Tennessee rock slide caught on tape

CNN just posted this WDEF video online showing a spectacular rock slide in Polk County, Tennessee. I'm sure it will be picked up the excellent landslide bloggers out there but it's just too impressive to not share right now.

Resolution Copper shaft #10 drilling ahead

Resolution Copper reports that the overall sinking of shaft #10 was turned over to contractor Cementation at the end of October. The company expects to drill ahead at a rate of 3 feet per day with a goal of hitting their Milestone #3 of 1258 ft before their December break. [right, Shaft #10. Credit, Resolution Copper]

Clovis-age humans and gomphotheres in Sonora

UA geoarcheologist and colleagues reported at the recent GSA annual meeting on evidence they found of ancient humans butchering elephant-like gomphotheres in northern Mexico about 11,000 years ago. It's the first documentation of humans in North America encountering those animals, which were thought to be nearly extinct by the time humans arrived. [right, Platybeladon descendent of gomphothere, from China. Credit Wikipedia]



Ref: GEOARCHAEOLOGY OF EL FIN DEL MUNDO, A CLOVIS SITE IN SONORA, MEXICO
HOLLIDAY, Vance T., Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, vthollid@email.arizona.edu, GAINES, Edmund P., Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, and SANCHEZ-MIRANDA, Guadalupe, Subdirectora de Laboratorios, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Moneda 16, Col. Centro, Mexico City, 06060, Mexico
http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2009AM/finalprogram/abstract_160955.htm

UA camera captures UA lander on Mars

The University of Arizona run HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the UA's Phoenix Mars Lander sitting under a layer of frost on the Red Planet. [right, credit NASA/UA]

Nevada gold production down, value up

The Nevada Mining Institute has just released the economic analysis of the Nevada mining industry for 2008. Gold production, which accounts for more than 80% of mining value in the state, dropped from 6.04 million ounces the year before to 5.7 million ounces, but the overall value was up to over $7 billion due to rising prices. [right, Value of Nevada gold production and price. Credit, Nevada Mining Association]

The report concluded that "the Nevada’s gold industry ... generally supported the local economies in northern and northeast Nevada."

Nevada gold production amount to just over 7% of total world production, putting the state 4th behind China, South Africa, and Australia.

The report says "Total annual average direct employment in the Mining and Natural Resources sector was 14,613, up from 14,470 in 2007. Mining and metal mining in particular were still the highest paid sectors in the State economy with average pay of $69,300 and $78,600, respectively. This compares with statewide average earnings of just under $43,000."

State and local taxes increased by just under 15% to $225 million.

Ref: Economic Overview of the Nevada Mining Industry, 2008 – 2009, Prepared by John L. Dobra, Ph.D., Director, Natural Resource Industry Institute, and Associate Professor of Economics, University of Nevada Reno October 2009, Prepared for The Nevada Mining Association, 28p.

AZGS presentation to Ad Hoc Committee on Mining Regulations

We got confirmation that I'm scheduled to make a presentation to the Arizona Legislature's Ad Hoc Committee on Mining Regulations at their next meeting on Monday, Nov 16. The agenda should be released this coming Tuesday.

The Committee is looking at ways to increase investment in mining in Arizona, improve government efficiency, and coordinate data among agencies. I'm preparing my remarks to explain the AZGS mission and recent activities, reports, and accomplishments and to show the data integration capabilities we have developed that can be readily deployed for mining and mineral resource data in Arizona. [right, mineral map of Arizona. AZGS]

AZGS is building the Geoscience Information Network (GIN) for use by the State Geological Surveys nationwide, the USGS, and the DOE-funded National Geothermal Data System, in partnership with major technology companies including Microsoft, Schlumberger-MetaCarta, and others. Energistics, Inc. is adopting the GIN and NGDS as the prototype data integration mechanism for their consortium of 97 national, international, and multinational oil companies.

We are configuring Arizona mineral and map information for integration into the system now.

