1^st International

SEG Student Dedicated Field Trip

Ore Deposits of Northern Chile

Welcome to the inaugural SEG Field Course - Ore Deposits of Northern Chile running January 5 to 13, 2007.

The field trip is organized and co-lead by Drs. William X. Chavez, Jr. (New Mexico Tech) and Erich U. Petersen (University of Utah). Thank you for returning all the requested material to the leaders in a timely manner.

We will visit a variety of copper deposits in the Antofagasta and Calama area. We begin with the Lomas Bayas porphyry Cu-Mo system on Saturday and travel on to Calama. On Sunday we will visit the Quetena Cu-breccia system. Early Monday we will vist El Abra, a copper oxide/porphyry Cu-Mo system.   The office and milling complex lies at an elevation of 3,000 masl but the mine is located at 4,400 masl. The Radomiro Tomic copper oxide/porphyry system is closely associated with the Chuquicamata system. Spence, which we will visit on Wednesday, is one of the newest deposits to come into production.   El Tesoro represents an exotic copper system and is near the Sierra Gorda tourmaline breccia Cu-Mo systems. We will wrap up on Friday with a visit to Zaldivar which lies "across the highway" from the giant Escondida system.

The course starts in Antofagasta where most of the course participants will be staying at the Costa Marfil Hotel in downtown Antofagasta.   We will begin with an orientation meeting at 7:00 PM at the El Tatio Hotel. The next morning we leave by bus; bring only what you will need for the five nights we will spend in Calama.

Entrance to the mine sites can be quite burocratic; please be patient.   At the mines we will receive safety training, a geological/engineering presentation, and a high elevation mines a brief medical checkup (pulse, pressure, oxygen).   Following the presentations we will enter the mine. We will ask, but in general, participants can take pictures and collect samples. Everyone is responsible for their own samples (be aware of weight limits if you plan to take samles back with you). Weight limits are much lower on Chilean air routes than on international routes!! At some mines we may receive lunch.

If you have given a talk on your research recently, please bring your talk along on a thumb drive.   We may have an opportunity for one or two 10-minute student talk at lunch.

The readings link contains some reading material you should review.   When it becomes available please download the small guidebook that contains handouts that will be discussed during the course of the trip.

See you in Antofagasta.

Home | Leaders | Participants | Sponsors | Photos | Maps | | Student Information