Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inducts Four New Members for 2014
Four key contributors to the development of mining in Canada will be inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame during the26th Annual Dinner and Induction Ceremony that will be held in Toronto at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, January 16, 2014.
The four inductees are: Jack McOaut, Kathleen C.S. Rice, C. Mark Rebagliati and David S. Robertson
Jack McOuat, (1933-2013)
John (Jack) McOuat is an icon of the Toronto mining scene and the last surviving co-founder of the independent geological and mining consulting firm Watts, Griffis and McOuat (WGM).
During his career in mining, he helped develop hundreds of mines and mineral projects around the world. McOuat was a founding partner in 1962 of Watts, Griffis and McOuat (WGM), Canada’s longest-running independent firm of geological and mining consultants.
Among one of McOuat’s many accomplishments was his ability to solve and overcome problems and challenges at remote and foreign projects. His guiding hand enabled the construction of a copper-zinc mine in Saudi Arabia, in less than 11 months. WGM captured global attention and a 1982 Canadian Consulting Engineering Award for its innovative approach to developing the Al Masane underground mine in the rugged terrain of Saudi Arabia.
McOuat had the expert ability to analyze, inspect, review and select favourable projects in geological districts worldwide. For 20 years, McOuat was the lead negotiator for mining companies pursuing joint exploration ventures with Alaskan native corporations. His wise counsel to companies pursuing development in remote areas is best highlighted by his participation on behalf of Teck Resources in the emerging Voisey’s Bay nickel project.
McOuat elevated the status of mining in a career that spanned more than 50 years, and he helped introduce and promote some of the mining industry’s greatest accomplishments to the world.
Born in Toronto in 1933, McOuat attended high school at University of Toronto Schools (UTS) and subsequently graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A.Sc. (Geological Engineering) in 1956. He came of age during Canada’s post-war mining boom. After graduating, McOuat operated Rio Tinto’s Northern Canada exploration programs. After a short stint in Ungava, Quebec he teamed up with Murray Watts, Arthur Thomas Griffis and Ross Lawrence to launch WGM Mining Consulting Firm.
McOuat’s belief in “going where the work is” spread Canadian mining expertise to the world.
When Australia’s mining industry suffered from scandal in 1974, he provided guidance to a senate committee whose report led to important reforms. He also served as an expert witness in the landmark case of International Corona v. Lac Minerals.
McOuat had a keen eye for opportunities and recognized the potential of Western Australia long before his peers. His Alaskan foray led to discoveries that later developed into the Red Dog (zinc), Pogo (gold) and Green’s Creek (silver) mines.
McOuat was a strong supporter of industry organizations and causes. In 1996, he joined the Board of Governors of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) to help raise awareness of its Earth Sciences collection. He played a major role in securing the ROM’s largest corporate gift of $10 million from Teck Resources. The donation resulted in new exhibits and galleries, including the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame gallery, and helps to raise public awareness of the mining industry’s diverse contributions to society.
Kathleen C.S. Rice (1883- 1963)
Kathleen C.S. Rice was a pioneering maverick in the prospecting and exploration field and become one of the most successful prospectors in Canadian mining history which was a major accomplishment for a women in a field which during her generation was completely dominated by men. She joins the legendary Viola McMillan as the only two women inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame
Kate Rice was raised and educated in an upper-middle-class southern Ontario home. Her parents owned St. Mary’s Milling Company. Kate’s father, Henry loved the outdoors and taught Kate how to canoe and camp along the St. Mary’s river.
Instead of falling into the genteel upper-middle class society of Southern Ontario, Kate was propelled by the call of adventure and after graduating from the University of Toronto in 1906 (majoring in Mathematics) she obtained a teaching position at a summer school in Tees Alberta. In 1911-12 she taught in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. She homestead near the Pas, Manitoba in order to participate in Canada’s new frontier. But since women were not allowed to homestead her claim was made in the name of her brother Lincoln Rice who joined her in the Pas.
