1997/1998
Year in Review

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The 1997/98 fiscal year came to a close on March 31, 1998 and with it the 1997/98 MAP activities too. We set out at the beginning of the year with an ambitious work plan; as well as numerous individual country activities there were also a number of joint country activities:

- Volcanology short-course in Vancouver.

- Mineral Deposits field trip.

- Two Executive Council meetings.

- FieldLog and FieldWorker software training.

Due to time constraints and difficulties in coordinating scientists from all five countries to be in Vancouver at the same time, we were unable to hold the Volcanology short-course. The other activities, however were carried out successfully. The following is a list of accomplishments for the 1997/98 fiscal year.

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Accomplishments

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1st Quarter

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- Visit of GSC Vancouver Dr. Steve Gordey to INGEMMET to examine maps produced to date and assess types of expertise needed for the future. Dr. Gordey also went into the field with Peruvian geologists and advised on collecting samples for palaeontologic evaluation.

- Visit of GSC Vancouver Dr. Glenn Woodsworth to SERGEOMIN (Bolivia) to review computer requirements and deal with issues of integration of new equipment purchased during 1996/97 fiscal year. Dr. Woodsworth also went to into the field with Bolivian geologists to review field practices.

- Eight companies confirmed participation in Puna Austral Airborne Survey, NW Argentina. Contract drawn up and request for proposal scheduled to go out late July, 1997.

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2nd Quarter

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- All equipment for donation was shipped and arrived in recipient countries.

- A Web page was initiated, and a MAP logo was designed and approved.

- Mid-year executive council meeting held in Arequipa, September 20-21, 1997.

- Three Accords were signed to complete a Geological/Metallogenic map of the border regions of Chile, Bolivia and Argentina north of 34? (1:1,000,000) for presentation at the International Geological Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the year 2000.

- A questionnaire to follow-up on effectiveness of training is to be developed.

- Plans were finalized for Peru-Chile mineral deposits field trip.

- A working group made up of one person from each country is to meet to work together on creating joint standards for cartography of maps and digital data.

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3rd Quarter

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- The Mineral Deposits field trip to Peru and Chile involving scientists from all five countries concluded successfully. Twelve scientists from five countries lived and worked together for 13 days visiting 8 mines. Plans are already under way for next year's trip to Bolivia and Argentina.

- Dr. Lisel Currie of GSC Calgary visited Chile to do Fission Track work with SERNAGEOMIN scientists in December. Dr. Currie spent 15 days in Chile, of which 12 days were spent in the field (Copiap? area) and 3 were spent in the Santiago offices of SERNAGEOMIN.

- Dr. Andre Panteleyev returned from doing fieldwork in Argentina with SEGEMAR scientists. Dr. Panteleyev worked from November 8 through to December 5 spending the bulk of the time working in the field.

- The Web Page became available to the public on December 8, 1997 (one week behind schedule). It is presently hyperlinked to the SERNAGEOMIN Web Page and plans are under way to hyperlink it to the Web Pages of the three other surveys.

- Fieldlog software for use with the hand-held Newton personal computers has been translated into Spanish for use by geologists in all four member countries.

- A questionnaire to follow-up on effectiveness of training was developed and was translated into Spanish.

- The MAP logo is now digitized and being used on letterhead and project publications.

- Dr.'s Ramon Aravena and David Rudolf were in Chile from January 5 to 17 to do hydrogeological work with SERNAGEOMIN scientists.

- The plane for the airborne survey in Argentina was sent to Argentina. A safety audit was carried out upon its arrival. Dr. Dennis Teskey went to Argentina to meet with the participating companies and oversee the commencement of the work. Three of the eight participating companies have agreed to participate in funding the extension of the survey area (Option C) along with SEGEMAR and MAP.

- Verifiable indicators and baseline data were received from each of the member countries and were put into a report sent to CIDA.

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4th Quarter

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- From January 26-February 4 the Executive Council Meetings for MAP took place in Vancouver in concert with the joint SEG-Cordilleran Roundup (Pathways '98) conference. The related activities included a visit to the Myra Falls mine on Vancouver Island and the University of British Columbia. It was decided at these meetings to request the duration of the project be extended for one year and the remaining funds from CIDA reprofiled over the remainder of the project. The next Executive Council Meetings will take place in Buenos Aires in November 1998 during the 10th Congreso Latinoamericano de Geolog?a (November 8-13, 1998).

