Canadian Mining Hall of Fame opens doors to six new members

Leaders, pioneers and visionaries — these are but a few of the words that apply to the six men recently inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.

Their contributions to Canadian industry include not only the discovery of major orebodies, but also techniques and technologies that have proved, in every sense of the work, ground-breaking.

The Hall of Fame now boasts a total membership of 76 and is sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy & Petroleum, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), the Mining Association of Canada, and The Northern Miner. Members are chosen on the basis of their lifetime achievements in mineral exploration, company-building, technical contributions and education. Another criterion is the degree to which they have contributed to the reconciliation of business goals of the industry to those of Canadian society in general.

To honor the six new inductees, more than 520 representatives of the Canadian mining industry attended a gala dinner and awards ceremony at Toronto’s posh Royal York Hotel.

Four of the six — Robert William Boyle (born 1920), Walter Curlook (born 1929), Walter Holyk (born 1921) and Alfred Powis (born 1930) — were in attendance. The other recipients are Franklin Spragins (1914-1978), whose award was accepted by his son, Howard, and Joseph Burr Tyrrell (1858-1957), who was represented by his granddaughter, Edith Auckland.

1997 inductees

* Robert Boyle — Of his many contributions to the industry, Boyle is most noted for his pioneering work in geochemistry. While working for the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) in the early 1950s, he was the first to demonstrate that geochemistry could be successfully applied to the permafrost environment of Canada. This work helped revive the then-dying Keno Hill mining camp and prolonged operations there into the 1980s. In 1955, he set up the GSC’s first laboratory for geochemical prospecting studies and began a mapping program in the Maritimes, where he conducted the first rapid “heavy metals” regional survey. In accepting his award, Boyle said he hopes the GSC and mining industry will continue to advance the science of geochemical prospecting.

* Walter Curlook — “Honored and proud to be Canadian” is how Curlook described his reaction to being inducted. Highlights of his life-long career with Inco include fostering new technologies in fluid-bed roasting and refining the carbonyl process. His aptitude for research and development also helped foster bulk-mining methods and the now-independent firm Continuous Mining Systems. The pinacle of his career was the development of Inco’s sulphur dioxide abatement program in Sudbury, Ont., which has been described as the largest environmental project ever undertaken by the mining industry.

* Walter Holyk — A visionary among geologists, Holyk is renowned for his influential work in exploring volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. His recognition of the close association of sulphide ores with rhyolites and sediments under certain structural conditions resulted in the discovery of several major orebodies, including the Half Mile Lake deposit in New Brunswick, the Nanisivik mine on Baffin Island, and the Kidd Creek deposit in Timmins, Ont. In accepting his award, Holyk joked, “You could not find a better man, and I do wonder what took you so long.”

* Alfred Powis — Although he says he “staggered into the mining industry by accident,” it is no accident that, under Powis’ direction, Noranda became one of the largest natural resource conglomerates in Canada. During his tenure as chief executive officer, the company opened or acquired more than 40 mines, diversified its interests with forest products and natural gas operations, and increased its assets to $11 billion in 1995 from $700 million in 1968. He also served as a key advisor during the Canada-U.S. free-trade negotiations.

Reflecting on his many years with Noranda, Powis assured the audience that “it certainly wasn’t dull.”

* Franklin Spragins — It was for his long-standing commitment to the belief that Alberta’s oil sands are the key to Canada’s future energy needs that Spragins was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Syncrude Canada was established largely as a result of his foresight and perseverance, and today the corporation ranks as Canada’s largest source of oil and its second-largest producer.

Perhaps Spragins’ most significant and enduring contribution was the emphasis he placed on research and development. Recognizing that oil sand required technology different from that used to extract more conventionally mined materials, he established the Syncrude Research Centre in the early 1960s.

* Joseph Burr Tyrrell — In 1883, Tyrrell led a GSC expedition into the then-unmapped western wilderness, which led to the discovery of coal deposits around Drumheller, Alta. Ten years later, he embarked on a follow-up expedition which provided the first indication of the economic significance of the rocks of northern Manitoba. These rocks, now known to be part of the Huronian formations, continue to support the mining industries of Thompson and Flin Flon. Accepting the award on behalf of her grandfather, Edith Auckland recalled: “In 1947, he flew over the same route he walked in 1893 and was fascinated by a trip that took in as many hours as the earlier trip had taken months.” Tyrrell never lost his love for adventure and continued to be active in mining throughout most of his 99-year life.

Attending the gala event were three previously inducted members of the Hall of Fame: Maurice Brown (former publisher of The Northern Miner); Come Carbonneau (founding president of Quebec government-owned Societe Quebecois d’Exploration Miniere); and Harold Seigel (founder of the geophysical firm Scintrex).

Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Robert Ginn, past president of the PDAC, who remarked: “I am left with a sense of awe for these men. We are the benefactors of their vision and technical prowess.”

Members of the audience, led by junior Gordon Capital, collectively donated $125,000 to relocate the Hall of Fame to a permanent home in the Mining Building of the University of Toronto. This sum will be added to the $40,000 foundation donated by Pierre Lasonde, president of Franco-Nevada Mining and Euro-Nevada Mining.