The head of one of this country’s top mining contracting firms, William R. Dengler, has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Queen’s University at Kingston.
A 1964 graduate in mining engineering from that university, Dr Dengler was the first employee to sign on with the just-starting North Bay mine contracting firm of J. S. Redpath Ltd. His initial successes as project engineer for that company led to his 1971 appointment as vice-president and general manager.
In 1980 he teamed up with two partners to found Dynatec Mining Ltd., an engineering and mining contracting service that has carved a worldwide reputation. In recent years it has completed over 150 engineering projects in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Brazil and Chile.
Chairman of the board of Innovations North (Laurentian University) and a member of the CANMET Advisory Committee on Mining Research, he has introduced a number of new technologies to his field. Too, his firm has won several major awards for safety and for successful entrepreneurship.
A mining enthusiast, he delivered the key convocation address at the recent Queen’s graduation ceremonies, assuring that anyone choosing mining as a career would find it challenging, exciting and rewarding.
“There are 305 mining operations in Canada today, with gross sales of $15.5 billion. Research and development spending is in excess of $200 million annually. While impressive, that represents only about 1.3% of gross sales. As an industry, we must improve in this area,” he said.
The frontier connotation of mining is slowly becoming history as modern communications and transportation systems make even the most isolated projects only hours from major Canadian centres, he pointed out.
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