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.
Pierre Lassonde has long believed that a nation’s natural resources are not its commodities, but its people. He proved this true during his own exemplary career as a professional engineer, astute investor, innovative financier, entrepreneurial company builder, dedicated philanthropist, and senior statesman of Canada’s mining and investment industries.
John (Jack) McOuat helped advance hundreds of mines and mineral projects around the world as a founding partner of Watts, Griffis and McOuat (WGM), Canada’s longest-running independent firm of geological and mining consultants.
Karl Springer, a highly successful mine-finder, has amply proved in his career as a prospector that not only could he find the mines but that he could provide the inspirational leadership and drive to make them pay. As well, he has done pioneer work, particularly with the helicopter, in the use of aviation in exploration and mine development.
It was not for nothing that The Northern Miner, the weekly journal of Canada’s mining industry, in 1977 chose Stephen B. Roman as its first Mining Man of the Year.
An eminent economic geologist, known internationally for his many contributions to mineral exploration on nearly every continent of the world, Duncan R. Derry was one of the Canadian mining industry’s leading spokesmen.
Since the turn of the century, the mining prospector has been a romantic figure in Canadian folklore. Justifiably so, because it has usually been the prospector who has triggered the metamorphosis of idle wilderness ground into a wealth-producing production centre providing the necessities of life for many in the mining community and opportunity on a far-reaching scale, to industrial operations across Canada.
Prominently displayed in the halls of St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, is a plaque that reads:“GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY FRIENDS OF DR. W.F. JAMES, SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER UNIVERSITY ON 12 MARCH 1980..."
To win acclaim in one lifetime either as a prospector, a scientist, a mine maker or a corporate builder is no small achievement; each occupation requires a high degree of talent, competence and energy. These three qualities Norman Keevil possessed and employed in abundance as indicated by the act that he achieved preeminence in all four endeavors.
