George Stewart

George Oxley MacDonald Stewart, a well-known prospector and president of both Kettle River Resources and New Nadina Explorations, died recently at his home on the historic Jewel mine property, near Greenwood, B.C. He was 69.

Between 1957 and 1959, Stewart studied art at St. Mary’s University in his native Halifax, N.S. In 1960 he headed west, working at the Mineral King silver-zinc mine, 40 km southwest of Invermere, B.C. These mining fields would become his passion for the next 45 years.

He then returned to Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia to study geology, and graduated in 1963. During his summers as a geology student, Stewart worked for Kennco Explorations in British Columbia and stayed with the company as a geologist upon graduation. Stewart often spoke fondly of his early years exploring for copper and copper-molybdenum porphyries in central British Columbia under the direction of his mentor, Charles Ney.

In 1967, Stewart started working at the Silver Queen property, near Owen Lake, B.C., and remained with that project for many years.

When he became the exploration and mine manager for Nadina Explorations, he guided Silver Queen through underground production in the late 1960s and early ’70s, and even more recently, into a period of exploration for bulk-tonnage targets.

In the spring of 1973, Stewart was appointed mine and exploration manager for Colt Resources at the Jewel-Denero Grande mines, near Greenwood, B.C. The property would later become his home and refuge.

Stewart served a term on Greenwood’s city council, co-founded the Jewel Lake Environmental Protection Society, and was a founder of the Boundary Mining Association and a member of the Grand Forks Wildlife Association.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Stewart served as a director of numerous public companies, including New Frontier Exploration, and was a founding director of both Dentonia Resources and Kettle River Resources.

He enrolled in the Gemological Institute of America in Santa Monica, Calif., from 1986 to 1988, and graduated as a gemologist. He combined his skills in gemology with those of geology and explored for diamonds in Canada through the DHK Syndicate. This led to the discovery of many kimberlite pipes that are still being investigated.

Stewart is survived by his partner of many years, Ellen Clements, and brother Gordon.

— The author is a consulting geologist based in Grand Forks, B.C., and was a friend of the deceased.