MAP NEWS




September 1st, 1999

 

Activity Reports

The recent MAP Executive Council Meeting took place in Santa Cruz, Bolivia on August 21st to 22nd. It was attended by:

Argentina
Lic. Roberto Page
Ing. Jose Mendia
Dr. Eduardo Zappettini

Bolivia
Ing. Marcelo Claure
Ing. Humberto Mallo
Ing. Hernan Uribe

Chile
Ing. Ricardo Troncoso
Dr. Constantino Mpodozis
Dr. Moyra Gardeweg P.

Peru
Ing. Juan Mendoza
Ing. Oscar Palacios

Canada
Dr. Catherine Hickson
Mr. Mike Ellerbeck
 
Meeting Highlights

Project Budget Allocations:

The Project Manager presented the budget figures for the project, including a forecast for expenditures to the end of the project (December 31, 2001). MAP Management will prepare a revised forecast for each country to be included in the next quarterly report.

Further discussion centred around a new project (similar to MAP) to commence at the end of MAP. Work on outlining the goals of this new project must be started soon, as there is at least a one year time period for project approval. As MAP is planned to end halfway through a fiscal year, planning must start now if a new project is to be started in January of 2002. It was then agreed that each country would bring its ideas on a new project to the next Executive Council meeting in Vancouver, the week of January 25, 2000.

Mineral Deposits Field Course:

Members of the Executive Council reported that the trip was a very successful one. All participants learned a great deal.

Review of 1st Quarter 1999 / 2000
by Project Manager and Project Administrator:

MAP accomplishments from April 1 to June 30, 1999 were briefly reviewed. These can also be found in Report #12, page 3. Scheduling inconsistencies continue to plague the planning process. Most activities agreed upon in the early part of the fiscal year have been changed, in some cases very close to the date of execution of the activity. Another management challenge has been the administration of the MAP Fellowship fund. It has been difficult to distribute the funds and not have banking charges incurred by the recipient. MAP Administration will need to find a better system to deal with the distribution of Fellowship funds.

Samples Update:

Sample processing of scientific samples collected during Multinational Andean Project activities in the Andes continues with various methods of geochronological analysis, including radiometric dating (40Ar/39Ar, K-Ar, U-Pb-Zircon, Carbon-14, and Fission Track methods). Palaeontological and palynological dating are complete for samples submitted to date. No new geochemical analyses have been reported since March, although new submissions are expected from all participating countries once sample processing decisions have been made regarding both previous and new specimen collections.

Petrological Standards Program:

The new Petrological Standards Program has begun with the collection of a preliminary dacite sample in Bolivia and a rhyolite sample in Peru. Chile has identified one of the two samples it is responsible for and will be sending the thin section and hand-sample to MAP Administration soon. Peru has also sent a thin section and hand-sample. Argentina has also collected a sample. Samples collected by the countries are to be sent to MAP Administration as soon as possible. It is necessary to send about 4 kg of each of 3 or 4 different choices of rock samples for evaluation of their suitability as petrological standards.

Technical Committee Meeting For The Joint Mineral Resources Map
(Activity: B.98/M-2)

 

The meeting of the committee for the Metallogenic Map took place in Santa Cruz, Bolivia on August 20th. It was attended by:

Dr. Eduardo Zappettini - Argentina
Ing. Vitaliano Miranda - Bolivia
Dr. Bertrand Heuschmidt - Bolivia
Dr. Waldo Vivallo - Chile
Ing. Oscar Palacios - Peru
Dr. Catherine Hickson - Canada
Mr. Mike Ellerbeck - Canada

Meeting Highlights:

It was decided that the final product will be a Metallogenic Map. An agreement was reached on the following points:
· The GSC will prepare a base map with the defined borders at 1:1,000,000 and a copy will be provided to each country member.
· It was decided that the characteristics of the legend will be similar to those of the South American Metallogenic map produced by UNESCO in 1983 at 1:5,000,000 scale.
· The stratigraphic column was defined. Each country will compile their own geological map according to the units defined on the stratigraphic column.
· An agreement was reached on a Symbology that highlights the most important types of deposits. A record registry standard for all the country members was also developed to facilitate the construction and data compilation of the Map.
· Guidelines were defined for determining which deposits to include in the Map. Industrial minerals and metalliferous deposits will be included. Ornamental rock and construction materials are excluded.
· Tectonic and other Metallogenic elements will be included according to importance and density of the data to be plotted.

