Life Member Gallery

Jon Baird at 2009 PDAC Convention

Jon Baird

SEMP Consulting

Member since 1972

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I graduated as a geophysicist from the University of Toronto and despite offers from major companies, decided to work for a geophysical consultant as the best way to acquire experience and travel. The travel came quickly: Northern Ontario and Quebec, Africa and Europe before I ended up in the Northwest Territory, where I lived for 2 years. As a field geophysicist I discovered an orebody in Pine Point that led to a stampede for the shares of Pyramid Mines. That early success led to a great career.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Certainly my most memorable experience would be the Pyramid discovery described above. The geophysical anomaly occurred at the end of our survey lines which were supposed to stop at the boundary of the Cominco property. When I inspected the staking, I realized that there was a gap, which I arranged to be staked. The gap occurred over half of the valuable orebody which contained 20 million tons of 12% combined lead and zinc, 15 metres below surface within a few kilometres of an existing mill.

Chris Baldwin

Chris Baldwin

Lawson Lundell LLP

Member since 1986

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Ten days in Kabul negotiating a mining contract with the Afghanistan Minister of Mines to develop a copper project.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

As a lawyer, there is absolutely nothing that can be more interesting and satisfying than acting for the mining industry - from individual prospectors to the largest mining companies.

Richard Barclay

Richard Barclay

Hemmingsen Investment Corp

Member since 1980

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

In 1960 my home was in Montreal, as a Boy Scout my mineral collection was vetted by a local geologist for a Scouting badge. He invited me to join McGill University’s Redpath Museum mineral club, which was at that time led by Franc Joubin, Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. Joubin became my mentor, igniting my passion for the mineral industry while leading our club on many mineral collecting adventures throughout Quebec and New York State. In British Columbia I was sponsored in 1966 by the British Columbia Prospecting Grubstake Program which began my life long career in the mineral industry.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

The creation, with a team of like minded mineral exploration and mining partners, of Bema Gold Corporation, now B2Gold and Eldorado Gold Corporation, both becoming successful international gold mining companies. On a project basis, my participation in the discovery and development of Eldorado`s Kisladag and Efemcukuru world class gold mines in Turkey.

Golden Vertex Corp. Moss Mine, 2022

Joe Bardswich

Northern Vertex Mining Corp.

Member since 1975

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

I have been one of the key persons in the start-up of two gold mines in Arizona and one in Montana. Playing a major role in bringing a property to production and creating wealth and jobs is very fulfilling. However, the most fulfilling project was working at a small eluvial gold project in Zimbabwe in 1998/1999. Providing good paying jobs (by Zimbabwe standards at least) was appreciated by young men struggling to feed their families, however, most fulfilling was being in a position to show respect for them and their efforts and to impart knowledge of health & safety practices, ethics, equipment operation & maintenance, metal recovery, reclamation, fabrication, rudimentary geology, surveying etc. The reward was seeing how proud they were of their accomplishments and how grateful they were for any knowledge imparted to them.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

I have great memories of many different experiences in different facets of the industry. The highest adrenaline experience was witnessing the murder on the mezzanine level of the Royal York at the 1987 PDAC convention and following the murderer down the escalator, out onto Front Street and then up York Street to King Street where the Metro Police "finally" arrived to make the arrest.

Lee Barker (right)

Lee Barker

Sparton Resources Inc.

Member since 1988

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

Developed and interest in the 1950s through family contacts with the Cadesky Brothers and people related to Denison Mines - fascinated about stories of prospecting, claim staking and the stock market. Started out studying Mining Engineering and switched into Geological Engineering half way through university. Was told in high school not to go into mining by guidance counselors but as a contrarian and wanting to study surveying, I initially chose mining to study. I switched into geology after two field seasons on geological survey parties.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

The Diavik diamond project in NWT. I was president of a private company called West Viking Exploration that financed the initial claim staking near the Ekati discovery and eventually merged with Aber Resources which became Aber Diamonds and then Dominion Diamonds. I directed the generation of the original geophysical data base and initial field exploration that discovered over 60 kimberlite pipes on the Diavik Property including the pipes that were and are still in production today. I also generated the name "Diavik" after the words diamonds and West Viking. The project started with a claim staking rush tying on to the first legitimate diamond discovery in Canada and ended up with Canada's second diamond mine (the most expensive ever developed in the world) that was a huge financial success.

Donald Birak

Donald Birak

Birak Consulting, LLC

Member since 1987

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

My mentor, Dr. J. J. Mancuso, in 1971 my first professor of geology at Bowling Green State University (Ohio), impressed me with his mineral deposits passion and knowledge - so much so that I committed to geology and mineral deposits then and there. He taught me much about the business but even more about mentorship.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

I was fortunate to be involved with Jerritt Canyon, Nevada in 1978 when it was still an exploration project. The discovery of Jerritt Canyon changed peoples' minds about Carlin-type gold deposits in terms of location and host rocks. I stayed with the project through feasibility and production before moving back into exploration.

Bob Bishop, Kimberley South Africa, 1998

Bob Bishop

Retired

Member since 1986

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

The simple answer is that in 1982 I bought a stock in Bull Run Gold Mines that went up about 1,000% over the next 90 days. Subsequent to that and while working for Howard Ruff of The Ruff Times, I wrote a piece on penny mining stocks and was intrigued by the history, the stories, and the characters surrounding the business. With elevated gold prices and heap leaching and other technological advances suddenly making the industry more accessible to junior companies, gold mining entered a strong growth phase. At the same time, there were few objective sources of information available to investors. Seeking to fill this gap, I decided to work my way out of a job and into a newsletter: Penny Mining Stock Report from 1983-85, Gold Mining Stock Report from 1985-2007. Looking back on it, I'm most grateful to have been involved at a time--the 90s--when a series of back-to-back world-class discoveries were made, and at a time when speculators were rewarded for having a longer term perspective on the market. Speculators got paid for being patient with stocks such as Arequipa Resources, Dia Met, Aber Resources, and Diamond Fields, where Robert Friedland played the world's two largest nickel producers against one another. It was an unusual concentration of world-class discoveries and a good time to be in the mining newsletter business.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Being early on the Northwest Territories diamond story was the most memorable and also the most important, for the simple reason that I was close to being out of business when Dia Met announced its first discovery. The stock market crash of 1987 laid the groundwork for several lean years in the resource sector, especially on the speculative end of it, and I was literally wondering what line of work I might go into. I've likened trying to sell my newsletter at the time to trying to sell cancer door-to-door. Being early and right on the diamond story turned my business around, and also paved the way to being early on Diamond Fields Resources. There was much that was memorable about Diamond Fields, not least because of the money I and my subscribers made, but had it not been for the NWT story, I wouldn't have been in business by the time Diamond Fields announced its Voisey's Bay discovery. I had many memorable experiences over almost 25 years, but it was the NWT story that was most meaningful--and thus most memorable.

Jerry Blackwell (left) and Alvaro Fernandez-Baca, Ucayali River region, Peru, 1978

Jerry Blackwell

Consultant

Member since 1981

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I collected minerals and fossils since public school; in high school one of the teachers was a geologist (Stuart LeBaron) and he encouraged the interest in rocks through a local club and many field trips. Enrolling in geology at university was a given. I was lucky to land a summer job in 1970 (after first year) with Gulf Minerals as part of a four-man prospecting/geophysical crew, living under canvas and moving by canoe in the regions north of Rabbit Lake. As a city kid I hardly knew how to hold an ax or a paddle, but the rocks came easily. Subsequently I worked every summer, attended PDAC as a student, and was fortunate to land full-time employment with Cominco in 1974.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

I was fortunate to consult for Prime Explorations during the discovery of Eskay Creek during 1988 to 1990. Under Chet Idziszek and Dave Mallo, they did the near-impossible task of finding and drilling off the 21A and 21B Zones through incredible snow conditions and on rough terrain. It was exciting to verify assays, compile the results, lead site tours, maintain a room-sized model made of acetate sheets hung on a wooden frame, and entertain Pezim's visitors.

Bruce Brady, Dornod, Mongolia, 2006

Bruce Brady

Consultant

Member since 1995

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

While in high school, a relative gave me a tour of the Horne mine, concentrator, and smelter in Noranda, Quebec; I was fascinated. Later, I attended an excellent promotional talk by the Mining Department at McGill Engineering. After a summer job at the Kerr Addison Mine in Virginiatown, Ontario, I was hooked.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

After 20 years at underground and open pit mines in Zambia and Canada, I embarked on a consulting career. I thoroughly enjoyed the travel to dozens of projects all over the world, usually at out-of-the-way sites. Some of these were mines in operation; it was interesting to see how things were done in different countries.

