Mine Plan Design: Maret 2012

Arizona copper draws national attention

Arizona's position as supplier of 2/3 of the nation's copper means that what happens in mining here gets national and international attention. [Right, copper wire. Credit, Freeport McMoRan]

The New York Times weighed in on the debate over the proposed Rosemont Copper mine south of Tucson, in an article that draws heavily from critics of mining, calling it a clash over mining and water.

Business Insider looks at Arizona copper in a broader sense but dives in on the proposed land exchange needed for the Resolution Copper underground mine near Superior to go forward.

Arizona moves into 3rd for solar energy installed

Arizona ranks third in the nation in terms of solar system installation, according to the 2011 U.S. Solar Market Insight Report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

Arizona’s energy production from photovoltaic systems jumped from 63 to 273 megawatts between 2010 and 2011 – a 333% rate of growth. Arizona now trails only California and New Jersey in terms of solar megawatt production, and the SEIA report projects Arizona will jump into 2nd place nationally this year.

Nationally, energy production from photovoltaic installations grew 109% in 2011, according to the SEIA report. Growth was found in every market segment (residential, non-residential and utility), and project finance investments reached an all-time high. In total, $8.4 billion worth of photovoltaic systems were installed in the United States last year alone.

A press release from Gov. Brewer's office this afternoon reports that Arizona ranked 3rd nationally in 2011 with nearly 4,800 jobs in the solar energy field, according to the National Solar Jobs Census, issued in October by The Solar Foundation. Since 2010, nine renewable-energy companies have located or expanded operations in Arizona – creating more than 2,100 jobs and investing more than $1 billion in capital.

[taken in part from the Governor's news release]

U.S. Solar Market Insight Report

View more documents from Solar Energy Industries Association

National Inspire Integrity Award to UA's George Davis

UA geosciences professor (and former Provost) George Davis [right, credit NCSS] has received the Inspire Integrity Award from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. This is "the only national student-nominated faculty awards program. These awards are presented to full-time university faculty and administration who have, through their lessons and actions, made a significant impact on the lives of their students and instilled a high degree of personal and academic integrity."

The winner receives $1,000 plus $1,000 for the foundation of his/her choice.

Arizona State Mining Championship at stake in Boom Town Spree

The Miami (AZ) Boom Town Spree festivities begin Friday, April 20 and run through the weekend. The best manual miners in the state compete in such events as hand drilling and team drilling, which are judged by an official from the Mine Inspector's Office. There are also competitions for spike driving and mucking. At stake is the title of Arizona State Mining Champion, a cash prize, and a coveted Boom Town Spree embroidered Carhart coat.

The weekend also features cultural dancing, arts and crafts, live musical entertainment, activities for kids, bed races, a car show, a street dance, antique mining equipment displays, and more.

[Thanks to Jeanne Francis-Harris with the festival for passing along the details]

AZGS store carries hunting & fishing licences, tags, and stamps

The AZGS store in downtown Tucson is now an authorized AZ Game and Fish Dept. dealer. We carry all Hunting and Fishing licenses, tags, and stamps.

This is a step towards our new emphasis on becoming a one-stop destination for government publications and materials. Remember, we are the official outlet for all USGS topo maps of Arizona, as well as a large selection of US Forest Service and BLM maps.

ASU team produces geologic map of Jovian moon Io

A team of scientists led by Arizona State University (ASU) has produced the first complete global geologic map of the Jovian satellite, Io. The map, published by the U. S. Geological Survey, "depicts the characteristics and relative ages of some of the most geologically unique and active volcanoes and lava flows ever documented in the Solar System."

The ASU announcement says the highly detailed, colorful map reveals a number of volcanic features, including: paterae (caldera-like depressions), lava flow fields, tholi (volcanic domes), and plume deposits, in various shapes, sizes and colors, as well as high mountains and large expanses of sulfur- and sulfur dioxide-rich plains. The mapping identified 425 paterae, or individual volcanic centers. One feature you will not see on the geologic map is impact craters.

