This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.
Two significant and long-serving contributors to Ontario Mining Association activities and initiatives have recently been presented with major awards by the Canadian Institute of Mining. Bob Onucki, Senior Global Account Director Mining for Sandvik, won the CIM Distinguished Service Medal and Charlie Graham, Managing Director of the Canadian Mining Industry Research Organization (CAMIRO), was the first winner of the Underground Mining Society Award.
Presentations of these mining industry awards were made recently at the Canadian Institute of Mining’s 114th annual conference, which was held in Edmonton. Both Mr. Onucki and Mr. Graham are based in Sudbury. They were part of a contingent of 10 people from the Sudbury area who received recognition at this awards ceremony. The CIM Distinguished Service Medal was inaugurated in 1956. It is presented for distinguished and meritorious service to the CIM and the mineral industry, of a nature not necessarily technical or scientific.
“This award culminates 40 years of my being in the mining business and more than 25 of those years as a CIM member,” said Mr. Onucki, who has always been a champion of promoting students interested in the industry. “This award reminds me of the great people and interesting moments in the business and it is absolutely fantastic to be recognized by my peers.”
Mr. Graham has the distinction of being the inaugural winner of the Underground Mining Society Award. Various societies of the CIM were reorganized last year. The Metal Mining, Coal and Industrial Minerals, Oil Sands and Innovative Mining Technology societies were recast as the Surface Mining Society and the Underground Mining Society.
Over the decades, Mr. Graham has presented numerous technical papers at CIM conferences, been an executive on the Metal Mining society, chair of the Sudbury branch of the CIM and served as an organizer of several industry events and meetings. “It has been a genuine pleasure to serve as a member of this organization and work with a group of stalwarts who sought no gain beyond improving the view of our industry by the general public and students in particular,” said Mr. Graham.
The OMA congratulates both men on this recognition and for the lending their time and expertise to the affairs of this organization as well. The CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum) is the leading technical society of professionals associated with the Canadian minerals and materials industry. It has 11,000 members from industry, government and academia who are dedicated to the discovery, production, utilization and economics of minerals, metals and petroleum.