SEG - Society of Economic Geologists

JULY 2012 • No 90 SEG NEWSLETTER 35
University of British Columbia Student Chapter
Philippines Field Trip
The University of British Columbia
(UBC) SEG student chapter organized a
14-day field trip to the island of Luzon
in the Philippines. The 18 participants
included nine UBC students, seven
members of industry, and two students
from the University of the Philippines.
The purpose of the trip was to examine
the metallogenic districts of Luzon
within a broader tectonic setting.
Participants first visited the
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Seismology (PHIVOLCS) for introductory
talks, given by Art Daag and Jane
Punongbayan, on geohazards focused
on some of the field trip’s upcoming
destinations—Mt. Pinatubo and Taal
Volcano. These were followed by a tour
of the national seismic monitoring station.
At the National Institute of
The smelting process at Acupan gold mine,
Baguio district, Luzon, was a memorable sight
for attendees.
Geological Sciences
(NIGS), talks on the
tectonics and metallogeny
of Luzon
were delivered by
Prof. Carlo Arcilla
and Assoc. Prof.
Mario Aurelio.
After camping
within the crater
formed during the
catastrophic 1991
Mt. Pinatubo plinian
eruption, the group
visited Coto chro -
mite mine of the
Zambales Ophiolite
Complex, guided
by Andy Torres. A
visit to the Santa
Cruz nickel operations
was hosted by
Gerry Miranda. The
first underground
mine visit in the Baguio district (see
Economic Geology, Dec 2011) was to the
Philex Mines Santo Tomas II porphyry
copper-gold deposit, where we went on
underground and open pit tours, led by
geologist Napoleon Villanueva.
A visit to the intermediate-sulfidation
epithermal Acupan mine was
hosted by Tom Malihan and guided
underground by Alvess Rantos. In the
Benguet district, a visit to Lepanto was
hosted by Craig Feebrey, Peter Dunkley,
and Guillaume Lesage of Goldfields.
Later, industry participant John
Thompson gave a series of talks to the
group outlining the genetic and spatial
relationship between porphyry and epithermal
systems, as seen at Lepanto.
After driving to the southern
Batangas district, the group visited the
UBC students and staff pose with Taal Volcano serving as a scenic backdrop.
Taysan porphyry copper-gold deposit,
facilitated by Geoff Boswell. A final visit
to MRL Gold’s Batangas prospect—an
early-stage exploration project—was
accommodated by Edsel Abrasaldo and
hosted by Bail Lab-oyan.
Although this was the end of the
economic portion of the field trip, there
were still opportunities for interesting
geology. While snorkeling, the group
examined active carbonate reef deposition
and associated aquatic fauna. The
final day included a visit to the
PHIVOLCS volcanic/seismic monitoring
center before boating across the Taal
caldera lake to the active Taal crater
and observing young basaltic aa flows
and active fumaroles. 1
Contributed by Ben Hames
President, UBC SEG Student Chapter
STUDENT NEWS
PAUL W. KUHN
President
paulk@avrupaminerals.com
www.avrupaminerals.com
Direct: +351-253274070 Portugal mobile: +351-925972240
Fax: +351-253615041 U.S. mobile: +1-509-990-6786
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
PAID ADVERTISEMENT