“Io has no impact craters; it is the only object in the Solar System where we have not seen any impact craters, testifying to Io’s very active volcanic resurfacing,” according to David Williams, a faculty research associate in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU, who led the six-year research project to produce the geologic map.

[taken from the ASU SESU news release]

UA geology grad program #1 in US

The University of Arizona’s graduate program in geology remains No. 1 on the 2013 U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of Best Graduate Schools. Two other UA geoscience programs ranked in the top 10: Earth and environmental sciences at No. 7, geochemistry at No. 10.

ASU came in at #17 in Geology. UA was #14 in Geophysics & Seismology.

However, it looks like these are the 2010 rankings and were not updated as were programs in business, law, engineering, medicine, and education.

Claimed Arizona gold mine won't buy LA Dodgers

There have been reports circulating in recent months that a potential buyer for the LA Dodgers baseball team was the owner of an Arizona gold mine worth perhaps $20 billion. That was surprising to those in the mining community in Arizona. A mine that big would attract attention even in a mining state as big as Arizona. [Right, native gold. Credit, USGS]

Well, the LA Weekly ran a lengthy story, calling it a 'fraud' and challenging the tales of the gold claims. The paper says Joshua Macciello established his credibility as a potential team buyer with a multibillion dollar appraisal of an Arizona gold property. But the paper tracked down the appraiser who deals with homes and buildings not mineral deposits. The 'appraisal' was a short informal "research report" for a company that went out of business and merged with another company. The reporter says they never heard of Macciello.

There's a lesson here. We hear from investors and securities officials regularly, about purportedly amazingly rich mines or deposits of gold laying around the surface and overlooked by generations of prospectors. And the owners of these bonanzas are happy to let you in for a piece of it or sometimes the whole deal for a fraction of what it's worth. Or they want to use it as collateral for something big, say a national baseball franchise.

So folks, a little common sense and a couple of phone calls or emails might save you a whole lot of grief.

Mexico earthquake recorded on AZ broadband seismic network

AZGS seismologist Lisa Linville in our Flagstaff office compiled this display of the seismic waveforms rolling across Arizona from yesterday's M=7.4 earthquake in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, as recorded on the stations of the Arizona Broadband Seismic Network, which is managed by AZGS.

The initial pulses are the P waves, followed by often higher amplitude S or surface waves.

We plan on posting a higher-resolution version of this on the AZGS website.

Mining, minerals showcased on Arizona Experience

We rolled out "Mining and Mineral Resources" as the March theme on the new virtual Arizona Experience website last week, with new materials being added throughout the remainder of the month.

The new content includes video interviews, historical photos, oral histories, interactive maps, and slide shows. Featured artist Jeff Scovill, of Phoenix, shows how to take world class photos of mineral specimens. The Mason Coggin photo collection is also on display. [Right, drilling rig in Quarry Canyon in Cochise County, early 1900s. Credit, AZ Historical Society]

AZGS is building Virtual Arizona Experience as part of the Arizona Centennial.

Political debate over loan guarantees to Arizona solar company

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is holding hearings to pursue his claim that "The Department of Energy manipulated analysis, ignored objections from career professionals, and strategically modified loan evaluations in order to force project funding out the door," in regards to federal loan guarantees on two solar energy projects being built by Tempe-based First Solar Corp., the Agua Caliente generating facility in Yuma County, Arizona, and the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch in California, according to ABC News.

A DOE spokesman called said the House committee was "inventing false and misleading controversy."

The Agua Caliente Solar Project [right, location map] will be the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) project in the world
at 290 megawatts (MW) when completed in 2014, according to NRG Energy, which is acquiring it from First Solar. DOE approved a $967 million loan guarantee in 2011.

The Agua Caliente project was named Solar Project of the Year by Renewable Energy World, a leading industry magazine, and PV Project of the Year by Solar Power Generation USA, the industry’s leading utility-scale solar power conference, according to a news report from Reuters last month. "The first 30-megawatt phase of the project began commercial operation in January."

