Appointment to NSF Cyberinfrastructure Committee

My appointment to the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee on Cyberinfrastructure was just confirmed.

It's a daunting challenge to be a geologist among some of the nation's most eminent computer scientists.  The Committee's charter describes our objective to provide perspective and advice in developing a "state-of-the-art cyberinfrastructure that enables significant advances in all fields of science and engineering supported by the agency [NSF]." 

So, my involvement in the US Geoscience Information Network (USGIN), National Geothermal Data System (www.geothermaldata.org), and EarthCube (www.earthcube.ning.com), should help me offer the geoscience perspective in building our cyberinfrastructure.

State Senate sets hearing on mining claim maintenance fee bill

The Arizona Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Rural Affairs meets Wednesday to vote on HB2087, which revises the mining claim maintenance fee affidavit.

The bill is 4th on the agenda.  The hearing begins at 9am in Senate Hearing Room 109 at the Capitol in Phoenix.

Tree Ring Lab moves into permanent home after 75 years

The University of Arizona Tree Ring Lab moved out of its long time "temporary" home under the football stadium into the Bryant Bannister Tree-Ring Building. UA says the new facility, named for the laboratory's director emeritus, provides 17,300 square feet of usable space.   The UA announcement includes a great photo album from the grand opening.  [Right, my photo]

Arizona rankings in international mining survey

The Fraser Institute survey reports on mining companies assessment of the attractiveness of 96 jurisdictions (countries, states, provinces) around the world for mining investment.    We went through the 135 page report released last week and summarized Arizona's rankings in the 20 main categories.   Arizona ranks in the top 30%  in most areas but is near the bottom in uncertainty due to protected lands and uncertainty over environmental regulations.    Anecdotal information in the report suggests that uncertainty is based on federal land management actions.  The withdrawal of 1 million acres of federal land in northern Arizona from mineral exploration and development was specifically cited.  Kenneth Green from Fraser Institute will appear on our online video magazine, Arizona Mining Review, on March 27 to talk about the report and answer our questions about the meaning for Arizona.

AIPG 2014 national meeting to be held in Flagstaff

Dawn Garcia, president of the Arizona Chapter of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) announced that Flagstaff has been selected as the site of the AIPG National Meeting in 2014.  AIPG National and the Arizona Hydrological Society have agreed to hold a joint meeting, similar to the format in 2008.  An announcement letter will be going out soon to start publicizing the event and inviting ideas and help for field trips and technical sessions.

Recording Arizona oral histories at the Tucson Festival of Book

Let us film your Arizona story for posting on the Arizona Experience website along with those of many of your neighbors and friends.   

AZGS has a booth at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend for the Arizona Experience online museum where we will be filming short oral histories with everyone who comes by.   Visit us at booths 517-518.

Arizona Public Media interviewed Randi Bellasai about the project earlier this week. You can listen to it at 

https://www.azpm.org/p/top-news/2013/3/6/22981-new-oral-history-project-to-collect-arizona-experiences

 

Arizona's earth fissures give that sinking feeling

The Florida sinkhole has generated lots of interest in similar phenomena in Arizona.  Phoenix's Channel 12 interviewed Joe Cook yesterday who runs the AZGS earth fissure program.  The AZGS interactive earth fissure viewer allows you to put in an address and determine if there are any fissures nearby.



Jonathon DuHamel compiled a set of sinkhole related resources from AZGS for his Wry Heat blog at the Tucson Citizen.

The USGS blogged about the Science of Sinkholes.

Florence to take copper project lands by eminent domain

The Florence Town Council voted 7-0 on Monday to take 1,187 acres of private land by eminent domain from Curis Resources which would  stop them from developing an in situ copper recovery project on the lands, according to a story in the Phoenix Business Journal.   Real estate developers have been battling the copper project over claims it will endanger groundwater supplies.   The Town has previously shut down the Curis offices over driveway access and office water service.  They also banned use of sulfuric acid for mining but not other uses.  [Right, land ownership around copper project.   Credit, Curis Resources]
    
Curis has a lease on 160 acres of state trust lands which they plan on developing first.   They released a new economic feasibility study that concluded:

The base case economics of the project indicate pretax Net Present Value (NPV) of US$748 million with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 38 percent

Life of project direct operating cost is estimated at US$0.79 per pound copper recovered. This is considered to be among the lowest cost copper producers globally.

Royalties paid to Arizona State Land Department over the life of the project will be approximately $162 million.

Operations are planned to occur on land owned by and leased by Curis from the Arizona State Land Department for a total of 13 years. The first nine years of copper production will occur exclusively on state land and is scheduled to begin in 2016. In year 10, production would expand on to private patented land owned by Curis.

Arizona Mining Association hires non-miner as president

 The Arizona Mining Association (AMA) today announced the appointment of Kelly Norton as its President.  Norton does not come from the mining sector. According to the AMA news release:

Norton brings more than 25 years of experience in government affairs, management, public relations, marketing and development to her new role. 

Norton most recently served as Executive Director of a local non-profit, overseeing all operations, management and fundraising.  Since 2006, she has also been a consultant to various small businesses and non-profit organizations with experience in research, political campaigns and government relations. 

"We are very pleased that Kelly is now leading the AMA and believe her expertise will be invaluable in supporting a responsible, sustainable and safe mining industry in Arizona,” said Francis McAllister, Chairman of the Arizona Mining Association.  “Norton’s immediate focus will be to provide a stronger strategic voice for this essential industry, so important for the economic well-being of Arizona and the nation.”