John Bridges

Retired

Member since 1997

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

Little pieces of galena that I noticed in limestone road aggregate sourced from North Derbyshire piqued my interest in the region's minerals and that took me to the Camborne School of Mines the UK's southwest. I graduated into the late 1970's gold boom and I was hired onto the learner official program with Goldfields of South Africa. This was a wild learning experience as I transitioned from spotty university student to miner to Mine Captain in about five years on the rich West Driefontein mine.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Go for it! While there are likely to be testing moments, like when I spent my first Christmas away from home the far West Rand in conditions reminiscent of the movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; by January I was back in the staff mess. The career broadened my horizons and exposed me to the opportunities in management, technical departments, and in my case, into the banking sector. I went from breaking rocks to researching valuation and then advising investors on the sector. Good luck and be versatile, the industry can take you many places

Alex Brown

Alex Brown

Retired

Member since 1978

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I owe much gratitude to Duncan Derry for landing my career in academia. He had attended my MSc presentation at an SEG-sponsored session at the Inst. on Lake Superior Geology meeting in Sault Ste-Marie in 1965; then another presentation at a meeting in Sardinia in 1970, where during an afternoon pause, he asked where I hoped to head in my career after a post-doc at the Université de Liège, Belgium. Months later, he alerted me to an opening at l’École Polytechnique in Montreal, and he had recommended me. Poly was my first visit on an interviewing tour, and I carried their good offer in my pocket over the remainder of my 3-week tour across North America. In thanks to Duncan, I had the pleasure, over several years and at the invitation of Don Sangster of the GSC, to co-host a Carleton-University of Ottawa grad course on Ores in Sediments at the Derry Lab, U of Ottawa.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Among the most fulfilling aspects of my career was the supervision of highly motivated and highly competent graduate students at Polytechnique: for example, Michel Gauthier on Grenville Supergroup zinc in the Maniwaki area, Quebec; Francois Robert on structurally controlled Abitibi gold; Frank Chartrand on sediment-hosted copper (SSC-type) in the Mackenzie Mtns; Pascal Marquis* on structurally-controlled Bousquet gold-silver-zinc; Mike Richard* on plutonic-centred volcanic-hosted massive sulfides; Mohammed Bouabdellah** on Mississippi Valley-type Pb-Zn-Cu in NE Morocco; Gustavo Durieux on a NW Argentinian SSC; Aurel Grigorita on the White Pine SSC. All very successful projects.

*Co-directed by Claude Hubert; **co-directed by Don Sangster.

Philip Burt SW of Ross River, 1978

Philip Burt

Burt Consulting Services

Member since 1992

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I was always interested in rocks and the outdoors from an early age. My father was a weekend prospector and by the time I was 14, I held and rotated the steel while he and his partner double jacked blast holes. The Mining Engineering Technology course at BCIT looked interesting when it was time to move on after high school and I never looked back.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Three years in Western Australia, nickel exploration at the Forrestania project 1973-1976.

Donald Burton, Niger, 1998

Donald Burton

Retired

Member since 1988

How did you get your start in the industry?

My father (Frederick R. Burton) was a geologist. He earned his PhD from McGill in 1933 and throughout my youth I wasn’t really aware of his extensive professional career. But I grew up knowing some of his closest colleagues when they visited our house. They were leaders in their field – Bill James (Senior), Marsh Cooper, Bill Buffam. Only later did I come to understand that this was the consulting firm of James, Buffam and Cooper. I remember my parents playing cards with “Doc” Oaks who was a pioneer in bush flying, opening the north up to prospectors. So I came by geology and I suppose my love of bush flying honestly, but at 18 my plan was to be a wildlife biologist...

Then I got a summer job packing rocks for a geologist in Rouyn Noranda. The wildlife biologist in me took note that there I was in the bush meeting bears - so perhaps geology could work. My father had died by then so he never knew that I became a geologist. For the next 50 years I would enjoy all that exploration geology could offer from North America to Africa. My friends would want to go back packing on a holiday and I was doing it for a living! Gravity surveys on the Beaufort Sea, prospecting the mountains in the Yukon, fly camping along the Liard River. I was hooked. Why exploration geology? It was the science, the travel to remote areas, the bush flying and the people.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Aside from the professional aspects of being an exploration geologist, my most memorable experiences have been the opportunities to undertake community projects over the past 25 years in Africa through my company and with colleagues particularly in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cote d'Ivoire. Our sincere belief was that we were guests in these in these countries and it was incumbent upon us to assist in the areas of health, education and community needs. The contrast between the blessings in my life and the hardships people faced in rural West Africa were such that one either had to turn a blind eye or you did something about it.

We developed a partnership with local Rotary Clubs in Nova Scotia looking to participate in sustainable projects in Africa with accountability. We built a rural health clinic that serviced a population of 6,000 and expanded the local village school from a capacity of 50 students with no girls attending, to over 400 students with half of them being girls. My most gratifying moment was taking representatives from those clubs to visit those two social projects in Niger when they were completed. The people welcomed them and the Rotarians themselves experienced the sincere gratitude of the communities.

I remember the strength of the women who carried such a disproportionate load of the daily work and of children greeting me in song, seemingly oblivious to the hardships around them. These were experiences that would never have happened had I not chosen geology.

Nicholas Carter with Gerry Auger, Toodoggone, 1986

Nicholas Carter

Retired

Member since 1968

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I was born at Little Long Lac mine in northern Ontario - my father was a mining engineer and my mother a nurse. My first real job, at age 15, was assisting in the annual "taking stock" or inventory exercise at the mine warehouse. All ensuing summer jobs while in high school were mining and prospecting related, so when it came time for university studying geology seemed natural.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Paul Chamois, Colombia, 2009

Paul Chamois

Roscoe Postle Associates Inc.

Member since 1979

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I actually stumbled into the mineral industry and, more specifically, exploration geology. I knew I didn't want a desk job and I had always enjoyed the outdoors (hunting and fishing with my Dad). Somehow, by the time Grade 13 rolled around, I figured being a mining engineer would be a good career choice. I wasn't the strongest math student however and only took two math courses in Grade 13 (in those days you could take three math courses in Grade 13, including calculus). When I applied to universities for engineering, I was told I would have to do a qualifying year (to get my math requisites). I didn't want to do that and my guidance counsellor suggested I take geology instead. I chose Carleton University for an undergraduate degree and fell in love with it. I had great professors like John Moore, George Skippen, Ken North and others. I followed that up with an Applied M.Sc. in Mineral Exploration at McGill. I worked in the bush during the summers and really enjoyed that. Ironically at Carleton, science majors had to take the same introductory calculus course as the engineering students and I passed with decent grades, although I really had to work at it.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

After working for major mining companies (Selco, BP-Selco, Phelps Dodge Canada) for most of my career, I ended up working as a contract geologist for a couple of years (2006-2008). One assignment I had was drilling the Brabant massive sulphide deposit in northern Saskatchewan for Manicouagan Minerals. While I was District Geologist for Phelps Dodge, we had optioned the property but had cancelled the option on it when Phelps Dodge's exploration strategy changed. I knew the deposit and jumped at the chance of working on it again. I co-authored a technical report on the property during the summer of 2006 then handled the drilling from November 2006 to March 2008. We only had one drill turning and had hired a local guy, Peter McKenzie, to split the core. The geology was really interesting with all sorts of high-strain textures. I couldn't wait to rip the tops off the boxes in the morning to see what the night shift had drilled. You could tell by lifting the boxes if you were in the mineralization because of the weight. It was great to see the deposit grow or change shape with every hole that we drilled.

Malcolm Clegg with Bill Bondar, Labrador, 1959

Malcolm Clegg

McSak & Company Ltd.

Member since 1966

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

Bill Bondar and I met in Labrador, in the summer of 1959, working as summer students with British Newfoundland Explorations. We ended up working with John Hansuld (past President of the PDAC), a PhD student from McGill specializing in geochemistry, a comparatively new geological science. Because of John's enthusiasm and support Bill Bondar and I continued our studies in geology and later formed Bondar - Clegg & Company, in 1965, a company operating as Geologists, Geochemists, and Analytical Chemists with facilities in Canada and USA. We sold it in 1989.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Geochemists know the history of Bloom's Buffer, and the contributions made to the science by Harold Bloom. Bondar - Clegg successfully convinced Harold to sell them his laboratory, in Lakewood, Colorado, and to act as a consultant to our firm for many years. Harold was a memorable experience.

