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K-State Today

February 6, 2019

Steven Borell to present geology seminar Feb. 7

Submitted by Angelina Butler

Steven Borell, the owner of Borell Consulting Services LLC, will present a geology seminar at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in 213 Thompson Hall.

In his talk, Borell will give an overview of mineral development in Alaska, sharing his experience and expertise to guide future exploration.

Today, there are only six large mines — up from one 30 years ago — and a few hundred small family placer gold mines operating in Alaska. These numbers are due to many factors but during the past 30 years mineral exploration has identified dozens of new prospects and these are now advancing in various stages and may become major mines. Even though more than 60 percent of Alaska is in Federal Conservation Units, the land available for mineral development includes about 49 million acres federal land, 104 million acres of state land and 44 million acres of private Native-owned (fee-simple) land. One indicator of Alaska's future potential is that historically there has been gold production in 58 of the state’s mining districts but today there is lode gold production in only four of those districts; in other words, the lode sources have not been found. Even more-striking statements can be made regarding copper porphyries, coal, rare earth elements, or REEs, fluorspar, graphite, etc.

Borell has a bachelor's and a master's degree in industrial engineering from Kansas State University and extensive experience in the mining industry. He has worked in coal companies in the U.S and in Colombia before his long tenure in the Alaska, where he was project manager, consulting engineer and, more recently, the executive director of Alaska Miners Association, a role he took for more than two decades. He is currently the owner of Borell Consulting Services LLC in Anchorage, Alaska, where the primary focus is to help owners of mineral properties obtain financing for early and mid-stage exploration and mining.