Few events in mining history have generated as much excitement or public attention as the Lac de Gras diamond discoveries in Canada’s North during the early 1990s. Stewart (Stu) Blusson was an intellectual catalyst for this transformative event, which led to development of Ekati, Canada’s first diamond mine, and other significant discoveries.

A.O. Dufresne, born April 10, 1890, devoted his 45-year professional career to Quebec’s department of mines. He molded it into an efficient support system for mineral exploration and mine development that has assisted in exploiting the province’s mineral riches in an orderly fashion.

While every graduate engineer is familiar with the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, there may be a few who do not know that the ritual dates back to 1922 and a certain Professor Herbert Edward Terrick Haultain. In a talk he gave that year, Professor Haultain recommended developing an oath or creed for graduating engineers.

Franklin Pickard was a miner’s miner and the first Sudbury native to head up a major nickel company. He joined Falconbridge as a young process labourer and rose through the ranks to become the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

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.