AME BC announces 2013 award recipients

Father and son team of Ben and Garrett Ainsworth of Alpha Minerals are among the recipients of the AME BC Awards — Photo courtesy CEO.ca The Associat

Father and son team of Ben and Garrett Ainsworth of Alpha Minerals are among the recipients of the AME BC Awards — Photo courtesy CEO.ca

The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) is pleased to announce the 2013 recipients of its annual awards presented to individuals or teams for significant contributions to the mineral exploration and development industry.

“It is an honour to congratulate this year’s award recipients,” said Michael McPhie, Chair of the Board of AME BC. “The success of the mineral exploration and development industry based in British Columbia is due in large part to these individuals and teams who have shown excellence in mineral exploration and development as well as leadership in corporate social responsibility.”

The AME BC Awards Dinner will be held at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, January 29, 2014 during Mineral Exploration Roundup: Resources for Life, at the Westin Bayshore, Vancouver. Tickets are available through registration at amebc.ca/roundup.

This year’s recipients are as follows:

Rob Carpenter, Craig Finnigan, Adam Simmons, Tim Smith and Alan Wainwright are the recipients of the H. H. “Spud” Huestis Award for excellence in prospecting and mineral exploration. They are recognized for their role in Kaminak Gold Corporation’s exploration and development of the Coffee Gold Project.

Peter Holbek and Rod Shier of Copper Mountain Mining Corporation are recipients of the E. A. Scholz Award for excellence in mine development. They are acknowledged for their leadership in bringing the Copper Mountain mine back into production.

Richard Barclay and Michael Beley are recipients of the Murray Pezim Award for perseverance and success in financing mineral exploration. They are honoured for their exceptional partnership that started in 1974 with the combination of their respective companies, Bear-X and Manex Mining, to form Bema Industries.

Rod Davey, Stephen Prest and Robert Gannicott are recipients of the Hugo Dummett Award for excellence in diamond exploration and development. They are acknowledged for their key roles in the successful development of the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories.

Ben and Garrett Ainsworth of Alpha Minerals Inc. are the recipients of the Colin Spence Award for excellence in global mineral exploration. They receive the award in recognition of their efforts which led to the discovery of a high-grade uranium mineralized system at the Patterson Lake South project in Saskatchewan.

Boart Longyear is the recipient of the David Barr Award for leadership and innovation in mineral exploration health and safety. The company is recognized for its leadership in addressing safety issues through innovation and seeing substantially increased performance in health and safety as a result.

Harvey McLeod of Klohn Crippen Berger is recognized with the Robert R. Hedley Award for excellence in social and environmental responsibility for his leadership in the evolution and development of mine waste management practices as well as in integrating socio-environmental responsibility with the engineered aspects of tailings and waste rock.

AME BC also recognizes prospector Don Bragg with the Gold Pan Award for his service to the mineral exploration community through his work with the association. AME BC also honours ‘Lyn Anglin with a Special Tribute for her significant contributions toward geoscience mineral exploration and development as past president and CEO of Geoscience BC.

Finally, AME BC has awarded Outreach Education Funding to MineralsEd ($11,800) and the Britannia Mine Museum ($10,000).

For more details about the awards, view the backgrounder and visit amebc.ca.

AME BC is the lead association for the mineral exploration and development industry based in British Columbia. Established in 1912, AME BC represents, advocates, protects and promotes the interests of thousands of members who are engaged in mineral exploration and development in BC and throughout the world. AME BC encourages a safe, economically strong and environmentally responsible industry by providing clear initiatives, policies, events and tools to support its membership.

AME BC holds Roundup annually in Vancouver, home to 1,000 mineral exploration and mining companies and 2,400 international service consultants and supplier companies supporting the sector in technical, legal and financial affairs. Roundup generates $8.5 million annually for the Vancouver economy. Roundup 2013 attracted over 7,800 participants.