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TORONTO, January 14, 2015 — The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame will induct four new members at its 27th annual induction ceremony, to be held tomorrow, Thursday, January 17, 2015, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto. The new inductees will join the 161 men and two women previously inducted into the Mining Hall of Fame, which was established in 1988.
The 2015 inductees are: Peter M.D. Bradshaw, Ronald K. Netolitzky, Ian W. Telfer and Mackenzie Iles Watson.
Peter M.D. Bradshaw (Born 1938)
Peter Bradshaw has served the mining industry with distinction for more than 40 years as a mine-finder, company builder and science advocate. He joined Barringer Research in 1968, after receiving a BSc from Carleton University and his PhD from the University of Durham in the UK. He helped to develop and then publish details of ground-breaking geochemical processes and exploration methods during his ten fruitful years at Barringer.
In 1979, Bradshaw joined a predecessor of Placer Dome and advanced several of its projects, notably Porgera in Papua New Guinea. Convinced the deposit, then regarded as uneconomic, had potential for a high-grade zone, he launched a low-cost exploration program that led to the discovery of the very high- grade Zone VII. Since then, Porgera has to date produced more than 18 million ounces of gold. Later, as president and CEO of First Point Minerals, with properties in B.C. and the Yukon, he guided the discovery and identification of the commercial importance of a unique style of nickel mineralization, awaruite.
Bradshaw’s most enduring legacy is the internationally recognized Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). With over 40 company members, MDRU undertakes highly successful industry-UBC research collaboration.
Ronald K. Netolitzky (Born 1943)
Ronald Netolitzky is an accomplished Canadian geologist who has always remained an independent-minded prospector at heart. He recognized and helped realize the potential of the Snip and Eskay Creek properties in northwest British Columbia, which became two of Canada’s most successful, high-grade precious metal mines. He also contributed to the growth of many junior companies and, at last count, was involved in 12 significant merger-and-acquisition events.
Netolitzky graduated from the University of Alberta with a BSc in geology in 1964 and an MSc from the University of Calgary in 1967. He became president of Delaware Resources in 1985, and optioned the Snip property from Cominco. Drilling led to a gold discovery and Snip became a producing mine. He next acquired Stikine Resources and teamed up with Calpine Resources to drill the Eskay Creek prospect. The spectacular results led to a $67-per-share takeover bid accepted by Stikine shareholders. Netolitzky’s other achievements include development of the Brewery Creek open-pit heap-leach mine in Yukon, and early identification of the Galore Creek, BC and Hammond Reef, Ontario, projects. Netolitzky remains active in gold and uranium exploration, notably in Saskatchewan, where he began his career almost 50 years earlier.
Ian W. Telfer (Born 1946)
Ian Telfer earned his reputation as a financially astute and visionary mining entrepreneur by building a series of companies through timely acquisitions and value-driven mergers. The companies that he founded or led — TVX Gold, Wheaton River (later merged with Goldcorp), Silver Wheaton, Terrane Minerals and Uranium One, among others — reached a combined market capitalization of more than $50 billion at their peak.
Telfer holds a BA from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the University of Ottawa. Telfer is renowned for his ability to raise large sums of money for small companies and for identifying wealth-creating opportunities. In recent years, he has helped create six successful companies, with three of these later acquired by larger entities.
Telfer has supported industry organizations, notably serving as chairman of the World Gold Council from 2010-2013. His many awards include AME BC’s Murray Pezim Award for perseverance and success in financing mineral exploration, and being named Ernst & Young’s 2007 Western Canada Entrepreneur of the Year. He also has an extensive history of philanthropy. His $25 million endowment in 2007 to the University of Ottawa, which led to the creation of the Telfer School of Business, is considered the largest individual donation in Canadian history to a business school.
Mackenzie Iles Watson (Born 1935)
Mackenzie Watson achieved extraordinary success during his 50-year career in Canada’s mining industry. He is associated with the discoveries of the Holloway gold mine and chromite deposits in the Ring of Fire region in Ontario, and the Strange Lake rare earths project in Quebec. He built flagship Freewest Resources into a respected project generator and supported junior companies and industry associations. Watson graduated with a BSc from the University of New Brunswick in 1959, and soon after participated in several discoveries in Eastern Canada.
In 1986, he became president of Freewest Resources, which was involved in the discovery of the Holloway gold project. Hemlo Gold Mines later acquired Freewest and developed the mine. A successor company, Freewest Resources Canada, discovered two chromite deposits in the emerging Ring of Fire region of northern Ontario. Freewest was acquired by Cliffs Natural Resources in 2009. A spin-off company, Quest Uranium, discovered the Strange Lake B Zone rare earths deposit in Quebec. Watson has received many awards for his achievements.
Watson gave back to the industry and society in many ways. He provided bursary and scholarship support to his alma mater, UNB, and Lakehead University. He mentored young geoscientists and served industry associations with distinction. His greatest contribution to society was his foresight in pursuing projects with significant future economic potential, as exemplified by the chromite deposits in Ontario’s Ring of Fire and the Strange Lake rare earths project in Quebec.
The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame honours those who have demonstrated outstanding lifetime achievements that have benefitted the Canadian minerals industry. Member organizations of the Hall are the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, the Mining Association of Canada, The Northern Miner newspaper and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. Associate members include the mining associations of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan and the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia.
The Hall’s inductees are currently featured at five locations. The original Hall of Fame is located in the University of Toronto’s Mining Building at 170 College Street, Toronto. The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Gallery in the Teck Suite of Galleries at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto opened in December 2008. Other Hall of Fame exhibits are housed in the Nuclear and Mining Museum in Elliot Lake in northern Ontario, at the Britannia Mine Museum near Squamish in British Columbia and the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa. A new satellite of the CMHF exhibit has also joined a travelling exhibit on Minerals recently developed and produced by the Canadian Museum of Nature. Currently on exhibit in Ottawa, it will start a national tour in April 2015. The exhibit will tour across Canada utilizing the Museum’s network of natural history museums and science centres, reaching diverse audiences from students to adults.
More information about the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and the new inductees is available at the Hall’s website, www.mininghalloffame.ca
For further information, contact:
Becky Bays, CMHF Coordinator
T: 647-726-3185
E: info@mininghalloffame.ca