OBITUARY — Egil Lorntzsen

Egil Lorntzsen, who discovered copper in Highland Valley, B.C., has died.

He was 89.

Born and raised in a Norwegian fishing village, Lorntzsen emigrated to Canada in 1932. He worked his way westward, and became a self-taught prospector in Bridge River, B.C.

Lorntzsen’s first discovery was a high-grade sheelite vein (the ore from which tungsten is won), which was mined for several years during the Second World War. After the war, Lorntzsen formed British Columbia’s first uranium mining syndicate and later managed exploration programs for several junior companies.

During the porphyry copper-molybdenum boom in British Columbia in the 1950s, Lorntzsen staked numerous claims in the Highland Valley area. However, major companies repeatedly told him that the claims were worthless.

Lorntzsen formed his own company, Lornex Mining, in 1964, not long after he identified 400 ft of highly altered granite on one of his claims. He soon raised $400,000 through private share sales, and put some of the money toward the purchase of a bulldozer, which, in turn, was used in a trenching program on the property. Positive results uncovered during that phase of work gave way to a drilling program, which confirmed the potential of the property.

Rio Algom picked up an option on the property in 1965, and the deposit was brought into production in 1972 as part of Highland Valley Copper, a partnership involving Rio Algom, Teck and Cominco.

For his work in British Columbia, Lorntzsen was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 1995.