Two mines proposed for Holbrook potash deposit

Passport Potash appears to be planning on developing an underground mine with capacity of about 2 million tons of potash per year, according to an interview in the White Mountain Independent newspaper. There has been speculation that Passport might 'flip' their property to a large company for development or to use solution mining rather than underground mining.

American West Potash has publicly announced plans for a 2+ million ton underground mine that they project could be in production in 2014. [Right, thickness map of potash in the Holbrook basin. AZGS Open File Report 08-07]

Passport development director Ken Bond said they are in it for the long term and projects costs of about $1 billion to put a 2 million ton mine in production, although he indicated Passport is perhaps a year behind American West in their estimated timetable.

Have we seen "peak gold"?

The journal Science asks the provocative question, "Is the world tottering on the precipice of peak gold?"

Their premise is that despite a quadrupling of investment in gold exploration and technological and scientific advances, production of gold in the past decade has plateaued. Gold discoveries of the 1980s led to record production in 2001, but the article notes that new discoveries are down 20% and current production levels are not sustainable. [Right, has gold production plateaued since 2001? Credit, copyright Minex Consulting as published in Science]

Optimists counter that when gold prices rise, they lead to "new territory opened to mining or new technology" to make it easier to find or process gold ore.

Mexico quake waves roll across Arizona

Today's M7.4 earthquake in Mexico sent seismic waves across the world, and they were recorded by the seismometers in the Arizona Broadband Seismic Network (ABSN) managed by AZGS. At right top is a screenshot from the X16 instrument near Strawberry/Pine.

Below it is one from a Univ. of Utah station just east of St. George, that has not been clipped in the viewer.

We are working on getting views from all the Arizona stations collected for display.

Thanks to Lisa Linville in Flagstaff who runs the ABSN network, for providing the seismograms.

US mining has low political risk but big delays in permitting

An annual survey of countries for political risk to mining investment places the US at 6th, behind Australia, Canada, Chile, Brazil and Mexic, according to the story on Mineweb.com.

However, the rankings by mining consultants Behre Dolbear also concluded that permitting delays to be "the most significant risk to mining projects in the United States. A few mining friendly states (Nevada, Utah, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Arizona) are an exception to this rule but are negatively impacted by federal rules that they are bound to enforce resulting in a 7- to 10-year waiting period before mine development can begin." [Right, mineral districts of Arizona. Credit, AZGS]

Magnitude 7.9 earthquake in southern Mexico

The USGS reports a magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurred just after noon local time in southern Mexico, between Acapulco and Oaxaca.

update 12:29PM, 3-20-12: the USGS has revised the magnitude to M7.4.

Mekanika Batuan [Materi PDF]

Selamat malam, salam tambang !! udah lama gak update blog. maklum banyak kesibukan :D. pada postingan kali ini saya akan membagikan file materi MEKANIKA BATUAN, karena banyak dar pengunjung blog ini meminta materi mengenai mekanika batuan ini, mata kuliah ini merupakan mata kuliah wajib bagi anak anak teknik pertambangan, mungkin juga anak teknik perminyakan dan teknik geologi. mata kuliah ini merupakan ilmu teoritis dan terapan tentang perilaku mekanik batuan, berkaitan dengan respons batuan atas medan gaya dari lingkungan sekitarnya (Deere, D.V., dalam Stagg & Zienkiewicz, 1968)

Mekanika batuan mempelajari :

1) Mekanisme deformasi kristal-kristal mineral yang mengalami tekanan tinggi pada temperatur tinggi

2) Perilaku triaksial batuan di laboratorium

3) Stabilitas dinding terowongan, bahkan :

4) Mekanisme pergerakan-pergerakan kerak bumi sendiri,dan lain sebagainya.

itulah sedikit pendahuluan mengenai mekanika batuan, berikut file materi kuliahnya, silahkan disedot langsung:

segini dulu, nanti diupdate terus. keep sharing guys !(Najib)

National conference on communicating science coming to Tucson

With the COPUS conference just wrapped up, this announcement caught my attention.

