PROFILE (July 29, 1991)

During the Second World War, a graduate from McGill University discovered a diamond mine in East Africa where he was based. News about the man’s fortune prompted many students at McGill, including William Young, now vice-president of NovaGold Resources, to choose geology as their major field of study.

A war veteran himself, Young graduated from McGill with a Ph.D. in 1953 and taught at Carleton University 1957-63. He went on to discover his own mine in the early ’60s, the Mount Pleasant tin-polymetallic deposit in New Brunswick, with a colleague.

The ownership of the property has changed hands since and more than $150 million has been spent on it by former owners Billiton and LAC Minerals. Earlier this year, NovaGold signed a letter of intent to purchase the property.

“We had reached an agreement with Billiton and LAC to buy all the assets for a 15% net profits royalty, paying up to $12 million, when the project begins to rake in money,” Young told The Northern Miner. He is in charge of solving the mineral dressing problem so that NovaGold can recover a high percentage of tin in the ore as a good-grade concentrate.

Meanwhile the Japanese have expressed interest in Mount Pleasant because of its indium potential. The rare metal is used for heat-reflecting window coatings, semi-conductors and high-speed computer chips.

NovaGold’s other projects include Sewell Brook (discovered last fall), Sears Lake and the Murray Brook mine, all in New Brunswick.

At 66, Young applies his academic expertise to new projects. Supportive of his research, NovaGold has pioneered indoor vat leaching at Murray Brook to recover 90% of gold in less than 24 hours. (Heap leach can recover 60-65% in 30-60 days.)

Nova Gold, under the direction of Young, participates in the development of the ferric chloride leach process with the Canadian Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET). The process is for treating complex base metals, for example, at Murray Brook.

Montreal-born and Halifax-raised, Young worked in Australia 1967-73 and as president of Northumberland Mines 1973-87. He is married to Marion, who has visited all his projects.

Among Young’s students were Bill Bondar and Malcolm Clegg who started out as assayers for Mount Pleasant. Now retired, they have sold the famous Bondar-Clegg & Co. to a British firm.

“Academic life was pleasant,” says Young. “But it is challenging to work with real-life projects. Each project in New Brunswick can put some 250 people to work and make that part of the country go.”