Geological and Mining Engineering and Science News

Michigan Tech Alumnus Donates Copper Crystal to Museum

Published January 10, 2017

Michigan Tech alumnus Jeff Nuttall (’68) and his wife Louise have donated an outstanding copper crystal to the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum.

The crystal of copper, from the Quincy Mine in Hancock, has near-perfect form. The museum has the finest cumulative collection in the world of crystallized copper specimens. The Nuttalls’ donation is more than twice the size of the next-best crystal of the same form in the museum’s collection. Among the thousands of copper crystals from the Copper Country in other museum and private collections, very few show such perfect form.

Associate Curator Chris Stefano notes that “Despite its small size, this specimen is among the finest copper crystals in the museum’s extensive holdings.”

Nuttall is a semi-retired geologist running Vicksburg Petroleum out of Houston, Texas and has an extensive collection of minerals from the local region. He has a great love for the Copper Country and has collected minerals since his time at Michigan Tech.

By A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum.

Published October 27, 2016

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News

Simon Carn (GMES) discusses sulfur dioxide emissions in an article accompanying a NASA Image of the Day showing the extent of the fires in Mosul, Iraq.

Sulfur Dioxide Spreads Over Iraq

In June 2003, atmospheric scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, used satellites to track how much sulfur dioxide streamed into the atmosphere from a fire at a sulfur mine and processing facility near Mosul, Iraq. They calculated that the fire at Al-Mishraq, which burned for nearly a month, released 21 kilotons of toxic sulfur dioxide per day. That is roughly four times as much as is emitted each day by the world’s largest single-source emitter of sulfur dioxide, a smelter in Noril’sk, Russia.

More recently, sulfur dioxide has been lofted to higher altitudes where it may undergo long-range transport. —Simon Carn

In the News

News outlets around the world covering the Mosul, Iraq fires quoted Simon Carn (GMES) for his work in sulfur dioxide emissions. The original story was posted by NASA’s Earth Observatory along with satellite images; news outlets include ABC News, Nature World News, Yahoo News and a number of science blogs.

By Allison Mills.

Ted Bornhorst Presents on Keweenaw Peninsula Minerals

Published October 26, 2016

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The A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum exhibited at the 72nd annual Greater Detroit Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show held Oct. 14-16 at the Expo Center of Macomb Community College hosted by the Michigan Mineralogical Society. The show consisted of 56 exhibits, 40 mineral dealers selling to the attending public and presentations.

Ted Bornhorst, executive director of the museum, presented “Nature’s Mineral Masterpieces from the Keweenaw Peninsula” on Sunday afternoon to an audience of about 50 people. The museum held a silent auction as a featured Sunday event.

The museum maintains satellite exhibits at several locations around the state. The satellite exhibit in the St. Ignace Welcome Center was updated by Bornhorst en route to the mineral show. In addition, the museum’s satellite exhibit at Michigan Tech Research Institute in Ann Arbor was exchanged for a display of Variscite Nodules from Clay Canyon, Utah. The nodules were donated by George B. Robbe (1884-1963), a Michigan Tech alumnus from 1913 who pioneered in chemical extraction techniques for copper ore beneficiation while he was working for the Utah Copper Company at Bingham Canyon in the 1920s.

Geology Club T’s On Sale Now

Published October 7, 2016

By Brittany Buschell

‘San Andreas isn’t my FAULT’

The Michigan Tech Geology Club is designed to allow students to discover the properties of minerals and geological environments through mineral collection excursions, mine tours, and geologically related field trips.

To order your long sleeve OR short sleeve GeoClub tee today, email Andrew at agdubay@mtu.edu.

For more information on the GeoClub visit: https://https://www.involvement.mtu.edu/organization/geology-club

GeoSeminar- Jeffrey Lynott: Mineral Exploration and Ore Deposits for the Great Lakes Region

Published October 6, 2016

By Brittany Buschell

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GeoSeminar: Tuesday, October 11, 2016 from 4-5pm in DOW 610

Jeffrey Lynott: Mineral Exploration and Ore Deposits for the Greate Lakes Region.