Richard Conroy with Clay Lake nugget, 2018

Richard Conroy

Conroy Gold and Natural Resources plc

Member since 1990

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

The discovery of a new district scale gold trend in the Longford – Down Massif in Ireland was the most fulfilling project that I ever worked on. I had previously been involved in the discovery of the Galmoy zinc orebodies in the 1980’s which led to the revival of the Irish base metal mining industry and to the recognition of Ireland as an international zinc province. Exciting though the discovery at Galmoy was, there were already precedents in Ireland in relation to base metals, such as the discoveries at Tynagh, and the world class zinc deposit at Navan. The discovery of the Longford – Down gold trend was of far greater import, and much more fulfilling, as it indicated that Ireland has significant potential for gold as well as for base metals. As a child, I had admired the magnificent Bronze Age gold ornaments in the National Museum of Ireland. These gold ornaments are worth seeing. They are some of the most superb Bronze Age gold ornaments in Europe. Curiously, however, despite the presence and uniqueness of these gold ornaments, and their public display, Ireland has not hitherto been regarded, in mining industry circles, as having the potential to host significant gold deposits. The discovery of a new, district scale gold trend, in the Longford-Down Massif strongly suggests that Ireland has the potential to host significant gold discoveries, as well as having the potential for world- class base metal discoveries.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

The mineral industry is challenging and unique. You need to have the interest, the energy, and also the ability to take on board information from a variety of sources, and to be prepared always to learn from colleagues and peers. The industry is an extraordinary amalgam of geology, finance, mining technology and many other factors. It is essential, if you wish to enjoy the industry and to make a satisfying and successful contribution to it, and that you are willing and able to look at the broader picture and always be open to considering things from a fresh angle or viewpoint. Thus, for example, if you are a geologist one must take into consideration more than the geology and be prepared to take into account financial, social, environmental and political factors. In other words, it is essential to have a broader vision than your immediate speciality. Equally if you are coming from a financial or corporate background it is essential to have an appreciation of geology, of mining technology, of the overall industry and of the local environment, or country, in which you are operating. The mineral industry has some of the most varied, interesting and able individuals you could meet. If you have what it takes it can be one of the most exciting and satisfying industries in which you could ever hope to work.

David Constable

David Constable

U3o8 Corp.

Member since 1976

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

My mining career had three distinct phases; first as a field exploration geologist in North America for 25 years, then a corporate phase for 15 years creating and financing junior resource companies, and finally a decade serving as an ICD Certified Director and Board Chairman for North American and International resource companies. The highlight of my career was joining FNX Mining in 2001 and growing FNX into a profitable producer, increasing its value from $25 million to $3.6 billion over a decade. FNX became the best TSX market performer during that time. I feel that the arc of my career was a natural evolution from field to management to the Boardroom. In the mining industry one needs to remain keenly aware of new ideas, trends and opportunities. One must look ahead to the changing future and adapt. We used to have a saying in exploration, "learn and adapt!"

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

I joined the Board of a junior explorer during a downturn in the industry. The Company was looking for Platinum Group elements in Northern Ontario and struggling to survive. The Board and Management ran a strategy session and decided to look for good gold projects while the gold price was low. We quickly found an ideal advanced gold project in Argentina, signed a confidentiality agreement and we successfully bid for it against a dozen other companies. A few months later after we had acquired all the local and regional data from the original owner, we noticed an area with very high silver and lead values. We sent a team to acquire the target, only to be told that one of the unsuccessful bidders had just acquired it. Shortly after, the unsuccessful bidder announced a massive new silver discovery on that property. We eventually sued them for breach of the original Confidentiality Agreement. The question was, "Could you enforce a CA across multiple jurisdictions?" Prior to the trial, we obtained a great deal of data and it showed that the unsuccessful bidder used confidential information. At trial in BC, we successfully proved malfeasance and we were given the Discovery Property containing over two billion ounces of silver. This decision was upheld upon appeal. The junior explorer sold the assets in a bidding process for $780 million within a year of acquisition.

Alex Davidson at Adams Lake BC, with field assistants, Sara, Travis and Samson, 1985

Alex Davidson

Americas Gold & Silver Corporation

Member since 1976

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

My start in the industry really began with Geology 101 at McGill and the summer job at Uchi Lake with Selco in 1970.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

The most fulfilling was leading Barrick’s exploration efforts from 1983 to 2009 and the discoveries and acquisitions that our team made in those years including Lagunas Norte in Peru.

Ed Debicki at PDAC Convention Grand Finale

Ed Debicki

Canadian Mineral Analysts

Member since 1982

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Inco's Seine Bay Project in the Fort Frances area of Ontario in 1976 was a program I took from the design stage, through to the greenfields exploration stage and to the drilling stage. The first drill hole which I spotted intersected a significant massive Cu-Zn intersection. A large number of claims were staked and an extensive exploration program ensued, including the property being optioned to a large base metal mining company. Ironically, the first drill hole was the best intersection!

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

It's not what you know but who you know. It's important to be in the right place at the right time. Find yourself a mentor and develop a good relationship with that person. Take on as many volunteer roles as possible so people get to know you. If you are interested in an economic geology degree, go to Laurentian University's Harquail School of Mines in Sudbury, Ontario. The program is one of best (if not the best) in world!

Ruth Debicki at PDAC Convention giving a lesson for Mining Matters

Ruth Debicki

Retired

Member since 1982

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I always wanted to be a geologist...and told my grade 8 science teacher of my aspirations. He said "don't be silly...girls can't do that." His was the prevailing attitude in 1962. I was fortunate to earn a summer position in the Geology Department at McMaster University after grade 12, in the University's first offering of what would now be called a "STEM Mentorship Program." There, I learned about the breadth of opportunities in geoscience, so ultimately pursued a B.Sc., and later an M.Sc. in geology. I was also fortunate to be one of the first two female field assistants hired onto a summer field crew by what is now the Ontario Geological Survey (OGS) in 1970. This was a time when the mineral sector really wasn't hiring women, and on-campus recruiters would say openly "don't bother filling out the form; we don't hire girls." My work with the OGS was the start of a very diverse, and fulfilling career.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

There were so many memorable experiences that I can't pick just one. Some of them include having dinner and discussions with J. Tuzo Wilson when he was just starting to promote his ideas of plate tectonics; being a tour guide for the Apollo 17 astronauts in Sudbury before their trip to the moon; attending a "clean-up" at a large placer mining operation in the Klondike; being a speaker at the PDAC in the Concert Hall at the Royal York; teaching Prince Charles how to play a rock xylophone I'd made; flying over Newfoundland's Western Brook Pond and the Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex in a helicopter; visiting the James Bay coast (twice - in January); digging for dinosaurs with the staff of the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller; attending the grand opening of the Diamond Bourse of Canada; working with PDAC on Mining Matters and S-IMEW; sharing an Ontario Prospector's Association "Prospector of the Year" award for service to the industry...and the list could go on!

Giovanni Di Prisco, Ancash Region, Peru, 2002

Giovanni Di Prisco

Terra Mineralogical Services Inc.

Member since 1987

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I got lucky! Back in 1986, I was a young, idealistic, “fresh off the boat” landed immigrant in Toronto who spoke French but not English. Nonetheless, I was hired just three weeks after I arrived in Canada by very smart and insightful geologists/ managers at the Ontario Geological Survey in the Economic Deposit Department (led by Dr. Sandy Colvine). They saw something in that young graduate geologist that I could not recognize in myself for a very long time. My experiences at the Survey propelled me to an unbroken successful carrier in the mineral industry.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

I cannot limit myself to only one so here are a few: Sleeping in our gear in minus 45 degree Celsius outside in the middle of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia at the Oyu Tolgoi camp. The air was so clean and crisp that the night sky was peppered by billions of stars. Or getting up at night to watch the unbelievable dance of northern lights at the Goose Lake camp in the great Canadian north. Yet the experience that touched me the most was a brief encounter with two kids, brother and sister, aged 12 and 9, who we met as my colleagues and I were driving up to the Antamina deposit in the Peruvian Andes. These kids were walking back home from school and most days they walked 34 kilometers, in the mountains, so they could have a chance at a better life. After that encounter, every time I thought I had it bad I would think back to these kids and my situation never seemed that bad after all.

