Quebec prospectors honored at conference

Five awards were handed out at the 21st annual conference of the Quebec Prospectors Association in Val d’Or, Que.

The conference was attended by 400 people, with the technical sessions proving particularly popular. The conference theme, “When you find it, you can mine it,” was reflected by talks on newly opened mines and projects headed for production. These included Falconbridge’s Raglan nickel deposit, Inmet Mining’s Troilus gold project and Audrey Resources’ Bouchard-Hebert mine.

The following awards were presented:

* Prospector of the Year was awarded jointly to Michael Atkins and Mackenzie Watson, presidents of Murgor Resources and Freewest Resources, respectively. Murgor discovered an important gold showing in Barry Twp.

* Contractor of the Year went to the team from Aurizon Mines for the Sleeping Giant mine’s production growth and for the development of the Beaufor project.

* The Jean Descarreaux Prize was presented to Dr. Michel Gauthier, professor of economic geology at the University of Quebec at Montreal, for his research work on the Grenville, Appalachian and James Bay areas.

* The prize for Discovery of the Year went to Gerald Riverin and his exploration team from Inmet Mining for three years of work proving the profitability of the Troilus deposit.

* The Hector Authier Prize was awarded to Pierre Boudreault for his contribution to the development of Corpomin, Exploration VSM, Exploration Cache and Diabex Resources.