Brynelsen and Specogna honored at Cordilleran Roundup

The highlight of the annual Cordilleran Roundup held in Vancouver, B.C., each year is the presentation of the prestigious H.H. “Spud” Huestis Award and the Edgar A. Scholz Medal. Established in 1977 to honor Spud Huestis of Highland Valley fame, the award is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the development of British Columbia’s mineral resources through the original application of prospecting techniques.

This year the award was presented to Efrem Specogna, a prospector who made a number of mineral discoveries. The most significant find is Cinola, an open pit deposit on the Queen Charlotte Islands which contains 23.8 million tonnes averaging 2.45 grams (0.07 oz.) gold per tonne. It is in the mine development process.

The Edgar A. Scholz Medal is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to mine development in the province. It was established in honor of Edgar Scholz whose distinguished career in mining spanned 40 years.

This year’s recipient was Bern Brynelsen, a mining engineer and the 1980 recipient of the Spud Huestis Award. In an illustrious career as western manager for Noranda, Brynelsen developed to production a number of mines including Boss Mountain, Brynnor, Yreka and Bell.

On his own, he brought to production the 30,000-tons-per-day open pit copper-molybdenum Brenda mine, later acquired 49% by Noranda. Brynelsen also played a role in the development of the Cannon gold mine in Washington State and in the discovery of British Columbia’s northeastern coal fields. He is still active in a number of mining ventures, particularly in the Rossland gold camp of British Columbia.