Peter Dimmell, Baie Verte Peninsula, 2021

Peter Dimmell

Silver Spruce Resources Inc. CS

Member since 1975

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

The Point Leamington massive sulphide deposit was discovered by Noranda in 1971. I was the project geo on the property and was involved with the discovery from day 1 as I accompanied Allan Keats to large massive sulphide (MS) boulders that he had discovered on a small brook while stream sediment sampling. During the visit I noted pillowed mafic volcanics (MV) and quartz feldspar porphyry (QFP) both in float and outcrop and fragments of QFP in the massive sulphide boulders. I had been tasked the previous winter to examine a 1967 Phelps Dodge airborne electromagnetic (EM) survey and plot the anomalies on air photos so I knew that there was a strong EM conductor approximately 1/4 mile / 400 m away from the MS boulders. The same day that I visited the area with Al we laid out a grid for ground geophysics and after some iterations we drilled the anomaly about a month later hitting 241 feet (70 m) of massive sulphides in the first drill hole which assayed 1% Cu. I was on the drill for the first 80 or so drill holes. The deposit is still not a mine 50+ years later but it was a "good discovery" and it is still being evaluated.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Go for it - it, like most industries it has its ups and downs, driven by world metal prices and the availability of funding for exploration, which is the route to discovery, but it can be very rewarding and once you get some experience every day is different - there is no routine in exploration and the next big discovery is waiting to be found. Mineral exploration is a "treasure hunt" where clues from geochemistry, geophysics and geology guide you to a mineral deposit - it isn't easy and it takes perseverance but the discovery of a deposit is worthwhile for you and ultimately the province and country where you live.

Robin Dow with Nana Gyau and Nana Ampofo, Accra, Ghana, 1995

Robin Dow

Rosehearty Energy Inc.

Member since 1982

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

I started Ur-Energy in May, 2004, funding it at 10c. I raised more money over the next year and took it public, URE, on the TSX via IPO, @ $1.25 on November 29, 2005. It topped out two years later at $5.50.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Taking my young sons to PDAC in Toronto in the late 90's to mine the contractors' booths for all the fun giveaways.

Rob Scagel demonstrating Colin Dunn's tree sampling technique, southern BC, 2006

Colin Dunn

Colin Dunn Consulting Inc.

Member since 1984

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

After completing my PhD at Univ. London (UK), I was hired as a research scientist with the Saskatchewan Geological Survey (SGS). The SGS encouraged innovation and afforded me freedom to develop my interests in biogeochemical methods of mineral exploration. Subsequently, I relocated to the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa to pursue my research interests worldwide.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Developing a helicopter-borne treetop sampling technique with wide application for a variety of minerals.

Ron Gagel, 2012

Ronald Gagel

Retired

Member since 1991

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

While between projects for the financial institution consulting practice of a major CPA firm in 1987, I did a couple of financial oriented assignments for Jim Gill, founder and CEO of Aur Resources. Despite not having any mining experience, Jim offered me a job in 1988 as Aur's senior financial person because he was confident I would learn and like the mining business. There appeared to me to be no downside because, if I didn't like mining, I could always go back to the consulting practice. I guess I learned the business and learned to love the mining industry as I spent the last 34 years of my working career in it.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

2000 - Led bank financing for acquisition of Quebrada Blanca mine in Chile which helped transform Aur. 2005 - Transaction whereby FNX consolidated a 100% ownership in its Sudbury land package. 2012 - One of cofounders of TMAC Resources leading to start-up of Hope Bay mine in Nunavut. 2013 - Recipient of the PDAC's Distinguished Service Award. 2019 - Designated as a Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant.

Geoffrey Handley

Retired

Member since 1994

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Porgera in PNG (1982-86 on site) at Placer Pacific where we took the project from discovery of the high-grade Zone VII through drill-up to feasibility and development.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Watching the high-grade assays of surface samples for Zone VII from the laboratory on the telex machine whilst in Sydney for the birth of my daughter (1982).

Patrick Hannon and Vivien Campbell, 2010

Patrick Hannon

MineTech International Limited

Member since 1969

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Seabee Gold Project in Northern Saskatchewan. I completed the estimate of the mineral resources which led to the financing of the property. The mineral resources at the Santoy were drilled off under my direction during my time with Claude in the 2004-2007 period. The mine has provided employment and training for hundreds of people.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

There are so many good memories of different places and nice people. I spent some time in Ukraine and that was quite memorable as I got to see the city, including the Catacombs, Opera, the war memorial, and the titanium statue. Kyiv is (was) beautiful in the spring with the chestnut trees in blossom. Another memorable experience was in Eastern Turkey during the Iraq war when I was accused of being an Israeli spy. Another memorable experience was in Sri Lanka when I got back to the hotel and found out what land leaches are. I can remember being on the side of a mountain in BC and in Gaspe wondering how to move without falling. That memory wakes me up sometimes.

David Harquail, 2017

David Harquail

Franco-Nevada Corporation

Member since 1975

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I was born into the exploration business. My dad, James Harquail, ran multiple exploration companies on both the Toronto and Vancouver exchanges. I started attending the PDAC conventions with my dad as a young boy and started doing field exploration work in high school. Nothing was more Canadian than getting a degree in exploration geology and getting into the business.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

The opportunity to meet the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, in Buckingham Palace. When he asked me what I did, I was proud to say "Your Royal Highness, I am in the royalty business too!"

Keiko Hattori

Keiko Hattori

University of Ottawa

Member since 1995

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I have been teaching a course, Mineral Deposit, with ore petrography since I started working at the University of Ottawa in 1983.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

PDAC introduced students to the mining industry and these students are now working as executives of companies and running exploration programs in many parts of the world. It is very rewarding to see the advance of my past students' careers.

Ian Howat

Retired

Member since 1980

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

When with Rio Algom, working on the financial analysis for the Antamina Project in Peru that led to Rio Algom acquiring an interest in the project. It has turned out to be a great mine.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

One piece of advice is take full advantage of your educational experience. Your profs or teachers want you to learn as much as possible don't pass up on that opportunity. When working, take advantage of any opportunities to broaden your knowledge and experience. Ask lots of questions and listen to the answers.

Walt Humphries

Walt Humphries

WJ Humphries Mineral Exploration

Member since 1977

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

Back in my high school days, when considering a career, I made a list of what I liked, including the earth sciences, working in the great outdoors, and doing something mentally and physically challenging. I wanted something that allowed freedom to pursue my many other interests.

I decided to go to the Haileybury School of Mines. While there, I went to my first PDAC in 1968. In the summers I worked in the bush. When I graduated, I won the PDAC Award for the highest marks in geology and mineralogy.

I worked for several companies, learned a lot about mineral exploration, and I 1974, opened my own contract and consulting business, based in Yellowknife and working primarily in the NWT and Nunavut. I had the time, as an independent prospector, to stake and develop my own properties and option them to companies. I could balance working in the field, plus painting, writing and reading.

Over the years, I received the MAX Distinguished Service Award from the Government of the Northwest Territories and NWT and Nunavut Chamber of mines, as well as an honorary membership from the NWT and NU Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists. I’m a well-known NWT artist and write a weekly newspaper column, Tales from the Dump for Northern News Services. I teach prospecting courses across the north and online and keep working towards opening a museum with the Yellowknife Historical Society.

All of this was sparked by an interest in mineral exploration and the PDAC. 

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

My advice to you is to find a job and career that you truly enjoy. One that allows you time to explore and develop your other interests as well. It is important to balance your life. Don’t limit yourself. Be curious and learn as much as you can about everything you can.

It takes 4 years at school to get a degree in geology or engineering. It also takes you a decade or more of working in the field to learn how to prospect or become good at mineral exploration. Unfortunately, schools or universities don’t teach many of the things you need to know in the practical sense. I believe prospecting and mineral exploration should be taught in schools and become practical sciences on their own. They are also art forms.

Try to view every job as a learning experience. Pass on to others what you have learned and listen to what others have learned. You never know when a random bit of knowledge will come in handy. Keep an open mind. Learn about the history of mining and geology, the environment and ecology of the areas where you work. They all play a part in finding things.

Also, I believe one should give back as much as one takes. This applies to society, civilization, and the environment. Development and ecology should go hand in hand. We live on an amazing planet; it’s up to us to protect and preserve it. Most of all, enjoy what you do.

Doug Hunter (middle) with friends

Doug Hunter

Earthunt Resources Inc.

Member since 1977

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Working in the Duluth Complex of Minnesota with great people at UMD and NRRI and being involved in exploratory drilling and definition of a giant polymetallic mineral deposit.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Get out in the field with prospectors and geologists as early as high school. If you like the work then there are excellent colleges such as Sir Sanford Fleming in Lindsay for studies. No need to go the university route these days.

Gregory Isenor

Sylla Gold

Member since 1977

Brian King, Northern Swat, Pakistan, 1959

Brian King

Consulting Geologist

Member since 1997

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I was introduced to geology at school by an enthusiastic geography teacher. Whilst reading for my first degree, I worked as a summer vacation student in Falconbridge’s Falconbridge mine, Ontario Canada. The job made me decide I wanted to be an exploration geologist not a mine geologist. After completing a mapping project in the Swat Himalayas for my second degree, I joined Anglo American’s exploration team in Zambia and stayed with them until retiring in 1998.Whilst I was with the team it was responsible for the geological side of bringing to production Middleplaats Manganese and Namakwa Sands mines in South Africa, Sadiola Gold mine in Mali and Navachab Gold mine in Namibia. The team was also responsible for all the earlier geological work on Munali Nickel Zambia, Skorpion Zinc in Namibia and Uitkomst (Nkomati) Nickel in South Africa. Until the present I have been consulted on geological aspects of numerous gold and base-metal projects around the world and more theoretical work including thumb-nail descriptions of rocks for the British Geological Surveys rock nomenclature.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

In spite of remote sensing, augmented and virtual reality, it is still important for geologists to see as many rocks in the field as possible with visits to mines and mineral occurrences. Geologists are often the first outside people to visit some places and may have audience with high ranking government personnel such as presidents and ministers, meaning they often act as envoys for their country and company, laying the groundwork for good relations between them.

