Peter Megaw
Peter K.M. Megaw, PhD, is a Consulting Geologist, and President of IMDEX/Cascabel and co-founder of Minera Cascabel and MAG Silver. Dr. Megaw has 40 years involvement in Mexican geology and has become well-known in the Mexican Mining industry. He is a frequent speaker at international academic and technical symposia. His Ph.D. work at the University of Arizona was on the exploration-focused geological/ geochemical study of the Santa Eulalia Ag-Pb-Zn District, Chihuahua and Carbonate Replacement Deposits (CRDs). He has published extensively on CRDs in both geological and mineralogical journals and books. He and his team are credited with the significant discoveries at Platosa, Durango; Juanicipio-Fresnillo, Zacatecas; and Cinco de Mayo, Chihuahua. Peter was awarded the 2012 Society of Mining Engineersâ Robert M. Dreyer Award for excellence in Applied Economic Geology and, the Prospectors and Developers of Canadaâs Thayer Lindsley Award for significant international discoveries. Peter has been a passionate mineral collector since first setting foot in Santa Eulalia in 1977. He moved to Tucson in 1979 and quickly joined the Tucson Gem and Mineral Societyâ¢, serving in most leadership roles (except Treasurer) over the years. He took on the job of Exhibits Chair for the Tucson Show in 1984, a job he has kept for most of the last 30 years, giving him the opportunity to visit most of the worldâs major mineral museums with a special eye out for what they should bring to Tucson.
His mineral collecting has come to focus almost exclusively on Minerals of Mexico. He won the Desautels Trophy in 2006 for the Best Case of Minerals at the Tucson Show - a case of Mexican Minerals. He has also three times been awarded the Romero Trophy for the best Mexican specimen on exhibit in the Tucson Show. His mineralogical writing has also been rewarded: he was the first recipient of the Friends of Mineralogy (FM) Student Paper Award in 1985 with his paper on the mineralogy of the East Camp of Santa Eulalia; in 2003 he was co-recipient with Tom Moore of FMâs Best Paper in The Mineralogical Record award for their article on the Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Durango Mexico; while in 2010 he received the FM Best Paper for the extraLapis award for his article on, âThe Geology and Genesis of (most) Collectible Smithsoniteâ. He has written forMineral News since its inception and is a consulting editor and occasional author for Rocks and Minerals. He is a photo-moderator for submissions on Mexico to Mindat.org and co-moderator of the FMF Mineral Forum, often with tongue planted firmly in cheek. A combination of the above led him to receive the 2009 Carnegie Mineralogical Award.
âI have been involved with the University of Arizona Mineral Museum since the early 80s when I was in the Geology Department. I am eager to see it reborn in a location where not only does it get to exhibit its treasures and become a focal anchor for mineralogy in Tucson but to see it become the systematic mineralogical repository we need for future generations. A Mineral Museum should be like a good library, constantly acquiring new materials to remain a complete research facility for current and future scientists."