Lowell Program Short Courses

This intensive course deals with the lithologic, structural, and geochemical characteristics of selected major ore deposit types. Each offering focuses on an in-depth examination of a selected family mineral deposits, including fundamental and comparative characteristics, petrology and genesis, and how these can influence metallurgical, engineering, economic, and historical aspects of mining.

The deposit types that we will cover include:

• porphyry copper, molybdenum, and gold systems
• associated skarn and high-sulfidation epithermal systems
• brief comparisons with other deposit types

The lecture topics relating to these deposits will include:

• distribution and geologic setting 
• character of related igneous systems
•  hydrothermal alteration and ore mineral assemblages
• supergene processes - structural aspects
•  pre-, syn-, and post-mineral
• geochemistry of ore-forming systems
•  comparative geophysics
• economics and metallurgy

The laboratory topics will include:

• alteration and ore mineral types and textures
• rock suites from all deposit types

Field trips will visit accessible examples of these types of systems in southern and central Arizona.

The lecture sessions will be held at the Marriott University Park Hotel on the edge of the campus at the University of Arizona. The laboratory sessions take place mostly at the Gould-Simpson Building, which is home to the Geosciences Department. The building is located at 1040 East 4th Street, Tucson, AZ 85721- 0077, and is located within walking distance from the Marriott Hotel.

The fee for the short course is US$3,500 before the early registration deadline on November 17, 2023, and US$3,700 thereafter. The cancellation policy provides for participant substitutions or a refund of ½ the registration fee by November 24, 2023. Thereafter, there will be no refunds or substitutions.

What your registration fee payment of $3,500 entitles you to:

• Short course handbook Laboratory materials Field trip guides
• One night hotel (overnight trip to the Globe-Miami area in a double occupancy)
• Two coffee breaks per day (coffee, tea, pastries) during lecture sessions
• Group dinners (one for the keynote dinner, one on the overnight trip, and another on the final evening in Tucson)
• Lunches (boxed sandwich meals) for field days All transportation during field trips 

What you pay for:

• Hotel for all nights (except for the overnight trip to Globe-Miami -December 14)
• Meals (except for the 3 group dinners and four box lunches)
• Airfare or other form of transportation to and from Tucson

We work with the Marriott to get a discounted rate for the short course participants. The discounted rate is US$140 per night. Which is highly competitive for Tucson at that time of the year. Most participants enjoy staying at the Marriott because of the accommodations and the convenience to the lectures and labs.

1. Registration form and “Statement of Honoraria Recipients”(This statement is used in association with honoraria payment and/or expenses associated with the activities of foreign visitors who come to the US on visa types B1/B2 and WB/WT). You will receive it online.^{See footnote}

2. ---

   To consider your application complete, we should receive by the dateline the following:
   • Registration form and “Statement for Honoraria Recipients” form filled out, signed, and dated.
   • Immigration documentation:

Ahead of arriving in the US, participants must supply the UofA:

• Legible copy of passport page showing photograph and expiration date II. legible copy of the passport page showing the visa, or alternatively, “Border Crossing Card”
• Nationals of countries that participate in the “US visa waiver program” are not required to have a visa to enter the US.

Nationals of countries that participate in the “US visa waiver program” are not required to have a visa to enter the US.

These two immigration documentation items are submitted to the UofA along with a list of short course attendees and their type of visa. The UofA does not authorize Purchase Orders (PO’s) until all documentation is approved and complete. The UofA may request better copies and/or additional documentation. There are commonly 10 to 15 foreign participants in a short course. Thus, the collection process typically occurs over a period of a couple of months, and must be completed about three weeks before the short course begin  for all pre-payment items to occur in time. 

Note: The registration period remains open until approximately one month before short course.   

• Nature of structural geology & need for structural geology in the minerals industry
• 3D perspectives in structural geology
• Brittle deformation and structural analysis: geometry, kinematics, dynamics, and geomechanics
• Brittle-ductile and ductile deformation: folds, foliations, lineations, shear zones, relations between deformation and metamorphism, and polyphase folding
• Utilizing field data from volcanic rocks in assessing structural deformation
• Volcanic structures and relation to ore deposits
• Pluton emplacement mechanisms
• Contractional deformation and tectonics
• Creation of permeability in ore-forming systems
• Spatiotemporal relations between porphyry systems and reverse and normal faults: Genesis, preservation, dispersal, and destruction
• Free surfaces: Gravity-derived landslides vs. continental extension
• Extensional deformation and tectonics
• Structural reconstructions: Methods, viability, and testing interpretations
• Strike-slip deformation and tectonics
• Interpreting structural geology in drill core: Importance of field observation and best practices for data collection and interpretation
• Tectonic geomorphology
• Accommodation zones, structural intersections, and their role in focusing fluid flow
• Geothermal systems and structural geology
• Structural setting of ore deposits
  1. Greenstone belts
  2. Iron oxide-copper gold (IOCG) deposits
  3. Epithermal gold-silver deposits
  4. Carlin-type gold deposits
  5. Porphyry Cu-Mo-Au systems
  6. Orogenic gold deposits

Field trips will visit accessible examples of these types of systems in southern and central Arizona.

