About

David Q. Tognoni, PE

Founder of American Magnesium, Professional Geological Engineer

Excel At Creating World Class Natural Resource Projects

WORK EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Learn by Doing and Speak From Experience

2011 – Present: Beryllium and Magnesium exploration & development in SW New Mexico.
2007 – 2011: President/CEO. BE Resources Inc. BER on TSX-V. Exploration of major Beryllium deposits of southwest New Mexico. Presently a Director of BE Resources Inc. Geo-mapping, Drilling permitting, Budgeting, Fund raising and Drilling supervision. Lead a professional team to obtain drilling permits in a very sensitive area.
2004 – 2007: General Manager. Great Western Exploration LLC. Formed to explore and develop the Hydrothermal Beryllium deposits of southwest New Mexico. Geo-mapping, Drilling permitting, budgeting, fund raising and drilling supervision.
1991 – 2004: Independent Consulting Professional Engineer. List of projects attached.
1981 – 1991: Oil & Gas drilling & Completion Consultant. Field Supervision and Engineering in Wyoming & Colorado for Sinclair Oil, Lewis & Clark Exploration, Kemmerer Coal, etc. Independent Developer of the Goodnews Bay Placer Platinum Mine, Platinum, Alaska.
1979 – 1980: Consultant on precious metal placer and lode deposits, Base metal lodes and mineral deposits. Performed exploration, evaluation, development, and production jobs for Cathay Banks, Mineral Economics Corp., Platinum Grubstake, and others.

CERTIFICATIONS

1980 Became a Registered Professional Geological Engineer in Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Montana. Current PE in Arizona.

Arizona certificate
Colorado certificate
Idaho certificate
Montana certificate
Nevada certificate
New Mexico certificate
Wyoming certificate

1977 Private pilot’s license.

FORMAL EDUCATION

1977 – 1978: Post Graduate Study: Geology, Aeronautics, etc. - Arizona State University (ASU). Ore Estimation - Colorado School of Mines. Mining Engineering & Finance - U of Arizona.
1970 – 1976: ASU, BS Engineering Major: Geological Engineering, Minor: Industrial Engr. Completed while working full time for Mineral Economics Corporation.

APPRENTICESHIP

1970 – 1978: Engineering and Geological Aide – Worked my way through school and during summers. Exploration and mining for Allied Chemical, Getty Oil, Utah International, and Mineral Economics Corp. Underground mining engineering for The Sunshine Mining Co., Alaska geological mineral exploration for British Petroleum Alaska Exploration.
1960 – 1970: Personal training under Hale C. Tognoni, Mining Attorney and Mining Engineer. Staking mining claims, sampling mineral deposits, drilling blasting, road building and other exploration & development activities on numerous mining properties in the Southwest and Alaska.

MINING ENGINEERING & GEOLOGY PROJECTS

Diamond Exploration

Have studied & mapped Kimberlite pipes all across the continental US. In 2004, developed a method of mapping buried Kimberlite pipes by locating their associated clay tops.

Precious Metals

  • Russia Mining Review, Kola Peninsula and East Siberia, 10/91.
  • Goodnews Bay Platinum Mine. Platinum, AK. Pt lode & placer geo-work.
  • In 1992 leased the lode mining rights and did the preliminary exploration on Red Mountain with dozer cuts. Joint ventured the lease with a Canadian firm.
  • Sunshine Silver Mine. Kellogg, ID. Pump station designs & ventilation work.
  • Ready Relief Claims. Banner, CA. Lode gold. Underground survey and geo-work.
  • Calico Tailings. Calico, CA. Gold & silver leaching. Grade & tonnage estimation.
  • Bonanza District. Bonanza, CO. Gold, silver & base metals. Leased and geo-work.
  • Rambler Claims. Snowy Range, WY. Platinum group metals. Leased & geological work.
  • Winnemucca & Wendover, NV. Gold claims, location work.
  • Silverton, NV. Silver prospect, exploration and location work.
  • Vulture Mine. Wickenburg, AZ. Gold exploration and location work.
  • Chiricahua Claims. Wilcox, AZ. Silver exploration & location work.
  • Gunsight Claims. Why, AZ. Silver, gold, & base metal exploration & location work.
  • Picacho Peak Claims. Yuma, AZ. Gold exploration & location work.
  • Crown King, AZ. Silver claims. Location work.
  • Cathay Gold Claims. Quartzite, AZ. Drilling and geological supervision.
  • Gold Hill & Gold Ridge. Baker, OR. Geological & evaluation work.
  • Silver Mines of the Coeur d’Alene area in Northern ID. Star, Bunker Hill, Lucky Friday, and others. Reviewed their operations and deposits underground.
  • Mother Lode Gold Veins. North & Central, CA. Geological and acquisitions work.
  • Pankey underground mine. Past Gold and Silver production. Acquisitions work.

