minerals

Wendy Calvin has been working on Mars for 12 years. She is the Science Operations Working Group Chair on a team that has been exploring the Martian landscape with the rover Opportunity.

Herb Duerr was elected president and chief executive officer for Walker Lane Exploration, Inc., a minerals exploration company based in Carson City.

Halen Harrison, 10, spent a recent Saturday afternoon building a civilization with his friends. “We’re mining minerals and diamonds and emeralds and stuff,” he said. “I like working with other people like this. It’s exciting.”

Harrison is one of several participants in the Carson City Library’s Habits of Mind (Craft), where youth are invited to play the adventuring video game Minecraft that allows them to collaborate in building structures as well as entire communities.

Tesla Motors could be acquiring lithium closer to home after the company secured a supply deal from a location just a few hours away from its gigafactory site in Nevada.

Vancouver-based Pure Energy Minerals announced on Wednesday morning that it finalized an agreement with Tesla to potentially supply the company with lithium hydroxide for use in its batteries.

Congressman Mark Amodei, NV-2, voted Thursday in favor of legislation known as Trade Promotion Authority, which would set parameters and restrictions on the negotiations of a free trade agreement known as the Trans Pacific Partnership and provide for an up or down vote on the resulting agreement. It passed the House 218 to 208.

The TPA bill has been available to the public online for more than a month. Amodei released the following statement:

Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-2), along with 29 original cosponsors, took steps Wednesday to address the strategic and economic vulnerabilities presented by mineral production, including rare earth elements — an industry dominated by China and other foreign nations.

The introduction of H.R. 1937, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Act of 2015, is intended to address American dependence on foreign minerals and to enable the United States to more efficiently develop its own mineral supplies, upon which, according to a recent 60 Minutes report, “modern U.S. life depends.”

The City of Yerington and Lyon County are pleased to announce that Friday, the U.S. Senate passed the Congressional legislation to transfer 10,400 acres of land from the federal government to the City of Yerington.

The same bill passed the House of Representatives on Dec. 2014. Section 3009, the “Land Conveyance to Yerington, Nevada” was included in the National Defense Authorization Act and will now go to President Obama for signing before year-end.

Happy Friday, Carson City. Many people in our area have Facebook accounts, but not everyone, so I am pleased to bring you the event list that is featured on my Facebook page, I love Carson City.

Every week, as I have for the last two years, I follow the pages of local businesses and organizations, search website calendars, and compile a list of anything and everything going on in this community. Some of it is family friendly, some is just for adults, but all of it is nearby.

National Earth Science Week highlights the dynamics of geosciences while encouraging communities to explore the beauty of their surrounding environments. In celebration of the event, the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology will host the 17th Annual Earth Science Week Field Trip, Oct. 11 and 12, 2014. The same field trip will be run on each day, so you have two chances to attend.

CARSON CITY — Nevada’s general fund is taking a hit this year of more than $70 million because of changes in the gold mining industry, but the effect on the counties that rely on the net proceeds of minerals will be tougher to absorb.

An extra-curricular activity at Eagle Valley Middle School, 11 Carson City students prepared for three months at after school meetings and on their own to compete in the state Science Olympiad held March 8 in Las Vegas. The team is coached by Josh Billings, 8th grade science teacher with assistance from family and teachers.

The Eagle Valley Middle School Science Olympiad team won 1st place at regional competition held at University of Nevada Reno on Saturday, Feb. 8 against several teams from the Northern Nevada area.

Competition at the middle school level is opened to grades 6-9. Coached by EVMS science teacher, Josh Billings, the team is composed of EVMS 6th-8th graders and a freshman from CHS.

From the relics of Nevada’s first hilltop exploration in the 1800s to steam locomotives and 21st century archeological discoveries, Nevada State Museums cover the state’s stories and care for historical objects for generations. To honor Nevada Day and the state’s 150th birthday kickoff, Nevada state museums offer free admission and celebrations across the state Friday, Oct. 25.

CARSON CITY — The Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining met Thursday to discuss a bill that would require the development of a program to regulate the use of hydraulic fracturing in Nevada.