The lecture sessions will be held at the Marriott University Park Hotel on the edge of the campus at the University of Arizona. The laboratory sessions take place mostly at the Gould-Simpson Building, home to the Geosciences Department. The building is located at 1040 East 4th Street, Tucson, AZ 85721- 0077, and is located within walking distance from the Marriott Hotel.

Coming soon!

1. Registration form and “Statement of Honoraria Recipients”(This statement is used in association with honoraria payment and/or expenses associated with the activities of foreign visitors who come to the US on visa types B1/B2 and WB/WT). You will receive it online.^{See footnote}

2. ---

   To consider your application complete, we should receive by the dateline the following:
   • Registration form and “Statement for Honoraria Recipients” form filled out, signed, and dated.
   • Immigration documentation:

Ahead of arriving in the US, participants must supply the UofA:

• Legible copy of passport page showing photograph and expiration date II. legible copy of the passport page showing the visa, or alternatively, “Border Crossing Card”
• Nationals of countries that participate in the “US visa waiver program” are not required to have a visa to enter the US.

Nationals of countries that participate in the “US visa waiver program” are not required to have a visa to enter the US.

These two immigration documentation items are submitted to the UofA along with a list of short course attendees and their type of visa. The UofA does not authorize Purchase Orders (PO’s) until all documentation is approved and complete. The UofA may request better copies and/or additional documentation. There are commonly 10 to 15 foreign participants in a short course. Thus, the collection process typically occurs over a period of a couple of months and must be completed about three weeks before the short course begins for all pre-payment items to occur in time. 

Note: The registration period remains open until approximately one month before the short course. 

The trip will include a focused multi-day introduction to the “Anaconda-style” of detailed mapping as applied to multiple deposit types but with a focus on the Yerington district, Nevada. The district contains porphyry copper and skarn mineralization, but the mapping method is adaptable to any type of deposit. As part of this, we highlight how mapping can be used to understand zoning, the time-space evolution of mineralizing systems, and the relationships to the fundamental phase equilibria of hydrothermal alteration. In addition to numerous other geologic stops, the trip also anticipates to include overviews and/or tours of the following districts and deposits: 

• Goldfield, Nevada [high-sulfidation epithermal Au],
• Tonopah, Nevada [low-sulfidation epithermal Ag-Au],
• Birch Creek, California [F-Be-W-(Zn) greisen/skarn],
• Humboldt, Nevada [IOCG occurrences],
• Eureka district, Nevada [partially superimposed systems, with Carlin-type Au mines at Windfall, Rustler, and Archimedes, a porphyry Mo-Cu to replacement Zn-Pb-Ag deposit at Ruby Hill, and the top of a F-W-Zn-Be- (Mo-Sn) system at McCullough Butte]
• Robinson district, Nevada [porphyry Cu-(Mo-Au) and related skarn and distal Au-Ag deposits]. 

The trip is a 10-day round trip from Las Vegas, covering about 2,500 miles in 4WD vehicles. Industry participants should plan to arrive in Las Vegas no later than Wednesday evening, August 30, as the trip leaves early on Thursday morning, August 31. Industry participants should also plan to depart from Las Vegas no earlier than Saturday night, September 09, 2023. 

The early registration cost of the trip (before July/03/2023) for non-university participants is US $3,700.00, including ground transportation, all lunches in the field, double-occupancy accommodations in motels each night during the trip, and course materials. Breakfasts and most dinners are the responsibility of participants. Industry participants must also provide transportation to and from Las Vegas and their accommodations the night before and after the trip. Please respond via e-mail to brambila@arizona.edu for registration or questions.  

Registration deadline: August 4, 2023

1. Registration form and “Statement of Honoraria Recipients”(This statement is used in association with honoraria payment and/or expenses associated with the activities of foreign visitors who come to the US on visa types B1/B2 and WB/WT). You will receive it online.^{See footnote}

2. ---

   To consider your application complete, we should receive by the dateline the following:
   • Registration form and “Statement for Honoraria Recipients” form filled out, signed, and dated.
   • Immigration documentation:

Ahead of arriving in the US, participants must supply the UofA:

• Legible copy of passport page showing photograph and expiration date II. legible copy of the passport page showing the visa, or alternatively, “Border Crossing Card”
• Nationals of countries that participate in the “US visa waiver program” are not required to have a visa to enter the US.

Nationals of countries that participate in the “US visa waiver program” are not required to have a visa to enter the US.

These two immigration documentation items are submitted to the UofA along with a list of short course attendees and their type of visa. The UofA does not authorize Purchase Orders (PO’s) until all documentation is approved and complete. The UofA may request better copies and/or additional documentation. There are commonly 10 to 15 foreign participants in a short course. Thus, the collection process typically occurs over a period of a couple of months, and must be completed about three weeks before the short course begin  for all pre-payment items to occur in time. 

Note: The registration period remains open until approximately one month before short course.