FĹ å±ÏĘ ĜŸŸƚå ŅüĘåeĬ±Ÿĩ± aĜĹåųØƵå ŞųŅĀĬå ±Ĺeae ĵåĵÆåųƵĘŅűŸĵ±ĩĜĹč±ŸĜčĹĜĀϱĹƋÏŅĹƋųĜÆƚƋĜŅĹƋŅƋĘå industry, our state and our association. In this issue, we are talking with Curt Freeman, who has spent decades in the mining industry in Alaska. ÏĘ ĜŸŸƚå Ņü Ęå eĬ±Ÿĩ± aĜĹåų Ƶå ŞųŅĀĬå ±Ĺ eae K +EGIWSJ2MRMRK
Curt Freeman Avalon Development Corporation
Who was your mentor in this industry and what did they teach you that remains true today? For as long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to be a ge- ZWZRT^_4_]LOPORWLNTLWMZ`WOP]^bT_SXdʭ]^_R]LOP_PLNSP] for rocks and minerals she picked up on her travels in the western U.S. So, long before high school or college, I knew bSL_4bLY_PO_ZMPM`_T_bL^YZ_`Y_TW4_ZZVXdʭ]^_NZWWPRP RPZWZRd NWL^^ ;Sd^TNLW 2PZWZRd _SL_ 4 XP_ Xd XPY_Z] Frederick W. Cropp, a Geology Dept. professor at the College of Wooster, Ohio. On day one of that class, I was sure I knew all there was to know about rocks and minerals, after all, I had over a decade of rock collecting under my belt by then, what XZ]PbL^_SP]P_ZWPL]Y* ,YO4]PNLWWLNPTYR_SPʭ]^_]ZNVLYO XTYP]LW\`TeZYWd]PTYQZ]NTYRXdNZYʭOPYNP_SL_4VYPbLWW there was to know friedns about geology! Then came the second quiz and I got a C, which shocked me. To add insult to injury, next to the grade Dr. Cropp wrote LYZ_PZY_SP[L[P]LYZ_P_SL_bL^_ZMPNZXPXdWTQPWP^^ZY% “You can do better than this.” That was embarrassing for a cocksure guy like me and unfortunately, it was true. But Dr. Cropp was not through with me yet. He also required that we keep a geology observations journal where we made notes on geological processes and events on our daily sojourns across NLX[`^ 4 ʮL_ ^`NVPO L_ _ST^ YPaP] b]T_TYR LYd_STYR OZbY until the night before the journals were to be turned in for grading and what I did write was functionally illiterate. 9Z_ ^`]P bSL_ SP ]PNZRYTePO TY XP M`_ /] .]Z[[ VP[_ pushing and I kept improving. He helped me learn how to speak in coherent sentences by enlisting the help of my very literate girlfriend who waggled her thumb when she heard me slaughtering the English language, which was early and often each day. She loved, I hated, every minute of that exercise, but T_SPW[PO0aPY_`LWWd/].]Z[[MPNLXP_SP`YZʯNTLWPOT_Z] ZQXd-LNSPWZ]ɪ^?SP^T^MWPPOTYRNZ[TZ`^LXZ`Y_^ZQ]POTYV all over what I thought was cogent, inciteful and brilliantly written text! He encouraged me to take a course on the origin of English Words to better understand how words were con- structed and pushed me into a public speaking course where I learned that I really enjoyed gassing on in front of a captive L`OTPYNP ,YOPaP]^TYNP_SL_ʭ]^_.4^LbLYO^_TWW^PP/] .]Z[[ɪ^^N]LbWɭDZ`NLYOZMP__P]_SLY_ST^ɮ What lessons have you learned that you want to share with new miners? BSP]POZ4^_L]_ *7Z_^ZQWP^^ZY^SLaPSPW[POXPYLaTRL_P the ups and downs of my career, among them was the need to be persistent and not give up after failure. I recommend you keep things in perspective and understand that a fail- `]PZQdZ`]ʭ]^_O]TWW[]ZR]LXT^YZ__SPPYOZQdZ`]NL]PP]4 learned to maintain a sense of humor and would recommend TQdZ`OZYɪ_SLaPZYPN`W_TaL_PZYPL^L[ 4WPL]YPO_SL__SP most successful exploration geologists collected and observed data before they they tried to interpret it, not the other way around. But if there is one over-arching lesson that encom- [L^^P^LYOLʬPN_^LWWZQ_SPLMZaP4bZ`WO]PNZXXPYO_Z_SP next generation of exploration geologists the words shouted to me by an American missionary in southern China. Hav-
