Jim Faulds receives DOE award

Congratulations to NBMG Director and State Geologist, Jim Faulds, for receiving the 2012 Peer Review Excellence Award from the Department of Energy last week at the annual Geothermal Resources Council Meeting in Reno, Nevada. Jim’s project, "Characterizing Structural Controls of EGS and Conventional Geothermal Reservoirs," was evaluated with hundreds of other projects last May and came out on top. This project involves analysis and cataloging of the favorable settings of geothermal systems in order to facilitate exploration and discovery of new blind or hidden systems (those with no surface hot springs), which make up the bulk of geothermal resources in the Great Basin region. The award brings national and international recognition to the project.

Jim also led two field trips for the Geothermal Resources Council meeting in Reno, including both a pre- and post-meeting, two-day trip.  About 25 people attended each trip.  The pre-meeting trip visited geothermal sites in and around the Carson Sink of western Nevada, including the Brady’s, Desert Peak, Salt Wells, and Soda Lake geothermal systems.  The post-meeting trip visited geothermal sites near Winnemucca (Blue Mountain and Rye Patch) and the Black Rock Desert area in northwestern Nevada.