“One of my top priorities will be to position Arizona as a premier location for mining investment in the United States,” Norton said.  “Arizona mining companies have incredible opportunities to create more jobs and economic benefits for our state.” 

In 2011, the hard rock mining industry in Arizona had a total economic impact of $4.6 billion on the state’s economy and generated an estimated 49,800 jobs for Arizonans.  Mining has been an important part of Arizona since before it became a state.  Copper is one of the 5 C’s along with Cotton, Climate, Cattle and Citrus, which helped bring people to the state and create a viable economic base.  For more, visit www.azmining.com. 

About the AMA

Founded in 1965, AMA is a non-profit business league comprised of entities engaged in metal mining, mineral exploration, development, and production of copper, molybdenum, coal, uranium, gold, silver and other valuable minerals in Arizona.  The AMA represents 28 mining-related companies and 12 consulting and legal firms that have operations or offices in Arizona. The AMA is the primary advocate of the Arizona mining industry through promoting sound public policy at all levels of government, educating the public about the benefits of mining and supporting the sustainability of a safe and responsible mining industry.      

Big turnout for Havasu Canyon flood talk

About 400 people turned out Monday night in Apache Junction for my talk on the Havasu Canyon floods of 2008 and 2010.

The talk was part of the 2013 Arizona Lecture Series hosted at the Apache Junction High School Performing Arts Center.

I focused on the rescue of 170 campers who rushed to high ground in the middle of the night to escape rapidly rising flood waters, and the dramatic changes to Havasu Canyon from the biggest flood since 1898, including Havasu Creek changing course [Right, my photo], abandonment of two famous waterfalls, and creation of two new falls.   The Havasupai Tribes remarkable 10 month effort to restore the world famous recreation sites and facilities was partially undone by another monsoon flood in 2010.  The Tribe once again rebuilt their trails and campgrounds and continue to stabilize canyon walls along the creek's new course.

ADOT estimates $35 million to repair landslide damage to US 89

 ADOT issued an announcement yesterday that the initial estimate is $35 million to 'repair' US 89 from the February 20 Bitter Springs landslide [photo credit ADOT].  They did not elaborate on what the preliminary repair plans entail:

The Arizona Department of Transportation has been granted $2 million in immediate federal aid that can be used to continue investigating the cause of a landslide on a stretch of US 89 last month south of Page.

Following Governor Jan Brewer’s Declaration of Emergency last week, ADOT asked the Federal Highway Administration for the quick release of emergency relief funds and submitted an initial estimate to complete repairs of $35 million. This estimate may change as further information about the landslide is gathered by engineers.

The quick release funds will be used to assess the damage and the stability of the mountain slope, and conduct emergency operations.

The Federal Highway Administration’s emergency relief program reimburses state and local agencies for the repair or reconstruction of highways, roads and bridges that are damaged in natural disasters and catastrophic failures.

“Our budget for emergencies is very limited, and local governments have even greater financial constraints with limited cash available to fund emergencies,” said Jennifer Toth, ADOT deputy director for transportation. “This initial allocation serves as a down payment on the overall emergency relief needs for US 89. It will offset the cost for the geotechnical investigation of the landslide area to determine short- and long-term options.”

ADOT is currently conducting a geological investigation to determine the stability of the mountain slope in the Echo Cliffs. The agency is also performing damage assessments in the area and a more accurate estimate will be available in the future.

US 89 is currently closed between the US 89A junction near Bitter Springs to the State Route 98 junction near Page (mileposts 523-546). The highway has approximately 500 feet of damage, including 150 feet of pavement that settled four to six feet, due to a landslide and failure of the slope during the early morning hours on Feb. 20.

While US 89 remains closed indefinitely, the primary detour route is to take US 160 to SR 98 toward Page. Drivers also have the option to take US 89A north to Marble Canyon toward Fredonia to reconnect to US 89 in Kanab, Utah.

For up-to-date information on the US 89 closure, please visit www.azdot.gov/us89.

Northern Arizona uranium mine proposed on State Trust Lands

A joint venture between Uranium One and VANE Minerals is proposing to mine uranium from a breccia pipe on State Trust Lands in northern Arizona where federal lands have been withdrawn.[Right, location map of proposed breccia pipe mine. Credit, VANE Minerals]

According to a story in the Arizona (Flagstaff) Daily Sun, Wate Mining Co. has filed plans with the State Land Dept. to develop an underground mine that would "produce 500,000 pounds of uranium ore per year, employ 50 to 70, use 10 gallons of water annually, and later backfill the site with the rock that was removed during mining."  

[Update, 3-5-13:   We spoke with Kris Hefton at VANE and he said there are errors in the news story.  They expect 4-5 years for permitting and development of the mine, with production lasting about two years.  The NI-43-101 estimated about a resource of 1.1 million pounds, so that calculates out to roughly 500,000 lbs of uranium oxide, not ore,  per year for two years.]

VANE Minerals and Uranium One posted online an updated NI-43-101 Technical Report on the Wate Uranium Breccia Pipe, that was prepared by Tucson-based SRK Consulting.   [Right above, view of nearby Miller breccia pipe, showing typical landscape in the area.  Left, exploration drilling at the Wate breccia pipe in 2009.   Both photos courtesy of VANE Minerals]