Base Metals

  • Copper Basin. Crown King, AZ. Copper exploration and location work.
  • Wollastonite Copper. Ajo, AZ. Copper & wollastonite exploration & location work.
  • O’Flaherty Claims. Superior, AZ. Copper & base metals exploration & location work.
  • Twin Peaks Claims. Clifton, AZ. Copper & gold exploration & location work.
  • Ferris-Haggarty. Encampment, WY. Copper & gold exploration, Geo-land work.
  • Nelson Ajo Project. Ajo, AZ. Copper exploration & location work.
  • Cascabel Claims. Cascabel, AZ. Copper exploration & location work.
  • North Phoenix Claims. Cave Creek, AZ. Copper exploration & location work.
  • Kosanke Copper. Southern UT. Copper exploration, evaluation & location work.
  • Magnesium deposit. Deming, New Mexico. Exploration and land work.

Uranium

  • Tonto Basin Claims. AZ. 1560 claims, exploration & location work.
  • Black Mesa. Wickenburg, AZ. Exploration & location work.
  • Verde Valley Claims. Verde Valley, AZ. Exploration & location work.
  • Shirley Basin Mine. WY. Open pit engineering & computer reserves work.
  • Washakie Basin, WY. Exploration drilling, geology & evaluation work.
  • Great Divide, CO. Exploration drilling, geology & evaluation work.
  • Evaluation work on various other properties in the West and Alaska.

Non-Metallics

  • White Vulcan Pumice. Flag. AZ. Explore and family production since 1980.
  • Savery Gravel Pits. Savery, WY. Location & marketing. 1989 production.
  • Beatty Rhyolite. Beatty, WY. Location work.
  • Tonto Rim Barite. Payson, AZ. Exploration & location work.
  • Flagstaff Cinder Pits. Flagstaff, AZ. Pit evaluation & location work.
  • Sulphur-Gypsum Deposit. Big Pine, CA. Geology & feasibility, 1991.
  • Diamond exploration program design in the western U.S.
  • Vermiculite deposit, Riverside, Wyoming. Leased and marketed.
  • Diatomaceous Earth property, Northern New Mexico, proto-type production.

Other

  • Gravel deposits all over the West, Onyx in AZ & NM, Septarian Nodules in Utah.
  • Rare earth metals in WY and NM, Cinnabar in NV. Worked as part of a select team to analyze and explore for mineralization all over the state of Alaska for British Petroleum 1977.

PLACER ENGINEERING & GEOLOGY

Deposits

  • Eastern Siberia, Russian Placers, visited and reviewed Geology and operations.
  • La Cholia Placers, Quartzite, AZ (1991). Production work - 30,000 yds of tailings processed. Geology, feasibility, & engineering. Mill & Deposit sold 7/91.
  • Goodnews Bay Placer Platinum Mine. Platinum, AK. Evaluation of property in 1978. Gave technical assistance in the sale of the mine in 1980. 1 picked up my own option on the property in 1985 and did the necessary engineering, geology, and promotion work to bring the property back up to date. The property was leased to an Aust. firm in 1986.
  • Nome, Alaska Placers. Reviewed geology and production problems at Nome.
  • Quijota Placers. West of Tucson, AZ. Evaluation and expert witness testimony.
  • Hobbs Placers. Wilhoit, AZ. Feasibility & production work.
  • Mother Lode Hydraulic Placer Gold Mines: Exploration & land work on: Joubert Workings, Indian Hill Workings, Halkyard Workings, Scanlan Workings.
  • Pinto Creek Placers. Roosevelt Lake, AZ. Exploration & location work.
  • Gray River Placers. Gray River, New Zealand. Reviewed.
  • Bowden Placer. Southern WY. Gold & diamonds. Geology & acquisition work.
  • Osceola Placers. Osceola, NV. Geology & exploration work.
  • Big Bug Placers. Mayer, AZ. Trouble shoot recovery system on dredge.
  • Centennial Gold Placers. Craig, CO. Exploration & development drilling.
  • River Gold Placers. Alamo Lake, AZ. Exploration & development drilling.
  • Lynx Creek Placers. Prescott, AZ. Exploration & location work.
  • Tin Placers. Serpentine Hot Springs, AK. Exploration for lode sources.
  • American River Placers. Sacramento, CA. Reviewed past production problems.
  • Murray Placer Tailings. Murray, ID. Geology & acquisition work.
  • Goully Placers. Southwest of Baggs, WY. Location work.
  • Strawberry Placers. South central WY. Geology & location work.
  • Hahns Peak Placers. Steamboat, CO. Review land & geology.
  • Black Canyon Placers. Black Canyon, AZ. Geology & feasibility work.

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING & GEOLOGY

Special Schools

  • Halliburton Energy Institute. Duncan, OK. Completion School. 1982.
  • H2S Safety School. 1983. Preston Moore Drilling School. 1983.
  • Blowout Prevention School. Certified. 1983 and 8/2012.

