The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2013 awards for outstanding contributions and excellence in the mineral industry. The PDAC’s prestigious awards program goes back to 1977, when the first Bill Dennis Award for prospecting success was handed out. Recipients of the 2013 awards will be honoured at the PDAC’s awards evening on March 4, 2013, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The awards evening takes place every year during the PDAC Convention—the mineral exploration and development industry’s premier networking and educational event.

The 2013 award recipients are as follows:
Pretium Resources is the recipient of this year’s Bill Dennis Award for a Canadian mineral discovery or prospecting success. Pretium is receiving the award for advancing the Brucejack Property’s Valley of the Kings, which was first discovered in 2009, into a world-class, high-grade gold deposit. Since 2011, Pretium’s successful exploration program has seen the high-grade Indicated Mineral Resource Base for the Valley of the Kings grow to the current 8.5 million ounces of gold.

New Gold Inc. is the recipient of this year’s Viola R. MacMillan Award for company or mine development. New Gold is receiving the award for demonstrating leadership in management and excellence in best practices in bringing the New Afton mine to production. The New Afton copper-gold mine, located in Kamloops, British Columbia, is a large underground copper-gold deposit which is expected to produce, on average, 85,000 ounces of gold and 75 million pounds of copper per year over a 12-year mine life. The New Afton Participation Agreement with local First Nations is considered a best practice in Canada.

Daniel G. Wood is the recipient of this year’s Thayer Lindsley Award for international mineral discoveries. Daniel is receiving the award for his leadership of exploration teams responsible for numerous discoveries of mineral deposits in a variety of geologic settings, with an aggregate gross value in excess of $100 billion. Daniel retired from mineral exploration in late 2008 after 24 years with BHP and almost 18 years with Newcrest Mining Limited, leading teams exploring for a range of mineral resources in Australia, SE Asia/SW Pacific and the Americas. Their efforts produced coal, gold, gold-copper and copper-molybdenum discoveries in Australia, Indonesia and Peru, including the large Cadia gold-copper deposits in NSW.

Ronald P. Gagel is the recipient of this year’s Distinguished Service Award. Ron is receiving the award for his outstanding contribution to the mineral industry in the field of finance, and for his contributions to the PDAC. Ron’s background in mining finance, accounting and taxation has provided outstanding support to the financial activities and affairs of the PDAC, particularly through his work on the Finance and Taxation Committee. Ron was part of the team that successfully lobbied the federal government to implement the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, and is the Chair of the Mining Industry Task Force on International Financial Reporting Standards.

Cameco Corporation is the recipient of this year’s Environmental and Social Responsibility Award. Cameco is receiving the award for its outstanding accomplishments in establishing good community relations to support its exploration and mining operations. Cameco’s five-pillar Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) model is designed to ensure local community support and proactive environmental stewardship, and has led to recognition of Cameco as an industry leader in CSR by Aboriginal associations and industry rankings.

Windigo Catering Limited Partnership is the winner of this year’s Skookum Jim Award for Aboriginal achievement in the mineral industry. Windigo Catering is receiving the award for its achievement as a Canadian Aboriginal-run business and its service to the Canadian mining industry. Located in northwestern Ontario, the company is solely owned by Windigo First Nations and boasts an 83% First Nations employment rate. Windigo specializes in providing catering services to industry, including remote camps, and is currently providing camp management, catering, housekeeping, laundry, and light maintenance services to Goldcorp’s Musselwhite Mine at their remote fly-in camp on Opapimiskan Lake.