The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) has announced the five recipients of the 2025 PDAC Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the global mining industry. Since 1977, the awards have celebrated excellence across various facets of the industry, honouring individuals, teams and organizations that have made a lasting impact on the global mining landscape. The categories include the Bill Dennis Award, the Skookum Jim Award, the Sustainability Award, the Thayer Lindsley Award and the Viola R. MacMillan Award.   

The five recipients will receive their awards on March 4, 2025, at an awards gala that takes place during the PDAC 2025 Convention.  

“The 2025 award recipients embody the expertise, passion and drive that define excellence in mineral exploration and development,” said Raymond Goldie, president of PDAC, in a Nov. 5 press release. “Their remarkable accomplishments demonstrate the crucial role of innovation, resourcefulness and leadership in uncovering the minerals that power our modern world.” 

The 2025 PDAC Award winners are as follows: 

The Bill Dennis Award recognizes an individual or exploration team for either making a significant mineral discovery in Canada with potential economic impact or for a substantial contribution to Canada’s prospecting/exploration industry. The award is being presented to the Canadian Malartic Exploration Team for discovering the East Gouldie gold deposit at Agnico Eagle Mines Limited’s Odyssey mine at the Canadian Malartic complex, located in the Abitibi region of Quebec. 

The team found the East Gouldie deposit in 2018 through a deep drilling program, which focused on unexplored areas south of the East Malartic deposit. The deposit contains 5.17 million ounces of gold in mineral reserves, with 47 million tonnes graded at 3.42 grams per tonne. This discovery has been pivotal in transitioning the Canadian Malartic complex from one of Canada's largest open-pit mines to one of the largest underground gold mining projects through the Odyssey mine project. Production from East Gouldie is expected to begin in 2026. 

The Skookum Jim Award, which recognizes Indigenous achievement in mining, will be presented to David Kritterdlik for incorporating Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) values into the mining industry. Kritterdlik, who works as Agnico Eagle’s Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and wildlife advisor, played a key role in the creation and leadership of the Kivalliq Elders Advisory Committee (KEAC), an initiative launched by Agnico Eagle in 2021. The unique initiative brings together more than 20 Kivalliq Elders in the region to keep seven local communities updated about Agnico Eagle’s mining activities in Nunavut, as well as offer essential counsel to the Meliadine and Meadowbank mines on matters pertaining to wildlife, water management, climate change, fish habitats, employment, and community well-being. 

He also played a key part in rolling out the Inunnguiniq Project, which fostered partnerships with local organizations to promote community well-being through initiatives such as breakfast programs for children. 

The Sustainability Award recognizes an individual or organization for exceptional leadership and achievement in environmental protection during exploration, mine development or operations, and is being awarded to Teck Resources and UN Women for their collaborative Originarias Program. 

The program seeks to address gender, ethnic and territorial inequalities that Indigenous women in Chile’s Tarapacá region face. Since it began in 2016, the program has served over 8,000 people, offering tools and training opportunities to Indigenous women to help develop their skills, expand their networks and more. Part of the program helped over 2,000 Indigenous women improve their leadership and advocacy skills. 

The Thayer Lindsley Award honours an individual or team of explorers for a recent mineral discovery with potential economic viability anywhere in the world. This year’s award is being given to the Onto Discovery Team for finding the Onto copper-gold deposit in the Hu'u project, located in Sumbawa, Indonesia.  

The discovery is recognized as one of the most significant copper-gold finds globally in the past decade due to its size, grade and the difficult exploration conditions. The deposit, which is located 500 metres below the surface and obscured by unmineralized volcanic rocks, contains around 2.1 billion tonnes of mineralization with an average grade of 0.86 per cent copper and 0.48 grams per tonne of gold. At the time, members of the team were employed by Vale Exploration Pty. Ltd., PT Vale Eksplorasi Indonesia or PT Sumbawa Timur Mining. 

The Viola R. MacMillan Award celebrates an individual or company for exceptional leadership in managing and financing mineral resource exploration and development. This year’s award is being given to John Robins for his leadership and significant contributions to the mining and exploration industry throughout his career.  

Robins has been credited for playing a key role in multiple mineral discoveries, as well as creating several notable companies, such as Kaminak Gold and Stornoway Diamond. Additionally, he has facilitated over $3 billion in mergers and acquisitions and directed more than $1 billion in mineral expenditures across various regions, including Canada, Latin America and Australia.