Oral Histories

David Lowell was a geologist who was active in using applied geology to discover large copper and gold mines in Arizona, Chile, and Peru. Lowell grew up in Arizona, beginning in 1928 and was the son of a prominent mining family. He began helping his father in the mines at age seven and remained there throughout the Depression years. In 1945 he attended the Arizona School of Mines and went on to work as a mine engineer for ASARCO after his graduation in 1949. During this time he lived in Mexico and learned about supervision, record keeping and mine surveying. After his time in ASARCO he moved on to work as a geologist for AEC in 1951 and then began as an exploration geologist for Ranwick, Southwest Ventures, and Utah Construction in 1955. Beginning in 1960, Lowell became an independent consultant and participated in major mine discoveries such as the Kalamazoo extension, Vekol Hills, Casa Grande West in Arizona, Escondida, Zaldivar, San Cristobal, Leonor, Chile, Los Pinos, Los Calatos, Paron, and La Pierina, Peru. In this interview, Lowell discusses his family history, Lowell and Currier pioneer families in Arizona, working in his father's mines, education at the Arizona School of Mines (1945-1949), work in ASARCO, living in Mexico, year at Stanford University, developing a theory of concentric zoning of porphyry copper deposits, alliances with international mining companies, problems in Commerce, Industry, and Labor in Latin America, and negotiations with Barrick for sale of La Pierina.