Minerals Division of GAC awards Derry, Gross medals

The Duncan R. Derry medal is awarded annually to a Canadian geologist who has made major contributions to the field of economic geology. Allard is described as a “great teacher, a great field geologist, a gifted speaker and an enthusiast”.

Allard’s early research led to a lifetime of involvement with the Chibougamau area of Quebec. Working for Campbell Chibougamau Mines in the winter of 1956-57, he mounted a large drilling program on Chibougamau Lake that resulted in the discovery of the Henderson copper-gold orebody. His research also led to the discovery of the Scott Twp. orebody by Selco in 1975. His field-mapping for the Quebec department of mines led to the recognition of an important reserve of vanadium.

The southeastern United States and parts of Brazil have also received the attention of Allard, and the results of his studies have been published widely, in English and French.

The W. H. Gross medal, presented for the first time in 1988, provides recognition for a young mineral explorationist working in a Canadian context. Britten graduated in geological engineering from the University of British Columbia in 1974, worked in Papua New Guinea for four years, and obtained his Ph.D. from the Australian National University in Canberra in 1981. Since then he has worked in the Canadian Cordillera.

In his student days he was involved in the discovery of the Kutcho massive sulphide deposit in northern British Columbia. Later, he was directly responsible for the discovery of the Ivaal copper-gold porphyry and the Nena copper-gold-silver deposit which together form part of the Freida River deposit in Papua New Guinea.

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