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.
Some donations to charitable organizations are considered as good as gold. However, in this case, the donation was pure gold that will fund research and facilities to battle cancer. At its recent fundraising announcement ceremony, Paul Alofs, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation (PMCF) in Toronto, boldly and proudly proclaimed. “This is a golden day.”
“We are announcing a key milestone in our five-year Billion Dollar Challenge to lead the way in personalized cancer medicine with an unprecedented investment in people, purpose-built space and technology,” said Mr. Alofs. “This will further the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre’s position as one of the top five cancer research centres in the world.”
Highlighting the recent fundraising announcement of PMCF Margaret was a unique gift made on behalf of nine of Canada’s leading gold mining companies. That collective donation included six gold bars weighing a total of 2,400 troy ounces with a total value of more than $3.28 million. The bullion was unveiled by Ian Telfer, a patient at The Princess Margaret and Chairman of Goldcorp Inc. Mr. Telfer was representing the Canadian gold mining industry at the ceremony.
This support from gold mining companies represents a major commitment to conquering cancer at The Princess Margaret. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., Barrick Gold Corporation, Goldcorp Inc., IAMGOLD, Kinross Gold Corporation, New Gold Inc., Primero Mining Corp., Silver Wheaton Corp. and Yamana Gold Inc. all contributed to the gift. These generous donations kick off the next phase of fundraising for The PMCF’s Billion Dollar Challenge, said Mr. Alofs.
“I’ve benefited personally from the extraordinary work being done by The Princess Margaret,” said Mr. Telfer, Chairman of Goldcorp Inc. “The Canadian gold mining industry is the world leader, and we are proud to support one of the world leaders in cancer research and care. The Canadian gold mining sector believes in The Princess Margaret’s commitment to conquering cancer.”
On hand from the nine donor precious metals companies for the presentation were: Haytham Hodaly, Senior Vice President Corporate Development for Silver Wheaton; Sean Boyd, President and Chief Executive Office for Agnico Eagle; Charles Jeannes, President and Chief Executive Officer for Goldcorp; Mr. Telfer, Chairman of Goldcorp; Peter Marrone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Yamana Gold; Kelvin Dushnisky, Co-President for Barrick Gold; Randall Oliphant, Executive Chairman and Director for New Gold; Steve Letwin, President and Chief Executive Officer for IAMGOLD; Wade Nesmith, Chairman for Primero; Tony Giardini, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Kinross; and, Geoffrey Gold, Executive Vice President Corporate Development for Kinross.
The commitment of this donation from mining executives is both sincere and personal. Mr. Telfer, who is quoted above, received treatment for throat cancer at Princess Margaret. Also, Agnico Eagle President Mr. Boyd volunteers as a director on the on the board of the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.
The PMCF at University Health Network is raising funds to lead the way in personalized cancer medicine at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Other components of the recent PMCF announcement included improvements in facilities, the recruitment of cancer experts and their teams and reaching an important milestone in its fundraising drive.
Mining companies are responsible solution providing partners in society. They do more than find, extract and process minerals essential to our modern lifestyle. They are economic enterprises operated by men and women who are active members of society and community builders. This donation from mining companies to the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation to combat cancer is unprecedented for its level of co-operation, commitment and inventiveness.