Airborne Geophysical Survey Meeting
(Activity: D.99/M-C2)

The planning meetings for the Bolivia, Chile, Peru airborne geophysical survey were held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia on the 19th Aug, 1999 and in Lima, Peru on Aug. 25th, 1999. All three countries and four companies were represented in Santa Cruz, while the meeting in Lima was hosted by INGEMMET and attended by eleven companies. In Santa Cruz, it was decided to enhance the utility of the survey to industry by inviting potential participants to indicate their areas of priority to MAP by Sept. 15th. These areas would then be used to finalise the survey area in order to maximise company benefit while respecting MAP's objectives of furthering cooperation between the countries. Priority areas would not necessarily have to lie within the current defined area and the final area would not have to be continuous but must include a central core that encompasses common boundaries. Companies should fax or email their priority areas to Dr. Dennis Teskey or to one of the other project representatives, in confidence, by Sept. 15th. The Technical Committee was very encouraged by the interest shown in the project.

Dr. Dennis Teskey, Canada
email:
Dr. Catherine Hickson, Canada
email:
Dr. Constantino Mpodozis, Chile
email:
Ing. Humberto Mallo, Bolivia
email:
Ing. Manuel Paz, Peru
email:


Argentina / Chile Airborne Survey Meeting
(Activity: D.99/MH-2)

A meeting on the proposed Argentina - Chile joint Airborne Survey is planned for the 28th of September at 9:00 am at SERNAGEOMIN in Santiago, Chile. Representatives from SEGEMAR (Argentina) and SERNAGEOMIN (Chile) will be in attendance as will MAP Project Manager Dr. Catherine Hickson and representatives from companies interested in participating. Agenda topics will include:

- Review of the proposed survey area
- Participation fee
- Projected timeline
- Tendering procedures

If you wish to attend the meeting please contact MAP Administration in Vancouver at Tel: (604) 666-0183 Fax: (604) 666-7507
Email: [email protected]

Verifiable Indicators

It is important for project members to remember that Verifiable Indicators are the tools for measuring the progress of MAP. It is necessary to demonstrate that MAP is accomplishing its goals and therefore the information that you provide is very valuable. The following list describes the information required for the Verifiable Indicator report that will be submitted to CIDA. As was done in November of 1997 and 1998 please forward MAP administrative staff the requested information.
 
Please respond to the questions on the handout distributed at the Santa Cruz Executive Council Meeting or fill in the online questionnaire at:

http://pma-map.com/indicators.html

Administrative staff appreciates your cooperation and requests that you send this or any other information that can be considered a verifiable indicator by Oct 30 to MAP administration.

Mr. Mike Villeneueve to Chile
(Activity: A.99/C-1)

Mr. Mike Villenueve of GSC Ottawa - Geochronology Lab will be working at SERNAGEOMIN, Chile from the 15th to 26th of November to consult on various aspects of radiometric dating of the SERNAGEOMIN Geochronology Lab.

Terrane Paths 99

Raul Seggiaro and Elizabeth Rovere from SEGEMAR, Argentina will be attending the Terrane Paths 99 conference from the 1st to 10th of October at Silver Star Resort in the Okanagan Valley, BC. For further information please consult the conference Web page at:

http://www.rodus.com/terranepaths99/

PIMA Training
(Activity: A.99/B-1, A.99/C-2, A.99/P-1)

On-site training on the MAP portable infrared mineral analyser (PIMA) will be held in Peru from November 1st to 5th and in Bolivia from November 22 to 27. PIMA training at SERNAGEOMIN facilities in Chile has been postponed until March 2000. The course instructor will be Dr. Anne Thompson of PetraScience Consultants Inc. of Vancouver.

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

Dr. Jim Reynolds of Fluid Inc. in Colorado will be in Bolivia from November 29 to December 3 and in Peru from December 6 to 10 to give a course on Fluid Inclusions. Both countries as well as Chile have acquired fluid inclusion equipment through MAP. Dr. Reynolds will also make a brief stop in Chile to review the Chilean fluid inclusion equipment that is already in operation.

The Web Page

The latest Web page statistics (hits) are as follows:

1999 1998
June 3,741 2,315
July 4,411 2,197
August 2,897 1,882

There has been a steady increase in our traffic and we have almost doubled it from the same period a year ago. A record number of visits occurred during the month of July and a large portion was focused on the Airborne Survey Page. From June to August we have had visits from more than 38 countries around the world with USA, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Mexico, Chile, Italy, France, United Kingdom and Peru in the top 10. Changes to page are ongoing and we encourage country members to review their sections on the site.

 

 

 

 

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