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Overview of the United Verde Pit

On Saturday, April 21, 2018, the weather was excellent as approximately 60 members and guests of the Arizona Geological Society visited Freeport-McMoRan's United Verde volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit, located in Jerome, Arizona.   Participants included a number of professionals; both active and retired, as well as university facility and students.

Participants listen to Presentation on the History of the Verde Mining District

Following a brief orientation by our hosts, David Briggs gave a brief presentation on the history of the Verde mining district from an elevated area near the General Office, where attendees could view many of the important historical landmarks in and around the United Verde pit.   For those who wish  to learn more about Jerome, a comprehensive article on the history of the Verde Mining District, can be downloaded from the Arizona Geological Survey's web site.

Paul Lindberg Presentation at United Verde Pit Overlook

Participants hiked from the General Office to an overlook at the United Verde open pit, where Paul Lindberg discussed the volcanogenic massive sulfide model that describes how the United Verde ore deposit formed.  He also employed a block model to describe the structural evolution of the Verde mining district and its impact on the development of supergene enriched zones at the United Verde and United Verde Extension deposits.

Dave Briggs presents Honorary Life Membership to Paul Lindberg

At the conclusion of Paul's presentation, the Arizona Geological Society awarded Paul with a Honorary Life Membership in recognition of his exceptional contributions to Arizona Geology over nearly five decades.

Particpants Enjoy Lunch at United Verde Pit Overlook

The field trip participants enjoyed lunch at the overlook of the open pit, where many examined the altered Cleopatra Rhyolite in the footwall of the massive sulfide ore body and collected representative samples.

Jerry Waegli and Ralph Stegen Discuss Geology of the United Verde Ore Body

After lunch, participants hiked back to the General Office, where Jerry Waegli and Barbara Neilsen made their presentations.  Jerry Waegli discussed various aspects of the United Verde massive sulfide ore body and various exploration programs that have occurred since the mine's closure in 1953, while an interesting presentation on Freeport-McMoRan's reclamation activities in the district was made by Barbara Neilsen. 

Museum at Jerome State Historic Park

The formal field trip ended around 1:30 PM, giving those participants who wished learn more about the area an opportunity to visit the museum at the Jerome State Historic Park and the Jerome community.

2018 Spring Field Trip Acknowledgements

The success of our 2018 Spring Field trip to Jerome on Saturday, April 21, 2018, would not have been possible without the volunteers, resources and assistance provided by Freeport-McMoRan, Inc.  The Arizona Geological Society is grateful for their generous support.

Any successful event of this type, requires a lot of hard work and planning by many individuals.  The Arizona Geological Society applauds Ralph Stegen, Jerry Waegli, Barbara Neilsen, Paul Lindberg and David Briggs for their excellent job of planning and leading this event as well as preparing an excellent field trip guidebook for its participants.

Freeport-McMoRan personnel, who volunteered their time to help out with field trip logistics included: Duff Sorells, Robert Miller, Eric Lorret, Bruce Crane and Stan Walkup.  Chief Rusty Blair of the Jerome Fire Department also helped make the outing safe for all participants.

The Arizona Geological Society thanks everyone, who helped make our 2018 Spring Field Trip a success.

James Brisco

James Briscoe has a BS and MS in Geology from the University of Arizona. He is a Registered Professional Geologist in the States of California and Arizona since 1969 and 1972 respectively. James is one of the founders of Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Corp. He has been involved in mineral exploration and discoveries for the past 50 years. He is credited with expanding porphyry copper ore reserves at Silver Bell, Arizona and identifying major gold deposits in the Randsburg District in California. He also aided in the discovery of the McDermitt open-pit mercury mine in Nevada. Mr. Briscoe co-discovered and co-owned the Wind Mountain gold-silver mine in Nevada. In Alaska, he identified the Big Chunk caldera and the copper-gold-moly potential continuation from the Pebble mine and alteration zone. James Briscoe also identified the Tombstone Caldera in 1988. He has served as either an officer and or director of three other publicly trading exploration and development companies.

Ted Eyde

Ted Eyde is an Engineering Geologist for Pedregosa Basin Resources LLC. He also owns the Gadsden Sonora Holdings Company LLC with his wife. Ted grew up in Butte, Montana, where he received an MS in Geological Engineering from Montana Tech. Afterwards, he worked for the Union Carbide Corporation on specialty and performance industrial minerals. Ted moved to Arizona in 1959 to assist the company with locating natural zeolite deposits. He eventually discovered a large cabazite deposit, which is still being used today. He was the president of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) national chapter in 1991. He is also the cofounder of the Mining Foundation of the Southwest. The Foundation promotes public understanding and education related to mineral resources and the mining industry, and funds educational projects each year in the southwest and Mexico.

Peter Kirwin received his BA in Geology at Dartmouth College in 1957, and his MS in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Minnesota in 1963. He started his career in Tucson in the summer of 1960, following two summers in the Canadian bush. He lived in Arizona towns such as Tucson, Wickenburg, Kingman, and Cottonwood. He worked for 40 years in metals exploration in ten U.S. states, 3 Canadian provinces, all Australian states but Tasmania, Sinaloa, and New Guinea. He worked for many companies, including Kennecott (BCMC), NJ Standard (Exxon/Humble), Inco, Cy-prus, Copper Range, Lac, and Siskon, in management positions up to district manager and U.S. exploration manager prospecting for various deposits (copper, molybdenum, gold, poly metallic, etc.). His last consulting job in Arizona was in the Globe-Miami District for Cyprus Mines, which led to a new recognition of the structural setting and mode of emplacement of the Miami-Inspiration deposits.

Articles contained within the Arizona Geological Society Digests 1 through 22 are now available on-line at our publications page.  Our out-of-print Digests are available to the public, While our in-print Digests are only accessible to AGS members. 

Anyone who is interested in purchasing Printed Copies of In-Print AGS Digests can do so on-line or contact the AGS Secretary for more details.  Copies of current AGS Guidebooks and Digests are also for sale at a reduced price at AGS monthly dinner meetings.