Springs Times

The AIPG Colorado Section is excited to launch the second talk in our every-other-month virtual lunch talks. 

Cost: Members - $10, Non-Members - $15, Student Members - FREE (must be a currently registered member or student member to receive the discount) 

We will be joined by David Abbott, David M. Abbott, Jr., CPG-4570, Professional Ethics & Practices Columnist, AIPG Ethics Committee Chair Emeritus, for his talk "The Use of the Modifying Factors in the Exploration Stage."

Abstract: Mineral exploration is a process of examining prospects, selecting the most promising, and rejecting the less promising. These examinations are largely geoscientific (geology, geochemistry, geophysics, and sampling). Most prospects do not pan out. The potential quantity of mineralization is too small, or the grade or quality is too low.

But there may be other reasons for rejection, including the inability to obtain needed mineral rights or one or more deleterious elements (such as a radioactive element or asbestiform minerals) present that may make the prospect uneconomic. Processing issues may be significant. When the Climax molybdenum deposit was first identified, the issue was what was molybdenum good for. Today, there is a lot of exploration for Rare Earth deposits but the ability to process the REE-bearing minerals and then separate the various REE oxides remains a significant unsolved (and insufficiently discussed) issue. Furthermore, exploration financing fluctuates and when funding is reduced, less promising or less advanced projects are dropped. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues also often arise early in a project’s life. The exploration geologist with the first boots on the ground is often the first to learn about such issues, which may or may not be significant. All of these reasons are varieties of the modifying factors used in the major mineral resource and mineral reserve classification systems.

Ticket Prices: Members $10, Student Members FREE, Non-Members $15

A Zoom meeting link will be emailed out two days before the event; please make sure to use a valid email address during the checkout process.

The Zoom meeting will open at 11:40 for pre-talk networking, and we all allow time after the talk for a question/answer session as well as additional networking opportunities. The presentation will begin promptly at noon.