- In February/March Dr.'s Hickson and Edwards of the GSC Vancouver visited Argentina to conduct volcanological fieldwork.

- In March Dr. Dennis Teskey visited Chile to set up a short course in for the Magix geophysical software package.

- FieldLog tutorial was translated into Spanish

- In February and March 1998 Mr. Boyan Brodaric of the GSC Ottawa and Mr. Otto Krauth of Rodus International visited Argentina, Peru, and Chile to give a short course on the use of the Apple Newton and FieldLog software (developed by Mr. Brodaric). Mr. Brodaric visited Bolivia to give the course there as well.

- The Austral Puna Airborne Survey in Argentina commenced in February after having a safety audit conducted on the aircraft in January. Due to unusually poor weather conditions brought on by the "El Ni" phenomenon, SIAL was unable to reach the projected goals. The remainder of this activity will therefore be carried over to the 1998/99 fiscal year.

- Final lots of samples (to be processed in 1997/98 fiscal year) were received at GSC Vancouver and were sent for analysis.

- The MAP Web Page received 7200 (?) visits since its' inception in December.

- All member countries returned to Ms. Claire Despins of GSC Vancouver completed questionnaires on pre- and post-training, pre- and post-joint work activities.

- The MAP Inception Report was translated to Spanish by Ms. Rocio Lopez, and signed by each of the member countries.

Sample Processing

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We currently are trying to straighten out several problems with sampling, from couriering the samples to Canada to finding new laboratories for K-Ar analyses.

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K-Ar: The part has arrived at UBC that has been holding up the setup of their laboratory. Hopefully this means within a month to a few months we will have cleared up the backlog of K-Ar dating and be in a position to date new samples.

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Ar-Ar: Mike Villeneuve is planning a young (<5 Ma) sample batch for irradiation in June. Samples need to be in Vancouver before the end of May to have chance of being included in this batch. The next young irradiation will be in late November-early December. If you have young samples, send them as soon as possible and we will forward them to Mike Villeneuve for sample preparation, even if the final results take longer to get. In the early Fall, a batch of Precambrian samples will be sent for irradiation, followed by a batch of Phanerozoic samples. The next young batch will not be irradiated at least until after one Phanerozoic irradiation.

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Major and Trace Element Geochemistry: All samples for major and trace element geochemistry will undergo two crushing procedures, in order to eliminate contamination problems. We have the capabilities for doing all crushing in Vancouver and/or through commercial laboratories. However, if you want to pulverize the samples in country, you will need to still send uncrushed material unless you have both a W-carbide and a soft Fe pulverizer. If you have questions about potential contamination from your pulverizing setup, please feel free to call Ben Edwards at Tel : (604) 666-0528 or Email: [email protected].

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Lithogeochemistry:

(nothing to report)

Sample standards: I have obtained a limited quantity of standard material from Peter Friske (GSC Ottawa) that can be used for setting up country standards. We are currently deciding how to distribute the material as we have only a limited quantity.

Verifiable Indicators

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We wish to take this opportunity to thank everyone again for their contribution to the Verifiable Indicators' Report last year. We are very pleased to see that there are significant results arising from the MAP Project. As you all know verifiable indicators are concrete evidence that the Project is advancing in the desired direction. It is important to remember that the report on verifiable indicators is ongoing. We need to report to CIDA regularly about the progress of the Project. Please send any information that would be considered a verifiable indicator. Remember that this information should reflect cooperation between participating countries, and institutional enhancement. Following are some guideline questions.

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- Has anyone in your institution involved in MAP given a talk on a topic related to the Project?

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- Has anyone in your institution involved in MAP visited other participant countries and/or discussed any topic related to MAP?

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- Has anyone from another MAP participating country visited your institution and discussed any topic related to MAP?

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- Has anyone on the MAP team attended any courses or conferences? (for example the field log course) and what were the benefits?

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- Are there new mineral claims or mining concessions within the project area ?

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- Are there new land claims within the Project area?

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You can send this information via E-mail or Fax to:

Rocio E. Lopez

Fax: (604) 666-7507

Email: [email protected]

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Thank you again to those of you who have already sent some information relevant to the Verifiable Indicators.