OBITUARIES — Reinhart Ehrlich

Reinhart (“Reini”) Ehrlich, vice-president and chief metallurgical engineer for Watts Griffis & McOuat (WGM), has died. He was 75.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sept. 14, 1922, Ehrlich immigrated to Canada at an early age. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1946 with a bachelor of science in metallurgical engineering.

Among Ehrlich’s first career assignments were Golden Manitou in Quebec, Kerr-Addison in Ontario and United Keno Hill in the Yukon. In 1953, he joined Rio Tinto to help develop the uranium process for Elliot Lake and supervise construction of several plants there. He also assisted in the design of the Palabora project in South Africa, and carried out economic studies for the Rio Tinto group.

In the late 1960s, Ehrlich returned to Toronto to manage the minerals division of the General Engineering Company, and was responsible for engineering and construction of the Strathcona plant for Falconbridge and the Alwinsal potash project.

Ehrlich spent the next two and a half years in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a consulting metallurgical engineer for Kennecott Copper. He was responsible for the metallurgical operation of several concentrators, smelters and refineries.

In 1969, he returned to Rio Tinto as project manager for the Bougainville copper project in Papua New Guinea. He joined Bechtel Canada in 1974 and was responsible, at various times, for business development, engineering and project management. He was also involved in the engineering and construction of the Polaris and Lupin projects in the Northwest Territories.

In 1985, Ehrlich joined WGM, overseeing that firm’s metallurgical activities and acting as manager for many large projects. These assignments included a copper project in Myanmar, gold projects in Brazil, Mali and the Russian Far East, and a base metal project in Central Asia.

Ehrlich was a member of the 50 Year Club of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, and in 1991 he received the CIM’s McParland Medal. He was chairman of the CIM’s Toronto branch, as well as a councillor and vice-president for district 3. Earlier this year, he was presented with the CIM Members Award for being one of the “unsung heroes” of the mining industry.

Ehrlich is survived by his wife, Bernice (Bunny), daughter Susan, son Paul and grandson Tyler.