From the discovery of the famous Kirkland Lake Break that hosted seven producing gold mines, to the launch of The Globe and Mail newspaper, William Wright has played an important role in Canadian business history. The Wright Hargreaves mine was one of the largest in the Kirkland Lake camp, turning out almost five million ounces of gold, and its profits were used to build a major mining company with interests across Canada.
Along with many other prospectors of his generation, Edmund Horne came to northern Ontario at the turn of the century with hopes of finding his pot of gold. Success was elusive, but rather than give up, Horne decided to venture across the border into Quebec, based on his belief that good geology did not stop at the Ontario border.
Joseph Tyrrell has been variously described as the doyen of Canadian mining men, the dean of mining, the man who conquered the Canadian North, Canada’s senior geologist, and the last of the great breed of mapmaking explorers and first of the modern mineralfinders and technologists.
An enquiring mind, skill as a field geologist and the desire to find orebodies led Walter Holyk to make an outstanding contribution to the understanding of the genesis of volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits.
Few mining men have made as many and as varied contributions to the industry as Stephen Ogryzlo. A globe-trotter long before it became fashionable, Ogryzlo’s accomplishments are legion. He explored and outlined, in a joint-venture with Freeport Sulphur, major nickel laterite deposits in Indonesia. He recognized and proved up significant, open-pit asbestos deposits at Black Lake, Quebec.
A lateral thinker long before the term was coined, Harry Warren applied his intellectual curiosity and scientific mind to the field of geochemistry, where he made remarkable contributions to prospecting and mineral exploration. He was a pioneer in a discipline which came into its own, to a large extent, through his efforts.
A rare combination of geologist and entrepreneur, Jack McBean turned small, struggling companies into winners. He contributed to the success of the Upper Canada, Upper Beaver and Macassa/Tegren gold mines in Ontario’s Kirkland Lake region.
Geologist Arthur Thomas Griffis has truly earned his place of honor in Canadian mining history. He discovered five iron deposits for the Iron Ore Company of Canada, a copper deposit at the McIntyre Porcupine gold mine and developed a profitable copper-zinc orebody near Timmins, Ont., for Canadian Jamieson Mines.
The discovery of placer gold in the Klondike set off one of the world’s greatest gold rushes and forever changed the history of Yukon and Canada.
Joseph Retty played a major role in the discovery of iron ore deposits in the Quebec-Labrador boundary region, remote wilderness which was later developed into one of the world’s greatest iron-producing fields.