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), in partnership with the American Geophysical Union and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, has opened the registration for
its 124th Annual Meeting and its national conference on "Communicating Science."

Hundreds of education and outreach professionals, scientists, educators at all levels, authors of print and on-line materials, journalists, public information officers, museum staff, twitterers, and other involved in communicating science will be gathering in Tucson for panels, workshops, talks, posters, exhibits, and discussions.

The conference web site has more detailed information and is now accepting registration and abstract submissions at: http://www.astrosociety.org/2012meeting

There will also be a weekend workshop on teaching hands-on astronomy (with a focus on planetary exploration and reaching under-served minorities) on Sat. and Sun., Aug. 4 & 5,
for teachers in grades 3-12, and those who work with them.

Abstracts are welcome for poster papers, 10-minute oral presentations, one-hour hands-on workshops, and one-hour special-interest group discussions. Full instructions are available on the conference web site. The deadline for submitting an abstract is April 30.

Passionate advocates of science engagement

The COPUS Unconference wrapped up late on Sunday at the Biosphere2 with everyone exhausted but energized. The 60 or so invited participants spent a long weekend forming dozens of small to large groups to discuss and debate topics from hacker spaces to science cafes to media strategies to teacher training and beyond.

There are so many things going on around the country in getting people engaged in science that are so exciting which I've never heard of. The good news is that there are some amazingly brilliant, articulate, and passionate people who love doing this stuff. [Right, Judy Scotchmoor, co-founder of COPUS, offers explanation of the unconference format. At right, Sheri Potter from the American Institute of Biological Sciences, which hosts COPUS. Photo by Debra Winstead]

BLM-OSM merger to go forward

Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar is moving forward with his proposal to merge the Office of Surface Mining with the Bureau of Land Management. A study by his appointees endorsed the idea. There was a lot of concerns and opposition when the proposal was first broached and I have not seen much active support for it.

Mineweb.com also says "both the report and Salazar favor new fees on hardrock mining operators, the same type now collected from coal mining operations, "so that the BLM can pursue a more vigorous abandoned mine cleanup program." The Obama Administration and environmental groups have long supported levying such a fee on hardrock miners."

BLM administers 12.2 million surface acres of public lands, and another 17.5 million subsurface acres within Arizona.

Science communicators gathered at Biosphere2

About 60 of us arrived at the UA Biosphere 2 yesterday afternoon to begin a two and half day 'unconference' workshop on communicating science. AZGS is hosting the event for the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), with major financial underwriting by the Whitman Foundation.

COPUS has grown into a grassroots network of more than 1,000 organizations, small to large, since we first organized it about 6 years ago.

The weekend is intended to be "a think tank, networking event, showcase, forum and a celebration - all rolled into one." We describe it as a gathering of an "eclectic group of folks who are passionate about sharing science with the public."

Fed-state issues at Congressional Western Caucus hearing

Gov. Brewer was the main witness at the hearing held by the Congressional Western Caucus yesterday in Phoenix. The topic was disagreements between Arizona and the Obama Administration, particularly in regard to public lands.

Following the Governor's remarks, six agency heads, myself included, were asked to respond to questions from the 5 Republican congressmen in attendance. Scott Hunt, the Arizona State Forester, [typo corrected 3-18-12] was pressed to name individuals in the US Forest Service who were holding up decisions on forest lands. Caucus chair Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico said their new practice is to identify by name 'bureaucrats' who are normally anonymous, to pressure them to move faster or take more responsibility for their actions.

I was asked if we have received honest information about the uranium mining ban in northern Arizona. My response was that I thought that BLM had acted in good faith but the EIS process had been short-circuited when the Secretary of Interior announced his final decision as soon as the draft EIS was released, prior not only to the final EIS but before any reviews or comments had been made on the draft. In addition, senior Interior Dept. officials told a number of us participating agencies on a conference call that they had not read much of the EIS before the decision was made.