Motivated by the discovery of gold in 1913 by the Mosher brothers near Beaver Lake in 1913, Rice secured a grubstake and travelled north to embark on a career in prospecting. Along the way, Rice learned Cree and was taught how to trap, hunt, mush dogs and shoot by a First Nations guide. Kate was also given an Indian name, “ Mooniasquao” (white woman). Her first prospecting trip took place in March 1914 and her Aboriginal guide travelled by dog team to Beaver Lake. She then traveled by canoe to Brochet and Reindeer Lake - 500 Miles north of The Pas where she discovered zinc at Reindeer Lake but didn’t stake because there was no railway to the area
Kate Rice wholeheartedly embraced the deprivations of frontier living and eventually settled in the Snow Lake area which today continues to be a major Canadian mining district. For several decades Kate prospected the Wekusko Lake, Herb Lake and Snow Lake area as well as the Burntwood and Flin Flon mineral belts. Kate's skills in exploration, mapping and prospecting led to her discover of key mineral deposits including the Wekusko Nickel-Rice deposit which was worth an estimated $5-million at the time. Today, Wekusko remains an important holding for the international mining company, Vale, and is valued at over $54-million.
Mark Rebagliati (1943- )
Mark Rebagliati graduated from Michigan Technological University in 1969 with a B.S. in geological engineering. He held positions in Canada with Teck Cominco, Silver Standard Mines, Newconex Canadian Exploration, Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation; Anaconda, Selco and BP Minerals.
In 1986, after being laid-off by BP Mark formed Rebagliati Geological Consulting Ltd. based in Vancouver, Canada. Working as a mineral exploration consultant he developed a successful association with the Vancouver-based Hunter Dickinson group of companies, an association that has persisted for 22 years. In association with Hunter Dickinson he has been involved in exploration for PGE in South Africa and North and South America, the Pacific Islands and Asia.
Rebagliati played a leading role in the discovery of the Mount Milligan, Southern Star and Kemess South porphyry copper-gold deposits in British Columbia; and a massive sulfide deposits at Campo Morado, Mexico. He also helped develop the world-class Pebble East porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in Alaska and the Xietongman and Newtongmen porphyry copper-gold deposits in China.
Rebagliati is the 1992 recipient of the British Columbia Chamber of Mines H. H. Huestis award for excellence in mineral exploration. He was named Prospector of the Year in 1997 by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada and a co-recipient of their Thayer Lindsely International Discovery Award in 2007.
Mark obtained a Diploma in Mining Technology from Haileybury School of Mines in Ontario and later attended to Michigan Tech and obtained BS in Geological Engineering in 1969. After graduating Rebagliati, worked with junior Canadian companies and major international companies until he became a geological exploration consultant for Hunter Dickinson Group.
Today, Rebagliati is President of his own company, Rebagliati Geological Consulting, Ltd. where he made his most recent discovery, the new Pebble Mine in Alaska – one of the world’s largest copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry deposits.
Rebagliati has capped his career with awards including: the Colin Spence Award for Global Exploration Excellence; Explorer of the Year, China; the Thayer Lindsley International Discovery Award; the Robert Dreyer Award; and the PDAC Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award.
David S. Robertson (1924- )
David S. Robertson became a respected statesman of Canada’s mining industry through technical accomplishments and integrity, in a career spanning more than six decades. Robertson, began his career like other industry giants in the mid-1950s Canadian mining boom. He played a major role in discovering uranium deposits at Elliot Lake, Ontario. In 1965 he founded David S. Robertson and Associates, a consulting firm that grew in stature as it expanded from its Canadian base to other countries. In the mid-1970 Robertson was retained by the Saskatchewan government to evaluate potash assets for a newly formed provincial Crown corporation.
Born in Winnipeg, Robertson graduated with a B.Sc. degree in physical chemistry and geology from the University of Manitoba in 1946. After earning his doctorate at Columbian University in 1949, he worked as a researcher before moving to Angola, where he was in charge of a post-war Marshall Plan program. He joined the consulting firm of GMX Corp. upon his return to Canada in 1955, and became its president in 1958. During this period he led an exploration program that discovered the Elliot Lake uranium deposits on which Stanrock Uranium Mines was based. He became a vice-president of Stanrock and remained a director until the company was acquired by Denison Mines in 1964. Robertson worked extensively in uranium exploration after forming his namesake consulting company, resulting in the discoveries of the Agnew Lake mine in the Ontario and the Mount Taylor deposit in New Mexico. He also made contributions to understanding the time-bound nature of uranium deposits and the geological environments in which they occur.
For more information please visit the following websites.
http://www.wgm.ca/News/News_20130801_JackMcOuat.html
http://www.wgm.ca/News/News_20131028_JackMcOuatHallofFame.html
Kate Rice, Prospector – by Helen Duncan (Simon & Pierre, Toronto, Canada 1984)
Kathleen Rice, University of Manitoba (Archives and Special Collections)
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