Ross D. Lawrence

Watts, Griffis and McOuat

Member since 1957

Jacques Letendre

Jacques Letendre

Renouveau Exploration Inc.

Member since 1995

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Hard to list just one but finding the Dachine diamondiferous komatiite in French Guiana definitely qualifies, Dachine possibly being the largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world, and one of the oldest. Thinking outside of the box was key to the discovery.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Be certain of what aspect of the industry appeals to you: exploration, resource development, etc.! Then, commit yourself to your vision and gather all the information you can on your project area before you start. Before all, do not be afraid to think outside the box, knowing that you will have to justify your reasoning in the end.

Wayne Lockhart, Greenland, 2005

Wayne Lockhart

Lockhart Exploration Services

Member since 1963

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

NB government was phasing out coal mining in Minto, NB in the late 1960s. World oil prices were $2.00/barrel. One ton of Minto coal, with heat content of four barrels of oil, was worth $8.00, equaled less than production costs. Federal government subsidizing was stopping. Eventually, OPEC countries increased oil prices to $8 per barrel. Minto coal then worth $32/ton.

I was asked, December 1974, to meet representatives of NB and Federal governments and NB Power. A coal-fired 100 MW electrical generating plant would be built if I could discover coal to supply its 30-year plant life. Exploration to commence in one month. Budget, a lowly $100,000. I accepted the challenge.

Historical document research enabled me to select exploration areas. My calculations of maximum depth to which a Minto coal deposit could be mined led me to choose the world’s largest dragline, the Marion Power Shovel, then operating in Alberta Oils Sands. Its 100-metre boom could excavate 34 metres deep. My exploration drilling was limited to 50 metres depth.

By late April my drilling proved the required 10 million tons Minto coal deposit. Total exploration cost was under the $100,000 budget. The cost of coal was one cent per ton. This discovery created 260 direct, full time, lifetime (30+ years) mining jobs. A minimum of 3 indirect jobs were created for each direct mining job.

I judge my success, and contribution to society, by the number of lifetime jobs I have created by my discoveries of mineral deposits.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Being kidnapped while working for two years in the Philippines.

It is relatively normal to be approached by strongmen of villages and by politicians of all countries, including Canada, for blackmail payments. I have never made direct payments for these requests. Normally I hire many local persons to work in exploration. I construct roads, short bridges, even short airstrips, with local labour using hand tools. I have donated pumps and piping bringing water to villages. Women and children no longer had to carry water daily for 3 or 4 kilometres. I have donated to local schools. I have not paid bribes.

In Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) I arranged with village elders to use their water supply for diamond panning. I moved a portion of my crew to that village. When returning with more camp and crew, my foreman told me we must find another campsite, or pay 1/2 day's pay/crewmember per week, or our legs would be broken. Our crew moved.  

In Illocus Norte province, northern Philippines, my normal help to the village was not sufficient for a local headman. I refused to pay him direct money payments. While stream-sediment surveying, my crew and I were surrounded by men with rifles and captured. My crew were released. I was kept for 4 days while I discussed and negotiated my release, without payment. Thereafter, exploration continued without further serious incident.

Albert Matter at NuLegacy Gold property, Nevada

Albert Matter

NuLegacy Gold Corporation

Member since 1993

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

As a starry-eyed teenager, I found geology and astronomy fascinating, and the fact that ‘all roads led from mines to Rome’ intrigued me. Since I wasn’t a good enough student to excel in the hard sciences, I used what I’d learnt about ‘getting things done’ from working in construction to enter the finance industry, and have spent my life progressing from participating in exploration financings as a rookie broker, to becoming founder and initial CEO of several junior exploration companies, including Alamos Gold, Gryphon Gold and NuLegacy Gold Corporation.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Creation of Alamos Gold Corporation. Why? I took this from inception to completion. In 2000, I had retired from the brokerage industry, intuited that gold was bottoming, sought out capable hard scientists (geologist James McDonald, now CEO of Kootenay Silver, Genco Resources), then found and initiated/completed negotiations with Placer-Dome for the acquisition of their 3.0 million ounce of PP&P Mulatos deposit in Mexico on behalf of our ‘shell company’ National Gold; financed the acquisition (with the help of James Anderson, now CEO of Guanajuato Silver) and initiated further exploration, and then enrolled Chester Millar, founder of Glamis Gold, Eldorado Gold, truly a grand old man of the mining industry, as our partner to give our fledging junior exploration company (led by an amateur – me) some credibility and muscle. Chester joining us led to immediate creditability, and his protégé, John McClusky, took over day to day management and very capably advanced the Mulatos to production and we were all rewarded, and I retired ‘once’ again, before cofounding NuLegacy Gold Corporation with my partner Dr. Roger Steininger, one of the respected deans of the Carlin-style gold industry in Nevada.

Richard Moore, Greenwater Lake, 1969

Richard Moore

Retired

Member since 1978

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Working on the Texasgulf Canada, exploration team in the Northwest Territories. The results of this project led directly to the discovery of the Izok Lake Zinc-copper deposit.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Get all of the field experience that you can, and participate in field trips organized by industry organizations such as the Mineral Deposits Division of the GAC, and the Society of Economic Geologists.

Donald Mustard (3rd from right), Vancouver, 1979

Donald Mustard

Retired

Member since 1996

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

Because of my service in World War II, I didn't graduate from University of Aberdeen until I was nearly 28. Aberdeen was a pure science school and I had little practical experience. My first job was with Anglo-American Corporation, which picked up our whole graduating year, nine geologists. When I arrived in South Africa, the manager, Dr. B. Brock, told me, “Mustard, you’re not going in the field. You’re going down into the mines.” As it turned out, I was assigned as mine geologist to five, very large, producing underground gold mines, some as deep as 10,000 feet. Now that wasn’t a measure of how good management thought I was. They regarded geologists as unimportant in a producing mine. After all, everyone knew the geology of the Witwatersrand gold reef conglomerate: quartzite hanging wall, shale footwall. Everyone except me. I started looking at drill core to get an idea of the geology and kept finding quartzite in drill holes underneath the main reef. My findings turned out to be footwall channels - old river channels - in the Witwatersrand. My discovery gave another five years of productive life to the mine. The discovery gave me a chance to choose my next assignment. I chose exploration geology, and thus began a nearly 70 year long career in geological exploration, mostly in Canada. By the way, when I returned to Johannesburg five years later, every Anglo mine had not one but two assigned geologists.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Over the years I did a lot of traveling to the wildest parts of the world, mostly in Africa and North America. I had to be very fit - a geologist does a lot of walking. It’s hard work but incredibly rewarding to actually find a mine and create wealth for society. My advice to people starting out is “Get involved”. Join the PDAC, mining associations, and professional societies. Take part, not as an observer but actively. I had the great fortune to be involved in many aspects of industry and the related sciences in roles such as President - BC & Yukon Chamber of Mines, President - Interior Resources Users Association, President - Canadian Geoscience Council, and member of the grants committee for NSERC (National Science and Engineering Research Council). One example: I was privileged to serve as a member of CANDEL, a steering committee which launched one of the most important geoscience megaprojects in history - LITHOPROBE - a deep look into the earth to understand plate tectonics and its role in formation of the world’s greatest mineral deposits. Involvement beyond my basic employment as a geologist provided me opportunities to learn from some of the best and brightest minds in geoscience; to help shape geoscience policy; to build friendships and networks which have enabled exploration and discoveries that otherwise would not have been possible; and to give back to an industry that continues to be a cornerstone of Canadian innovation and wealth creation.

Jack Parker

Jack Parker

Retired

Member since 1985

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I started working in the mineral industry when I was 23, shortly after I graduated in 1980. The Northern Miner had an unprecedented 14 pages of job ads in one of their papers that year. I applied for two of those jobs and I had interviews and subsequent job offers from both.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Very early in my career, in the mid-80’s, I was working for the Ontario government in the Resident Geologist office in Kenora. I was responsible for delivering a 3-year project to encourage and promote mineral exploration in the Dryden-Ignace region. It involved everything from geological mapping and documenting mineral properties, giving technical presentations, teaching prospecting courses and providing assistance to prospectors and exploration companies. It was one of the most fulfilling projects I've worked on because I learned so much about my profession, myself, geology and the mineral exploration business. I was also very fortunate to have met and learned from numerous mineral exploration professionals and prospectors. That project helped me build the foundation for my future career.