Oil & Gas Drilling, Completions, Workovers, and Production Field Supervision: 1981-1991

  • Oil well work-over, plunger lift to pump jack, build facilities. Power Wash, CO.
  • Oil well work-over, paraffin problems. Savery, WY.
  • Oil well location reclamation. Savery, WY.
  • Oil well completion, put one zone into production. Savery, WY.
  • Oil well drilling, drill stem testing, sidewall coring. Savery, WY.
  • Oil well work-over, paraffin problems & reperforate. Savery, WY.
  • Gas well plug & abandon, reclaim location. Craig, CO.
  • Gas well work-over, old gas well put back on line. Craig, CO.
  • Gas well work-over, hole in casing & stuck wireline tool. Dad, WY.
  • Gas well work-over, dropped tubing, fishing job. Dad, WY.
  • Gas well completion, tested 4 zones and shut-in. Craig, CO.
  • Oil well completion, tested and put into production. Eastern, CO.
  • Gas well work-over, casing corroded, several squeeze jobs. Dad, WY.
  • Oil well completion and jet pump installation. Eastern, CO.
  • Oil well completion and production installation. Eastern, CO.
  • Oil production study work. Savery, WY.
  • Gas well plug and abandoned, reclaimed location & road. Dad, WY.
  • Oil well completions, Mississippi production. Eastern, CO.
  • Oil well completion, high paraffin oil. Lysite, WY.
  • Oil well drilling, land work, build location, set long string. Powell, WY.
  • Gas well drilling, land work, build location, reclaim. Craig, CO.
  • Oil well drilling, deviation problems. Glenrock, WY.
  • Oil & Gas drilling, deviation & weather problems. East Savery, WY.
  • Oil well plug & abandoned, pulled casing. Casper, WY.
  • Gas well completion, 10,000’, casing problems. Red Desert, WY.
  • Oil & Gas well drilling 10,000’ with salt zones. Evanston, WY.
  • Oil well drilling, then plugged back to water zone for city of Gillette, WY.
  • Gas well completions, high pressure-low volume wells. Dad, WY.
  • Tar sands drilling, water flow problems, cored zone. Hulett, WY.
  • Wellsite Geology. Green River Basin, Great Divide Basin, Northern DJ Basin. Three horizontal wells.
  • Geologic work on the methane potential of southern Wyoming.
  • Geologic work on the oil, gas, and mineral potential of Bancroft, ID area.

Equipment

  • Drilling rigs; Klam shell, Becker, Churn, Top drive rotary and others. Reviewed, recommended, and used for particular applications.
  • Olsen miner. Designed as alternative for deep placer mining. A borehole mining method.
  • Circular Jigs, reviewed new designs for applications on dredging in Alaska.
  • Semi-mounted placer evaluation unit. Designed and supervised construction.
  • Large Gold Dredges. Reviewed and worked on new designs.

Permitting

  • Strawberry Placers. Medicine Bow National Forest. Worked with DEQ of WY, Forest Service, State Engineer’s Office, Fish & Game, etc., for Exploration Permits.
  • Goodnews Bay Placer Platinum Deposit. Platinum, AK. Worked with Fish & Game, BLM and others for a Mining Permit.
  • Drilling permits for Beryllium Exploration in southwest New Mexico 2004-2011

Books & Reports written

  • I have prepared various reports for clients and in University work on drilling, exploration, and production methods in natural resources.
  • Written and Published three books. Suffocated 1 & 2. 2012, Lands of Liberty. 2017

Computer Data & CAD

  • Corrected ore reserve data from past leaching, underground mining, and open pit mining of the Lucky Mac Uranium Mine at Shirley Basin, Wyoming. Summer 1974
  • Engineered CAD adaptation to enlarging sculpture to life size & larger. 94
  • CAD Institute, Tempe, AZ, January and May of 1994 classes in 2D & 3D.
  • CAD Info-graphic & 3D profiles for several exploration projects.

American Mining Law

  • Gave lecture at the University of Moscow Geology & Engineering Departments on Mining Law applications in the U.S. – “Federal Lands to Private Lands”. People to People Tour.
  • 1872 Mining law title work for numerous clients.

Construction

  • Home & Building Construction: 4200 sq. ft. Terra Dome in Savery, WY. Design & built.
  • Two story art studio in Phoenix, AZ. 56’X28’, Post & beam. Designed and constructed.
  • Barns, large and small. Designed and constructed.
  • Peak View Subdivision in Savery, WY. 160 acres. Designed & Construction/Supervision.
  • Aided in the construction of several homes.
  • Remodeled 5000 sq. ft. hunting lodge. Northern CO.

Heavy Equipment Operation

  • All types of Cats, Loaders, and backhoes.
  • All types of ranch tractors and haying equipment.
  • All types of semi-tractor trailer rigs, cattle pots, lowboys, flat beds, etc.
  • Drilling rigs, sinker drills, wagon drills, air track, etc.
  • Oil field rig up trucks, large and small.

Other Projects

  • Restored a 1928 Model A roadster pickup, 1966.
  • Built a 1927 Model T hot rod, 1969-72.
  • Built a Rotoway Helicopter, 1975.
  • Built a wagon drill for exploration on mineral properties, 1972.

Other Jobs

  • Cowboy, Muleskinner, Roughneck, Roustabout, Welder, Ranch hand, Horse trainer, etc.

Personal information

  • Born March 4th, 1952 in USA to Hale C. and George-Ann Tognoni