Arthur Brant

Dr. Arthur A. Brant, a founding father of mining geophysics, died recently at the age of 91 in Tucson, Ariz.

‘Doc Brant,’ as he was familiarly referred to by his many students and colleagues at Newmont Mining, enjoyed an extraordinary career in exploration geophysics, including initiating development of induced polarization and the Newmont helicopter AEM system. An imposing man with a fondness for large cigars, Doc was noted for his outspoken opinions on politics as well as geophysics.

Born in Toronto in 1910, Brant received a B.Sc. (Honours) from the University of Toronto in 1932, winning the gold medal in mathematics and physics, followed by an M.Sc. in 1933, at the same time achieving distinction in several varsity sports, especially hockey. After a brief period at Princeton, he received an exchange fellowship to Germany, where he pursued his doctorate at the University of Berlin and, in addition, coached the first German national hockey team in the 1936 Olympics.

Returning to Toronto as an assistant professor of physics in 1937, he soon made headlines by discovering a high-grade hematite deposit through the ice under Steep Rock Lake using electrical methods. Rising to associate professor in 1940, he married his college sweetheart, Lilli Umbach, (later a noted portrait painter) and rapidly developed an extensive consulting practice.

In 1949, he left the University of Toronto to become director of Newmont’s Geophysical Department in Jerome, Ariz. Drawing on a talented team of former students from Toronto (many of whom also became noted geophysicists), the Newmont group under Brant successfully developed the induced polarization method for detection of disseminated sulphides, pioneered a variety of borehole techniques, established a solid foundation for electromagnetic (EM) techniques, and developed the first time-domain EM system, as well as the first helicopter AEM system.

Brant remained with Newmont until his nominal retirement in 1975, after which he served as initial chairman of the GEOSAT committee, and as adjunct professor at Columbia University and the University of Arizona.

Brant published and lectured widely, and received numerous honours and awards during his long career, including the Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ highest award, the Maurice Ewing medal, in 1987. In that same year, a group of associates and friends established the endowed Arthur Brant Chair in Exploration Geophysics at the Mackay School of Mines in Reno, Nev., followed by the Brant Geophysics Laboratory in 1998.

In recognition of the many developments pioneered by Brant and the Newmont group in advancing exploration geophysics in Canada, the Canadian Exploration Geophysical Society intends to establish a Canadian prize or scholarship in his honour.