John Plourde, Vancouver, 2021

John Plourde

Pacific Booker Minerals Inc.

Member since 1997

Richard Potter (left) with J. Worth and J. Hamilton, 1979

Richard Potter

Retired

Member since 1975

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

The most memorable experience was my involvement with the discovery of three and the eventual development of two potash-salt deposits in southern New Brunswick. It was gratifying to see the capital invested and the jobs created in this part of the province.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Make a special effort to obtain any job directly or indirectly related to the mineral industry. Any entry level job in any location will give you invaluable experience and help you be more selective in the future.

David Rogers, Grippen Lake, Ontario, 1955

David Rogers

Retired

Member since 1957

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Examining the discovery hole of the Gay’s River Pb-Zn deposit in Nova Scotia by Esso Minerals in 1973. I had formed the Millmor-Rogers syndicate which in turn sold the project to Esso Minerals. Cuvier Mines Ltd. was the junior stock vehicle. The share price went from $0.05 to $5.45. 1966 – 1971 - While employed with Texas Gulf Sulphur I hired and worked with Bradley Bros. Drilling and Heath & Sherwood drilling developing and perfecting the dual walled Reverse Circulation Drill Rods utilizing both water pressure and compressed air and Tricone Bits. The purpose was to drill through the thick glacial clays, gravel beds (boulders) and glacial till sheets to bedrock. We were able to sample and analyse heavy mineral concentrates, record the gold and base metal minerals where present in the basal till samples overlying the bedrock, as well as identifying the underlying bedrock. The technique of “Boulder Tracing” was in its early years in the 1950’s and ‘60’s. I mapped a classic boulder train south of the Kidd Creek massive sulphide base metal mine in Timmins. This was never published.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Get out in the field and learn how to map and recognize rocks, geology and mineralization in the field. Over your lifetime you will get ideas on possible exploration projects which will be turned down. Write them down, keep a file and keep them in the back of your mind……It may take one or 40 years for the right timing for the project to get recognized, financed and able to test them.

Don H. Rousell

Laurentian University

Member since 1996

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

Working for the summer (1951), as a student, in the Britannia Mine, BC.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Organizing the publication of "A Field Guide to the Geology of Sudbury, Ontario". Ontario Geological Survey Open Field Report 6243. 199p.

William Rowell, San Juan province, Argentina, 2005

William Rowell

Vermillion Gold Inc.

Member since 1980

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

In 1977 I graduated with a social science degree from the University of Western Ontario. After figuring out that there were no real jobs for social scientists, I took a cue from Gordon Lightfoot and was Alberta bound. I ended up in Calgary working for a temporary manpower agency doing whatever manual labor needed to be done in the bitter late autumn cold. Most jobs involved unloading trucks and box cars, but occasionally I was assigned to deliver packages for a company called Riley’s Reprints. Frequently the packages were map tubes destined for an oil exploration company located in one of Calgary’s relatively new office towers. During each delivery I took advantage of the opportunity to get warm and chat with sympathetic secretaries. In the background there were always guys not much older than me casually slumped in office chairs and sipping coffee while discussing weekend vacation plans. It took only a few deliveries before I decided that geology was the career for me. I enrolled in Western’s geology program and six years later finished with a master’s degree. Somewhere along the way I developed an affinity for Precambrian rocks and mineral deposits. I’ve spent most of my career crashing the bush and living in tent camps and cheap motels - not the cushy office job that I had initially envisioned. Although my decision to become a geologist was somewhat serendipitous, I can’t imagine having taken any other career path.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

In 1995 I was unexpectedly recruited to join a gold exploration program in Argentina. Two days after landing I was part of a team of geologists and baqueanos that was about to mount up and ride into the Cordillera Frontal. That morning might have been a fond recollection if I had any previous experience on the back of a horse. I tried to nonchalantly get into the saddle but, rather than the typical U-shaped metal stirrups that I expected, these were more like the front end of a wooden shoe carved for a small foot. I tried to put my boot into the opening several times but only succeeded in kicking the stirrup into a swinging motion that made the task increasingly difficult. The horse became agitated, and it was only with an aggressive push from a baqueano that I managed to unceremoniously get up and into the sheepskin-covered saddle. Realizing that there was a novice fool on his back, the horse refused to move until one of the baqueanos slapped a leather lead onto his backside. The horse jolted forward and then made great sport out of trying to scrape me off on every passing boulder and bush. I spent a lot of time riding over the next three years. I can’t say that I learned to ride well, but take some satisfaction in mentioning that, despite their best efforts, none of the mischievous horses and mules that I rode managed to get me out of the saddle.

Robert Schafer, Peru

Robert Schafer

Eagle Mines Management

Member since 1997

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Leading and coordinating the effort by the Hunter Dickinson Group and Canadian mining to acquire and develop the Aynak Cu deposit in Afghanistan. I learned to coordinate international entities (governments and NGOs), deal with and act as an informal ambassador with multiple governments and their agencies, work and communicate with local people that were as uncertain of the future as I was, and finally to get a sense for the tremendous impact a world-class mine could have in nation-building and developing an economy.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

There are several: 1.) Early career - attacked by a bear in my tent while in my sleeping bag while working in Alaska. Killed it without getting out of the bag, but definitely needed a new sleeping bag when it was over. 2.) Mid-career - making my first gold discovery that turned into a mine in Nevada; 3.) Later career - taking on leadership roles with PDAC, CIM and SME; 4.) Enjoying the experience of the many cultures and natural wonders while working in nearly 80 countries.

William Scott, Baie Verte Newfoundland, 2008

William Scott

Retired

Member since 1976

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I spent my early summers at a family cottage in northern Ontario, and developed a love of the bush. From high school, I entered Engineering Physics at UofT, aiming at the geophysics option, which seemed to be the only one not leading to a laboratory job. My first summer job was with Huntec, working for Norman Paterson. That job sold me on the attraction of the geophysical life. I worked for Norm for the next two summers, and have never looked back. In 4th year, I developed an interest in the nature of the IP effect, and went on to do an MA at UofT with Gordon West on non-linear IP, and a PhD at McGill on phase angle IP with Murray Telford. Subsequently I worked at the GSC using geophysics to map geology and permafrost, first in Atlantic Canada, and then in the Western Arctic. Then I joined Hardy Associates in Calgary to form a group offering engineering and subsequently mineral exploration geophysics. Following that, I moved to C-CORE at Memorial University in Newfoundland, working on mapping shallow marine mineral deposits. Finally I partnered with my geologist wife in operating GeoScott Exploration Consultants, operating throughout Atlantic Canada. I never really had a life plan, but followed interesting opportunities as they arose. I have had a wonderful life in the industry, and, were I to do it all again, I would change nothing. My wife and I retired to Barrie, where now I build and restore wooden boats.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

When I worked at the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), I was involved with the Projeto Geofísico Brasil Canadá. This project was established by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) with the Department of Mines and Energy of Brazil. It involved an appraisal of mineral resources in part of central Brazil, through airborne and ground geophysical surveys. The work was carried out by Canadian geophysical contractors under supervision of the GSC. The project was designed also to provide technical training to Brazilian personnel. One of the more interesting aspects was that Brazilian geophysicists were given the chance to gain experience by working with Canadian crews working in the Canadian north. During the life of the Projeto, I had Brazilian geophysicists working with me on geophysical surveys in the Western Arctic. Subsequently, I went to Brazil to work with them on their ground geophysical programs. On my first visit, in the winter of 1978(?), I left Tuktoyaktuk, where the temperature was -35C, and flew to Ottawa via Edmonton. A day later, I left Ottawa, arrived in Rio de Janeiro and went on to Goiania, where the temperature was +45C. On the third day I was in the field with the Brazilian crew. Driving back to the field camp, we stopped at a store in a small village. In anticipation of our arrival, beer had been placed in a freezer. Nothing in my life has ever tasted as good as that ice-cold beer at the end of that first field day.

Plaque recognizing Ron Sheardown

Ron Sheardown

Greatland Exploration, Ltd.

Member since 1958

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I was always interested in aviation, which was still a new and exciting field when I was growing up. I got my pilot’s license in 1953 at the age of sixteen. The next year, I got a job flying for a company called L&L Dredging, from Barkerville, BC. By 1958, I was piloting for Murray Mining Corp, where I became an exploration manager, and eventually a board member.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Discovering the site of the future Mary River Mine on Baffin Island. Working with my long time business partner Murray Watts in the summer of 1962, we claimed title to the world’s second richest known deposit of iron.