In addition to Mr. Pearce, Arizona congressmen Gosar, Schweikert, Franks, and Quayle were on the panel.

Tribe, environment groups join lawsuit over mining ban

The Havasupai Tribe has joined with a number of environmental groups to support the Secretary of Interior's 20-year ban on mineral exploration and mining in northern Arizona, according to the Flagstaff Daily Sun. Other groups weighing in on the U.S. district court lawsuit are Grand Canyon Trust, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and the National Parks Conservation Association.

A number of mining companies, organizations, and local communities are suing to overturn the ban. The Havasupai Tribe lands abut one of the withdrawal areas [right, land management and withdrawal areas. Credit, BLM]

AZGS reauthorized for 10 years

Gov. Brewer yesterday signed SB1299, the reauthorization of AZGS in statute, for another 10 years. Thanks to all of our stakeholders who sent letters or testified in the hearings, in support of continuing the agency.

The Governor also signed SB1171, which integrated the statutes from the AZ Dept. of Mines & Mineral Resources into the AZGS statutes. The two agencies were merged officially last July but it was done through a budget bill, leaving the statutes in separate chapters with some potentially confusing or contradictory language.

Cutting light pollution from mines

I heard last week that Rosemont Copper was developing a plan to use LED lighting for its proposed copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, instead of the conventional sodium lighting, to reduce light pollution that affects the region's astronomical observatories. Company officials sounded pretty excited. This afternoon, Rosemont put out an announcement saying they have contracted with local company Monrad Engineering to design and install such a system. They note that company president Chris Monrad is the former president of Tucson-based International Dark Skies Association, whose mission is to “preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting.” The Monrad report concludes that "The result is expected to be a lighting installation that generates about 10-15% of the amount of environmental light that ...would normally be allowed by a similar commercial development of the same scale in the same location using conventional lighting systems on a similarly sized parcel." [Right, narrow-band amber LED. Credit, Monrad Engineering]

This topic came up at the Holbrook town hall a few weeks ago, during a Q&A session about the proposed underground potash mine proposed in that area. American West Potash CEO Pat Avery told the audience that they also are looking into low impact lighting for their operations.

The use of these lighting systems in Arizona could help establish new standards for mining operations nationwide and worldwide.

Potash public meetings moved to larger venues

Two upcoming public meetings on proposed potash mining in the Holbrook basin have been moved to larger facilities in St. Johns and Snowflake to better accommodate the large crowds expected to attend and respond to public interest across the region. The new Holbrook Basins Horizon website is posting details about these and later upcoming meetings.

ST. JOHNS: American West Potash Public Meeting on Monday, March 19
A public meeting about the plans of American West Potash is scheduled for Monday, March 19th
in St. Johns. Featuring a presentation by AWP President Pat Avery followed by a question-and answer session, the meeting will be held from 6-7:30 in the Apache County Board of Supervisors
Chambers, Apache County Annex, 75 West Cleveland, St. Johns. This location is a change from
previously announced plans.

SNOWFLAKE: American West Potash Public Meeting on Tuesday, March 20
A public meeting about the plans of American West Potash is scheduled for Tuesday, March 20 in Snowflake. Featuring a presentation by AWP President Pat Avery followed by a question-andanswer session, the meeting will be held from 6-7:30 at the Northland Pioneer College Silver
Creek Campus, 1611 S. Main St., Room 101 in the Learning Center. This location is a change
from previously announced plans.

Events planned for April and May are listed in the Calendar of Events on www.holbrookbasin.org. Thanks to Kathy Hemenway for forwarding this info.

Financing for restart of Catalina Mtns copper mine

There's an interesting item in the Canadian news that Oracle Mining Corp. announced that it has "entered into a non-binding, indicative term sheet for project financing with Credit Suisse AG for a secured term loan of up to US$70 million in order to advance its Oracle Ridge Copper Mine re-start project in Arizona." The Oracle Ridge mine is in the Catalina Mountains northeast of Tucson. [Right, mine site. Credit, Oracle Mining]

But what also got my attention was the notice that this announcement is "Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States of America." I won't claim to understand Canadian securities law, but given the global nature of the Web, how can they expect we won't be able to read this news?

