A lawyer by profession, James Y. Murdoch, who became first president of the fledgling Noranda Mines in 1922, at the age of 32, was one of the greatest its builders Canada has ever produced.
\nNot just a mine-builder, but a nation builder.<\/p>\n
He was president of the company for 30 years, until 1956, and chairman until his death in 1962. His \u201ctemporary\u201d appointment became famous as \u201cthe most permanent temporary appointment on record\u201d.
\nOut of the \u201cimportant-looking\u201d discovery of prospector Ed Horne in the wilds of northwestern Quebec, Murdoch masterminded the growth and development of Noranda into a massive complex of mines and processing facilities. His energy and judgment could be seen in every step of consequence Noranda took during Murdoch\u2019s 30 years as president.<\/p>\n
From the earliest days of its development, Murdoch saw Noranda as more than just the mine that Horne discovered. He visualized, instead, a rounded industry that would refine and fabricate its metals as well as producing them, proving that Canadian raw materials could be processed to the finished state within Canada.<\/p>\n
He accomplished this in copper, but did not live to see Noranda\u2019s zinc refinery in operation, another of Murdoch\u2019s dreams and goals.<\/p>\n
Born in Toronto in 1890, Murdoch took a law degree in that city and on graduation joined the Toronto law firm of Holden, Murdoch, Walton, Finlay, Robinson and Pepall as a junior. Soon recognized as a brilliant young practitioner in mining law, he was retained by a New York syndicate to advise on its Canadian mining interests.<\/p>\n
The syndicate took on that \u201cimportant looking\u201d discovery of Ed Home\u2019s, and when it became apparent a separate company was needed, the syndicate, almost as an afterthought, asked Murdoch to incorporate it, and to act as its president. That was in 1922. The rest of course, is history.<\/p>\n
At the time of his death, Murdoch was a director of some 35 companies, many within his own organization, but others in the fields of banking, paper, oil, insurance, railways and other industries.
\nAmong the many honors he received in his lifetime were the Order of the British Empire, conferred for his work during World War II with the National War Services Funds Advisory Board.<\/p>\n
Murdoch once said, of Noranda\u2019s great growth under his direction, \u201cnone of it could have happened if Canada had not been what it is, a great and rich young nation whose frontiers beckon the man in whom the spirit of high adventure is strong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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