Michael Short, Inata Mine, Burkina Faso, 2009

Michael Short

GBM Minerals Ltd

Member since 1997

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I was working with an engineering firm whose area was "design and construction of industrial facilities" and they assigned me to work on an expansion project at a Zn-Pb-Cu mineral processing plant on the West Coast of Tasmania.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

For engineers like me, get "involved" at the work face, take on the hard jobs out at the mine sites, work hard and smart, think for yourself about solutions to problems, change employer every 3 years to experience the change and locations away from home country. After Bachelor's degree, undertake a technical Master's degree (or two) and not an MBA until much later. Private studies - technical magazines, books, conferences (especially PDAC!), learn useful foreign languages (French, Spanish, Russian); make the brain work. Make many friends - in this industry you will be dealing with the same people you meet now in 40 years' time. I am.

Douglas Silver

Douglas Silver

Retired

Member since 1983

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

I have four. IPO of Bond International Gold (US$ 300 million - large mining IPO on the NYSE in 1988), founding the Denver Gold Group in 1989 (world's most important precious metals investor conference), and building International Royalty Corporation (largest mining IPO in Canada in 2005 and grew it into the fourth largest mineral royalty company). But my most fulfilling project was raising my son and daughter.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

We are a fraternity of kindred souls who love the outdoors, enjoy travelling to remote places, and trying to beat Mother Nature through technology and our wits. No other industry will expose you to so many places on the planet and to so many different cultures. It is an industry where you can go as far as you want just by working hard and networking. We are the last of the pioneers.

David Smith, Drybones Bay, Great Slave Lake, 2004

David Smith

Prospector

Member since 1970

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I started working for a junior mining company on Great Bear Lake in the late 1960s.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

I discovered the Drybones Bay kimberlite near Yellowknife in 1993.

J. Paul Stevenson

Sego Resources Inc.

Member since 1982

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

When I was 15 my uncle, Tony Barker, got me a job with Amax. I worked in Smithers, BC for 3 seasons then moved to exploration syndicates managed by Bacon and Crowhurst Engineers. The superintendent was JC (Cam) Stephen who was my boss and mentor for years as I moved from field assistant to party chief. With Cam, I was able to experience grass roots prospecting to diamond drill projects. I moved to junior companies in 1980 and have been there happily ever since.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Mineral Exploration is an awful job with its ups and downs. It is however the most fulfilling life I have seen. You will meet workmates and associates who become lifelong friends and some of the most fascinating characters ever. There is always the dream of hitting it big and surprisingly many do. I am now in my 70s and I love the exploration industry now as much as I did in Smithers in 1965. If you want a career that is exciting welcoming and challenging often on the same day join us for the best ride life can offer.

David Stone, Kluane National Park, 1978

David Stone

MineFill Services

Member since 1995

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Porgera Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea was a life changing experience for me. Very young at that time but was given opportunities and responsibilities that were not typically available to a young engineer. Plus the opportunity to travel extensively.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Take the opportunity to travel - mining is a global business.

Ed Stringer

Ed Stringer

Retired

Member since 1983

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

A good friend of mine was a geologist and encouraged me to take up prospecting with him.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

The most fulfilling project I worked on was when our company, Garson Gold Corp., acquired the New Britannia Mine in Snow Lake, Manitoba and advanced it towards production for a third time in its history. Although we got bought out before we could accomplish this, it is now in Hudbay’s hands and will see the mill restart soon. I am sure the mine will also get a third life.

Scott Swinden, north-central Namibia, 2012

Scott Swinden

Retired

Member since 1970

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

My Professor at Dalhousie University always said that undergraduate students should try to get varied summer experience in mineral exploration, petroleum, and government surveys so as to be able to make informed career decisions upon graduation. After my second year, I had a summer job with Conwest Exploration prospecting in the Coppermine River area. I loved the work and the adventure. When I graduated, I worked for Conwest again for three years before going back to graduate school. It was an amazing introduction to the junior exploration sector and a great education in Canadian mining lore, as many of my colleagues at Conwest were long-time prospectors.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Get as much varied experience as you can. In particular, get lots of field experience in different geological environments, using different exploration techniques and technologies. Ore deposits occur in all geological environments and you never know what skills and experience you might need for the next job. University programs are only the start of the learning you need to be a proficient exploration geologist.

Life advice from Bob Hodder

Bob Termuende

Retired

Member since 1970

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

In 1954, as a second year Geology student at UBC, I was employed on James Roddick's field party mapping from Harrison Lake to Mount Garibaldi in B.C. The senior assistant was Bob Hodder, a geology student from Ottawa. We became life long friends and associates. His exploration advice to me is on the attached photo of Bob.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there! - Bob Hodder

John Thompson (right) with Wallace Mays, NE Mongolia, 1998

John Thompson

Retired

Member since 1980

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

I was heavily involved in developing and bringing the Jolu Gold Mine in Saskatchewan into production in the mid 1980s. I monitored the later stage exploration drilling, supervised development drilling and underground test stope and completed the resource evaluation. This small but high grade gold mine was a great success story.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

I was very fortunate to be involved in widespread international work with extensive travel in North, Central and South America as well as Asia looking for precious and base metals and Uranium. I particularly enjoyed the exotic experiences of China in the 1980s. However one certainly appreciates Canada when you come home from one of these overseas trips.

Ian S Thompson

Ian S Thompson

Retired

Member since 1965

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

As a very active child I was sent to boys’ camps each summer in the Haliburton area, eventually instructing in canoeing, swimming and out-tripping. I grew up in a small town where several geologists known to my family were living. Dr. J.B. Tyrrell, the famous geologist who mapped the Barrens, was its most famous son. I received his scholarship to enter U of T's Honours Geological Sciences course in 1954.That summer I worked for Conwest Exploration in the Manitouwadge [GECO] exploration camp and this determined that I would select geology over forestry as my chosen outdoor career. Subsequent summer jobs entailed stream sediment sampling in New Brunswick and mapping at Temagami Mines. In 1962 I was hired as a field geologist by Dr.D.R. Derry, who had just started his consultancy, after retiring as V.P. Exploration for Rio Algom and earlier as chief geologist for Ventures Ltd. [later Falconbridge] My early work was in the Shield in Ontario and Quebec, but also regional geochemical programs in Eire, Ecuador and in Belize. Derry's major client was Thayer Lindsley [founder of Ventures], thus I was fortunate to examine other gold and base metal deposits beyond Canada.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

The discovery of the Tynagh lead-zinc [copper] mine in Ireland by Northgate in late 1961, attracted lots of Canadian exploration companies. Three additional discoveries were made within two years; Silvermines, Gortdrum, and Keel.

The Lower Carboniferous limestone hosts these deposits; basal sandy and shaly, changing upwards to normal bedded limestones and to upper massive reef limestones. Inliers of Devonian sandstone project through the limestones, which are often faulted against them by Permian movements, which have localized the ore. Glacial drift blankets Ireland, resulting in sparse outcrop.

Our Syndicate selected 24 areas over postulated faults separating Carboniferous limestone from Devonian sandstone. Stream sediment samples were collected at 1000 - foot intervals where streams crossed fault lines and analysed for cold- extractible zinc. Anomalies were checked by stream and soil sampling and by ground geological inspection. Prospecting Licences were granted for 6 areas.

In the 24th area examined, one sample, 3000 feet downstream from an old limestone quarry, led to the discovery of a 2000 x 700- foot zinc soil anomaly just north of Tipperary in Gortdrum Townland.

An Induced Polarization Survey outlined a chargeability anomaly over the soil anomaly. Discovery Hole G-6 cut 234 feet assaying 1.63% Cu, 1.21 oz. Ag/ton. The limestones are intruded by clay- altered feldspar porphyry dikes bearing the mineralization.

By 1968, a total of 121 holes delineated 4,191,000 tons grading 1.19% Cu, 0.75 oz Ag /ton. Mercury, later found in smelter concentrates, was estimated to grade 1.5% -2% Hg in the deposit. Gortdrum Mines produced ore from its open pit for 8 years. 

I.S.Thompson; CIMM Vol.70, 1967 pp 85-92

Ed Thompson presenting WAMIC with Special Achievement Award, 2017

Edward G. Thompson

E. G. Thompson Mining Consultants Inc.

Member since 1957

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

My first convention was in 1957 and I think that I have attended all since that time. I started volunteering around 1966 and became a director in 1970, VP in 1975 and President in 1977. I started the Awards in 1978 and directed the Awards committee for 40 years until 2017, I believe. I have attended most directors meetings since 1970.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

For the first 10 years of my career, I worked with Dr. Keevil with an assortment of junior companies that eventually were rolled up into Teck Corporation, then 15 years with the Lacana Mining corp as VP and President, followed by five years with Anglo American as president of Mingold and then 25 years directing and running some 20 junior companies.

