2003, 132 p. AVAILABLE ON CD ONLY. $36.00 $28.80 D.F. Sangster, Editor; 1996, 672p.; hard bound $60.00 $48.00
GB 37: Lisbon Valley Sediment-Hosted Copper Deposits and SP 7: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Central Andes:
Paradox Basin Fluids Field Trip. Jon P. Thorson, Editor; 2005, B.J. Skinner, Editor; 1999, 368p. $38.00 $30.40
NEW SP 8: New Mines and Discoveries in Mexico and Central America:
50p. AVAILABLE ON CD ONLY. $25.00 $21.00
T. Albinson & C.E. Nelson, Editors; 2001, 362p. $68.00 $54.40
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY MONOGRAPH SERIES: SP 9: Integrated Methods for Discovery: Global Exploration in the
EG Mono 9: Mineral Deposits of Alaska: R.J. Goldfarb & 21st Century: R.J. Goldfarb & R.L. Nielsen, Editors; 2002, 392p. $59.00 $47.20
L.D. Miller, Editors; 1997, 483p., 9 colored figures $45.00 $36.00 SP 10: Volcanic, Geothermal and Ore-Forming Fluids: Rulers
EG Mono 10: The Giant Kidd Creek Volcanogenic Massive and Witnesses of Processes within the Earth: S.F. Simmons
Sulfide Deposit, Western Abitibi Subprovince, Canada: & I. Graham, Editors; 2003, 360p. $59.00 $47.20
M.D. Hannington & C.T. Barrie, Editors; 1999, 676p., SP 11: Andean Metallogeny: New Discoveries, Concepts,
32 colored figures; hard bound. $60.00 $48.00 and Updates: R.H. Sillitoe, J. Perelló, and C.E. Vidal, Editors;
EG Mono 11: Massive Sulfide Deposits of the Bathurst 2004, 358p. $59.00 $47.20
Mining Camp, New Brunswick, and Northern Maine: SEG CONFERENCE SERIES: (Note: CD-ROMs listed are not audio)
W.D. Goodfellow, S.R. McCutcheon, & J.M. Peter,
Editors; 2003; 930 p., hardbound. Includes CD-ROM. $69.00 $55.20 Global Exploration 2002: Integrated Methods for Discovery
Abstracts of Oral and Poster Presentations, Apr. 14-16, 2002;
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY PUBLICATIONS: E.E. Marsh, R.J. Goldfarb, & W.C. Day, Editors; 150p. $10.00 $ 8.00
For a complete listing of Economic Geology Special Issues, SEG 2004: Predictive Mineral Discovery Under Cover:
go to https://store.agiweb.org/seg/ Extended Abstracts. SEG and the Centre for Global
Metallogeny (Australia). AVAILABLE ON CD-ROM ONLY. $20.00 $16.00
The Hugo Dummett Memorial Economic Geology Archive:
1905-2004. Complete, searchable digital files of SEG Forum 2005: Controversies on the Origin of World-Class
W
NE v. 1 through 99 of the journal (DVD only; 5.2 GB). Gold Deposits: Carlin and Witwatersrand, May 14, 2005;
NOTE: This is NOT A CD-ROM; DVD drive required $1,500.00 $220.00 John Muntean, Organizer. AVAILABLE ON CD ONLY. $20.00 $16.00
Economic Geology 100th Anniversary Volume: J.W. Hedenquist, SEG Member Discount:
J.F.H. Thompson, R.J. Goldfarb, and J.P. Richards, Editors; 2005, Members may purchase a single copy of
NEW
1136 p. hardcover; Supplementary Appendices on CD-ROM. $100.00 $80.00 each publication at 20% off the listed price.
100-5 Special Issue Devoted to Giant Porphyry-Related
Mineral Deposits: Guest Editors, D.R. Cooke, Sub-Total
NEW
P. Hollings, & J.L. Walshe
4/06
$50.00 $40.00
➥
 APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 45

SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS

Publications Order Form
Full details on publications are available on-line at www.segweb.org / Publications
TITLE LIST MEMBER TITLE LIST MEMBER
PRICE PRICE PRICE PRICE

VHS/DVD SERIES: Indicate format: 䡺 VHS 䡺 DVD

Vid. 1: 1) The Genesis of Magmatic Ni-Cu (PGE) Sulfide Deposits
2) Physical Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of
Komatiite Basalt Lava Channels and Channelized Sheet Flows
in the Cape Smith Belt, New Quebec: C. Michael Lesher,
Laurentian University, Sept. 1998 $25.00
Vid. 2: 1) Worldwide Exploration: Can We Afford It?,
2) Exploration Strategic Planning: Michael J. Knuckey, President,
Noranda Mining Exploration, Ltd., Nov. 1998 $25.00
Vid. 3: 1) The Porphyry to Epithermal Continuum: Evidence from
Volcanoes and Ore Deposits, 2) Characteristics of and Exploration
for Epithermal Gold Deposits in the Circum Pacific: Jeffrey W.
Hedenquist, Consulting Economic Geologist, April 1999 $25.00
Vid. 4: 1) Epithermal Gold Deposits—Characteristics, Classes
and Causes 2) Convergent Evolution and Ore Deposits:
Noel C. White, Consulting Economic Geologist, Sept. 1999 $25.00
Vid. 5: 1) Cordilleran Metallogeny of Western Canada
2) Intrusion-related Mineral Deposits: Tectonics, Magmas and
Fluids: John Thompson, Teck Corporation, Feb. 2000 $25.00
Vid. 6: 1) Geology and Genesis of the Irish Zn-Pb-Ag Ore Field
2) The Lisheen Deposits, Ireland: Discovery and Delineation
of a Blind Zn-Pb-Ag Orebody: Murray W. Hitzman,
Colorado School of Mines, Sept. 2000 $25.00
Vid. 7: 1) How Orebodies are Found 2) The Arequipa
Resources Pierina Project: David J. Lowell,
Lowell Mineral Exploration, Feb. 2001 $25.00
Vid. 8: 1) Tectonic Setting and Structural Controls in the Giant
Eocene-Oligocene Porphyry Copper Deposits of Northern
Chile 2) Late Cenozoic Mineralization and Crustal Evolution
in a Thickening Arc: The Maricunga and El Indio Mineral
Belts: Constantino Mpodozis, Chilean Geological Survey, Mar. 2001 $25.00
Vid. 9: 1) Mineral Resources and Mining: Supply, Demand the
Environment 2) Supergene Oxidation of Copper Deposits:
The Zoning of Copper Oxide Minerals and Applications to
Minerals Exploration: William X. Chavez, Jr., New Mexico
$20.00 Institute of Mining, Apr. 2001 $25.00 $20.00
Vid. 10: 1) Reflections on the Bre-X Saga
2) Pioneering Mining in the Arctic: Graham Farquharson,
$20.00 Strathcona Mineral Services, Ltd., Nov. 2001 $25.00 $20.00
Vid. 11: 1) Mississippi Valley-type Lead-Zinc Deposits through
Earth History: Implications for Ore Genesis, Crustal Fluid-Flow,
Paleoclimate, and Relation to Shale-Hosted (SEDEX) Deposits:
$20.00 David L. Leach, U.S. Geological Survey, Mar. 2002 $25.00 $20.00
Vid. 12: 1) Discovery History and Geology of the Cannington
Ag-Pb-Zn Deposit 2) Advances in Micro-Analytical Technologies
$20.00 — What a grain can tell you Steve Walters,
Macquarie University, Apr. 2002 $25.00 $20.00
Vid. 13: 1) Lode Gold Deposits through Earth History — Patterns
$20.00 in Space and Time 2) Metallogeny of Gold Deposits in
China: R.J. Goldfarb, U.S. Geological Survey, Mar. 2003 $25.00 $20.00
Vid. 15: 1) Characteristics of Lode Gold Deposits in Greenstone
Belts 2) Geology and Setting of Gold Deposits in the North
$20.00 Carlin Trend, Nevada: François Robert, Barrick Gold, Dec. 2004 $25.00 $20.00
Vid. 16: 1) Characteristics and Genesis of Carlin-type Gold
Deposits, NV 2) Upwelling Hot Water at a Proposed Nuclear
$20.00 NEW Waste Repository: Jean Cline, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas,
Feb. 2005 $25.00 $20.00
Vid. 17: 1) Breccias in Epithermal and Porphyry Deposits:
The Birth and Death of Magmatic-Hydrothermal Systems
NEW 2) The Giant Sediment-Hosted Zn-Pb-Ag Deposits of
$20.00 Northern Australia: David R. Cooke, Univ. of Tasmania, Feb. 2005 $25.00 $20.00

