OBITUARY — Holmes was active abroad

A former professor and consulting geologist who was active in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, Stanley Holmes died recently in Toronto. He was 68.

A native of Montreal, he had degrees from McGill and Cornell Universities where he specialized in economic geology. (He received his PhD from Cornell in 1952.) He was appointed full professor (part-time) at the University of Toronto in 1975 and taught courses in mineral exploration as an adjunct professor.

“He was a highly successful teacher,” said colleague David Robertson, past president of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. “He liked to talk and he liked to impart information.”

From 1946 to 1952, Holmes worked for the Geological Survey of Canada and the Quebec Department of Mines in field mapping and mineral prospects programs. During the period 1953-1970, his professional activities included underground surveying for Anaconda Copper in California; geological exploration for New Jersey Zinc, which resulted in lead and zinc finds in Tennessee; pioneer exploration work in the Elliot Lake, Ont., uranium camp; and helping to bring the Pronto uranium mine into production for the Hirshhorn-Joubin group. He subsequently became chief geologist and director of exploration for Denison Mines.

In 1964, he founded Mining Explorations — a consortium comprising Cominco, Union Corp. of South Africa and Gunnar Mines — to explore western Europe. He was responsible for the discovery of the Rubiales lead-zinc-silver deposit in northern Spain, which Cominco mined.

As president of Intermine, an exploration and development company, he contributed to the discovery of copper deposits in Portugal, lead-zinc deposits in the United Kingdom and silver deposits in Spain. Holmes founded and was president of both Intermogul, which was involved in the uncovering of copper deposits in Italy, and Iberian Explorations (Espana) S.A., which was involved in the discovery of silver-lead veins in Spain. He was president of Stanley W. Holmes and Associates, a geological consulting firm, and headed mining company Stan West Mining.

Robertson, a longtime friend, said “it was an exciting time and Stanley was an exciting person.”