Anyway, the company says their goal is to restart the Oracle Ridge copper mine by the end of 2013.

Huge crowds at Tucson Festival of Books

The AZGS exhibit booth at the Tucson Festival of Books has been mobbed this weekend. Visitors started coming by at least an hour before the event opened on Saturday morning, making it difficult to finish setting up displays. [Right, Randi B. and Mike C. setting up AZGS publication displays early Sat. morning]

The crowds were huge throughout the day and didn't start thinning out until late in the afternoon. We sold out many of the most popular titles and everyone was busy all day, answering questions about Arizona's geology and landscape.

Confusion about fracking

The Arizona Daily Star ran a story the other day headlined "Fracking likely caused Ohio quakes officials say." The problem is that it becomes obvious after reading only a couple of sentences that Ohio officials did not say that.

The headline and the text of the story don't match. According to the article, the earthquakes were triggered by injection of waste water into geologic layers below the natural gas horizon. This is not hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") of the natural gas-bearing shale unit. The production well produces natural gas and water. The water is removed, piped to a waste water injection well and pumped into the ground, typically into deep saline beds. In Ohio, it is the waste water injection, not the fracking, that is linked to the earthquakes. The waste water disposal is completely separate from the fracking of the production well and the earthquakes would have occurred whether or not fracking was involved in the original well completion. [Right, drill rig. Credit, EPA]

This kind of confusion is contributing to the national frenzy over fracking. There is no fracking going on in Arizona yet I hear all kinds of questions or accusations about the damage it is supposedly doing in the state.

New report on plant distributions in the southwestern U.S.

Another new USGS report examines the habitat of 166 plant species across the southwest and predicted future changes in habitat distribution based on three different climate scenarios. [Right, ecoregions of the study area]

One of the conclusions is that "the assessment showed that species respond independently to predicted climate change, suggesting that current plant assemblages may disassemble under predicted climate change scenarios."

Ref: Thomas, K.A., Guertin, P.P., and Gass, L., 2012, Plant distributions in the southwestern United States; a scenario assessment of the modern-day and future distribution ranges of 166 species: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012–1020, 83 p. and 166-page appendix, available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1020/.

Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the upper Pleistocene Chemehuevi Formation along the lower Colorado River

A new USGS professional paper (co-authored by AZGS geologist Dr. Phil Pearthree) proposes the Chemehuevi Fm as a formal lithostratigraphic unit and offers an explanation for its origins. I've excerpted the following from the abstract:

The Chemehuevi Formation forms a conspicuous, widespread, and correlative set of nonmarine sediments lining the valleys of the Colorado River and several of its larger tributaries in the Basin and Range geologic province. This is one of the most prominent stratigraphic units along the river below the Grand Canyon, and the formation records an important event or set of events in the history of the Colorado River. Our preferred interpretation of the Chemehuevi Formation is that it contains the remnants of deposits formed during a single major episode of fluvial aggradation, during which the Colorado River filled its valley with a great volume of dominantly sand-size sediment. The most likely cause for the aggradation is an extraordinary increase in sand supply, likely due to widespread climatic change. However, other explanations have not been ruled out. However, the Chemehuevi Formation contains the remnants of the most recent large magnitude (>100 m) aggradation of the Colorado River.

Ref: Malmon, D.V., Howard, K.A., House, P.K., Lundstrom, S.C., Pearthree, P.A., Sarna-Wojcicki, A.M., Wan, Elmira, and Wahl, D.B., 2011, Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the upper Pleistocene Chemehuevi Formation along the lower Colorado River: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1786, 95 p., available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1786/.

Arizona target of record global mineral exploration spending

The nonferrous metals mining industry "aggregate exploration total jumped 44% in 2010 and a further 50% in 2011, more than doubling from 2009’s recent low of $8.4 billion to the new all-time high of $18.2 billion in 2011" according to the annual World Exploration Trends 2012 report issued by the Minerals Economic Group at the PDAC conference in Toronto [right].

