Renowned Canadian geologist Duncan Derry dies

Duncan R. Derry, eminent economic geologist and one of the Canadian mining industry’s leading spokesmen, died suddenly in Toronto this week. Indeed, he was known internationally for his many contributions to mineral exploration, worldwide.

Born in England in 1906, he graduated from Cambridge University in Honor Science in 1927. He came to Canada immediately thereafter, enrolling in the Department of Geology Graduate School at the University of Toronto, obtaining an M.A. degree in ’28 and his Ph.D. in ’31. During that time he worked during the summer seasons for the Ontario Department of Mines, turning out several geological reports on Northwestern Ontario which are still conidered bibles by the industry.

Dr Derry remained at the U. of T. for the next four years as a lecturer, again working in the summer seasons for the Cyril Knight Prospecting Co. and Ventures Ltd., joining the latter on a full-time basis in 1935. That company was the forerunner of today’s mighty Falconbridge Ltd. which was then headed by its founder, the late Thayer Lindsley, a renowned geologist with whom Dr Derry worked very closely over the years. As a team, they were highly successful, both as mine finders and mine makers.

That work was interrupted by the Second World War, which saw Dr Derry serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1940-45 as a navigation instructor, retiring with the rank of squadron leader.

Dr Derry returned to the Ventures fold in 1945 as chief geologist, supervising mining and exploration programs not only in Canada, but in South Africa, Greece, Greenland, Guyana, Peru and Chile.

Then in 1954 he joined the Rio Tinto organization as president of Ri o Canada Exploration, the big British firm’s Canadian exploration arm. That stint, lasting over the next six years, led to the acquisition and development of its major uranium mines in Ontario’s Elliot Lake area and discovery of the Poirier mine in Quebec.

He left Rio in 1960 to form his own consulting firm which has since grown to Derry, Michener, Booth & Wahl, a partnership that today is recognized throughout the mining world. Awarded many honors

Dr Derry had always been extremely active in the development of the profession he loved, which recognized him with countless awards and honors.

One of the original founders of the Geological Association of Canada, (which has since grown to a membership of 3,000), he served twice as its president — 1953-54 and 1971-72. He was awarded its highly respected Logan Medal in 1970 for “his distinguished contribution to the Earth Sciences.” He was also chairman of a large committee that prepared a Tectonic map of Canada published by the Geological Society of America.

Too, he was active in the Society of Economic Geologists, a major international group of which he was president in 1960 and named its Distinguished Lecturer in 1973.

He was also very active in the CIM in which he was a life member and the recipient of its prestigious Selwyn G. Blaylock Medal “in recognition of his meritorious service relating to the Canadian mining industry in general and especially related to his widely recognized talents in the geological sciences which have been recognized by professional assignments in all parts of the world.”

And again, as a member of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy of London, England, since 1934, he was named a Fellow of that organization in 1969 and subsequently awarded its gold medal “in recognition of his contribution to the science and art of geological exploration in the discovery of mineral deposits.”

The Geological Association of Canada again honored Dr Derry in 1980 when its Mineral Resources Division inaugurated a new medal — the Duncan R. Derry Medal — as one of the ways in which the interests of geologists concerned with the geology of mineral deposits could be promoted and fostered. This will be awarded annually to an outstanding economic geologist who has made major contributions to the science of economic geology in Canada.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 1946, Dr Derry contributed much to geological literature and particularly to mineral statistics over many years through a wide variety of articles and published addresses. The most recent was a World Atlas of Mineral Deposits which he researched, compiled, funded and published in 1980 on which he worked for three years.

Dr Derry maintained his keen interest in the education of geologists to the end, sitting on the advisory committees to a number of university geology departments, including Queens, Harvard, Princeton and the University of Toronto which bestowed on him an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1984.