Stewart R. Wallace — 1919–2009 - Society of Economic Geologists

STUDENT NEWS
28 SEG NEWSLETTER No 78 JULY 2009
SEG Student Chapter Field Trip 2009
Fiona C. Best (SEG 2009 SM)
The CODES, University of Tasmania,
SEG student chapter completed a highly
successful field excursion to Indonesia
from January 25 to February 4. The trip
was primarily organized by CODES student
chapter members Bronto Sutopo
and Fiona Best. Field guidance was provided
by Igan Sutawijaya, of the
Group members pose at the entrance to Grasberg
mine, Papua.
With today’s substantially high gold
price, what better time could there be to
visit a gold mine? The University of
Nevada, Reno SEG student chapter did
just that during its spring break field
trip. They not only visited gold mines in
southern California and Mexico, but
also porphyry copper deposits in Mexico
and southeast Arizona. The trip ran
from March 14 to 22, was led by Dr.
Tommy Thompson, professor and director
of the Center for Research in
Economic Geology, and was attended
by students Wes Sherlock, Heidi Drexler,
Brad Cantor, and Crystal Robinson.
In preparation for the trip, the students
produced a guidebook that summarized
information regarding the
regional geology and each deposit we
would be visiting. At each mine we were
given a presentation on the local geology,
major structures, and information
concerning the mineralization events,
followed by a mine tour. Having a mine
tour immediately after the presentation
was quite beneficial, as it allowed us to
see first hand the information we
learned during the presentations.
SEG STUDENT CHAPTER NEWS
� CODES, UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA �
Volcanology Survey of Indonesia,
and Dr. Mega Fatimah Rosana, of
Padjad jaran University, Indonesia.
Six industry representatives and
eight students from CODES attended
the trip, with participants originating
from Australia, Britain, Canada,
Columbia, Indonesia, Italy, Japan,
Peru, Russia and Thailand.
The field trip was entitled, “The
Mineralisation and Volcanism of
Indonesia,” and focused on
providing participants with
the opportunity to observe economic
epithermal and porphyry
deposits, to study the lavas of
active volcanoes, and to gain an
overall understanding of the geodynamical
evolution of Indonesia.
The field trip visited five Indone -
sian islands, three mine sites and
two active volcanoes in 11 days.
The CODES SEG student chapter
would like to thank Anglogold
Ashanti, Barrick, CODES, Gold
� MACKAY SCOOL OF MINES, UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO �
Our first stop was Western Goldfields’
Mesquite mine in Imperial County,
California. We then traveled to La
Herradura mine in Sonora, Mexico,
which is a joint venture between
Newmont and Industrias Peñoles SA de
CV and is currently the largest gold producer
in Mexico. From La Herradura we
ventured off to Yamana’s Mercedes project,
where we spent a day and two
nights. Then it was off to Grupo
Mexico’s La Caridad mine. Finally, we
arrived in Bisbee, Arizona, to tour
Freeport McMoRan’s historic Bisbee
mine. Though Bisbee is not currently in
The group at the base of Mount Batur mine, Bali.
Fields, Newcrest, Newmont, SEG, St.
Barbara, and Teck for their generous
and invaluable financial support; Igan
Sutawijaya, Dr. Mega Fatimah Rosana,
and Prof. Adjat Sudradjat for sharing
their knowledge with the group and
being extraordinary field guides; and PT
Aneka Tam bang (Pongkor), PT Freeport
Indonesia (Grasberg), and PT Newmont
Tenggara Timur (Batur Hijau) for permitting
the group to visit their mines,
and for their hospitality. 1
operation, reclamation activities are
ongoing. There we met up with Ralph
Stegen and Ernest Wright. Both are
quite knowledgeable about the history
of the mine, so we received some historical
background to supplement the presentation
and mine tour.
We would like to thank our tour
guides at each mine site and our sponsors,
the Nevada Division of Minerals
(Alan Coyner, Director) and ALS Chemex
(Steve Armstrong, Manager, Mexico
Operations) for making this trip possible.
–Crystal Robinson 1
Mackay SEG student chapter at Mina La Herradura (left to right): Dr. Tommy Thompson,
chapter advisor, Penmont staff geologist, chapter members Wes Sherlock, Heidi Drexler,
Brad Cantor, Ing. Enrique Garcia, and Crystal Robinson.