Eight new members enter Mining Hall of Fame

Eight members of Canada’s mining industry were inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame at a gala dinner and awards ceremony held recently in Toronto.

The Hall now boasts a total membership of 63, and this year’s inductees were nothing if not representational. Their diverse technical accomplishments and geographical backgrounds underscore the richness and variety in this nation’s mining heritage. The common denominators they shared were perseverance, self-sacrifice and dedication to goals.

These tenacious pioneers explored many once-out-of-the-way places, from Cape Breton, N.S., to the Bridge River gold camp in British Columbia. Combined, they are credited with discovering and developing more than 25 mines of copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver cobalt, tungsten, lithium, uranium and coal. Indirectly, they are responsible for many more.

For a candidate to gain admittance into the 7-year-old Hall of Fame, it must be demonstrated that he has made outstanding contributions in one or more of the following areas: mineral exploration; the building of a corporation; technical contributions to industry and education; and communicating and reconciling business goals with the needs of the country.

During the awards ceremony, held in the Royal York Hotel, inductees, or their representatives, were presented with a commemorative plaque and prestigious gold lapel pin.

Among those who ascended the stage was retired geologist Ed Freeman, who accepted the honor on behalf of the late Willet Green Miller (1866-1925). Freeman pointed out that Miller, Ontario’s first provincial geologist, was a “prospector, developer and promoter” who had a gift for communicating scientific knowledge to other prospectors.

Other posthumous inductees included Archibald M. Bell (1906-1991), David G. Burchell (1909-1994), Sir Harry Oakes (1874-1943) and Arthur Stollery (1914-1994).

Two of the inductees, Georges H. Dumont and Harold Seigel (born in 1911 and 1924, respectively), were in attendance to accept their honors. Seigel spoke enthusiastically about the mining business, asking: “In what other industry can you match the thrill of discovery, the creation of great wealth, and the generation of jobs, schools, bridges and town sites in remote and desolate lands?”

The eighth inductee, Egil H. Lorntzsen (born 1908), was unable to attend. Accepting on his behalf was Robert Hunter, who addressed the audience of 400 by saying, “You are not only giving recognition to cents Lorntzsen’s] past achievements; you are giving encouragement to all the entrepreneurs across Canada to dedicate their and their families’ lives to mining in the hope that their discovery will be significant.”

Several prominent industry organizations and associations were represented at the event, including the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and the American Mining Hall of Fame.

Representatives of three levels of government were also in attendance, including Elliot Lake, Ont., Councillor Fred Mann; Kirkland Lake, Ont., Mayor Joseph Mavrinac; John Gammon, assistant deputy minister for the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines; and Ronald Sully, a representative of Natural Resources Canada.

Seated at the head table were William Almdal, president of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM); Ian Bayer, president and chief executive officer of Hemlo Gold Mines; John Cooke, executive publisher of The Northern Miner; Robert Ginn, a past president of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), who acted as the master of ceremonies; and John Hansuld, another past president of the PDAC. Several directors of the Hall of Fame were in attendance, including Hall co-founder Maurice Brown, himself a past inductee, Bruce Campbell, Yves Jacques, David Robertson, Bruce Campbell, Donald Worth and John Larche. Sponsors of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame are the CIM, PDAC, MAC and The Northern Miner.