The Quebec mineral exploration community marks the passing of Jean Descarreaux, who has been a monumental inspiration and mentor for generations of geologists and mineral exploration entrepreneurs in Quebec. He died on March 20 in Gatineau, Que., at age 76.
Descarreaux was a graduate of the University of Montreal (B.Sc. in 1964 and M.Sc. in 1967) and earned a PhD from Université Laval in 1973, with a thesis on the geochemistry of the Abitibi’s volcanic rocks.
His consulting career spanned over 50 years and provided exploration and business-development expertise to prospectors, junior exploration and major mining companies, as well as governments in Canada and abroad. As such, he participated in several base metal and gold discoveries, including the Golden Pond and Estrades deposits in Quebec’s Casa Berardi region.
The geoscience community rewarded Descarreaux many times for his fundamental research on the application of lithogeochemistry as a prospecting tool and for his help in developing mining entrepreneurship in Quebec.
Descarreaux was the founding president of Claude Resources in 1980 and cofounder of Cartier Resources, as well as a collaborator in the development of several exploration companies.
He was at the forefront of issues challenging the minerals industry and held positions in public bodies connected to the industry. He instigated flow-through shares for mineral exploration in Quebec by convincing former premiers René Lévesque and Jacques Parizeau to adapt legislation that would enable this proactive fiscal incentive.
Jean Descarreaux
He was a cofounder of the Quebec Prospectors Association (now the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association [AEMQ]), the first chairman for the Université du Québec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, a director of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, a director of the Mineral Exploration Research Institute of the University of Montreal and McGill University, and more recently a director of Quebec mineral exploration fund SIDEX.
Annually, the AEMQ now offers the Jean Descarreaux Award to an individual whose research and publications have helped increase geoscientific knowledge relating to mineral exploration and led to more exploration activity.
On learning of Descarreaux’s passing, a group of mining and exploration companies formed a scholarship fund in his homage: the Dr. Jean Descarreaux Foundation. It will reward students of the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue annually for their success in establishing new generations of economic developers in the mineral exploration industry.
Descarreaux was a quiet man, a visionary who led many battles with passion, conviction and determination. His contribution to Quebec’s progress in matters of mineral exploration is monumental.
— Philippe Cloutier, P.Geo., is president and CEO of Cartier Resources, and a director of Association de l’exploration minière du Québec (AEMQ).
RELATED VIDEO: Jean Descarreaux and others describe the founding and development of the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association (AEMQ) on its 40th anniversary (in French)
https://youtu.be/9C6pi21ZMxA
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