ing misssed my train bound for interior China, this man took pity on me and helped me get a seat on a croweded bus heading in the right direc- tion. As the bus pulled away in a swirl of dust, he shouted ɭ=PXPXMP]MPʮ`TOMPʮPc - ible!” That was great advice and the recent curve ball called .:A4/ $ _SL_ bP SLaP MPPY trying to hit is a perfect re-
XTYOP]ZQ_SPYPPO_ZɭMPʮ`TOMPʮPcTMWPɮ
BSL_bZ`WOdZ`OZOTʬP]PY_Wd* When I started my career after graduate school, I kept a diary of what was going on in my life. Sometimes I wrote a lot, sometimes a little, and I kept that up for several years until life became what I thought was too hectic and I stopped writing things down. I wrote about a lot of other things but YZ_LMZ`_SZb_SPTYO`^_]dbL^LʬPN_TYRXPXdQLXTWdXd friends, my employees, etc. I now rely on my memory for those undocumented events, both momentous and mundane. Unfortuately, memory is not always a reliable partner. I think of what Mark Twain said about memory and it rings true for XP% ɭBSPY 4 bL^ dZ`YRP] 4 `^P _Z ]PXPXMP] PaP]d_STYR bSP_SP]T_SL[[PYPOZ]YZ_ɮ>ZZYP_STYR4bZ`WOOZOTʬP] - ently would be keep that diary! How much easier it would be to do these days, with voice recognition software and on-de- mand video capabilities! What a blog I could have constructed! What was one experience you will never forget? 4 ^[PY_ _SP ^`XXP] ZQ $# ZY _SP PYO ZQ _SP ,WL^VL Peninsula at a project known as Canoe Bay. I represented _SPTY_P]P^_^ZQ=P^Z`]NP,^^ZNTL_P^ZQ,WL^VLLbPWWVYZbY 1LT]MLYV^ML^PO RPZWZRTNLW NZY^`W_TYR ʭ]X _SL_ bL^ _SP non-operating partner in a joint venture with Freeport Ex- [WZ]L_TZYZY,WP`_YL_TaPWLYO^9PL]_SPPYOZQ_SL_^`XXP] season, the Project Manager, Ted Wilton, asked the assembled geologists whether or not we thought the gold tarrget they SLOMPPYbZ]VTYRZYbL^O]TWWbZ]_Sd>LdTYRɭ9ZɮXPLY_ dZ`bP]PZ`_ZQLUZM>LdTYRɭDP^ɪɮZYWdMPNL`^PZQbSL_^Ld - ing “no” implied, meant you were a mendacious scum bag. ,YOQZ]XP^LdTYRɭ9ZɮLW^ZXPLY_XdPX[WZdP]bL^YZ_ likely to be very happy with me, since the JV would likely dis- ^ZWaPLYObT_ST__SPQPP^=,,bL^]PNPTaTYRL^[L]_ZQ_SP5A LR]PPXPY_?SPRPZ^TYNW`OTYRLdZ`YRR`dYLXPO=TNVALY 9TP`bPYS`d^PLVLALY,W[SLMP__Z_SZ^PZY_SP.LYZP-Ld project, who became a life-long friend after this season, had discussed this option at length but until that fateful meeting, 4bL^`Y^`]PbSL_4bZ`WO^Ld4^LTOɭ9Z_ST^[]ZUPN_T^YZ_ drill worthy,” a response I can say with conviction was both honest and geologically correct. And yes, the JV dissolved. And dP^=,,bL^XZ^_OT^[WPL^PObT_SXPQZ]YZ_NSLX[TZYTYR the project and saving the JV.
16
The Alaska Miner
July 2020
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