Tales From the Field: The Darien Gap
David Brown, CPG-07130
As a 23 year old geologist fresh out of college with an M.S. degree in geology, I went to work for Texasgulf Inc. in 1972. At the time Texasgulf’s North American operations included the Kidd Creek massive sulfide mine in Canada, the Newgulf sulfur mine in Texas, and the Lee Creek phosphate mine in North Carolina. Mineral exploration in North and Central America included gold, uranium, and porphyry copper projects led by a team of “commodity” managers, including myself as porphyry copper manager. In September of 1973, working under recently promoted Exploration Manager Leo J. Miller, I accompanied Leo on a brief one week field visit to evaluate a mineral property in Panama, known as Cana. The purpose of this brief preliminary visit to the Cana Property was to assess whether this long abandoned 1800’s era British gold mine venture in the Darien Province might have potential as a porphyry copper target. As a greenhorn exploration geologist with experience only in the desert southwest of the United States, I was totally unprepared for the underlying dangers, challenges, and obstacles of working in the Darien Region of Panama, which was a drug trafficking corridor in a remote
rain forest area with no roads (only footpaths) and virtually no infrastructure. At the time of our initial visit, the property was largely enveloped by thick jungle vegetation, with rusted remains of mining equipment scarcely visible in a few places. We slept in jungle hammocks during a rainy and bug-infested night.
The property was fast-tracked into a Texasgulf exploration project, due to Leo Miller’s influence and reputation as a suc- cessful exploration geologist. The relatively short-lived Cana project required extraordinary team and individual efforts in a location with scarce outcrops, frequent rains, steep slopes, and occasional earthquake-triggered landslides. I was assigned to map and evaluate the Cana area as a potential porphyry copper target during a two month period in the fall of 1973. Access to the property at the beginning of the project was by helicopter, provided by the Panamanian military. Later it was accessible by fixed wing aircraft, including Leo Miller’s Cessna Skymaster 337. Camp meals eaten by the local workers were supplemented by locally hunted game, which included macaw parrots (guacamayas), ñeques (a large rat-like animal),
Figure 1. Location of Cana Project
www.aipg.org
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
