Hudbay captures Bill Dennis Award

An exploration team from Hudson Bay Exploration & Development, has captured the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC’s) 2001 Bill Dennis prospector of the year Award.

The team, consisting of Donald Birak, Ted Baumgartner, Donald Colli, James Pickell and Kelly Gilmore, was recognized for its work in the discovery of the Triple 7, Konuto Lake and Photo Lake orebodies in the Flin Flon area of Manitoba. The award will be presented at a banquet on March 12 at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel during the PDAC’s annual convention (March 11-14).

The Triple 7 copper-zinc-gold-silver discovery will also be featured in the New Discoveries & Developments technical session during the convention.

The winner of this year’s Viola MacMillan developers award is Ebe Scherkus, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Agnico-Eagle Mines. Scherkus and his team will be honoured for their discovery and development of zones 20 North and South at the LaRonde gold-silver-copper-zinc mine in northwestern Quebec. Scherkus oversaw the sinking of the Penna No. 3 shaft and the expansion of the mill to 5,000 tonnes per day from 1,000 tonnes.

The PDAC will be presenting the distinguished service award to Duncan Crone and Bruce Dunlop. Crone is being recognized for his contribution to the development of the time-domain borehole and surface electromagnetic systems, whereas Dunlop is being cited for speaking out on behalf of Canadian prospectors. The award is also a tribute to Dunlop’s lifetime of service to the PDAC.

Cominco will be honoured for its environmental track record at the Trail smelter in British Columbia, and for closing the Sullivan mine and reclaiming nearby land.

The special achievement award goes to Frank Hoey, who turned 100 in September 2000. Hoey has had a long prospecting career and is a past director of the PDAC.

The association will also bestow honourary lifetime memberships on John Hansuld, Ruth Klekos and former director Frank Tagliamonte.