American Mining Hall of Fame gears up for celebrations

The 28th annual American Mining Hall of Fame Awards Banquet and Fundraiser will be held in Tucson, Ariz., on Dec. 4, 2010.

This year’s inductee, guest of honour and featured speaker at the banquet is Richard Adkerson, CEO of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX-N), who led the company’s US$26-billion acquisition of Phelps Dodge in 2007, a transaction that transformed Freeport-McMoRan into the world’s largest publicly traded copper company.

As representatives of mining heritage, the Hall of Fame will induct J. Parke Channing, Arthur Daman and Charles Park, Jr. Channing was the driving force in the development, construction and management of the Miami Copper Co. Daman founded the Denver Equipment Co. and was an educator in mineral process engineering. He first published a “Denver” catalogue, which led to later editions and the 1954 best-known catalogue: “Denver Equipment Handbook.” Park, a professor of geology and dean at Stanford University, studied mineral deposits on all the continents except Antarctica and crystallized his ideas about ore formation in his widely used textbook Ore Deposits.

Medals of Merit will be awarded to Terry McNulty and Nyal Niemuth. McNulty, presidentofT. P. McNulty & Associates, has worked for over 250 clients in the areas of minerals and mineral processing. Niemuth, chief mining engineer at the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, has helped thousands of prospectors and geologists in their search for economic ore deposits in Arizona.

The Industry Partnership Award will be presented to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. The PDAC is a national association representing Canadian mining and mineral development industries around the world.

A special award will be presented to the Friends of the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum.

FAMMM has provided 10,000 hours of docent work each year and taught visitors to appreciate how important mining and minerals are in their daily lives.

The event will take place at the Marriott University Park Hotel in Tucson and is sponsored by the Mining Foundation of the Southwest.

MFSW is a non-profit organization which promotes public education about the mineral industries and recognition of outstanding accomplishments in and contributions to the fields of mineral and fuel resources. Funds are being raised to support the foundation’s educational programs such as the Educational Outreach Program, which is operated jointly by the foundation and the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources.

Each year, one living inductee and up to five honourees from mining history are chosen by the Hall of Fame committee and the board of governors of the MFSW for their outstanding contributions to the mining industry.

Information on tickets and sponsorships are available from the MFSW. Tel: (520) 577-7519, fax: (520) 577-7073, e-mail: admin@miningfoundationsw.org or visit: www.miningfoundationsw.org.