Arizona, Nevada, and Alaska accounted for almost two thirds of all the exploration spending in the U.S.

The report also noted that "Although gold continued to attract more than half of all spending in the
United States, base metals reached its second-highest percentage share in the past decade, based in part on increased copper exploration in Arizona and Utah."

UA camera captures spectacular Martian dust devil

NASA put out a news release describing an amazing dust devil on Mars imaged by the UA's HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Observer:

A towering dust devil, casts a serpentine shadow over the Martian surface in this image acquired by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The scene is a late-spring afternoon in the Amazonis Planitia region of northern Mars. The view covers an area about four-tenths of a mile (644 meters) across. North is toward the top. The length of the dusty whirlwind's shadow indicates that the dust plume reaches more than half a mile (800 meters) in height. The plume is about 30 yards or meters in diameter.

A westerly breeze partway up the height of the dust devil produced a delicate arc in the plume. The image was taken during the time of Martian year when the planet is farthest from the sun. Just as on Earth, winds on Mars are powered by solar heating. Exposure to the sun's rays declines during this season, yet even now, dust devils act relentlessly to clean the surface of freshly deposited dust, a little at a time.

This view is one product from an observation made by HiRISE on Feb. 16, 2012, at 35.8 degrees north latitude, 207 degrees east longitude. Other image products from the same observation are at http://www.uahirise.org/ESP_026051_2160 .

HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera. [Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona]

For a fantastic collection of other images of Martian dust devils, check out AGU's The Martian

Chronicles blog.

AZGS' Ann Youberg featured in "Girls Doing Science"

We just discovered that my photo of AZGS geologist Ann Youberg examining debris flows from Flagstaff's Schultz wildfire, was showcased on the Girls Doing Science web site last year.

There's a great collection of photos of other women doing science at the site as well. Send your daughters, and your sons, to see how girls are changing the world.

And don't forget, March is Women's History Month.

Another lawsuit against Arizona mining ban

An email from the Northwest Mining Association was forwarded, informing their members that NWMA filed a complaint in federal district court in Arizona "seeking to overturn [Interior] Secretary Salazar’s Public Land Order withdrawing more than 1 million acres from operation of the Mining Law. Mountain States Legal Foundation is representing NWMA in this action. There are 7 claims for relief, two relating to violations of FLPMA and the NFMA; four related to violations of NEPA; and the seventh seeks to declare §204 of FLPMA unconstitutional because it violates the Presentment Clause of the U.S. Constitution." [Right, BLM map outlining the parcels included in the withdrawal from exploration and mining]

There are a number of reports circulating that other groups are planning suits, and not surprisingly, that several mining opponents will seek to intervene in support of the withdrawal.

Update, 3-8-12 5;14AM: the Mohave Valley News reports that Mohave County Supervisors on Monday will consider joining one of the lawsuits.

Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson testified in Congress against the ban last week.

EPA in Tucson to discuss Rosemont copper mine

EPA officials from San Francisco have been in Tucson the past couple of days to review the proposed Rosemont copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, about 20 miles south of the city. We hear they spent a day with Pima County staff. On Tuesday afternoon they went to the Santa Ritas to see the mine site and adjacent canyons that opponents fear will be harmed by mining. [Right, site of proposed mine. Credit, Rosemont Copper]

[Update - I revised this post to correct an unintended implication that EPA met only with opponents. 3-6-12 9:28pm]

EPA last week issued a stinging critique of the project and of the Forest Service's EIS of the proposal.

Arizona has second producing lode gold mine

American Bonanza announced that they shipped their first gold production from the Copperstone mine, about 10 miles north of Quartzite, Arizona. The company reports that "the first concentrate shipment consists of 31.2 tons of concentrate grading an average of 22.8 ounces per ton of gold, containing an estimated 712 ounces of gold in concentrate." The mine is working to achieve the design gold production rate of approximately 3,000 ounces of gold per month. [Right, mine layout. Credit, American Bonanza]

Arizona's other lode gold mine, Gold Road, restarted production in August, 2010.

