Harold Wright has been associated in some measure with virtually every significant mining operation in Western Canada and the Yukon during the past 45 years, as well as many operations internationally, through Wright Engineers, the consulting firm he established in 1947.
James McCrea was instrumental in building Dome Mines into one of the giants of the Canadian mining industry. He was responsible for acquiring and developing Dome’s Sigma mine in northwestern Quebec in the early 1930s, which has been producing gold for 56 years, and the Campbell Red Lake gold mine, one of Canada’s premier gold producers and also still in production.
Joseph Errington embodied the spirit of mining prior to the Second World War as the country pulled itself out of the depths of the Depression in the 1930s and mining became a prime force in creating a prosperous and bustling postwar Canada.
During his 43 years with The Northern Miner, a weekly newspaper, Maurice Brown has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Canadian mining industry. His reporting on mineral discoveries, operating mines and the people who find, develop and operate them, has enhanced the industry’s reputation for openness and facilitated the free flow of information that has helped make it a world leader.
Côme Carbonneau had an unusual career for a mining man. It straddled not only the academic and private-sector fields, but also reached into the public sector where he became the builder and developer of the novel, state-owned enterprise known as SOQUEM.
Arthur Stollery was a rare combination of prospector, mine finder and entrepreneur. He played a key role in finding two great orebodies, contributed to the development of both Denison Mines and Camflo Mines, and inspired others by his leadership, dedication and personal integrity.
Canada is known as a centre of excellence in mining geophysics, and much of the credit for this achievement goes to Harold Seigel, an extraordinary geophysicist who conceived and pioneered several new methods of mineral exploration.
The scarcity of jobs during the Depression years prompted a young Egil Lorntzsen to pursue a prospecting career, starting in the Bridge River gold camp of British Columbia. But success was not to come until decades later, when he made an “elephant” copper discovery in nearby Highland Valley.
Archibald Bell contributed to the development of several mines during the course of an illustrious career that epitomizes the progress made by the mining industry this century. He is best known for his role in the discovery of the Copper and Needle Mountain orebodies of Gaspe Copper which, at 67 million tons averaging 1.3% copper, could be termed an “elephant” discovery.
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.