10th anniversary of Kartchner Caverns State Park

Arizona State Parks is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of Kartchner Caverns to the public. Tours and lectures and going on all day yesterday and today. [right, construction of the main entrance to the cave a decade ago. Credit, Arizona State Parks]

The other $2 million for geothermal

There's been a little confusion over the size of the DOE award to AZGS announced last week to deploy the National Geothermal Data System among state geological surveys across the country and populate it with state-specific data.

The proposal we submitted on behalf of the Association of American State Geologists was for $15.8 million to cover costs of setting up the data system among 40 states. DOE's reviewers urged them to provide up to $2 million more, for a total of $17.8 million, to cover costs of getting the remaining states integrated into the system. At this point, it looks like we have at least 44 of the states in the coalition and more will be participating.

We don't have the money in hand yet. DOE has selected our proposal for negotiation, so it will likely take 4-6 months before that is completed.

EPA Region 9 Administrator named

President Obama named Jared Blumenfeld to be the Regional Administrator for EPA’s Region 9. This region encompasses California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and over 140 Tribal Nations, which makes him one of the most powerful federal officials in the West. Blumenfeld is currently the Director of the San Francisco Department of Environment.

ASU video of Apollo 17 lunar landing site

The ASU team running the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) released a cool video last week of the Apollo 17 landing site, showing the lunar module descent stage, the Apollo 17 lunar surface experiments package, the U.S. flag, and the lunar rover. You can see the astronauts foot trails across the lunar surface.

The Apollo 17 mission included the only geologist to walk on the moon, Harrison "Jack" Schmitt.

NSF releases vision for the geosciences

Another goodie from the AGI Government Affairs Program monthly report:

The National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Advisory Committee for Geosciences (AC-GEO) released GEO Vision: Unraveling Earth’s Complexities through the Geosciences, a new long-term strategy document for the Geosciences Directorate (GEO). AC-GEO found the top challenges for the geosciences in the future to be: understanding and forecasting Earth system behavior, reducing vulnerability and sustaining life, and growing the geoscience workforce. The report shows that geoscientists are well-suited to bring the insight needed to address the pressing issues facing the Earth.

AC-GEO believes the NSF is the only research agency in the U.S. with the breadth and capability to understand the broad challenges in Earth systems to protect resources, environment, energy supplies, human health and the economy. The recommendations for GEO involve maintaining fundamental and interdisciplinary geoscience research, conducting groundbreaking research, communicating the science to the public and policymakers, engaging K-12 students, and coordinating within NSF and with other agencies. The report highlights several key research areas for GEO, including natural hazards, ocean acidification, gas hydrates, EarthScope, the Ocean Observatories Initiative, atmospheric observations, and Earth science literacy.

This vision document reflects four years of work by AC-GEO, and replaces the 1999 document NSF Geosciences Beyond 2000. The updated GEO Vision incorporates new science, new technology, and new opportunities for GEO.

The GEO Vision document is available for download from NSF:
http://www.nsf.gov/geo/acgeo/geovision/start.jsp

Congressional earmark would reopen Calif. rare earth mine

The new Government Affairs Report from AGI reports:

An earmark to protect rare earth element mines and bills to promote access to molybdenum-99 isotopes show a growing concern in Congress over the dearth of domestic access to mineral resources.

The shortage of rare earth minerals prompted Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Jerry Lewis (R-CA) to add an earmark to the House Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 3326) for $3 million to help reopen a California rare earth mine [NB - I have to believe this is Molycorp's Mountain Pass Mine - LA]. According to Lewis the controversial funds were necessary for Molycorp Minerals, owned in part by Goldman Sachs, to quell national security concerns. This appropriations bill is still awaiting conference committee approval. [right, projected gap in RE supply and demand. Credit, Molycorp]

Rare earth minerals have seen their value balloon in recent years, thanks to their utilization in high technology military devices and renewable energy applications like hybrid batteries and wind turbines. The growing interest in supply stems from progressively tighter restrictions on export from China, the world’s single dominant producer. China controls the vast majority of supply for all 17 rare earth elements, including up to 99 percent for some elements such as Terbium. After four years of decreasing permits for export, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has reportedly submitted a recommendation to the Chinese administration to further tighten exports. Amid global concern though, MITT responded that a ban would never be enforced.

