"Protecting and promoting" mining in Arizona

Arizona State Senator Al Melvin urged mining advocates today to join together in an Arizona Mining Alliance to "protect and promote" mining in Arizona. He spoke to a group of 50 attendees at the inaugural meeting of the Arizona Legislative Mining Caucus in Tucson today, hosted at the Granite Construction company offices. More than half dozen other legislators attended, including a brief visit by the newly elected Speaker of the House, Andy Tobin. [right, core drilling at Resolution Copper mine]

Other attendees included State Mine Inspector Joe Hart, Bob Quick, new executive director of the Arizona Mining Association, Steve Trussell, executive director of the Arizona Rock Products Association, Sydney Hay, head of AMIGOS, Rod Pace of Rosemont Copper, representatives of Freeport McMoRan, Asarco, Resolution Copper, CalPortland Cement, and numerous other companies.

Sen. Melvin asked that the group form an Arizona Mining Alliance to show the clout of mining in state. Monthly meetings will be held in Tucson, with other organizations and companies being invited to join. Sen. Melvin bemoaned the amount of federal land in Arizona compared to Texas and eastern states, and called on the federal government to get out of the way on development of the Rosemont copper mine.

Mary Poulton, head of the UA Dept. of Mining & Geologic Engineering, was featured speaker, explaining the role of mining in society, why Arizona is the number one mining state in the nation, and the role the university plays in mining research and education.

Landsat image of Wallow fire

The USGS released this Landsat photo of the Wallow fire this afternoon. Just a heads up - the original is 10 Mb in case you want to download the original.

There are other satellite photos at EarthSky.org.

NASA view of Wallow fire

NASA’s Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on the Terra spacecraft show the Wallow fire in eastern Arizona on June 7.

[right, caption from NASA: The Wallow Fire is in the center of the MISR image. Nearly 10 distinct bluish-colored smoke plumes can be seen blowing toward the upper right (northeast). The green pine forests of the White Mountains stand out against the lighter desert background. In this image, the windblown smoke is seen extending into New Mexico; smoke from this fire has been carried over the Great Plains as far as Iowa. The city of Tucson, Az., is in the lower left portion of the image, and appears in shades of gray. The bright region to the east of Tucson is the Wilcox Playa, and smoke from the the Horseshoe 2 Fire is visible to the east. The entire image covers an area measuring 206 miles (331 kilometers) by 264 miles (425 kilometers). Credit: NASA JPL]

Smoke from Arizona fires extends 1,500 miles

Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog on the Weather Underground website, offers this NASA photo of the smoke from the Wallow fire. Check out his map showing the full 1,500 mile extent of smoke moving over the Great Lakes region.

[right, smoke from the Wallow fire in eastern Arizona extends across New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Nebraska in this image from NASA's Aqua satellite on June 7, 2011. Image credit: NASA, via Weather Underground.]

Structural controls on geothermal systems in the Great Basin

Why do geothermal systems exist where they do in the Great Basin? Are there common factors that might help us find more of them there and in other areas such as the Basin and Range province of Arizona?

Jim Faulds with the Nevada Bureau of Mines & Geology in Reno, is tackling these questions with a grant from the US DOE Geothermal Technologies Program. Jim presented his preliminary findings this morning at the 3^rd day of the week long DOE Peer Review of funded projects. [AZGS presented on our State Geothermal Data project on Tuesday] Jim is focusing on the structural geology controls on geothermal reservoirs. Over dinner last night, he noted that a large number of the producing hydrothermal fields in the Great Basin are ‘blind’ systems, meaning they have no obvious surface signature. Many were found serendipitously, as a result of other types of exploration programs or through grid drilling of geothermal gradient holes.

Jim reported his preliminary analysis of 160 of the 250+ geothermal systems in the Great Basin with the percentage of systems occurring in each of 8 structural settings:

• Stepovers and relay ramps 32%
• Intersecting normal faults and transverse slip or obverse slip faults 24%
• Normal fault termination or tip lines 19%
• Accommodation zones 8%
• Displacement transfer zones 5%
• Pull-aparts 4%
• Salients or apices of major normal faults 3%
• Major range front normal faults 2%

He made two other observations – Quaternary faults are generally in or near these systems, and it’s rare to find geothermal systems in areas of maximum displacement or the middles of major normal faults.

This is all pointing towards a model in which geothermal systems form in areas where faulting and fracturing are more distributed through a volume of rock rather than in areas where they are concentrated in single large displacements.

If it proves out, it could offer an exploration approach applicable to blind systems in extensional regimes elsewhere including southern Arizona.

[right, geothermal systems in the Great Basin. Credit, Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy, UNR]

Tracking wildfires online

One of the best resources for following wildfires is the Incident Information System "InciWeb" - http://www.inciweb.org/

Here are excerpts from the latest update for the fast-moving Wallow fire [photo credit, InciWeb.org] in eastern Arizona:

Wallow Fire Update - June 4, 8:30 Am

Incident: Wallow Wildfire
Released: 1:49 hrs. ago

For Immediate Release Fire Information: 593-333-3412

8:30 a.m. June 4, 2011 928-339-4339 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 928-339-4339 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Wallow Fire Update

Contact: Fire Information 593-333-3412 or 928-339-4339 Website: www.inciweb.org

Email: eazfireteam@gmail.com Twitter: twitter.com/firescoop

Fire Facts

Date started: 5/29/2011

Personnel: 1,089, including 29 handcrews

Cause: under investigation

Equipment: 60 engines, 15 water tenders, 4 dozers

Size: 140,000 estimated

Aircraft: 9 helicopters , 4 Air Attack planes,

Percent contained: 0

4 Air Tankers

Injuries to date: 0

Estimated containment date: Unknown

Cost to date: $3 million

NOTE:

· The Apache County Sheriff's Office has issued a pre-evacuation notice to the residents of Greer community and the surrounding areas


· Blue River residents have been evacuated by Greenlee County officials.

· Residents in the communities affected by this fire are asked to remain prepared in the event an order is needed.

· A community meeting is being held tomorrow at the Round Valley High School in Eagar at 4 p.m.

Fire Activity: Winds are not expected to increase today but there is varied relative humidity across the fire which will affect the fire behavior. The fire grew by 14,000 acres yesterday. The fire advanced to the north and north-west and impacted Big Lake Lookout but not the Big Lake Recreation area. The has fire crossed the 249 road. The perimeter of the fire is close to Nutrioso and Mongollon rim but has not gone over yet.

Closures/Evacuations/Advisories: Apache County Emergency Management (ACEM) issued an evacuation order of the communities of Alpine and Nutrioso. ACEM will make the decision when the order will be lifted.

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests Fire Restrictions: A Temporary Emergency Closure Order for the Apache National Forest has been issued today, June 3 at 12:00 p.m. (noon). Due to extreme fire conditions, the Apache National Forest is closed to all public entry. Property owners and their guests will continue to have access to private lands within the Forest. See website for closure order details. Please see the Forest website for more information: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf/

Opening for USGS Mineral Resources Program Coordinator

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is now accepting applications for the Mineral Resources Program Coordinator position in the Energy and Minerals, and Environmental Health Mission Area.

The Program Coordinator sets the overall scientific vision and leadership for USGS minerals research, resource assessments, and information products. The position is being advertised as a Geologist, GS-15 and is located in Reston, VA. The vacancy announcement is open until July 12, 2011. For further information and to apply, please go to: http://www.usajobs.gov/ and search for vacancy announcement ATL-2011-0560 (for current federal employees) or ATL-2011-0561 (for those not currently federal employees). For further information contact Claire Matthews at 703-648-5786 or cmatthews@usgs.gov.