On Feb. 2, the Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) honoured the recipients of the 2021 Celebration of Excellence Awards. The annual awards gala was held at the Vancouver Convention Centre West and ten leaders were presented awards for their contributions to the mineral exploration and development industry.

“It's truly a celebration of excellence of the people who are in our industry that have done some phenomenal things from discovering new mines, or new potential mines down the future,” said Kendra Johnston, AME president and CEO. “At the end of the day it’s to celebrate the people who have really made such a significant difference in our industry.”

Theodore W. Muraro received the H.H. “Spud” Huestis Award, which goes to someone who has enhanced British Columbia or Yukon’s mineral resources.

In 1965, Muraro discovered a gold occurrence that eventually became the Snip gold mine, which would go on to produce approximately one million ounces of gold from 1991 to 1999. Throughout his career, he provided support on various projects, eventually leading to the discovery of the Duncan Lake zinc-lead-silver deposit and the Lynx Zone in the Buttle Lake mining district as well as the development of the Polaris lead-zinc mine.

The AME 2021 E.A. Scholz Award, celebrating excellence in mine development in B.C. or Yukon, was awarded to John McConnell and the Victoria Gold Corp. team for successfully bringing the Eagle gold mine into production. The 37,000 tonne-per-day operation is the leading gold mine in Yukon.

McConnell, president, director and CEO of Victoria Gold, and his team faced a lot of challenges including financing, building and operating a mine in the North, and heap leaching in Yukon’s climate. They pushed through and turned Eagle into a successful operation with more than 500 employees, 50 per cent of which are Yukoners, 25 per cent women and 25 per cent First Nations citizens.

David Harquail was awarded the Murray Pezim Award, honouring a financier who has made contributions to the mineral exploration and mining community. Harquail, chair of the board of directors and former CEO of Franco-Nevada Corp., helped the company provide billions of dollars in investment capital to advance projects throughout Canada and internationally. To date, the company has provided over US$5 billion in investment capital to 325 mining operations.

The 2021 Colin Spence Award went to Great Bear Resources’ R. Bob Singh and Chris Taylor for their role in discovering the LP Fault gold zone at the Dixie project for Great Bear Resources Ltd. The Colin Spence Award is given to someone who has made a significant mineral discovery outside British Columbia or Yukon by using original prospecting techniques or other geoscience technology.

In 2015, Singh, vice-president, brought the Dixie project to Taylor, the company’s president and CEO, recognizing that its geological setting had the potential for additional gold discoveries. The Great Bear team carried out exploration and advanced the project, which was purchased by Kinross Gold for $1.8 billion last December.

University of British Columbia professor Gregory Dipple received the inaugural 2021 AME Innovation Award for a significant innovation or technical advancement that benefits mineral exploration in B.C. or worldwide. Dipple was recognized for his work in mineral carbon sequestration that uses tailings as a means of extracting CO2 from the air and trapping it in new stone formations.

Ron Bernbaum, founder of PearTree Canada, received the Special Tribute Award for his role in creating the Charitable Flow-Through (CFT) financing mechanism. He combined Flow-through shares (FTS) with a donation tax credit, reducing the after-tax costs on charitable dontations which resulted in an increase in donations. This created an incentive that gives Canada a global advantage in attracting risk capital for mineral exploration and development.

MineralsEd (Mineral Resources Education Program of B.C.) received a $20,000 grant to support its 2022 Junior Geologist virtual classroom workshop. The program brings awareness and appreciation for the value of the mineral exploration industry. Since 2017, 2,400 students in Grades 4, 5 and 6 have taken part in the Junior Geologist program, where they learn about the properties of natural materials, mineral resources and the importance of exploration and mining.

The Robert R. Hedley Award for excellence in social and environmental responsibility went to Silvana Costa, director of social responsibility at Equinox Gold Corp. Costa is a leader in environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. She is known for communicating with Indigenous communities and providing advice on the social and cultural impacts of mining. She led sustainability initiatives at the B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and at New Gold. In 2013, she became chair of AME’s new Corporate Social Responsibility Committee.

The Tahltan Emergency Management Committee was nominated for the David Barr Award for its commitment to health and safety through the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee was quick to respond as the situation evolved, which included managing outbreaks and creating a forum to facilitate communication and offer support to one another. In addition, it collaborated with BC Wildfire Service and industry partners to address wildfires in the region by discussing transport, accommodation, fuel and medical services.

Michael Gray received the Frank Woodside Gold Pan Award for distinguished service to AME. Gray has served on AME’s Executive Committee for six years, as president of the committee from 2004 to 2005 and as co-chair of AME’s Indigenous Relations Committee. As president, he helped inform the BC Mining Plan, and supported the creation of Geoscience BC. When his term as president ended, he continued his work with AME on various committees, sat on the Roundup Organizing Committee and has helped the association advocate for the dedication of resources as B.C. sees a resurgence in mineral exploration.