On a different, but related issue, there is growing concern in the U.S. about the supply of the isotope, molybdenum-99, which is needed for medical imaging. The U.S. stopped production of the isotope, which is a fission product of highly purified uranium-235, partly out of concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation and partly out of concerns about nuclear waste disposal. Earlier this year, a reactor in Canada used to produce the isotope broke down, nearly crippling American supplies. The American Medical Isotopes Production Act of 2009 (H.R. 3276) would promote developing U.S. production of the isotope, molybdenum-99, according to its sponsor, Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA), to ensure a stable and consistent supply of the isotope for cancer scans and brain imaging in American health care facilities.

The molybdenum isotope concern has also been addressed in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (H.R. 2647) which became public law this month. In addition, H.R. 2647 requires the Defense Science Board to study and report on the extent to which military capabilities are impacted by supplies and the potential shortage of rare earth minerals.

The full text of H.R. 3326 is available from Thomas:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:h3326:
The full text of H.R. 3276 is available from Thomas:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:h3276:
The full text of H.R. 2647 is available from Thomas:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR2647:

Interior Secretary reportedly flooded with anti-mining comments

The Colorado Independent online newspaper says Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar received 100,000 public comments last week calling for the permanent withdrawal of a million acres public lands in northern Arizona from new mining claims.

I know some of the news reports imply that mining would occur in the Grand Canyon, thus raising public concerns, but I was perplexed by the story. They don't provide any source for the number they quote. And BLM was soliciting comments on the scope of the 2-year long EIS, not on the decision about withdrawal itself, which is not supposed to be made until after the study is complete. Another confusing point is that the EIS is supposed to examine a 20-year withdrawal not a permanent one. [right, former uranium mine in northern Arizona. Credit, VANE Minerals]

Maybe the paper is reporting on some other public comment process than the one I know about.

Renowned porphyry copper expert Spencer Titley to be honored for 50+ years

The University of Arizona's department of geosciences is holding a dinner on Tuesday, Nov. 17, in honor of Spencer Titley, our local economic geologist internationally renowned for his work on the origin of porphyry copper deposits. Spence officially retired from the department this summer but is still actively teaching and researching.

[Right, Spencer Titley points out the copper veinlet in a piece of porphyry copper from Arizona's San Manuel Mine. Credit: Mari N. Jensen, UA College of Science]

UA listed his numerous honors and awards including, the Medal of Merit from the American Mining Hall of Fame, the Penrose Gold Medal from the Society of Economic Geologists, the D.C. Jackling Award from the Society of Mining Metallurgy and Exploration, the Medal for Distinguished Achievement in Mineral Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, the Career Distinguished Teaching Award from UA's College of Science, the Creative Teaching Award from the UA Foundation, the Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Distinguished Faculty Member Award from UA's department of geosciences advisory board.

[taken in part from the UA news release]

Statewide aerial photo scheduled moved up a year

The North American Imagery Program (NAIP) is going to fly Arizona in 2o10, a year ahead of schedule, because the Dept. of Agriculture got extra budget money and flew the 2010 scheduled states this year. State and local officials are looking at the possibilities of upgrading the photo acquisition to include an IR band or half meter resolution coverage.

I was at the annual conference of the Arizona Geographic Information Council (AGIC) in Tucson for part of the day as a Board member, and to give a presentation on our rapidly expanding Geoscience Information Network (GIN).

At the Board meeting we got the update on NAIP. Arizona has an option to contract directly with the vendor rather than going through the Dept. of Ag, and get the added or higher resolution data at a significantly lower cost. The group is going to poll the community for possible interest and financial support.

