31 December 2019
CIM is more than an organization – it is a community of people who share a common passion for the mining industry. We would like to extend our condolences to friends and family of the deceased as we remember those who have passed away. Though they are no longer with us, their work and accomplishments live on.
We do our best to publish all the names of recently deceased CIM members and apologize if there are any we have missed. Please send notices to membership@cim.org.
Victor (Vic) Nigel Bryant, of New Westminster, B.C., passed away on December 1, 2019. Bryant was CEO and president of Highbank Resource until 2002, when the metallurgical engineer became a director of the company. Bryant was also a vice-president and senior metallurgist for Micon International and a consultant with Fluor Daniel, where he worked on projects with PT Newmont in Indonesia, BHP in Chile and more. He joined CIM in 1989 and became a Life Member in 2017. Bryant’s primary society was Canadian Mineral Processors.
R.E. Gordon Davis (Vancouver, BC) on July 19, 2019 at the age of 81. He was a founder of the Cyprus Anvil Mining Corporation and was subsequently a director of a number of resource companies in Canada, including Pine Point Mines, Cabre Exploration, Golden Knight Resources, Silver Standard Resources and Pacific Ridge Explorations. He joined CIM in 1964 and became a Life Member in 2010.
Peter Ferderber, who was known for exploring and staking claims in Abitibi and northern Quebec, passed away on February 2, 2019, at the age of 92. Ferderber was president of Prospecting Geophysics, and was the founder of the Quebec Prospectors’ Association (QPA). The Quebec government recognized his role in the mining industry and awarded Ferderber the the Medaille de L’Assemble Nationale in 2009. He also was a 2012 recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Ferderber had been a CIM Member since 1965. He was named a 50 Year Club member in 2015.
Richard H.T. Garnett (Oakville, ON) on January 26, 2019. During his 55-year career as a mining engineer and geologist, he was instrumental in the discovery and expansion of several deposits, including Voisey’s Bay, Donlin Creek and the Geevor Tin Mine in Cornwall. He was a Life member of CIM.
Andrew Gulka, a mine maintenance supervisor at Potash Corp., passed away on February 12, 2019, at the age of 52. He had been a member of CIM since 2006.
D. N. Harley, a CIM member since 1977 and a Life Member since 2014, passed away on November 14, 2019. Harley was part of the Geological Society.
Boris S. Karpoff passed away in August 2019. He joined CIM in 1957, and became a Life Member 1995. Karpoff was part of the Underground Mining Society.
Paul Kavanagh, a regular contributor to the CIM Foundation, passed away in September 2019. He was director of mining and metals at Société Générale. He had been a CIM Member since 1985. Kavanagh was part of the Surface Mining Society.
Harry M. Parker passed away on December 19, 2019. Parker studied at Harvard and Stanford, earning degrees in geology and statistics. Over the course of his career, his duties ranged from grass-roots exploration to reserves estimation to mine geology, resource and reserve estimation, auditing, due diligence investigations and geostatistical analysis. In 1989, Parker co-founded Mineral Resources Development Inc (MRDI), now part of the John Wood Group. Parker was a widely published author, with more than 40 technical papers and presentations to his name. He was a member of the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO) from 2007 to 2018. Parker joined CIM in 2005. and his primary society was the Management and Economics Society.
Fred Sveinson passed away on December 13, 2019. Sveinson earned a degree in mining engineering from the University of Saskatchewan in 1970. He spent the next 49 years working in the industry. Sveinson was involved in exploration, development, construction, operation and financing of underground mining projects, and held positions with mining companies, consulting firms and mine contractors. Sveinson was CEO and director of a number of junior mining companies, and served as the senior mining advisor to Bralorne, and as a member of the Avino Silver & Gold Mines management team. Sveinson joined CIM in 1975 and became a Life Member in 2013. He was 71.
