Buchan donates $10M to Queen’s U

Add Bob Buchan to Canadian mining’s list of multimillion-dollar philanthropists.

The semi-retired founder of Kinross Gold has donated a cool $10 million to the Department of Mining Engineering at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.

Queen’s describes it as the single largest donation to mining education in Canadian history, with $8 million earmarked for an endowment to fund academic and staff positions, and $2 million to support new student-focused programs and curriculum development.

And, you guessed it, the department will be renamed the “Buchan Department of Mining.”

Founded in 1893, the department today ranks among North America’s largest and best mining schools.

Buchan obtained his master of science in mining engineering from Queen’s after earning an undergraduate degree in mining from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland.