Worldwide Drilling Resources magazine
(Note: A bit of editorial license was taken. Kim gave Scarlette the check at the September 2011 meeting. This photo was taken at UNR in October 2011 when Mario gave a seminar about his experience being trapped in the San Jose Mine.)



Gold Glitters for Mining Students

Goldcorp supports faculty positions in Mackay School of Mines

Professor Carl Nesbitt

Read the Silver & Blue magazine article


Mining Engineering Local Section News

November 2011

Read the article

South Carolina mine sparks mini-gold rush to the Southeast
by Harriet McLeod -- Saturday, October 15, 2011

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - A Canadian mining company and a tiny South Carolina town are leading what could be a modern gold rush to the southeastern United States. Romarco Minerals Inc. reopened the historic Haile Gold Mine near Kershaw, S.C., this year and expects to pour its first gold bar there in early 2014, Chief Executive Diane Garrett told Reuters this week. Once environmental impact studies and permits are complete, Haile will be the only modern gold mine east of the Mississippi River, Garrett said, and the first since the Kennecott Minerals mine closed in Ridgeway, S.C., in 1999. Based on the proven gold reserves found in samples, the Toronto company estimates it has 3.1 million ounces of gold at Haile. The mine will produce an average of 150,000 ounces of gold a year for five years, according to its website. "It sits on one of the most significant trends of gold in the United States," Garrett said. "A lot of people had forgotten just how significant the gold production was in this area."

Romarco's success at finding the gold left at Haile has sparked renewed industry interest in the southeastern United States. The gold is embedded in microscopic flecks in volcanic rock along what geologists call the Carolina Slate Belt, which winds from northern Georgia through the Carolinas and into Virginia. Vancouver's Revolution Resources Corp. said in early October that it had begun drilling at several historic North Carolina gold mine sites along the Slate Belt. Strongbow Exploration Inc., also of Vancouver, said this summer that it had bought mine properties in South Carolina and had begun drilling at North Carolina's historic Parker Gold Mine. Erin Ventures Inc., another Canadian company, also is prospecting for gold in North Carolina, according to its website.

The "unprecedented climb into the stratosphere" for gold prices has spurred the eastern development, said Michael George, gold commodities specialist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Va. "We may have three or four mines started up in the next 10 to 15 years" in the southeastern United States, he said on Friday.

Gold prices this week posted their biggest gain in six weeks, buoyed by optimism about European plans to contain the region's debt crisis. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up $14.50 at $1,683 an ounce.

LONG TRADITION
Gold was first discovered in the United States in 1799 when a 12-year-old boy found a large nugget in a North Carolina creek. The story goes that his family used the nugget as a doorstop until a jeweler bought it for $3.50, said Kenneth Taylor, North Carolina's chief geologist. "There are hundreds of old gold mines all over North Carolina," Taylor said. "When the gold rush in California came in (in the 1840s), the experienced miners were here in North Carolina, so they went west."

Gold was first found on the Haile property in South Carolina in 1827. Mining continued off and on into the 1990s.

Romarco owns about 10,000 acres that include the 4,200-acre mine site. The company has spent about $350 million on site preparation and hiring and, by the time it produces gold, will have spent about $650 million, said Garrett, the chief executive.

"Mining is a capital-intense industry," said Garrett, whose company also owns two gold exploration sites in North Carolina. "When you look out West, this mine is quite small. Out there you've got mines that go for 20 miles and go thousands of feet deep."

The microscopic gold at Haile will be extracted by crushing tons of rock into dust and using a cyanide solution to separate the gold.

The Army Corps of Engineers requires an environmental impact study from Romarco on how it will replace 160 acres of wetlands it plans to destroy. Environmentalists also are concerned about an endangered freshwater mussel, the Carolina heelsplitter, found in creeks near the site. Garrett said the company, which expects to be at Haile for at least 13 years and likely 20, would propose land restoration and creating wetlands to replace those destroyed. The environmental impact study will take about a year and has set back groundbreaking and hiring, she said. The mine has 106 employees, she said, and Romarco expects to hire up to 800 mostly local workers.

Kershaw Mayor Wayne Rhodes said the company would have a huge impact on his economically depressed town of about 1,800 people, and he is concerned about the delay in hiring. "People here are begging for jobs," Rhodes said.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Ian Simpson) ©Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved.

Carolina Gold Rush reaches the DrudgeReport


Scarlette Sepulveda, a 19-year-old in the University of Nevada, Reno’s Intensive English Language Center, overcame her father’s 70-day entrapment in a Chilean mine to study in the United States. Photo: Garrett Valenzuela, Nevada Sagebrush
New start follows disaster for Chilean

by: Hannah McMahon
Monday, September 19, 2011 - 9:32 PM
For Scarlette Sepulveda, life-changing experiences are commonplace. In August last year, Sepulveda’s family received notice that her father was involved in a mining cave-in and was trapped underground. The incident near Copiapó, Chile drew film crews from around the world as the teenager waited for her father’s return to the surface. After 70 days, rescue workers pulled her father, along with 32 other miners, out from the ground. It was there, waiting for her father to resurface, that her life took another turn. Emma Sepulveda, director of the Latino Research Center at the University of Nevada, Reno, interviewed her mother for a book on the accident. When she met Scarlette, the teenager seemed to stand out amid the somber attitude of the area.

“A lot of people were telling me disparaging stories,” Emma Sepulveda said. “Scarlette was a breath of fresh air.”

She also noted that the girl had an interest in traveling the world and learning. Emma Sepulveda told her that she would help her do just that. The road eventually led to Reno. Emma Sepulveda helped Scarlette get into the university, where she is now enrolled in the Intensive English Language Center. When she finishes with the program, she wants to study journalism and theater, she said. Students such as Scarlette often face challenges in coming to a new country and a new place of learning, said Ayako Kurihara, a student worker at the Office of International Students. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in high school and get a visa from the government. About 200 undergraduates were able to complete the process this year, Kurihara said. But the university community has welcomed Scarlette Sepulveda with open arms, Emma Sepulveda said. For instance, the Northern Nevada Chapter of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration recently rewarded her with a $2,000 scholarship.

“She loves the atmosphere of campus,” Emma Sepulveda said. “People are really friendly and everyone approaches her with a sense of ‘How can I help you? How can I make you more welcome?’”

However, coming to the United States for college does present unique challenges for Scarlette, Emma Sepulveda said. In Chile, young women such as Scarlette are expected to study in their own country, she said. The family is also afraid that her grandmother will pass away while she’s studying at UNR. “She comes from a very close family where you just don’t leave,” Emma Sepulveda said. “She was the first one in the family to go away to college. She’s also in a family where … (they) are not happy with the daughter going away.”

Scarlette Sepulveda still remembers the uncertainty she and her family experienced in their camp near the mining site while they waited to hear any news about her father. The event taught her not to take her life, or the people who make up her experiences, for granted. “A person never knows when they will see their loved ones again,” Scarlette Sepulveda said. “Value everyone.”
Stephen Ward and Cassie Menezes contributed to this story. Hannah McMahon can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com

News 4 covers September 12, 2012 meeting
Watch the last minute of the segment 		To all my mining companions and colleagues,

I would like to extend to you my most heartfelt thanks for helping me accomplish one of my true goals in life: to educate one of my children, not just as a student, but as a responsible and generous human being with life-changing experiences like this one. In this way, when she enters the workforce, she will treat the workers she comes into contact with in the respected and dignified manner in which they deserve. It's quite sad for us to have our daughter so far from us, from her homeland, but it's a comfort to our family knowing that she's in good hands with our close friend, Dr. Emma Sepulveda. Thank you my friends and colleagues at the Northern Nevada Chapter of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. I hope that very soon I will be able to thank you in person and we will celebrate this generous gesture together.

May God Bless You,
Mario Sepulveda
Chilean Miner
Special Guests Scarlette Sepulveda & Professor Emma Sepulveda

Dream Comes True for UNR Student
KRNV-TV updated 9/2/2011


Scarlett's dad Super Mario Sepulveda was the second miner to reach the surface. Video coverage at YouTube: 		Scarlett Sepulveda, 19, has triumphed over many fears and uncertainties in her short life. Her father, Mario, was one of 33 men trapped in a Chilean mine collapse for 69 days last year. Scarlett dropped out of her first year of college in Chile. She helped support her mother and young brother, encouraging them to stay strong and keep praying that he would be rescued safely.

During the ordeal, Scarlett met Dr. Emma Sepulveda (no relation), the director of UNR's Latino Research Center, who was in Chile researching a book about the disaster.

"She was a young woman so full of life," said Dr. Sepulveda, "but so sad. She was hopeful her dad would be rescued alive, and she learned from her ordeal."

As they spent the anxious days and weeks together, Dr. Sepulveda learned that Scarlett's dream was to become a television journalist, to study English in the United States, and to travel the world. And set out to make at least part of that dream come true.

"I shared my dreams with her," Scarlett said. "And she said, 'Maybe they will come true someday.'

"Then she called me and said, 'I think your dream is coming true. I want you to come to study at UNR.'"

Scarlett is taking part in an intensive English course for the fall semester, and is hoping to continue her studies in the United States before eventually returning to Chile where her close-knit family still lives. Her father, Mario, will speak to students at the university about his experiences as a survivor of the mine collapse in October.

In the meantime, Dr. Sepulveda brushes off any praise for her role in making Scarlett's dearest dream come true.

"I have learned more from Scarlett than she will ever learn from me," she said.
Last updated April 18, 2012