About

Supporting the Mining and Geothermal Industries Since 1994

Sims Professional Services

Education, Licenses and Certifications

Business Entity and Business Model

Education

University of Arizona, J.D., Emphasis on Environmental Law, Land Use Law, Natural Resources and Transportation, 2005
University of Arizona, Ph.D., Economic and Structural Geology, 1996
University of Arizona, M.S., Economic and Structural Geology, 1993

University of Cincinnati, B.S., Geology, 1987

Licenses

Professional or Registered Geologist: California (GEO 7561), Arizona (51267) and Oregon (G 2278) (A Geologist licenses can typically be obtained in additional states within a few months through reciprosity)

Certified Engineering Geologist: California (EG 2663)

Arizona Bar #024048

Certifications

40 hour Hazardous Materials First Responder and Hazardous Materials Industrial Technician Certification

MSHA 5000-23 part 48

Sims Professional Services is a sole proprietorship that has its primary place of business located in Poway, California. Dr. Sims has worked as a professional in the natural resources industry with an emphasis on mining and geothermal energy since 1987. He established Sims Geological and Geotechnical Services in 1994 and operated under that name until 2017, when he changed the company name to Sims Professional Services in order to better reflect the range of services that are offered.

Danny has exceptional depth and breadth of knowledge and experience and this gives him the ability to recognize issues and understand what needs to be done to solve his client's problem. Where he has the experience necessary to analyze and solve a client's problem, he offers his personal services. Where problems are outside his areas of expertise, he relies upon his network of talented colleagues to help. With this business model, clients get the help that they need from select individuals who are best qualified to solve the issues at hand.

I spent my youth exploring the woods and knew what I was going to do in life when I took a geology course in 10th grade. I had many coal miners in my family and their stories about working in the underground mines of eastern Kentucky helped me to gravitate to ore deposits and mining.

When I completed my undergraduate degree I secured a job working for Newmont Exploration as an exploration geologist looking for gold in Nevada. I then attended graduate school at the University of Arizona to obtain a M.S. degree and studied economic and structural geology. During the summers, I worked for Cominco Alaska Exploration looking for base and precious metals. Cominco offered to support me in performing Ph.D. research at the newly-opened Red Dog Mine. No graduate student had worked on Red Dog yet and being paid to get a degree is a good deal, so I took the offer.

While completing my degree, I founded Sims Geological Services and began working for Call & Nicholas Inc. in Tucson doing slope stability and slope design work. My first job was to map and interpret the structural geology of the Cuajone Mine in Peru. Other world-class mines such as Grasberg, Thompson Creek, Diavik, Chino, Morenci, Twin Creeks and many others followed. I also worked at relatively small industrial minerals quarries and found that they operated differently than large metal mines, and that they really appreciated my help. I enjoyed the work and the travel for many years. Eventually though, I wanted to do other things with geology and I wanted to travel less so that I could have a family. But Call & Nicholas has great people, it is an exceptional place to work, and it is hard to leave.

Sometimes you need a kick in the rear and I got that in Argentina while coming home from a job. I made the rookie mistake of leaving my meal at the table while I went to the restroom and my food was poisoned by a would-be robber. I had previously been misdiagnosed with AIDS and bubonic plague while overseas, and had come home with lice, Peruvian tongue virus and other strange conditions, but this was finally it. I got home, went to the hospital to treat the poisoning, resigned, and as fate had it, I met my future wife later that week.

For the first time in my life I did not know what to do. I started an import business that brought organic fertilizer from Indonesia to the United States. That had a slow start, but eventually it did very well. I also decided to go to law school because I figured that I could use that to advance into management in the mining industry. At the very least, it would keep me busy while figuring out the next move, and tuition was dirt cheap.

Law school was entertaining. I got much better at public speaking, research, writing and dealing with difficult people and difficult situations. I even won an award for excellence in oral advocacy and was formally recognized for my abilities in research and writing. My course work focused mainly on water, environmental law, mining, land use, and transportation.

I worked as an attorney, and later continued with mining. I made some good decisions and some big mistakes, and learned a lot from those. After a few years of doing exploration for precious metals in Arizona, Mexico and Canada, Dr. Denis Norton asked me to help out with a geothermal project in the Salton Sea and eventually take over for him. Denis had assembled a world-class team of scientists and I saw it as an excellent opportunity to learn a lot about ore deposits and geothermal systems and move into an upper management position. I indeed learned a lot about mineralogy, geophysics, fluid flow, and a host of other aspects of geology that I had not previously experienced with such rigor. I also became Vice President of geology and managed exploration, development drilling and an analytical lab.

We drilled the most powerful geothermal well in the world (HR-13-2), conservatively rated at 40 MW, and many other excellent wells. We put the 50 MW Featherstone power plant into operation in a part of the field that was considered by most geothermal experts to be outside of the area with potential. We ended our perfect run with two wells that were insufficient for a flash plant, and that was the end of that.

My family is now settled in the San Diego area and we love it here. I am consulting for slope stability, evaluation of aggregate resources, geothermal evaluation, and environmental remediation. I have been working a lot with Warren Coalson and EnviroMINE for aggregate producers and his help getting established in San Diego has been tremendous. I enjoy working extensively with aggregate and industrial minerals again because my experience in the mining industry is greatly appreciated. I believe that I make valuable contributions. My kids have grown up a bit and I am now open to traveling again.

Dr. Sims' Story