SEG - Society of Economic Geologists

JULY 2012 • No 90 SEG NEWSLETTER 25
and 3 field schools covering four core
concepts: basic field skills, exploration
and mine technical methods, ore deposits
and metallogeny, and management.
It is my vision to give young geologists
in emerging nations, particularly
in African countries, access to these
courses. Through such training courses
we can promote the Society, train geologists
in emerging nations, and increase
membership—especially for younger
geologists, to ensure a robust, healthy,
and demographically more representative
Society in the years ahead. For the
Society to continue to thrive, a challenge
is to convert our student membership to
life-long society supporters, as our membership
underpins the production of
the quality SEG publications, not just
through the Newsletter and Economic
Geology, but through field guides and
specialist compilations. As a University
lecturer, I find all my research has been
in collaboration with industry. I have
been grateful for the financial support
and the commitment of interest to
funding postgraduate research. Such
commitment needs to be expanded as
we go forward, and I see it as one of my
roles to encourage more academicindustry
collaboration.
Candidate for Councilor (2013–2015)
FRANCISCO (CHICO) I. DE
AZEVEDO, JR.
(SEG 1996 F)
Chico obtained a BSc
degree in geology
from the University
of Brasilia (1982),
and started his career
of exploration geologist
with GENCOR in
Brazil, for whom he worked for 12
years, primarily in gold exploration. In
1994, he was transferred to Argentina
and for two years carried a research project
on gold deposits hosted by
Paleozoic slate belts across the world.
In 1996, Chico joined IAMGOLD
Corporation in Argentina as exploration
manager and was in charge of
implementing and managing exploration
programs for gold until 2006. He
joined Gold Fields in 2006 and since
has been in charge of the regional
exploration for gold and gold-copper
deposits in the South America region.
Chico served the SEG as Regional VP
Latin America from 2009 to 2011.
Vision Statement
During the last 30 years, my direct in -
volvement in the mining and explora -
tion industry has given me exposure to
several different countries and cultures.
If there is one common aspect within
this vast diversity that requires special
attention, in my opinion, it is one
related to the advance of the status of
the profession of economic geologist—
one of the main objectives of the SEG.
Our world has experienced times of
prosperity for the last few decades, with
a progressive decrease of poverty in all
continents and a consequent increase
in the demand for metals and minerals.
The exploration and mining industry
has been able to keep up with the discovery
and production of the materials
necessary for the production of goods,
and this has guaranteed better living
conditions for billions of people, and
we should be proud of it.
However, the perception that some
sectors of the society, in general, have
about our industry is not the one we
would like to see. Despite the fact that
modern mining is thought about and,
most of the time, executed in a sustainable
manner, our industry still carries a
negative image inherited from the mistakes
made in the past, and some made
in the present. Taking into account this
scenario, the work currently undertaken
by the SEG has special relevance, and I
consider that SEG Council is the appropriate
venue to discuss and implement
initiatives that will address these challenges
to our profession.
A vision for SEG’s future should focus
following points.
To advance the science of geology:
— The scientific investigation of mineral
deposits and mineral resources;
— Mineral resource appraisal, mining,
and mineral extraction; the application
thereof to exploration.
To disseminate basic and applied scientific
information:
— SEG publications, meetings, symposia,
conferences, field trips, short
courses, workshops, and lecture
series.
To advance the status of the profession
of economic geology:
— Maintain high professional and ethical
standards among SEG members.
Candidate for Councilor (2013–2015)
JEAN S. CLINE (SEG 1983 F)
Jean Cline grew up on
Lake Michigan in Wis -
consin and obtained
her BS degree from the
Wisconsin State Uni -
versity, Platteville, in
1970. She accepted a
position the following
year as an exploration
geologist for Inspiration Development
Company, Globe, Arizona, and spent
the next 11 years exploring for porphyry
copper and epithermal deposits
and strategic metals, primarily in the
western United States. She spent most
of her time working on project development,
coordinating geological studies,
geochemical and geophysical surveys,
and directing drilling programs.
A casualty of the economic downturn
in the early 1980s, Jean returned
to school and earned an MS degree in
economic geology from the University
of Arizona, where her thesis work
focused on alteration and fluid inclusion
studies of the 16 to 1 epithermal
Ag-Au deposit in central Nevada. To
pursue a growing interest in fluid evolution
in porphyry systems, she moved to
Virginia and began Ph.D. research at
Virginia Tech. This research culminated
in a numerical modeling study quantifying
processes of copper concentration
in porphyry systems, and analytical work
that identified processes related to ore
formation in the Questa, New Mexico,
porphyry molybdenum system. Four
years at Tech sealed a desire to continue
to investigate hydrothermal processes
that transported and concentrated metals,
along with an eagerness to return to
the western US.
In 1990, on completion of her degree,
she joined the Geoscience Department
at the University of Nevada Las Vegas
(UNLV) as an assistant professor, where
she has since been promoted to professor.
In 2003 she was selected as the
Distinguished Researcher in the UNLV
College of Science, and she served as
vice chair (2001) and chair (2005) of
the Gordon Research Conference on
hydrothermal ore deposits. Research for
the last several years focused on Carlintype
gold deposits, contributing to Jean’s
expertise on the formation of these
deposits, and she was invited to be the
lead author on the Economic Geology
100th Anniversary Volume
paper, Carlin-type Gold to page 26 ...
SEG NEWS