CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Dinner Meeting Schedule —

Indicate if a low-salt or vegetarian meal is required. Please cancel if you are unable to attend.

Cost: With reservation: Members $24, Guest $26, Students $10. Without a reservation, $3 additional.Cash Bar @ 6 pm Dinner @ 7 pm Talk @ 8 pm

DINNER MEETING, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

Keith R. Long

U.S. Geological SurveySeptember 24-30: Circum-Pacific

Tectonics, Geologic Evolution, and Ore Deposits – ASymposium Honoring the Career of William R.Dickinson.

October 2:

November 6, 2007 – , Phelps-Dodge,

December 4, 2007 – , Arizona Geologi-cal Survey,

ABSTRACT—Modern theories of technology development emphasizestrategies for effective innovation. Invention, far from therandom inspiration of individual genius, is routinely ac-complished by deliberate corporate investment to solveimpediments to profitable economic activity. An historicalanalysis of the Inspiration copper mine at Miami, Arizona,using principles of modern management of technologicalinnovation, illustrates the long-term success and limits ofinnovation when applied to mining.

The Inspiration copper mine went into production in 1915after a period of protracted mine development. Economicmining was impeded by the lack of a suitable method fortreating mixed sulfide-oxide. This was solved by the earlyapplication of flotation and invention of the ferric-cureleaching process. Another impediment was the depth ofthe ore, which made open-pit mining prohibitively costly.A method of underground block-cave mining was devel-oped, followed by an early application of in-situ leaching.

Open pit mining was introduced in 1948, when commer-cially available machinery had advanced enough to permiteconomic mining with high strip ratios. At the adjacentBluebird mine, Ranchers Exploration and Developmentsuccessfully demonstrated heap-leach mining of copper-oxide ores with solvent extraction and electrowinning of

copper from leach solutions during the middle 1960s.Inspiration subsequently applied heap leaching to the OxHide deposit but further developed its own ferric cureprocess to recover the copper.

Cyprus Mines took over the Inspiration mine in 1988, andsubsequently re-engineered the entire mine as a leach-onlyoperation. The most important change was in managementof labor. Unions were decertified and rigid work rulesreplaced with cross-training to permit more flexible utili-zation of workers. Methods of employee involvement inmanagement, particularly for cutting costs, were intro-duced. This improved efficiency, however, could not in

(ABSTRACT, continued on page 3)

Ores & Orogenesis Symposium Final Update

Only one month remains before thesymposium. As of mid-August more than 600

people had registered. The list was plumped up by awave of registrations right before rates increased fromRegular to Late on August 15th.

A reception and banquet dinner will be held for themeeting’s honoree, William R. Dickinson, ProfessorEmeritus in Geosciences at the University of Arizona, onThursday night of the Symposium. The evening willinclude appearances by many of Bill’s former studentsand colleagues, with photographic tributes and roasts inone of the ballrooms of the El Conquistador resort.Tickets are available on the symposium web site. If youhave already registered, you can easily add this event byreturning to the symposium’s web site.

Friday night of the symposium is Reunion Night. Ticketsto the Reunion Event, which includes a buffet dinner forall participants that will be served in the Turquoise IIballroom from 6 pm to 9 pm, are available on thesymposium web site. The reunions will be held atvarious indoor and outdoor sites around the resort from6 pm to midnight, with no-host bars at or near eachreunion site. Please act safely and responsibly by usingthe designated driver system or a taxi cab if you aretraveling off the resort site that evening.

Twenty different groups of exploration and miningcompanies (dead or alive), consultants, and vendor andsupport companies are holding reunions around theresort, mainly in the restaurant and patio areas south ofthe lobby, in the four Canyon Suites upstairs north of thelobby, around tables in the Turquoise III ballroom, and

around the periphery of the buffet area in the TurquoiseII ballroom. Two groups of governmental organizationsalso will be gathering around tables in the Turquoise IIballroom.

The reunions for twelve universities or groups ofuniversities will be staged around tables in the TurquoiseI ballroom. Friends of Bill Dickinson will be congre-gating at the Poolside Courtyard.

The reunion groups are designed so everyone has at leastone place where they will feel welcome, and noinvitation is required to visit a reunion. Check out theReunion page on the symposium web site for moreinformation, and invite your friends to join you at areunion!

We thank our corporate sponsors for keeping the cost ofthe symposium more affordable forindividual attendees and students. Dozens of studentsfrom around the world will be attending the symposiumand participating in a student mentoring event throughthe generosity of corporate sponsors.

the end cope with the most intransigent impediment toprofitability: exhaustion of ore reserves. Although consid-erable copper resources remain for innovation to makeeconomic, better investment opportunities elsewhere occu-pied the efforts of the mine owner.

Managed technical innovation implies in-house inventiveactivity, rather than waiting for others to do the work foryou. The Inspiration mine had a mixed record in thisregard. Early inventive efforts by Inspiration, such as ferriccure leaching and the treatment of mixed sulfide-oxideores, were at a higher level of risk commensurate with therisks of developing a new mine. Once Inspiration becamean established mine, management tolerance to risk de-clined. The change to open-pit mining, for example, de-pended on advances in mining machinery made by theirmanufacturers. Participation of labor in management andcross-training were pioneered in Japan in the 1950s andwere slow to find acceptance in North America. In light ofthis history, managed technical innovation is limited bycorporate resources and the degree of risk that managementis willing to take.

(ABSTRACT, continued from page 1)

"WHEN THE WELL'S DRY, WE KNOW THE WORTHOF WATER"

- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

to new members Michael Conway,Arizona Geological Survey; Cheri Topel, ArizonaState University; Gwyn Rhys-Evans, SouthwestGround-Water Consultants; and Ronald Black-stone, ADOT

With great sadness AGS announces that long-timemember, Henry A. Truebe, passed away August 13.

— Silver SponsorGalway Resources — Copper Sponsor

Bronco Creek Exploration, Inc. — Copper Sponsor

AGS Membership was 352 in mid August.

A page has been added to the AGS web site to letmembers sign up to indicate their interest in pur-chasing the equipment from the Symposium. Thesign-up list carries no obligation, but requests willbe filled on a first-come first-served basis. Also, thedetails of the equipment will be listed as theybecome available. Items in the list include laptopcomputers, monitors, projectors, and miscellaneouscables. Prices will be considerably less than if theequipment were purchased new.

sLATE OF OFFICERS

2008President M. Lee Allison, Arizona Geological SurveyVP Programs Robert J. Kamilli, U.S. Geological SurveyVP Field Trips Rich Brown, Clear Creek AssociatesVP Marketing Lukas Zürcher, University of ArizonaTreasurer Kris Hefton, Vane MineralsVice Treasurer Coleen Brown, American Red CrossSecretary Claudia Stone, SRK ConsultingVice Secretary J. Keith Rodgers, TerraconPast President Ann D. Pattison, IndependentCouncilor 1 (08-10) Mark Cocker, U.S. Geological SurveyCouncilor 1 (08-10) Robert Powell, U.S. Geological SurveyCouncilor 2 (07-09) Karl Sandwell-Weiss. Augusta ResourcesCouncilor 2 (07-09) Corolla K Hoag, SRK ConsultingCouncilor 3 (06-08) Alyson M. Thibodeau, University of ArizonaCouncilor 3 (06-08) Jon E. Spence, Arizona Geological Survey

ANNIOUNCEMENTOres & Orogenesis Symposium

Equipment Will BeAvailable for Purchase After the Meeting

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