Stuart Averill (right), founder of Overburden Drilling Management Limited with CIM Ottawa Branch Chair Harvey Thorleifson, 2002

Harvey Thorleifson

Minnesota Geological Survey

Member since 1993

George Tikkanen in 1953 (left) and 1979 (right)

George Tikkanen

Retired

Member since 1964

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I started my first job as a part of a geophysical crew out of high school and went on to graduate as a Geological Engineer.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

I worked on getting the early drilling done and acquiring the Red Dog zinc and lead deposit. It was satisfying because I knew it would provide jobs and zinc and lead for the Trail plant for years to come. In total I was either instrumental or a team leader in discovering at least 10 deposits for Cominco including the Polaris deposit in the Canadian Arctic and Quebrada Blanca in Chile. Most were team discoveries. I think the time for discoveries by individuals is gone.

Nick Tintor (left) with Moses

Nick Tintor

Big Ridge Gold Corp.

Member since 1990

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

During my second year at the University of Toronto in 1977, one of my teammates on the Varsity Rowing team, Bobby Boraks, told me he got a summer job working in the Arctic in uranium exploration. I loved the outdoors and asked him excitedly how did he get that job? He replied, “I’m a geology student and that's what we do every summer”. I then merrily went down Bay Street to Western Mines at the time and told them just that and got hired days later. After an amazing summer in the barren lands west of Baker Lake, Nunavut, on the way home I had to confess to my party chief that I was in fact not a geology student, but that I loved it so much I was going to switch my studies. A South African, he replied, “No worries, Nick. I only hired you because you look big and strong and I needed someone to roll fuel barrels.” When the first day of school started that September, I marched down to the Mining Building on College Street and walked in to see Dr. Gittins, Chair of the Geology Department, and told him I wanted to change my course specialty to geology. Desperate for any undergrad to enter the geology program, he warmly encouraged me, and I switched my course load. And the rest is history.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

In the late 1990s, during a period of very low gold prices, our company drilled out, permitted and engineered a small open pit, heap leach gold mine called Lluvia de Oro, just outside of Magdalena de Kino in Sonora, Mexico. Magdalena de Kino was a poor, rural farming community with hard working families doing their best to provide for their children. When we started hiring people to work at the mine, I could see in their faces, the pride they took in their jobs and how the salaries changed their daily lives. Every man and woman wants to provide for their family so that their children can grow to have a better education and future. Our small gold mine did just that and helped families who in turn could better provide for their children. That's when I saw first hand, the good that mining and mineral investment can do when conducted responsibly and with compassion for local communities and all stakeholders.

John Versfelt

John Versfelt

Cabo Drilling Corp. and Millennium Silver Corp.

Member since 1997

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Personally, it was turning a junior exploration company into a drilling company, by acquiring three private drilling companies, with around 75 drills, which we expanded into Latin America, Europe and the USA. By doing so, we became an operating company with cash flow, who serviced exploration, development and producing mining companies. Corporately for Millennium, it was the Silver Peak property, where our initial drilling program resulted in an inferred resource of over 8 million silver ounces and 50,000 ounces of gold.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Completing the Cabo $7.5 million financing to acquire three drilling companies and officially become a drilling company on July 1, 2004, after two and a half years of struggles and almost going bankrupt.

David Watkins and Laurie Sterritt, 2015, Vancouver

David Watkins

Retired

Member since 1966

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Chairing the Aboriginal mine Training Association in British Columbia. Our organization succeeded in bringing over 2000 First Nations people into the work force, leading them to greatly improved opportunities and lives.

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

The first discovery drill hole for which I and my team were responsible. A massive sulphide intersection with high grade copper over 40 meters. Champagne corks flew!

Stephen Wilkinson with mill supervisor, Beardmore ON, 1987

Stephen Wilkinson

Gold'n Futures Mineral Corp.

Member since 1977

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

After a short stint in the armed forces in 1972, I took a job with Bethlehem Copper Corp. The position was in the head office but it afforded me many opportunities to meet many influential mining people such as Herman H. “Spud” Huestis, Mike Muzylowski, Hank Ewanchuk, Brian Reynolds and many others. This led me to decide on a career in mining - starting with applying to university. At the University of Western Ontario, I met more great people both professors and other students that cemented my interests in mining, mineral exploration and the "art" of geology.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

In August 1985, I headed a multi-disciplinary team that was sent to the Hindustan copper mine in Khetri Nagar, a town in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan in India. Our team worked on integrating the mining operation with a Canadian built ore sorter. At same time, other international teams were at work refurbishing the historical operation. There were teams from Sweden, the Soviet Union and Australia, and we all interfaced well. In fact we all came away after making lifelong friendships - regardless of country and political affinities. The opportunity also was there for me to tour and visit several historical sites around northern India.

Alan Willy

Allan Willy

Geological Consultant

Member since 1978

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I don’t know exactly how I, a kid raised in Swift Current in the heart of SW Saskatchewan farming and ranching country, wound up in geology at the University of Saskatchewan. I do remember that in Grade One there was a corner display unit outside our classroom with all sorts of rocks and minerals to interest a 6 year old; in a kid’s imagination galena was silver, pyrite was gold and quartz crystals were diamonds. About the same time I got a Golden Nature Guide stamp book on rocks and minerals from my parents and a bit later an introduction to rock hounding was given to me by my uncle’s brother from B.C. There was not much to collect in my region except for a few fossils, barite and gypsum crystals, beach cobbles and flint arrowheads. I started U of S 1965-66 thinking I would be a chemist with no thought of becoming a geologist. As it turned out my marks were not so good in chemistry! As I had found first year of University a big change from high school, I decided to take a year off to work and returned in 1967 with the thought that I would try every science until I found one I liked. I guess you could say that Dr. Mel Stauffer lured me in to studying geology with his excellent teaching of the Geology 101 course and later having obtained a good paying junior assistant summer job with the Geological Survey of Canada sealed the deal! In 1969, a summer job with the Saskatchewan Geological Survey set me off on my life time career as a mineral exploration geologist.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

I would say the most fulfilling project I every worked on was the Kitts-Michelin Uranium Project of Brinex Limited in the Central Mineral Belt of Labrador. I was hired to be the Project Geologist by Dr. Gerald Harper, Senior Geologist for Brinex in 1978. Up to this point in my career I had found it difficult to really test my abilities as a uranium geologist and Brinex gave me the opportunity to hire personnel, plan, budget for and execute this project. The most exciting part of this was the discovery of a line of highly mineralized uraniferous boulders following the ice direction on Melody Hill. The grades were stupendous but, alas, a couple years of intensive surface and diamond drilling exploration could not locate the source of the boulders. Time ran out for uranium by 1982 and that part of my career ended but I felt like I really had been give the opportunity to test my knowledge.

WD Bruce Winfield

WD Bruce Winfield

Orestone Mining Corp

Member since 1978

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

By chance as I took a makeup course in geology and preferred it over chemistry. When I found out that I would get paid to go camping all over the world I was hooked.

What was the most fulfilling project you ever worked on, and why?

Not a specific project but having participated in the development of 5 mines, I love the satisfaction of creating wealth from the development of natural resources. I also love the dichotomy of field work vs working in the corporate office.

Al Workman and Waluyo in Indonesia, 1997

Albert Workman

Watts, Griffis and McOuat Limited

Member since 1992

What has been the most memorable experience of your career?

Good Friday, 1984: Working alone for Camflo Mines (later to be merged with Barrick) on the Holt-McDermott exploration drilling project, I drove to the Camflo Mine at Malartic to pick up assay results from the mine's lab. The manager had arranged to meet me at the door with a sealed envelop for a deep hail-Mary drill hole that followed a string of poor results. He commented on "a few good value in there". I drove about a kilometre before curiosity got the better of me and I pulled over and opened the envelope. There were 3 good values, one of which exceeded 2 oz/ton in a 2-metre section that averaged around 0.7 opt. I knew there and then that management would not kill the project. Going home that weekend, my wife and I bought our first house.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

Anyone entering exploration needs to understand that the work won't always be interesting, and you won't always be physically comfortable. You need to be flexible in the way you think and face challenges, and you will be challenged. Learn and develop a passion for detail. Broad brush approaches don't find mines. Don't be afraid to challenge conventional wisdom. Conventional thinking has probably missed more mines than it has found. A bit of mental toughness is needed, but the reward is the ability to work in the great outdoors without someone looking over your shoulder. I believe the freedom you will experience is unparalleled in any other profession.