It is largely due to the direction of John Simpson that Placer Development, a predecessor company of Placer Dome Inc., developed a global perspective that characterizes a growing number of Canadian mining companies. Under Simpson’s direction and foresight, Placer became pre-eminent in high-tonnage, open pit mining operations in British Columbia and overseas and in the production of a variety of minerals.
Pierre Beauchemin was a towering figure on the mining horizons of the province of Quebec. As one of French Canada’s most outstanding mine makers, he was the founder of one of this country’s leading mining organizations, the Sullivan Group of companies. A rough-hewn coureur de bois raised on the shores of the St. Lawrence and in the woods of Abitibi, he had a firm faith in the mineral wealth of his native province, and pursued this faith with tenacity and perseverance.