Aptly described as “the soul” of Barrick Gold, Robert Smith is best known as the stalwart of one of the most successful partnerships in mining history. While Chairman Peter Munk supplied the vision and business talent that made Barrick one of the world’s largest and most profitable gold producers, Smith built, led and inspired the technical team that transformed Munk’s vision into reality.
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.
James Thomson embodied dedication to the mining industry throughout his 44-year career with the Ontario Department of Mines (ODM), later the Ontario Geological Survey (OGS). He revived, enlarged and modernized ODM, transforming it into an increasingly important body recognized in Canada and internationally for its technical excellence.
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.
Known by his contemporaries as “the man who made the Malartics”, James Paul Norrie combined ambition, energy, instinct and an extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit to discover and open mines in the Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec, including Perron, East Malartic and Malartic Goldfields, to name but a few.
Robert Isaacs is best-known for his role in the discovery and development of the massive lead-zinc deposits in New Brunswick that became the cornerstone of Brunswick Mining and Smelting. A talented mining engineer, he also had a hand in financing and developing many smaller producers, particularly in Newfoundland, where he developed a reputation for building mines with low capital and operating costs.
A hands-on approach to problem-solving, forged in both war and peace, enabled William Guy Brissenden to master repeated challenges during a lengthy career spent mostly with Noranda. His extraordinary skills surfaced as a member of the management team that successfully developed Gaspé Copper’s mine, mill and smelter at Murdochville, Quebec.
When Alexander Dadson began exploring the Yellowknife region in the early 1940s, he saw potential beyond the small, high-grade gold showings known to exist since 1898.
As the founder and builder of Barrick Gold, Peter Munk has few peers in Canadian mining history. In less than two decades, he turned a small Canadian producer into one of the world’s largest and most respected mining companies.