11,445 geologic postcards

The Association of American State Geologists (AASG) handed out 11,445 geologic postcards at the recent Geological Society of America annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, including a stack of our Arizona Rocks postcard.

AASG puts up an exhibit booth each year at GSA and a few other meetings, to highlight the role of state geological surveys and present topics that are important to us.

But for a lot of folks, the AASG booth is where you can find geologic map postcards from almost all of the state surveys. Students in particular are eager collectors, as well as teachers who use them in classroom activities.

ASU hiring faculty and postdocs

The School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) at ASU announced that "over the next two years, the School will be hiring a large number of faculty – at a variety of ranks – in order to build its capacity for transdisciplinary research and education in earth and space science and engineering" including Astrobiology, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Earth and Space Education, Geology, Geophysics, Engineering, and Planetary Science.

Among the positions now open in SESE are:

Atmospheric and Climate Sciences
Environmental Sensor Networks
Extrasolar Planet Studies
Molecular Geobiology
Planetary Atmospheres
Planetary Surface Processes
Observational Cosmology
Instrumentation Development
Planetary Geology postdoctoral fellow

This is a phenomenal investment in growing this program.

AZGS web site temporarily offline

The Arizona Geological Survey website (www.azgs.az.gov) cannot be accessed for a short period while the state internet service converts over to our new IP address.

We have been having increasing problems with our email at AZGS with a number of service providers blacklisting us as possible spammers. So, we moved to a new IP over the weekend but the state system needs up to a day to register it.

We apologize to anyone who was inconvenienced but it should be resolved pretty quickly.

Future of Dept of Mines & Mineral Resources to be discussed

The Arizona Legislature's Ad Hoc Committee on Mining Regulations is holding their first meeting tomorrow (Monday), Nov 2 in Phoenix, and on the agenda is an item described as "Discussion concerning the Mining Department and Mining Museum and whether they need to be separate entities, continue under a different model or remain the same."

ADMMR has been disproportionately affected by state budget cuts because more than 60% of their state appropriation goes to cover the rent and building costs of the Mining and Mineral Museum [right], according to the Director, Dr. Madan Singh.

Gov. Brewer opposes northern Arizona mineral withdrawal

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has called on Sec. of Interior Ken Salazar to halt efforts to impose a 20 year withdrawal of nearly 1 million acres of federal lands in northern Arizona from hard rock mineral exploration and mining [right, outlined in red. Credit BLM] . In a letter sent to the Secretary on Friday, the Governor noted that federal and state laws heavily regulate mining in Arizona and the proposed restrictions are unnecessary and "will adversely impact the State of Arizona."

BLM is engaged in a two-year EIS process to determine if the federal lands should be withdrawn from exploration and mining activities for up to 20 years.

Gov. Brewer noted that "existing Federal law requires mining operations to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Endangered Species Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and various rules regulations and policies" established by US BLM and Forest Service.

She said that the proposed uranium mining in Northern Arizona will be from breccia pipes, which are typically dry and situated hundreds of feet above any aquifers. Coupled with state requirements for Aquifer Protection Permits, this will ensure there are no adverse impacts on underlying aquifers.

The Governor also argued that exploration activities do not involve extraction or transportation of uranium ore for processing and the small areas affected will be completely reclaimed.

Echoing recent statements made by Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Udall of Colorado, Gov. Brewer about environmental concerns from the legacy of early uranium mining and processing in the region, she pointed out that the problems occurred with different types of activities that those being proposed now and before the wide array of protective measures and procedures were put in place.

The 4-page letter described the national security concerns of the US continuing to import over 90% of this critical energy resource, while the Arizona Strip holds 42% of the nation's undiscovered uranium according to the USGS.

She concluded by urging the Secretary to recognize the "overwelming evidence that responsible uranium mining can be both safe for public health and the environment and compatible with teh Grand Canyon region and its watershed."

"The withdrawal proposal is overly broad and unnecessary because of the protections offered by state and federal laws that will ensure mining operations will be protective of the Grand Canyon region and the Colorado River."