Canadian Mining Hall of Fame – Republic of Mining

2009 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame – A Rough Year But There is Hope – by Stan Sudol

January 22, 2009January 21, 2009

There was a somewhat subdued feeling by many in the mining sector at the 21st annual Canadian Mining Hall of Fame dinner, last Thursday, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

As Master of Ceremonies, David Harquail, President and CEO of Franco-Nevada said, “…base metals are in the tank, good projects can’t get financing and Hy’s steakhouse is now serving crying towels with those martinis!”

However, the four inductees for 2009 – two entrepreneurial engineers, Grenville Thomas, Bernard Michel, a geologist, Roman Shklanka, and a mineralogist professor, Donald Gorman, – seemed to symbolize the industry’s amazing ability to create enormous wealth and employment as well as the importance of training the next generation of skilled technicians that have made this country a mining superpower.

Mr. Harquail added, “…if there’s one thing a miner knows, it’s a commodity cycle. And when times are bad, opportunity knocks. Many of those at our head table tonight got here by not only surviving many downturns but by capitalizing on them.”

That head table included individuals such as Ian Pearce, CEO Xstrata Nickel, Jim Gowans, President and CEO De Beers Canada, Terry Bowles, President and CEO Iron Ore Company of Canada, and Jack McOuat, Director of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame, just to name a few.

Jack McOuat – Director of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame – 2009 Speech About the Teck Suite of Earth Sciences Gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum

January 22, 2009January 20, 2009

Check Against Delivery

Ladies and Gentlemen, and Head Table Guests.

I’m sure I’m not the only person in the room happy to see the back end of 2008.

However in spite of that generally miserable year, there was at least one bright spot for the Canadian Mining Industry.

One month ago, the Teck Suite of Earth Science Galleries was opened at the Royal Ontario Museum. There are three galleries within the Suite; the Vale Inco Gallery of Minerals, the Gold and Gem Gallery and especially for us here tonight, the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Gallery.

These are all remarkable, and I’m sure, there is not a person in the room who would not learn something new during a visit – either about minerals, gems or people.

I recommend a visit to the ROM to everyone in the room, including your families, not only to visit the Teck Galleries but also to visit the other wonderful new Galleries now open.

2008 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame – Twenty years and going strong – Stan Sudol

January 17, 2009January 22, 2008

Pierre Lassonde, Chairman of Franco-Nevada Corp. and the World Gold Council The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame (CMHF) celebrated its 20th anniversary with a star-studded line-up of industry movers and shakers on January 17th 2008, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto. The annual dinner and induction ceremony is one of the social highlights of the mining industry which has a lot to be celebrating about this year in addition to the five new members that were inducted that evening – Carroll O. Brawner, Johannes J. Brummer, Ernest Craig, Chester F. Millar and David A. Thompson.

In total, including this year’s inductees, 135 individuals have been honored for their outstanding lifetime achievements to the benefit of the country’s minerals industry.

Many people and politicians still think the mining sector is a boring, polluting, low-tech industry that should be delegated to the dustbins of history. A quick review of the many prospectors, metallurgists, geo-scientists, and corporate financiers in the hall of fame, whose discoveries and technological advances have made Canada a global mining powerhouse, would quickly change those negative perceptions of the industry.

Ed Thompson, Mining Consultant; Nean Allman, CMHF Coordinator; Doug Donnelly, Publisher, Northern Miner Stories of intense courage, guts, greed and glory. Stories of passionate believers with quiet and tenacious determination. Stubborn characters who would not give up. These are the people who helped populate our isolated north, created enormous amounts of shareholder and corporate wealth and jobs for hundreds of thousands if not millions of Canadians.

That is why the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame is so important. It is the keeper of the flame ensuring that the next generation understands and is justifiably proud of the enormous contributions and debt we owe to those that preceded us.

The four main sponsors of the Hall of Fame are the Northern Miner, the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) which also publishes an industry magazine.

CARROLL O. BRAWNER (BORN 1929) – 2008 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

January 17, 2009January 22, 2008

Carroll O. Brawner

The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame honours the mine finders and developers who helped develop our northern and rural regions and created enormous wealth for the country. For more exciting profiles on the individual who made Canada a global mining powerhouse, go to: http://www.halloffame.mining.ca/halloffame/

Carroll O. (“Chuck”) Brawner is known and respected worldwide for his contributions to open-pit mining and geotechnical engineering.

He earned his reputation as a foremost authority in these fields as the result of professional experience gained over half a century in no less than 40 nations and all the world’s continents, including Antarctica. In 1963, he co-founded a consulting firm that provided technical assistance to hundreds of open-pit mines and mineral projects in Canada and around the world. Golder Brawner and Associates subsequently evolved into Golder Associates, an internationally recognized firm with multi-disciplinary expertise.

