MAP NEWS




January 1st, 2000

 

Upcoming Activities

Executive Council Meetings
Vancouver, BC, Canada

 

MAP Booth

As has been done at previous events surrounding the Executive Council Meetings, MAP will have its own booth at the Cordilleran Exploration Roundup. The objective will be to showcase MAP activities completed to date focusing on accomplishments from the current fiscal year. MAP management encourages participant countries to bring to Vancouver, any material they wish to distribute to the public, and any maps or posters they wish to display in the booth. If you have any questions please contact the project administrator at: [email protected]

Draft Agenda

- Verifiable Indicators
- WEB Page
- MAP Certificates
- Short Courses and Collaborative Work - Questionnaires

Review of 3rd quarter 1999/00
Accomplishments
Management Challenges
Required Information from Countries
Review of Upcoming Activities and Short Courses

Samples Update: Dr. Catherine Hickson and Dr. Jennifer Getsinger
- Status of Sample Processing
- Review of Progress on Creation of Petrological Standards Program
- Review of Screen Printouts from Database of Samples and Analytical Results

Discussion on Cartographic Standards Committee and Technical Committee for the Compilation of Metallogenic Map of the border regions of the MAP countries:
- Plan for Metallogenic Map of Border Regions of MAP Area
- Technical Committee update - Dr. Eduardo Zappettini
- Review of Action Plan for the assembly of the map for presentation in Puerto Varas Aug. 3-7, 2000 and Rio de Janeiro August 6 - 17, 2000

Airborne Survey update:
- Argentina / Chile Survey - update - Dr. Moyra Gardeweg, E. Zappettini, and Dr. Dennis Teskey
- Bolivia / Chile / Peru Survey - update - D. Teskey

- Review of activities carried out by each country - April 1, 1999 - Dec 31, 1999
- Fieldwork
- Laboratory Studies
- Publications/Reports/Maps

- Proposed work plans for the 2000/2001 fiscal year - April 1, 2000 to March 31, 2001
- Fieldwork
- Laboratory Studies
- Publications/Reports/Maps

- Plans for the Puerto Varas, Chile Presentation of the Metallogenic Map
- Plans for the individual country presentations at the conference

- Plans for the International Geological Congress in Rio
- Who will attend
- Pamphlets and promotional material from MAP

Fieldtrip to Squamish and Whistler

At the conclusion of the MAP Executive Council meetings there will be two field trips near Vancouver:

1) Saturday January 29, 2000
Geological Hazards of the Squamish / Whistler Corridor - Guided by Dr. Catherine Hickson

2) Sunday January 30, 2000
Local Geology of the Vancouver Area

Activities Reports

Volcanology Short Course

Mapping in Volcanic Terrain: Products and Processes was presented to 38 participants at INGEMMET's facilities in Lima, Peru, Dec. 6-8 by Drs. Kelly Russell and Catherine Hickson. The five day course covered all the principal kinds of volcanic deposits and the processes that produce them. Controlling factors such as the physical properties of magmas (chemistry, density, viscosity, etc.) were discussed in reference to their effects on final products. Emphasis was placed on how to identify various types of volcanic products in the field. A significant amount of time was taken instructing the group on how to prepare accurate descriptions of various types of volcanic rocks and the importance of these descriptions was stressed. It is only through accurate descriptions that correlations between adjacent map areas and/or mapping geologists can be made. Russell and Hickson have been invited back in April to give the course again to another set of geologists not able to participate in this course. During their visit, Hickson and Russell presented a lecture to about 50 people at the Geological Society of Peru.

PIMA Course
(Activity: A.99/B-1, A.99/C2, A.99/P-1)

Ms. Anne Thompson of PetraScience Consultants Inc. will be in Chile in March or April of 2000 to give the popular course on the use of the PIMA - Portable Infrared Mineral Analyzer.

 

Fluid Inclusion Training
(Activity: D.97/C-5, D.96/B-7, D.98/P-2)

Mr. Jim Reynolds of Fluid Inc., Colorado, USA and Mr. Tawn Albinson completed successful short courses on the use of the fluid inclusion equipment at both the SERGEOMIN premises in Bolivia from December 2 to 8 and INGEMMET premises in Peru from December 13 to 17. The course was well attended by private industry, university staff and scientists from their respective geological surveys. The only problem arose when some spare parts were held up in customs.

Airborne Survey Update
Argentina - Chile
(Activity: D.99/M-C2)

The technical evaluation meeting for the proposal for the Argentina / Chile airborne Survey is to be held on Monday, January 10, 2000 at 1:00 pm Ottawa time (EST). Results from this meeting will aid PWGSC in selecting the winning proposal.

Airborne Survey Update
Bolivia - Chile - Peru
(Activity: D.99/M-C1)

Three companies have now agreed to participate in the survey. At this time it is remains possible for additional companies to join the project; however, it is necessary to establish the funding and proceed with the tendering process as soon as possible after the MAP executive meeting in Vancouver (the end of January 2000). Toward this end an announcement will be run in the January 24, 2000 edition of the Northern Miner updating companies on the current status of the proposed survey.

Argentina Puna Austral Airborne Survey Data Available to the Public

MAP management along with SEGEMAR of Argentina are pleased to announce that as of January 8, 2000 data collected under the Puna Austral Airborne Geophysical Survey will be made available to the public. This date marks one year since the initial compilation and distribution of the data to the 9 private sector survey participants. For information on ordering the data please contact Dr. Eduardo Zappettini of SEGEMAR at: Tel: (54-11) 4349-3131 Fax: (54-11) 4349-3171 or by email: [email protected].

Samples Database Form

In September of 1999 forms from the MAP Samples database were sent to each member of the project for review. To date no feedback has been received by MAP administration. Please bring comments and suggestions with you to the Executive Council meetings in Vancouver.

WEB Page Update

             1999    1998
        Sept    5,540   2,279
        Oct     6,442   1,710
        Nov     4,815   1,707
        Dec     3,865   1,193

The popularity of the MAP Web Page has almost tripled in the last year (as indicated by the 1999 vs. 1998 MAP Web page traffic comparison above). Perhaps the most significant point raised by this is the importance of having up-to-date, reliable and useful information on the Web Page in order to encourage repeat visits. The MAP Webmaster has received criticism that much of the information on the page is either out of date or incorrect and numerous requests for more information on MAP products have been received. It has also become apparent that if the page were updated more frequently it would become far more useful to the public. Also worth noting is the fact that after MAP placed an announcement in the Northern Miner during the week of October 17 to 24 the Airborne Survey Section of the page received a record number of hits (1554).

The top ten visits per country are:

     1       USA             6       Belgium
        2       Canada  7       Spain
        3       Argentina       8       Australia
        4       Peru            9       United Kingdom
        5       Mexico  10      Italy   

The top 3 visited pages are:

     1       Home page
        2       Newsletter page
        3       Airborne Survey Intro page
        


 

 

 

 

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