Sub-Total ____________
Make Check Payable To:
Shipping and Handling Charges:
Society of Economic Geologists
7811 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton CO 80127-3732 3.7% Colorado Sales Tax
Fax:720.981.7874, e-mail: sales@segweb.org Colorado Residents Only ____________
Member #:___________________________ Surface USA-$5.00/item* ____________
Ship to: ____________________________
Surface Foreign-$9.00/item* ____________
____________________________________
____________________________________ Airmail (check with SEG) ____________
____________________________________ Grand Total US$ ____________
____________________________________
E-mail: ____________________________ Your credit card statement/cancelled check is your receipt.
Tel: ____________________________
Payment enclosed
䡺 Check, made payable to: Society of Economic Geologists
䡺 Visa/MC 䡺 AMEX 䡺 Discover
Card # ________________________________ Exp. __________
Signature ______________________________________________
*For a shipping discount on four or more items mailed to the same address, please contact the SEG office.
4/06
46 SEG NEWSLETTER No 65 • APRIL 2006

Calendar of Star (★) 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
2006
May 14–16. SEG 2006 Conference –
Wealth Creation in the Minerals
Industry. Keystone Resort & Conference
Center, Keystone, Colorado, USA. Website:
<www.seg2006.org>.
★ June 6–16. UNESCO-SEG-SGA Latin
American Metallogency Course.
Antofagasta, Chile. “Metallogeny of
Magmato-Hydorthermal Processes”.
Website: <www.unige.ch/sciences/terre/
mineral/seminars/latinometal.html> Contact
Tom Bissig at e-mail: tbissig@ucn.cl
Jul. 2–6. Geological Society of Australia/
Australian Society of Exploration
Geophysicists; Australian Earth Sciences
Convention 2006. Melbourne, Australia.
To include a keynote presentation by
Douglas Kirwin, SEG 2006 International
Exchange Lecturer. Website: <http://
www.earth2006.org.au/>.
★ Aug. 4–6. Environmental Geology and
Geochemistry of Mine Wastes. Copiapo,
Chile. SEG co-sponsored short course to be
held in conjunction with the Chilean
Geological Congress. The course will be
taught in Spanish by Dr. Bernhard Dold,
Univ. of Lausanne, Switzerland. Contact:
Thomas Bissig, e-mail: tbissig@ucn.cl.
Further information and preliminary pro-
gram available at: <www.congresogeologico
2006.cl/?topshow=cursogeologia>
Aug. 7–11. XI Congreso Geologico
Chileno. Antofagasta, Chile. SEG-spon-
sored symposium to be held in conjunction
with the Congreso. Website: <www.congreso
geologico2006.cl>.
Aug. 12–13. SEG Gold Deposit Workshop.
Antofagasta, Chile. Immediately follows XI
Congreso Geologico Chileno. Speakers:
Richard Goldfarb, Noel White, Craig Hart,
Steve Garwin. Contact Steve Garwin, e-mail:
steve.garwin@geoinformex.com. Details on
pg. 36.
Aug. 21–24. 12th Quadrennial IAGOD
Symposium; Moscow, Russia. SEG 2006
International Exchange Lecturer, Douglas
Kirwin, to give a presentation in the Plenary
Session P2. Website: <http://www.iagod.
sgm.ru>.
Oct. 22–25. GSA Annual Meeting.
Philadelphia, PA. SEG Program Meeting
Coordinator, John F. Slack. Website:
