State Lands says Florence Copper project is "no substantial threat" to the environment

The Arizona State Land Department has found that the proposed Florence Copper Project presents "no substantial threat" to the environment and the economic benefits outweigh other concerns, according to a story in the Casa Grande Dispatch.



The article quotes opponents to the project, led by owners of nearby lands intended for residential and commercial development, who argue that State Lands has a financial interest in the project, so their decision is not independent. The in situ mining project includes 160 acres of state trust lands out of the 1,342 total acres, expected to generate $100 - $150 million in royalties to the trust fund over 20-25 years. [right, injection well for in situ project. Credit, Curis Resources]



They also argue that the value of over 3,000 acres of nearby state trust lands will be "drastically diminished" by the copper project and that violates the departments obligation to maximize revenue for its beneficiaries.



My calculation is that for State Land to walk away from $100-150 million in order to purportedly maintain the property values on another 3,000 acres, those lands would have to lose value at the rate of $33,000 - $50,000 per acre.

NASA's Desert RATS back in Arizona

NASA's Desert RATS (Research and Technology Studies) Team is back in the field in northern Arizona for a multi-week test of astronaut habitats and field vehicles for extended missions to other planets and asteroids.



The Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS) team "evaluates technology, human-robotic systems and extravehicular equipment in the high desert near Flagstaff, Ariz. Field testing provides a knowledge base that helps scientists and engineers design, build and operate better equipment, and establish requirements for operations and procedures. The Arizona desert has a rough, dusty terrain and extreme temperature swings that simulate conditions that may be encountered on other surfaces in space."



The Desert RATS team is webcasting live from the 2011 analog field tests in Black Point Lava Flow. Other education and outreach activities are online.



Students and space fans young and old are invited to the Desert RATS Community Day from 1 – 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11. It will be held at this year's Desert RATS test site, located 40 miles north of Flagstaff on U.S. Highway 89, less than one mile past the 454-mile marker, on the right.



The Desert RATS team is also testing an enhanced version of the Habitat Demonstration Unit (bottom right).

Forensics geology

Forensic geology is becoming a well established field of research and practice.



"The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) Initiative on Forensic Geology was established at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France on 22 Feburary 2011. The aim of the IUGS-IoFG is, ‘to develop forensic geology internationally and promote its applications’."



The IUGS Initiative moving forward with publication of A Guide to Forensic Geology and two reference books are coming out shortly. The website history shows the idea of forensic geology got started in 1975 with the publication of Forensic Geology by Murray and Tedrow. But it wasn't until 2002 that a presentation to the UK House of Commons kicked off interest in formalizing the field.



My friend Sarah Andrews published her first geo-murder mystery featuring forensic geologist Em Hansen in 1994, and 10 more after that so far. Here in Arizona, geologist-writer Susan Cummins Miller writes her own forensic geology mystery series featuring Frankie MacFarlane.



A tip of the hat to Andrew Alden for first blogging about this

Public input sought on mining in N. Arizona

A meeting in St. George Utah, next Wednesday will take public input on the withdrawal from mineral exploration and development of nearly one million acres of federal lands in northern Arizona. [right, withdrawn areas in cross hatch. Credit, BLM] The



A story in the Mohave Daily News says "At their July board meeting, the [Mohave County] supervisors voted to submit a letter to National Association of Counties to support uranium mining on federal Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands in Northern Arizona including the Arizona Strip area." Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson announced he will attend the meeting to support lifting the withdrawal imposed by the Secretary of Interior.

Freeport talks about its economic impacts in Arizona

"In 2010, Freeport-McMoRan had a total estimated impact of $2.1 billion to Arizona. Within our Southern Arizona counties, Freeport-McMoRan had a total estimated impact of $920 million in 2010," according to company spokesman Gabe Doak, in an interview published by Inside Tucson Business. Freeport operates 5 copper mines in Arizona.



Freeport is completing a study to add mining and milling capacity at Morenci, that would add "150 to 200 million pounds of incremental annual copper production within a two to three year time frame."

"Also under consideration are a further expansion at Morenci mine, expansions at Sierrita and Bagdad, and mining restarts at Twin Buttes and Ajo."

Flagstaff Festival of Science

A heads up that the Flagstaff Festival of Science gets underway Sept. 23 with a 7pm lecture by former astronaut Dr. John Grunsfeld, now deputy director of the Hubble Space Science Institute. "He’ll be sharing Hubble’s expansive collection of spectacular images such as star births in the extreme, sheets of debris, shredded remains of old supernovas and light echoing from supergiant stars" at the Ardrey Auditorium at NAU.



The Festival runs through October 2.

Declining precipitation in the West

An article in JAWRA, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, was reviewed by jfleck at inkstain, who reports that data point to declining precipitation in the West, although the authors warn that the 30-year time frame of measurements may be too short to be statistically meaningful. [right, Colorado River end. Credit USGS]

• 86% of 398 SNOTEL sites around the western United States show decreasing water year precipitation
• 87% of the 79 sites in the Colorado River Basin showed decreasing water year precipitation

Ref: TRENDS IN WESTERN U.S. SNOWPACK AND RELATED UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN STREAMFLOW, W. Paul Miller and Thomas C. Piechota

Article first published online: 23 JUN 2011, DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00565.x