Jeff will discuss his participation and observations based on 30 years in and around the business of mineral exploration and development in his backyard. He has worked on the Crandon Project for Exxon and later for Nicolet Minerals and Crandon Mining Company. He was then with Noranda when Lynne was discovered and worked on Back Forty beginning in 2002 – when they had three geologists and five drill rigs turning. Those were the days!

For a complete list of all upcoming GeoSeminars for the 2016-17 academic year visit: http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~raman/SilverI/Geoseminar/Welcome.html

Hope to see you all there!

Volcanology Research by Simon Carn in Smithsonian Magazine

Published October 6, 2016

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News

The Smithsonian Magazine referenced Simon Carn’s (GMES) volcanology research, which seeks to incorporate emissions data into the Smithsonian database, in a feature story along with an interactive map.

How Earthquakes and Volcanoes Reveal the Beating Heart of the Planet

Earthquakes and volcanoes can conjure up images of widespread destruction. But for those who study Earth’s deepest reaches, like Elizabeth Cottrell, a research geologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and director of the Global Volcanism Program, volcanoes are also “windows to the interior.”

“Global satellite monitoring of volcanoes will transform our understanding of gas fluxes from Earth’s interior to exterior in the coming decade,” says Cottrell, who has been working along with Michigan Tech researcher Simon Carn and data manager Ed Venzke to incorporate volcanic emissions into the Smithsonian database since 2012.

A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum Encourages Students and Staff to Visit

Published September 20, 2016

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A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum welcomes students, faculty and staff to visit and see why the museum is the No. one local destination on TripAdvisor. Admission is waived so you can visit on your lunch hour or any convenient time. Professional visitors accompanied by faculty or staff are also welcome.

The museum showcases the beauty and splendor of nature’s masterpieces, minerals. The museum exhibits the best mineral collection from the Great Lakes region as well as minerals from around the world. Enjoy fluorescent minerals in one of the best exhibits in the U.S. Visit the 17-ton native copper slab housed in the copper pavilion that holds the Guinness world record. Come visit before the pavillion closes in November for the winter.

The museum welcomes students and employees to visit the “gem” of Michigan Tech. Fall hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

From Tech Today, by the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum.

New State Historical Marker for Douglass Houghton

Published September 15, 2016

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A State of Michigan Historical Marker honoring Douglass Houghton was dedicated Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, in a morning ceremony led by the Keweenaw County Historical Society in Eagle River. Among the approximately 70 attendees were several descendants of Douglass Houghton. The marker was proposed by the Michigan Basin Geological Society centered in Lansing. Ted Bornhorst, executive director of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, and Larry Molloy, president of the Keweenaw County Historical Society, led a geological and historical field trip for the Michigan Basin Geological Society all day Friday and Saturday afternoon to the Keweenaw Peninsula for a group of 30 geologists and guests. As part the guided field trip, the group visited the museum on Friday evening where a life sized oil painting of Douglass Houghton is on exhibit. The painting was done in the 1870’s by Bradish and a duplicate was purchased by the Michigan House of Representatives in 1879. Mineral specimens collected by Douglass Houghton are on exhibit at the museum. These specimens are part of the University of Michigan mineral collection co-owned by the museum under the Michigan Mineral Alliance.

Bornhorst Presents at Dallas Mineral Collecting Symposium

Published August 29, 2016

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Ted Bornhorst, executive director and professor, A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, attended and gave an invited presentation at the 6th annual Dallas mineral collecting symposium held Aug. 20, 2016. Bornhorst’s presentation was titled “Michigan’s Copper Country and the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum.”

The full day symposium included a presentation by the Curator of the U. S. National Gem and Mineral Collection at the Smithsonian. One of the world’s foremost mineral dealers in fine mineral specimens, The Arkenstone, is the principal sponsor of the symposium. Robert Lavinsky, founder and owner of The Arkenstone, has donated several mineral specimens to the museum and played a role in another prominent donation.

From Tech Today.