Obituary John McAdam; the Scotsman of Chibougamau

John (Jack) McAdam, a prospector and mine developer active in the Canadian mining industry since the early 1950s, died suddenly April 19. He was 64. .”Everyone feels it’s like a loss in the family,” said Terry Flanagan, who spent almost four decades in partnership with McAdam.

McAdam suffered an aneurysm at his Toronto home just hours after facing disgruntled shareholders at the April 18 annual meeting in Montreal of Muscocho Explorations, one of the companies in which he was a principal. But Flanagan discounted speculation that stress from problems related to the Muscocho group’s Magnacon and Magino gold mines in Ontario contributed to his partner’s sudden death.

Regarded as one of the true teams in Canadian mining, Flanagan and McAdam worked together since they met at one of mining promoter Jim Boylen’s New Brunswick projects in 1953.

Less outspoken than his partner, McAdam was nevertheless quick to express his views on behalf of junior mining companies and was often critical of what he regarded as government interference in mining.

A no-nonsense Scotsman, McAdam and Flanagan were known for their deal-on-a-handshake approach to business. “A handshake from Jack was as good as a certified cheque,” said Al Storey, president of Storimin Exploration in Toronto.

McAdam grew up on Montreal’s south shore after his family immigrated to Canada in the 1930s. He flew in Lancaster bombers during the Second World War before deciding to study geology at McGill University in Montreal.

Working together in harsh conditions during the 1950s, McAdam and his partner established themselves as perhaps the world’s leading experts on the Chibougamau region of Quebec. “You wouldn’t think of going to Chibougamau without looking up Flanagan and McAdam,” Storey once told The Northern Miner Magazine.

However, many of their mineral discoveries, including a 200- million-ton asbestos deposit in Chibougamau, were never developed due to market or other factors. It wasn’t until much later in the 1970s and ’80s that their undoubted exploration skills were rewarded financially.

As president of the Prospectors and Developers Association from 1981 to 1983, McAdam fought for the junior exploration incentives that helped fuel the exploration boom during the second half of the 1980s.

McAdam and Flanagan were also instrumental in the discovery and development of the Montauban, Que., gold mine, which produced 92,553 oz. before it was shut down in February. His death occurred as Muscocho group companies including Flanagan McAdam and McNellen Resources were announcing heavy losses due to problems at the Magnacon and Magino mines. Now controlled by Echo Bay Mines, the two Ontario mines were developed largely via flow-through financing.

But colleagues say McAdam, who is survived by his wife Shirley and children John, Jennifer and David, will be remembered more for his integrity and sense of humor than those recent difficulties.