JOHANNES J. BRUMMER (1921-2005) – 2008 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

January 17, 2009January 22, 2008

Johannes J. Brummer

Johannes J. (“Joe”) Brummer was one of Canada’s most accomplished exploration geologists. During a multi-faceted career that began with great promise in Africa’s Copper Belt and spanned five eventful decades in Canada, he continually pioneered the development of innovative exploration techniques in the fields of geochemistry, Pleistocene geology and geophysics. His openness to innovation and willingness to employ new and original exploration techniques and geological theories contributed to the discovery of at least 10 mines or mineral deposits on two continents.

ERNEST CRAIG (1888-1960) – 2008 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

January 17, 2009January 22, 2008

Ernest Craig

ErnesThe Canadian Mining Hall of Fame honours the mine finders and developers who helped develop our northern and rural regions and created enormous wealth for the country. For more exciting profiles on the individual who made Canada a global mining powerhouse, go to: http://www.halloffame.mining.ca/halloffame/

t Craig was the first general manager of Falconbridge Nickel Mines, building a mine and a townsite in the late 1920s that became the foundation for the international powerhouse that now operates under the Xstrata banner. One of 12 children born in Kearney, Ont., Craig left school early in search of employment. He found his calling at age 19, when he began working in the emerging mining camps of Eastern Canada.

As he helped build and manage various mines, his talents caught the attention of the legendary mine-finder, Thayer Lindsley, who appointed him the first general manager of Falconbridge Nickel Mines in 1928, the year the company was founded.

CHESTER F. MILLAR (BORN 1927) – 2008 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

January 17, 2009January 22, 2008

Chester Millar

Chester Millar launched an illustrious career in the mining industry in the mid-1960s by discovering a copper-gold deposit that became the highly successful Afton mine, near Kamloops, B.C. He founded Afton Mines intending to develop his discovery, but the company was ultimately acquired on the open market by Teck Corp. (now Teck Cominco), which operated the open-pit mine from 1987 until its closure in 1997.

DAVID A. THOMPSON (BORN 1939) – 2008 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee

January 17, 2009January 22, 2008

David Thompson

For more than a quarter century, David Thompson contributed to the spectacular growth and prudent financial management of two of Canada’s oldest continuously operating mining companies. In 1986, while vice-president of finance for Teck Corp., he helped structure a transaction in which Teck joined forces with foreign partners to buy 31% of Cominco Ltd. from Canadian Pacific for $280 million. The two companies merged in 2001 to form Teck Cominco, a world leader in the production of zinc and metallurgical coal and a major producer of copper, gold and specialty metals.

2008 Canadian Mining Hall of Fame (The Move to ROM – An Update)

January 17, 2009January 22, 2008

Don Lindsay, President & CEO Teck-Cominco; Mimi Yates; Ted Yates, Mineral Consultant In January 2007, Teck Cominco Limited President and CEO Donald R. Lindsay announced a $10 million donation to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto to create three galleries highlighting minerals and the fascinating history of Canadian mining.

The donation – the largest corporate gift in the ROM’s history – will establish the Teck Cominco Suite of Earth Science Galleries, the Teck Cominco Endowed Chair in Mineralogy and the Teck Cominco Digital Education Module in Earth Sciences, as well as create a new home for the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.

At the time of the donation, Lindsay said, “We are proud to join the Museum and the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in educating students and delighting Museum visitors with the wonders of the earth sciences.” He continued, “Bringing the Hall of Fame to the new ROM is a natural fit, complemented by exhibits that investigate the link between Earth’s resources and everyday life. The ROM has boldly embraced a philosophy of innovation that resonates deeply with Teck Cominco.”

William Thorsell, President & CEO, Royal Ontario Museum; Tara M. Christie, Director Geologist, Constantine Metal Resources Ltd.; Donald J. Worth, Chair, CMHF The following speech was given by William Thorsell, Director and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum updating the audience at the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame induction ceremony and dinner about the organization’s new home.

Women in Mining Top Fundraisers for 2007 Breast Cancer Walk – Stan Sudol

December 25, 2008January 22, 2008

Front row (left to right): Teresa Barrett, Beth Kirkwood, Monica Ospina and Kate Armstrong. Back row (left to right): Saley Lawton, Margaret Werniuk, Cathy Fletcher, Jane Werniuk and Nean Allman. Missing from photo: MaryAnn Mihychuk. Among the many attendees to the 20th Hall of Fame dinner, one table had much to be proud of. The Women in Mining team who participated in last fall’s Weekend to End Breast Cancer in Toronto were also celebrating their status as the top fundraising team achieving a record total of $200, 707 for this worthy cause.

During the September 7-9, 2007, weekend, over 5,300 women and men joined forces in Toronto to walk 60 kilometres in a bold display of courage and commitment. It was a weekend of hope, as they honoured lives lost, celebrated survivors, and helped bring in funds for breast cancer research as well as care to those who so desperately need it.

The Women in Mining team successfully tackled the offices of Canada’s biggest mining companies, consultants and suppliers for donations to fight breast cancer and succeeded beyond their wildest dreams considering their late start.