Subsurface and Office Representation in Mining Geology 991 



orientation or attitude of grains or minerals, and texture of soil 



or overburden. 

 There must be no sorting of data to eliminate "unimportant" facts. 

 The relative importance of unimportance of data cannot be determined 

 until after the entire mine, district, or area has been mapped. Often the 

 importance of certain apparently insignificant data is realized 20 or 

 50 years later, by which time the workings have probably become inac- 

 cessable for remapping. Because mine excavations seldom remain open 

 long, the mining geologist is responsible as the "custodian" of all data, 

 and he must make as completely unprejudiced and impartial a represen- 

 tation of fact as his technique will permit. At the time that he is mapping 

 he should give no thought to the interpretation and correlation of the 

 things he sees, but should completely detach himself from the interpreta- 

 tive problems on hand and map fact mechanically. In this connection 

 Harrison Schmitt^ says: "Most mining geologists with a number of years 

 of experience in mapping believe that all details capable of being mapped 

 should be recorded, including those which at first appear to be of remote 

 significance. They always become significant when, integrated and plotted 

 on the office maps." Wilson ^ likewise says: "It is rare that the significant 

 features, that is, those which may help find ore, are all definitely known. 

 It is only after details, no matter of how much present unimportance, have 

 been mapped, studied, and correlated that the essential ones can be 

 selected." 



Geologic Technique and Mineral Exploration 



Many college graduates become employed by large companies, and a 

 year of intensive training after employment is usually necessary to finish 

 the graduate's preparation for the effective application of geologic tech- 

 nique to ore finding. The school that takes responsibility for a more 

 complete training in applied techniques will have little difficulty in plac- 

 ing their graduates, once the extent of such training becomes known to 

 the mining industry. 



Then, too, such training will result in increasing utilization of geolo- 

 gic technology by mining companies, and especially by the smaller mining 

 companies. Up to the present time, these smaller companies have been 

 discouraged when employing untrained geology graduates because of the 

 poor results whenever they have done so. The past failure of geology in 

 connection with the small mine operator has resulted from the operator's 

 inability to complete the training in techniques of the men he hires. Men 

 who have been trained by the larger companies are reluctant to accept 

 positions with small operators. 



The other alternative of the small mining company is to hire high- 

 priced "experts" or consultants, who often are nothing less than respecta- 



' Schmitt, Harrison, On Mapping Underground Geology: Eng. and Min. Journ., vol. 137, p. 557, 1936. 

 ^ Wilson, Philip D., Report on the Collection, Recording and Economic Application of Geological 

 Data: Am. Min. Congress, 25th Ann. Convention, 1924. 



