2010 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame – Better Prospects, Recovery and Compassion for Haiti – Stan Sudol

Eric Friedland, President and CEO Peregrine Metals Ltd.; Pierre Lassonde, Chairman, Franco-Nevada Corp.; Nean Allman, CHHF Co-ordinator EmeritaLike the recent record setting price of gold and the stock market recovery, the general mood at the annual Canadian Mining Hall of Fame dinner at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel a few weeks ago in Toronto, was upbeat, bright and a  turnout. Master of ceremonies Pierre Lassonde, Chairman of Franco Nevada Corp. – the Billy Crystal of the mining sector – was practically “giddy” discussing the high price of gold and Tiger Wood’s problems. “Gold miners never had it so good, like mosquitoes at a nudist colony” quipped Lassonde. He continued, “there is not enough mustard in the U.S. to cover that hot dog,” in reference to Tiger Wood.

One of the highlights of the evening was a spontaneous outpouring of sympathy and financial donations for the earthquake victims in Haiti. Lassonde started the initiative with a $150,000 donation from the head table and challenged the audience to contribute. Lassonde and head table colleagues Goldcorp’s Ian Telfer, Teck’s Norm Keevil and Inmet’s Jochen Tilk each put in $25,000.

“We raised approximately $900,000 between soup and dessert,” stated Edward G. Thompson, Director and Treasurer of the Mining Hall of Fame who also donated $25,000. The money which will be matched by the federal government will be given to the Canadian Red Cross.Stan Bharti, President and CEO Forbes & Manhattan; Ian Telfer, Chairman Goldcorp Inc.; Edward G. Thompson, Director/Treasurer, Mining Hall of Fame

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Benny Hollinger (1885-1919), Sandy McIntyre (1869-1943) and John (Jack) Wilson (1872-1948) – 2010 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductees

Benny HollingerThe Porcupine Gold Rush of 1909 was a transformative event in Canadian history, with three gold mines discovered by separate prospecting parties a few miles from each other. The rich discoveries made by Benny Hollinger (1885-1919), Sandy McIntyre (1869-1943) and John (Jack) Wilson (1872-1948) in northern Ontario wilderness led to the development of one of Canada’s premier mining camps and the founding of Timmins, the City with a Heart of Gold.

The Hollinger, McIntyre and Dome mines built from the discoveries of these intrepid prospectors are in a league all their own, having produced 19.5 million ounces, 10.8 million ounces and 15.9 million ounces of gold, respectively. During the past 100 years, the “Big Three” and other mines in the Timmins Camp have collectively produced 67 million ounces of gold, with production continuing into a new century.

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Graham Farquharson – (Born 1940) – 2010 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

Grahman FarquharsonGraham Farquharson has earned a reputation as a senior statesman of Canada’s mining industry by demonstrating a commitment to integrity, fairness and technical excellence throughout his career with Strathcona Mineral Services Limited, a consulting firm he created with two partners in 1974.  He is one of the industry’s most prominent consultants, best known for taking on extraordinary challenges, including developing and managing Canada’s first mine north of the Arctic Circle and debunking an Indonesian property once believed to host the world’s largest gold deposit.

Born in Timmins, the son of a mining engineer whose first love was prospecting, Farquharson began his mining career in 1960 at a copper mine at Tilt Cove, Newfoundland, moving on to work in mines across Canada.  After graduating as a mining engineer from the University of Alberta in 1964, he spent four years in Africa, at Kilembe in Uganda and Tsumeb in Namibia. With an MBA from Queen’s University, he joined the consulting firm of Watts, Griffis and McOuat before founding Strathcona. 

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Victor C. Wansbrough – (1901-1994) – 2010 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

Victor C. WansbroughVictor Wansbrough served Canada’s metals mining industry with distinction for more than 20 years as the first full-time Managing Director of the Canadian Metal Mining Association (CMMA), the forerunner of the Mining Association of Canada. His appointment in early 1947 was a surprise, as he knew nothing about mining at a time when the industry faced serious challenges, notably a labor shortage and a gold mining industry in decline because of rising costs and a fixed gold price.

He worked cooperatively with governments to devise innovative solutions, which included recruiting displaced persons from post-war Europe to alleviate the labor shortage and creating subsidies to support and keep the beleaguered gold mining industry alive. The CMMA had 32 members when Wansbrough assumed full-time leadership, and had grown to represent 102 companies when he retired in 1968. During this period, Canadian mineral production rose from $502 million to $4.39 billion, including $3 billion from metal production.

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Hugo T. Dummett – (1940-2002) – 2010 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

Hugo T.  DummettHugo Dummett was one of the world’s most respected economic geologists, aptly described as “the brains, the ideas and the energy” behind the first discovery of economic diamond deposits in Canada. In the 1970s and ‘80s, he worked with Canadian geologists Charles Fipke and Stewart Blusson and South African university professor John Gurney in a quest to find diamonds in North America. Almost a decade later, he convinced BHP Minerals to sign a joint venture with Fipke and Blusson’s junior company, Dia Met Minerals, and continue the diamond hunt in the Northwest Territories. The result of their collaboration was Ekati, Canada’s first diamond mine, and the development of a hugely successful, major new industry.

Dummett’s successes were not confined to diamonds or Canada. He was a respected authority on porphyry copper deposits. During his tenure as Vice-President of Ivanhoe Mines, he contributed to the discovery of a huge porphyry copper-gold deposit that bears his name at the advanced Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia.

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Peter M. Brown – (Born 1941) – 2010 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

Peter M. BrownPeter Brown has contributed to the growth and prestige of Canada’s mining industry by helping many resource entrepreneurs and emerging companies gain access to venture capital that enabled them to acquire and explore promising mineral prospects or develop and operate new mines.  He has been a dynamic force in the Canadian capital markets since 1968, when he joined Ted Turton in purchasing control of a small Vancouver brokerage firm for $23,000. By focusing on the small to mid-sized resource and junior industrial firms, long ignored by senior investment firms, he transformed Canaccord Capital Inc. (since renamed Cannacord Financial Inc.) into the largest independent investment dealer in Canada, with successful operations in Europe and the United States.

A third generation British Columbian, Brown began his career in the early 1960s with Greenshields Inc. in Toronto and Montreal.  He returned to Vancouver in 1967 just as scandals in both the Toronto and Montreal markets greatly reduced the capital available for small and emerging companies, and in particular the risk capital desperately needed for mineral exploration and development.

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