Obituary: Geologist, consultant and author Donald Bryant dies at 82

Mining author, consultant and geologist Donald G. Bryant of Denver, Colo., died Saturday, Oct. 17, at his home after a brief struggle with brain cancer.

Bryant was born June 21, 1927, in Hollywood, to Donald and Lucille.

After graduating from Inglewood High School in Inglewood, Calif., in 1945 with a special award in science, Bryant joined the U. S. Navy. He was honourably discharged in 1949 and promptly planted the foundations for a career in geology, a field that would hold his interest until his death.

Bryant earned, with distinction, a B. Sc. in geological engineering from the University of Arizona in 1954, an M. Sc. in geology from Caltech in 1955 and a PhD in geology from Stanford in 1964. At the University of Arizona, he was awarded two certificates of scholastic honour, membership in Tau Alpha Pi and a National Science Foundation grant to attend Caltech. While at Caltech, he was inducted into Sigma Xi. A second national Science Foundation grant enabled Bryant to attend Stanford. In 1967, he was honoured with a Degree of Merit in geological engineering from the University of Arizona.

During his career, Bryant worked for Cerro de Pasco in Morococha, Peru, and Phelps Dodge at Bisbee, Ariz. After receiving his PhD, he worked for Bear Creek Mining in Salt Lake City, Utah, before becoming chief geologist for Molycorp.

In 1970, Bryant began his own consultancy, Bryant Geologic Consulting. His consulting work took him all around the world.

During his many years of work in the mining industry, Bryant authored and co-authored many published papers, including several on the Warren (Bisbee) Mining district, and the Questa molybdenum deposit. He was passionate about mining and exploration geology, especially ore-forming breccias.

Bryant was a registered geologist in Arizona and California, as well as an AIPG-certified professional geologist. He served on the board of the Society of Economic Geologists Foundation and was a longtime member of the Society of Economic Geologists, Denver Regional Economic Geologists and the Arizona Geological Society.

Bryant is survived by Sally, his wife of 57 years. He and Sally had four children, Ellen, Stephen, Elizabeth (deceased), Edward and two grandchildren.