OBITUARIES — Colin Coats

Colin Coats, a former chief geologist with Falconbridge, has died of cancer.

Born in Scotland, Coats obtained a degree at the University of Edinburgh before emigrating to Canada to complete his education. He obtained a master’s degree in geology from Queen’s University and a doctorate from the University of Manitoba. He joined Falconbridge in 1959.

During the early 1970s, Coats began one of the first comprehensive mapping programs of the southern portion of the Manitoba nickel belt. It was here that he helped form Friends of the Nickel Belt, an organization whose goal was to increase understanding of the genesis and setting of the region’s geology.

He later turned his attention to the Ungava region of northern Quebec, where his mapping and prospecting programs were the foundation for subsequent discoveries. His work is credited for having ultimately influenced the decision to go ahead with the Raglan polymetallic mine.

Between 1983 and his retirement in 1992, Coats was chief geologist and superintendent of mine geology in Sudbury. His exploration programs helped evaluate the downdip potential of the North Range region and led to the increases in reserves at the Fraser, Lockerby, Onaping and Strathcona underground mines.

Coats is survived by wife Doreen and children Laura and Scott.