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March 12, 2013
Mini-Symposium on Laterites or Laterwrongs: Making the Pieces Fit
On Tuesday March 26, 2013 the TGDG will host a selection of speakers for a mini-symposium at Hart House on ‘Laterites or Laterwrongs: Making the Pieces Fit’. Speakers include Ravi Anand (CSIRO), Peter Winterbourne (Vale), and Ron Schonewille (Xstrata)...
March 11, 2013
CET Seminar Series starts March 15 with presentation on The Past and Future of Nickel Discovery
Hailing from industry, government and academia, high profile Australian and internationally-based researchers will join the CET fortnightly to share their experience on a wide variety of geoscience topics.These seminars are FREE and all interested Geologists are welcome to attend...
February 25, 2013
Is regulation robbing exploration properties of their worth?You can’t get chickens if you don’t allow the eggs to develop. Joe Hinzer, president of geological consulting firm Watts, Griffiths and McOuat (WGM), uses this analogy to illustrate how many early-stage exploration projects are being stifled by current mineral valuation regulations before they have a shot at becoming mines...
February 04, 2013
Roundup 2013: HDI's Thiessen sees 'mining renaissance'
It has been a busy 24 hours as the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) kicked off its Mineral Exploration Roundup 2013...
January 29, 2013
Where do I meet the geologists of Africa?Africa is more than 20 per cent of the world’s land area, is home to 15 per cent of human population but still earns its label as the Dark Continent through generating only 2 per cent of the world’s electricity. Where can you find the geologists exploring this sleeping giant with its inevitable future in the resources sector?
January 28, 2013
CMIC Footprints project sets sights on large ore-forming systems
As exploration programs focus on remote and concealed targets, the ability to recognize large ore-forming systems – from the most distal margins to high-grade cores – becomes increasingly important. Efforts are therefore under way to generate sophisticated “footprint” or “signature” models of high-value deposits.
December 2, 2012
Greenfields come to Perth for Greenland Day
The December 4th Greenland Day, taking place in Perth, will feature industry and geoscience experts from across the globe, discussing Greenland’s burgeoning exploration opportunities and recent research advances...
November 1, 2012
On Nov 8, Discover the Future of Exploration
Some of the sector's leading minds will be looking into their crystal balls on November 8th, trying to summon a picture of what the future might hold for exploration and mining in Canada...
September 11, 2012
Petrobras Starts Output at Baleia Azul Presalt Field
Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, said Tuesday that it had started oil production at the Baleia Azul presalt field in the offshore Campos Basin...
September 11, 2012
Is Gold Regaining its Glitter?
Barrick Gold CEO Jamie Sokalsky speaks with Carl Quintanilla on CNBC about Barrick's strategy to drive shareholder value...
September 10, 2012
The Long Term Tie Between Energy Supply, Population, and the Economy
The tie between energy supply, population, and the economy goes back to the hunter-gatherer period...
July 12, 2012
Exploration needed to kickstart next mining boom
A massive two thirds of Western Australia remains unexplored for minerals and geologists say the territory presents huge potential...
July 12, 2012
Teams Finding New Ways to Shale Success
Shale and other unconventional resources are being called the biggest game changer in a generation - and as land and other costs escalate, the industry continues to apply lessons gleaned from the early successes...
July 11, 2012
How EM geophysics can help feasibility studies
In this exclusive interview with Professor David Thiel, Director at the Centre for Wireless Monitoring and Applications at Griffith University, he discusses how electromagnetic geophysics can help those who are conducting a feasibility study and opens up on the real cost benefits of this technology...
July 11, 2012
Mining security - opening up Latin America
Improved security has started to open up new areas for mineral exploration in Latin America....
Make a comment Mapping Alaska: an explorer's journey
by Daniela Galloro on June 5, 2012 Library
Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon: Mapping the Wild Heart of Alaska by Mary Albanese.
Albanese's campsite near the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain in the Alaska Range. In the far distance, the white mountain is Mt. McKinley (Denali).
Arial view of the larger Buzzard Creek Maar in interior Alaska. Note the basalt ejecta rim surrounding the small pond. The magma came up from below and exploded when it hit the water table, leaving this crater.
There was no path to guide field mapper Mary Albanese through the Alaskan wilderness. Only brush, trees, and rocks – an unchartered, seemingly endless stretch of rocks.Her memoir Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon: Mapping the Wild Heart of Alaska is the story of Albanese’s life and journey as an arctic geological explorer.
Following her graduation from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1977, Albanese moved to Fairbanks and received her M.S. in Geoscience from the University of Alaska in 1980. She worked as a geological explorer for the state of Alaska until she left the state in 1987.
From 1977 to 1987, it was Albanese’s job to fill in the huge unexplained gaps that riddled Alaskan maps in those days. Hours of her day were spent on foot. The terrain was at times perilously steep, and under the hot Alaskan sun Albanese fainted from heat stroke on more than one occasion. At every outcrop she would identify the rocks, measure the angles, collect samples, and take endless notes. The pack she carried on her back would weigh almost 100lbs by days-end. Knowing they would never have the opportunity to return to the scene, no stone could be left unturned when collecting the field data.
Her journey is a testament to her personal philosophy: if at first you don't succeed, try something that's harder. When she failed to find a field job in the summer of 1978, Albanese decided to run her own field operation: “This meant I had to teach myself everything I would need to know in order to run my own program, before I had even experienced work on anyone else's crew,” says Albanese. “That was considerably harder, but sometimes the only one you can really count on is yourself.”
The book chronicles her survival against the Alaskan elements and the extreme conditions of a remote explorer. A strong undercurrent is Albanese’s connection with rocks, and passion for the region’s rock formations. “Rock units are the building blocks of the earth's crust, intricately merged together to provide the solidity in our world,” says Albanese. “Most people don't ever think of it that way, but it's true. I like rocks for their strength as well as their secrets and their truth. The rocks never lie.”
Deciphering the geological history of Sugar Loaf Mountain, Jumbo Dome, and the Buzzard Creek Maars for her master thesis remains one of her proudest accomplishments. “I just went back to the geology department at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks to see how it has changed and was told that my geochronology and tectonic assessment of those rocks still stands up, and that all the research in that region in the past 30 years has only re-confirmed my analyses. That was a pretty good feeling.”
Find MIDNIGHT SUN, ARCTIC MOON on www.epicenterpress.com. Visit Albanese’s website www.MidnightSunArcticMoon.com for more information.