<http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2006/
index.htm>.
2007
★ Sept. 24–30. AGS-2007 Symposium
Ores and Orogenesis-CircumPacific
Tectonics, Geologic Evolution and Ore
Deposits. Tucson, Arizona. Website:
http://www.arizonageologicalsoc.org/news.
htm
OTHER EVENTS
2006
Jul. 23–28. Applied Mineralogy sessions
at International Mineralogical
Association (IMA) Meeting. Kobe, Japan.
Additional information on the meeting is
available on the IMA2006 website:
<http://www.congre.co.jp/ ima2006/>.
Sept. 10–12. CIM Geological Society,
Saskatoon Section to host Field
Conference: Uranium: Athabasca
Deposits and Analogues. Details at
<www.saskuranium2006.ca>.
★ Sept. 18–29. Modular Course in Mineral
Exploration in Volcanic Terrains (Field-
Based). Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Informa-
tion: Harold Gibson, Mineral Exploration
Research Centre, Department of Earth
Sciences, Laurentian University, Willet
Green Miller Centre, 933 Ramsey Lake
Road, Sudbury, ON, Canada, P3E 6B5; Tel.
+1.705.675.1151 x2371; fax +1.705.675.4898.
e-mail: hgibson@laurentian.ca; website:
<http://earthsciences.laurentian.ca>.
★ Sept. 24–29. International Geological
Correlation Program. IUGS/UNESCO/
IGCP-496 2006 Field Workshop, Izmir,
Turkey. For information: <http://www.
segweb.org/IGCP-Turkey.ppt.ppt>
★ Dec. 6–15. Modular Course in Explora-
tion Geochemistry. Sudbury, Ontario,
Canada. Information: Steve Piercey, Mineral
Exploration Research Centre, Department
of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University,
Willet Green Miller Centre, 933 Ramsey
Lake Road, Sudbury, ON, Canada,
P3E 6B5; tel. +1.705.675.1151 x2364; fax
+1.705.675.4898; e-mail: spiercey@
laurentian.ca; website: <http://earthsciences.
laurentian.ca>.
2007
★ Sept. 1–15, Modular Course in Structure,
Tectonics, and Mineral Exploration
(Field-Based). Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
Information: Bruno Lafrance, Mineral
Exploration Research Centre, Department
of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University,
Willet Green Miller Centre, 933 Ramsey
Lake Road, Sudbury, ON, Canada,
P3E 6B5; tel. +1.705.675.1151 x2264; fax
+1.705.675.4898; e-mail: blafrance@
laurentian.ca; website: <http://earthsciences.
laurentian.ca>.

Resource Geosciences de Mexico

S.A. de C.V
Exploration Services Throughout the Americas

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

PAID ADVERTISEMENT PAID ADVERTISEMENT

 SEG Announces Special Publication 12
Wealth Creation in
the Minerals Industry—
Integrating Science,
Business, and Education
(330 pages)
The 16 papers in SP 12 focus on integrating the
business of exploration and mining with the
science of the minerals industry, and the
education and training that underpins all we
do. Included are summaries of mineral industry
trends over the past approximately 25 years, the
role of exploration in the business of creating
wealth, and issues of sustainability in the minerals
industry. Authors are authorities in their fields,
and the case studies they present will be relevant
to explorationists, economists, and academics.