Commonly known as “fracking,” hydraulic fracturing is a process in which an amalgam of water, sand and chemicals is pressurized and injected into the ground to break up rock formations. Fracking can be used in the retrieval of natural gas and oil from deep beneath the earth’s surface, which is exactly what Houston-based Noble Energy Inc. intends to do in Elko County.

UPDATE: The Nevada Assembly voted along party lines Thursday to allow a public vote on a resolution that would repeal Nevada’s longstanding 5 percent tax cap on mining net proceeds.

Five Assembly members took the opportunity to speak prior to the vote on Senate Joint Resolution 15. Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams and Assemblyman Skip Daly both spoke in favor of the resolution.

This month's meeting will be a show and tell of rocks and minerals that have been found in Nevada and in some cases purchased. Members will try to identify the rocks and also tell where they have found various rocks locally. The new board will also be introducing themselves and letting the group know what the new plans for the upcoming year are. Come share your rocks and stories, meet new people that share your interest and have some refreshments with us.

You point your toes and stretch your legs during sleep and wake up screaming in pain.

CARSON CITY – Last week it was a dispute about the Small Business Jobs Act and whether it will create any jobs in Nevada that generated controversy between the two major party candidates for the U.S. Senate.

 
A series of public meetings on the plan to transport water from rural Nevada to Las Vegas is expected to draw a diverse group of allies trying to stop the controversial project.

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Tax Commission today agreed to undertake a review of the exemptions granted mining companies to ensure the proper amount of taxes are being paid by the industry to the state and county governments.
The request for the review came from Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, acting in the capacity as a private citizen, using a state law to request the commission to undertake an emergency rule-making process.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – A two-hour review by the full Senate today of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed two-year, $5.8 billion general fund budget spent a lot of time on what his spending plan could mean well into the future.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – State Sen. Steven Horsford asked the Nevada Tax Commission today to act immediately to tighten up regulations on the deductions allowed to mining companies before they must pay the net proceeds on minerals tax to the state and counties.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford has requested emergency legislation to conduct a performance audit of the revenue collection functions of the Department of Taxation following questions last week about the thoroughness of the agency’s review of mining tax payments.

(Updated at 2:12 p.m. on March 14, 2011 to include new comments from Sandoval Administration)
CARSON CITY – Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford has requested emergency legislation to conduct a performance audit of the revenue collection functions of the Department of Taxation following questions last week about the thoroughness of the agency’s review of mining tax payments.

(Press Release) On Wednesday March 2, 2011, at approximately 12:00 p.m. Lander County Sheriff Ron Urger was notified that a man, later identified as Devin Westenskow, age 28, of Evanston, Wyoming, fell while exploring an abandoned mine shaft. The mine site closed since 1945, is located in the Jersey Valley at the far eastern part of Pershing County, Nevada.

The UC Davis’s Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) in partnership with the Tahoe Expedition Academy (TEA) will host the sixth annual Science Expo on March 16.

The fair features interactive experiments and demonstrations for children from the third to sixth grade, ages 8 to 12 and their families. The event is free and will run from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences in Incline Village. Ice cream will be provided by Susie Scoops of Incline Village and UC Davis TERC.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Freshman Republican state Sen. Michael Roberson got a lot of people’s attention last week when he engaged in a brief but spirited line of questioning at a Judiciary Committee hearing with mining industry lobbyists.

A team of University of Nevada, Reno and University of Nevada, Las Vegas researchers have devised a new model for how Nevada’s gold deposits formed, which may help in exploration efforts for new gold deposits.

RENO — A new streamlined system to enable University of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute (DRI) faculty to begin start-up companies and seek entrepreneurial partnerships is part of a new plan launched this month.

The idea, now a part of the university's Technology Transfer Office, is based primarily on a new standard license agreement, the “NSHE Express,” available to faculty-based start-up companies.

Here we go again. I’ll bet you made another January fitness resolution. Right along with the promise to loose ten pounds and clean the refrigerator. Trying to convince the major part of today's population that exercise is needed is usually a lost cause, and some days I get tired of trying. You can't force exercise, those that will, will and those that won't; won't. However, here are a few facts to keep in mind if you belong in the” won't” category.