OBITUARY: Geophysics pioneer and PGW founder Norman Reed Paterson

The geophysical community lost a giant on Dec. 22, 2022, when Norm Paterson passed away, a month short of his 97th birthday. Paterson’s remarkable career spanned a range of techniques and a number of companies that built strong legacies, with contributions to the full exploration cycle from instrument development to interpretation. He touched and influenced a number of prominent geophysicists along the way, in Canada and worldwide.

Norman Reed Paterson was an outstanding member of the small group of geophysicists who, after the Second World War, generated a surge in geophysical developments and activity that propelled Canadian geophysics into world leadership. Paterson was born in London, U.K. to Canadian parents. He and his brothers moved to Canada with their mother in 1939 before Paterson enlisted in the British military in 1943, at the age of 17. After the Second World War, he returned to Canada in 1947 and attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a B.Sc. in engineering geophysics in 1950, and continuing his education by earning an M.Sc. at the University of British Columbia in 1952, followed by a PhD from Toronto in 1955, where he was one of Tuzo Wilson’s first post-war graduate students. 

Paterson’s first working experience in geophysics was as a seismologist in hydrocarbon exploration, However, he spent most of his distinguished career in geophysics applied to mining exploration. He participated in or was responsible for the discovery of more than twenty commercial or potentially commercial ore deposits in Canada and in many other parts of the world. 

After receiving his PhD in 1955, he began his career with Dominion Gulf in Toronto. He then joined Hunting Survey Corp. in Toronto as chief geophysicist. There, he managed ground and airborne geophysical surveys in Canada and in many other countries. In 1964, he formed Huntec Ltd., which rapidly gained a reputation as a leading manufacturer of geophysical instruments, as well as a skilled consulting and contracting company in geophysical surveys. In 1970, he left Huntec to form a consultancy, which in 1973 became Paterson, Grant & Watson Ltd., joining with other well-known geophysicists Dr. Fraser Grant (1926-1984) and Roger Watson (1936-2021). PGW rapidly became a world leader in geophysical consulting and project management for mineral exploration. Within PGW, as it was universally known, recognizing the growing importance of computer applications, he established Geosoft Inc. headed by Ian Macleod, which is now a division of Bentley Systems and the dominant world supplier of software for processing and interpreting geophysical and geochemical data. 

Paterson’s career at PGW and earlier took him across the world. He had a particular affinity for contributing his knowledge and expertise in the developing world, across Africa, India and elsewhere, with involvement in many projects funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Although his reputation usually preceded him, admiration by other geoscientists only grew once they met Paterson. He was a mentor to and collaborator with multiple generations of geophysicists from the start of his career and his influence and inspiration endure. Norm’s published technical contributions approached 80, including seminal journal articles. 

Bill Scott, a geophysicist and noted early collaborator, remembers first working for Paterson at Hunting Survey Corp. during the summer of 1959, after his first undergraduate year. “In addition to infecting me and my fellow summer students with his enthusiasm, Paterson taught us a great deal about the importance of high-quality data, and about the need to understand the meaning of what we were finding. I can still remember a discussion with him on the implication of the number of significant figures in a number (measurement), a lesson I never forgot.  

Stephen Reford, who worked for and with Paterson at PGW from 1981 until his retirement, noted that he conducted himself with professionalism, dedication and grace, and instilled these qualities in his employees and colleagues. 

Reford recalled a field trip with Paterson to Burkina Faso in the mid-80’s, part of a CIDA geophysical interpretation project to assess mineral potential. 

“This remains the toughest field work of my career due to the extreme heat and new cuisine,” he said. “Norm soldiered on as leader of the team. Partway through a traverse, we settled under a large tree for a break from the heat. It was located in a field outside a local village. Soon after, a small delegation from the village brought water for our group. An elder presented Norm with a live pintade, a domestic fowl. Norm accepted this gift as a deep sign of respect from one elder to another, and later gifted it to the local geophysicist who was guiding us. 

“After we completed the project, of his own volition Norm dug back into the data, extracting numerous examples and published a journal article to show how these data could be applied to groundwater exploration, a sorely needed resource in the Sahel.” 

Paterson retired from full-time practice in 1995, handing the reins of PGW to long-time associate Jim Misener, but continued in consulting. Like many in the profession, he once said that geophysics was so interesting that he could not contemplate leaving it, even in retirement. 

Paterson received wide recognition for his contributions to the geophysical industry. In 1997, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, citing his work in the geological interpretation of magnetic surveys. In 1999, he was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame, where his citation in part reads, “Paterson has been praised the world over for the sound balance he achieved between the practical, applied science of geophysics and his professionalism and integrity. No matter where in the world his assignments took him, he always served as an excellent ambassador for the Canadian mining industry.” 

He was also recognized as a notable pioneer by the KEGS Foundation.  

In retirement, Paterson and his wife Sally moved to a farm near Clarksburg, Ont., and later had a home in Thornbury on the shores of Lake Huron. They wintered with family in Costa Rica. At the age of 93, Paterson wrote the book Mining Geophysics: A Canadian Story, aided by a number of noted collaborators and contributors, and published by the CIM. The book outlines the developments, events and key innovators and contributors that gave rise to Canada’s emergence as a global leader in geophysics and mining exploration during the 1945-1975 period. Remarkably, turning his diverse talents to fiction, he subsequently wrote three mystery novels, some set in his beloved Georgian Bay, as well as devoting considerable effort to pursuing possible alternative causes of global warming. 

During his career, Paterson was greatly aided by his wife of nearly 70 years, Sally, who predeceased him in 2018. He was a devoted and attentive father to his four children, Catherine, John, Michael and Norman Jr., and a much-loved grandfather and great-grandfather to 7 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. In his final years, Norm became companions with author Dorris Heffron, moving into her home in the Beaver Valley. 

There will be a memorial service for Paterson at St. George’s Anglican Church in Clarksburg, Ont., on Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. Paterson was to be the Guest of Honour at PGW’s 50th anniversary celebration on March 6 during the PDAC Conference. Now it will be an opportunity to celebrate the legacy of a remarkable geophysicist and person who was a key contributor to the world-renowned expertise of Canadian mineral explorationists.