The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
A mining innovator and community leader who helped Sudburians breathe easier died earlier this month in Toronto.
The Coniston-born Walter Curlook, who rose to positions of prominence with Inco and oversaw the sulphur reduction program of the 1980s and early 1990s, was 85. His funeral was held Monday.
Through his long and impressive career with the nickel giant (now part of Vale), Curlook spurred advancements in metallurgical processing and environmental protection, securing a dozen patents relating to ore refining and smelting.
“I was proud of him because he was a bit of a genius and did so many nice things,” said his sister Eugenia (“Jenny”) Maizuk. “For one thing, he cleared the air around here.”
Jenny and Walter, along with two other siblings, were raised by Ukrainian immigrant parents in Coniston. Their father worked in the mines and, while still in his teens, Walter also secured part-time and seasonal work with Inco. The air hung thickly with sulphur in those days.
“I remember when we had to rush and cover the gardens with sheets to prevent them from getting burnt by the gas,” recalled Jenny. “Walter used to argue with my dad at dinnertime, saying ‘what’s wrong with Inco?'”
Her father, whose education was interrupted at 18 when he joined the wave of immigrants to Canada rather than serve in the Russian army, told his children he was counting on them to gain more expertise and make a difference.
“My dad said ‘you two boys are going to go on to university and be engineers, and correct this,’” Jenny said.
Walter and Morris (who predeceased his brother) indeed went into the science fields, while the girls enrolled in secretarial, nursing and fashion design programs.
After graduating from the University of Toronto — he would eventually earn a PhD — Curlook joined Inco as a research metallurgist in Copper Cliff.
One of his first big achievements, according to the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame, was to develop a process to “roast pelletized nickel sulphide to a granular oxide sinter of less than .5% sulphur.”
Another innovation involved refining a carbonyl process to reduce pollution.
In the early 1980s, he established a research mine in Copper Cliff and oversaw advancements in automation and laser technology.
Jim Gordon, MPP for Sudbury at the time, said he was pushing the industry minister in those days to make resources available “for entrepreneurs and businesses to take on the making of mine machinery” in Sudbury.
“Walter took up the idea,” he said. “Inco got involved and set up a subsidiary called Continuous Mining Systems.”
The company built mining equipment to improve Inco’s productivity and eventually employed 250 workers.
“Before that there were people trying to make parts, like roof bolting, but this was the real beginning of a mine machinery sector in the Sudbury region,” said Gordon.
He recalled Curlook as a man of great intelligence and vision, but also someone you could easily approach.
“He was a steady, no-nonsense kind of individual and could talk to anyone, no matter where you stood in the social order,” said Gordon.
Jenny said her brother’s humility and respect for others was sown early.
“We had a close-knit family, and growing up at that time (the 1930s) in Coniston, there were a lot of hoboes going through on trains,” she said. “All of the Ukrainians in that area would help them with food. Walter grew up in this atmosphere, and wanted to make things better for family and other people, which he did.”
His crowning achievement may well have been the $600-million sulphur abatement initiative in Sudbury. Finished in 1993, “it has been described as the largest environmental project ever completed by the mining industry,” according to the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.
Curlook advanced rapidly through Inco management ranks, becoming a director in 1989 and, a year later, being named president commissioner of PT International Nickel Indonesia.
He also contributed to the educational scene in Sudbury, serving as the first chair of the Cambrian College board and ensuring mining technology would be a significant part of the school’s offerings. The mining engineering program at Laurentian University also owes a lot to the influence of Curlook.
Curlook was named to the Order of Canada in 1996 and inducted to the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 1997.
He remained active in retirement, overseeing an Inco joint venture in the South Pacific and teaching at the University of Toronto.
“He was very generous and could never be accused of nepotism,” said his sister Jenny. “I give him a lot of credit. He was a true Inco man and he did what his father told him to do.”
Curlook is survived by his wife Jennifer, four children and five grandchildren, as well as siblings Jenny and Mary.
For the original source of this article, click here: http://www.thesudburystar.com/2014/10/10/curlook-helped-modernize-inco-in-sudbury