Although he never discovered a mineral deposit, owned a mine or worked in one, Benjamin Bell was, for almost two decades, the Canadian mining industry’s most prominent spokesman. He played a pivotal role in the organization of provincial mining associations and in bringing about their federation and subsequent amalgamation into the Canadian Mining Institute, which later became the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM).
Most follow one path, but John Paris Bickell commanded several successful careers during his extraordinary life. He opened a brokerage firm at the age of 23 and was a millionaire by 30. In 1919, he left the investment business to become president and, later, chairman of McIntyre-Porcupine Mines, one of Ontario’s first and most important gold producers.
George B. Cross chronicled and supported the Canadian mining industry through the George Cross News Letter Ltd., an authoritative and respected source of daily mining news that served the resource and investment communities for more than 50 years.
Professor Donald Gorman has served the Canadian mining industry with distinction for more than half a century as a renowned mineralogist and superbly talented educator.
Victor Wansbrough served Canada’s metals mining industry with distinction for more than 20 years as the first full-time Managing Director of the Canadian Metal Mining Association (CMMA), the forerunner of the Mining Association of Canada.
John Hansuld has served Canada’s mining and minerals sector with distinction as a pioneering geochemist, entrepreneurial company-builder and dedicated industry advocate. As a scientist, he advanced the application of geochemical techniques to mineral exploration and enhanced the profile and prestige of its practitioners.
A partnership formed by Robert Hunter and Robert Dickinson more than 25 years ago has endured as the inspirational foundation for Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI), one of North America’s most respected mineral exploration and mine development groups.
In a life span of 89 years, Hector Authier drank deeply from the cup of Canadian life and enriched his country in the process. All Abitibi was his cause and Val d’Or one of the effects.