Contents and Authors

• Metals and Minerals: The Past Twenty-Five Years
Phillip Crowson (University of Dundee)
• Depletion and the Long-Run Availability of Mineral Commodities
John E. Tilton (Colorado School of Mines & Pontificia
ence
Universidad Católica de Chile) the SEG 2006 Confer
• An Overview of Costs in the Base Metal and Gold Industries: Available May 14, at
Definitions and Trends
Paul Smith, Mark Fellows, David Coombs, & Andrew Mitchell (all authors with Brook Hunt & Associates, Ltd.)
• Costs, Risks, and Returns of Copper Exploration: Assessing Trends in Discovery and Maturity with Particular Reference to Chile
Richard A. Leveille (Phelps Dodge Exploration) & Michael D. Doggett (Queen’s University)
• The Role of World-Class Deposits in Wealth Creation
Richard Schodde & Jon Hronsky (both authors with BHP Billiton)
• Using Real Options to Value and Manage Exploration
Graham A. Davis (Colorado School of Mines) & Michael Samis (AMEC Americas, Ltd.)
• The Competitive Position of Countries Seeking Exploration and Development Investment
James M. Otto (University of Denver)
• The Rise of Sustainability: Changing Public Concerns and Approaches toward Exploration
Alistair MacDonald (Community Research Co-operative) & Ginger Gibson (University of British Columbia)
• Changing Mining Industry Approaches to Sustainability: A Focus on Mineral Exploration
Ian Thomson & Susan Joyce (both authors with On Common Ground Consultants, Inc.)
• The Human Face of Economic Geology: Education, Careers, and Innovation
Paul J. Bartos (Colorado School of Mines), Maeve A. Boland (Colorado School of Mines), & Leigh W. Freeman (Downing Teal, Inc.)
• Changes in Mineral Exploration Practice: Consequences for Discovery
Richard H. Sillitoe (London, England) & John F. H. Thompson (Teck Cominco Ltd)
• The Role of Geological Mapping in Mineral Exploration
George H. Brimhall (University of California, Berkeley), John M. Proffett (Eagle River, Alaska), & John H. Dilles (Oregon State University)
• Mineral Exploration Using Modern Data Mining Techniques
Colin T. Barnett (Boulder, Colorado) & Peter M. Williams (University of Sussex)
• Mine Design and Costs: Their Impact on Exploration Targets
Jean-Michel Rendu (Denver, Colorado), Scott Santti (Newmont Mining Corporation), Phil Hansen (Caterpillar, Inc.), & Dan White
(Physical Resource Engineering, Inc.)
• Metallurgical Advances and Their Impact on Business and Exploration
Karin O. Hoal (Colorado School of Mines), Terry P. McNulty (T.P. McNulty and Associates, Inc.), & Roland Schmidt (Hazen Research, Inc.)
• An Integrated Geometallurgical Approach to Optimize Business Outcomes at the MKD5 Nickel Deposit, Mount Keith,
Western Australia
Ben Grguric & Timothy Riley (both authors with BHP Billiton)
Contact SEG
Our Headquarters address is
Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.
Society of Economic Geologists Foundation, Inc.
7811 Shaffer Parkway · Littleton, CO 80127-3732, USA
SEG
NEWSLETTER
NON-PROFIT
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT #131
Tel. +720.981.7882 · Fax +720.981.7874 7811 SHAFFER PARKWAY GOLDEN, COLO.
E-mail: seg@segweb.org · Website: www.segweb.org
LITTLETON, CO 80127-3732 • USA
— Staff Phone & E-mail List —
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

Kathey Fischer .................203 ............ accounting@segweb.org

MEMBERSHIP Tel. Extension E-mail Address

Sue Courtney....................204 ............ membership@segweb.org
Solie Van Dell ...................212............. solievandell@segweb.org

PUBLICATIONS Tel. Extension E-mail Address

Publications Editing:
Alice Bouley ......................202 ............ editing@segweb.org
Newsletter Production:
Christine Horrigan ...........210............. publications@segweb.org
Publication Sales:
Sherol Roy.........................214............. sherolroy@segweb.org
Journal Subscriptions:
Shirley King ......................208 ............ subscriptions@segweb.org