SEG Mentor Profile

Murray W. Hitzman
Full Name
Murray W. Hitzman
Title
Director & SFI Research Professor & Director, iCRAG
Company
Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences
Country
Ireland
Affiliation
Industry
Primary Language Spoken
English
Secondary Language Spoken
Spanish
Focus and Areas of Research and/or Interest in Economic Geology
Research interests on deposit-to-district scale geology of ore deposits with a focus on sediment-hosted stratiform copper, carbonate- and shale-hosted Zn-Pb-Ag, and IOCGs. Also on “critical mineral” types of deposits such as Co, REE, Ge, Ga, Nb, Te, etc. Strong interest in public policy of natural resources and social license issues.
Relevant Education/Work Experience
1976 –A.B. Dartmouth College
1978 –M.S. University of Washington, Seattle
1983 –Ph.D. Stanford University (under Dr. Marco Einaudi)
1976-1982 part time work with Anaconda Company (Yerington mine, NV.; Alaska exploration)
1982-1993 Chevron Resources Company –exploration worldwide base and precious metals –discovery and pre-feasibility study of Lisheen Zn-Pb deposit, Ireland
1993-1994 Geological Society of America Congressional Fellow (office of Sen. Joseph Lieberman –CT)
1994-1996 AAAS/Sloan Fellow, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
1996-2016 Colorado School of Mines (also experience as Board member of junior and medium sized mining and mineral exploration companies)
2018-2017 Associate Director – Energy and Minerals, U.S. Geological Survey
2018 – present Consulting geologist
Hobbies and Interests
Traveling, hiking, photography, archaeology
Nationality
USA
SEG Activities (e.g. positions held, awards/medals, lecturing)
Program Policy Committee (1995-96)
VP Regional Affairs (1995-2000)
Vice President (2001)
President (2005)
Economic Geology Editorial Board (2018 –present)
Personal Philosophy on Mentoring
I was lucky enough to have a number of excellent mentors both in college and especially in industry (Anaconda and Chevron). Without their guidance and encouragement I would not have been able to be where I am today. I would like to try and help other young geologists as I was helped.
Other Relevant Information
I travel quite a bit – maybe I can drop in to your area sometime