Arizona Geological Society
2025 Speaker Series
Tuesday, 6 May 2025 | 5:30 - 8:00 PM
Location: Hexagon Mining Division Office
40 East Congress Street, Suite 150, Tucson, Arizona 85701
Parking: On the street or parking garage (Old Pueblo Parking)
Social Hour with Sandwiches from Beyond Bread (5:30-6:30 PM), Presentation (6:35 PM)
For those planning to attend the event, please register by 6:00 PM on Sunday, March 4, 2025
For those unable to attend MSTeams URL
will be provided at a later date
The Arizona Geological Society thanks Hexagon
for generously providing the venue and drinks
Understanding the Impact and Value of Publicly Available Precompetitive Geoscience Data for Mineral Exploration; Lessons to be Learned for the U. S.
Dr. Simon M. Jowitt
Director of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology,
Nevada State Geologist & Arthur Brant Chair of
Exploration Geology at the University of Nevada Reno
Abstract: Publicly available (also known as precompetitive) geoscience data is vital not just to further our understanding of surface and subsurface geology and for other crucial areas of research such as natural hazards, environmental research, and agriculture but is especially crucial to support and derisk mineral exploration and to enable efficient and effective resource discovery and extraction. The geological, geophysical, geochemical and other data types generated by precompetitive data acquisition programs can be used by industry to identify areas that are highly prospective for different mineral systems, acting to stimulate mineral exploration and to reduce the expense and risk associated with this activity. This also acts to increase the attractiveness of areas with good quality precompetitive geoscience data to the minerals industry, resulting in increased exploration spend and investment. Research into the return on investment in precompetitive data in jurisdictions like Australia and Canada has demonstrated significant positive outcomes in terms of employment, improved security of supply of mineral and metal supply chains, and contributions to the domestic economy. Increasing the amount of support for programs like the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) will likely result in similar returns on investment, with the longevity of use of precompetitive geoscientific data meaning that the information generated by these programs will likely be used, and will likely have significant impact, for decades to come.
Bio: Simon M. Jowitt is the Director of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, the Nevada State Geologist, and the Arthur Brant Chair of Exploration Geology at the University of Nevada Reno He has degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the Camborne School of Mines, and the University of Leicester, all in the UK and spent eight years at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia before moving to spend seven years as an Assistant and then tenured Associate Professor of Economic Geology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Simon joined the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2023 and his research focuses on the use of geochemistry to unravel geological processes in a variety of settings with direct application to understanding not only mineralizing systems but also igneous petrology, mineral exploration, global tectonics and the links between magmatism and metallogeny. He has also undertaken extensive research on mineral economics, global metal resources and the security of supply of the critical elements, and the “economic” side of economic geology. Simon has published more than 120 scientific papers and peer-reviewed book chapters since 2010 and was awarded the SEG’s Waldemar Lindgren Award in 2014.
Hexagon Mining Division Office - 40 East Congress Street,
Suite 150, Tucson, Arizona 85701