Fed-state-private partnership on Grand Canyon North Rim lands

Grand Canyon Trust, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Bureau of Land Management, Northern Arizona University, University of Arizona, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Geological Survey signed a Memorandum of Understanding, to form the Kane and Two Mile Research and Stewardship Partnership - "a collaborative group of scientists, livestock producers, and resource managers actively pursuing science-based solutions to the challenges facing this dramatic landscape," according to a news release from the USGS. [Right, Kanab Creek is the largest tributary of the Colorado River on the north side of the Grand Canyon. Credit: NAU Cline Library, Bill Belknap Collection, NAU.PH.96.4.80.16]

The Partnership has identified several key research initiatives designed to inform management across the 850,000 acres of private land, BLM, and USFS grazing leases that comprise the Kane and Two Mile ranches. "These include evaluating the sustainability and effects of various livestock management strategies, identifying key factors responsible for the spread of non-native species, developing methods for restoring semi-arid grasslands, and creating tools for monitoring environmental change – particularly the effects of climate and land- use change."

Periodic Table of Videos - check out copper

The University of Nottingham has produced a set of videos explaining each of the elements in the Periodic Table, including one for copper. Since Arizona is the Copper State, I've taken the liberty of embedding their clip here. Enjoy, and try out others in the Table.

Industrial Minerals Forum will be held in Scottsdale

The 48th Annual Forum on the Geology of Industrial Minerals will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona, May 2-4, with field trips before and after the main meeting.

The call for papers was issued last week with a deadline for submission of March 23. Registration is now open for the meeting, to be held at the Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort.

Talks and poster presentations are invited on the following topics:

important and potential industrial rocks and minerals
the geology of commodities such as lithium, rare earths, mineral sands, magnesite, clays, fertilizer minerals, zeolites, manganese, silica, and gemstones
aspects of the usage of construction materials and building stones
exploration case histories and techniques, greenfield operations, reclamation examples and techniques
outreach and education programs, societal and legislative challenges to mineral production
reports on state, regional, and national developments

A session on Strategic and Critical Minerals and their role in a technological society is planned.

AZGS is organizing and hosting the meeting, with co-hosts Arizona Geological Society, Arizona Rock Products Association, Arizona Mining Association, and AIPG-Arizona Section.

There is still room for exhibitors.

A 2-day pre-meeting field trip across the Mogollon Rim and Colorado Plateau will visit a variety of industrial mineral sites as well as the classic geologic and mining locales. A 1-day post-meeting trip will head east through the Globe-Superior region.

The Forum was last held in Arizona in 1987.

Hundreds turn out for Holbrook town hall on potash mining

The first public meeting on potash mining in the Holbrook area brought out hundreds of residents and many from throughout the region last night. Pat Avery, CEO of American West Potash and Josh Bleak, CEO of Passport Potash, each gave overviews of their company's status and plans. I joined Pat and Josh on stage after their presentations to participate in a Q&A session with questions from the audience.

Teri Walker, with the Arizona Journal, laid out the opportunities and challenges facing the community with the proposed construction and mining jobs and economic development.

The focus of the evening was economic development and many in the audience asked about jobs and opportunities to provide goods and services to the mines. Pat projected an operation employing 400+, both mining underground and processing the salts at the surface, with an annual operating budget of $400 million.

Questions were raised about the potential health impacts on miners and plant workers, on ground water quality, and air quality.

The event was organized by the Holbrook Business Development Group, a recently formed volunteer organization. I estimated 300-400 in the audience but one of the organizers estimated it between 400-500 [right, residents arriving in Performing Arts Center at the Holbrook high school for the town hall. My really lousy cell phone photo]. Overall, there was a tremendous sense of optimism, but with a recognition that something this big and this new in a small community needed to be thought through carefully.

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