Tim and Rhonda Snider have committed a $250,000 gift to the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources, or IMR, at the University of Arizona. The IMR is leading a number of global research initiatives in sustainable mining practices.

Tim Snider, former president and chief operating officer of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc. and current chairman of Cupric Canyon Capital, LLC, chairs the IMR advisory board. The gift from The Snider Family Charitable Trust will help support operating costs for the institute.

"Tim and Rhonda's gift shows a lot of confidence and support that the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources will develop into a major global research center for interdisciplinary mineral resources research, addressing issues critical to the minerals sector," said Mary M. Poulton, director of the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources and head of the department of mining and geological engineering.