TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) on Tuesday announced six industry leaders whom it would honour at the PDAC 2015 Convention, in Toronto.

The yearly PDAC awards showcase the achievements of companies, individuals and groups in the mineral exploration and mining sector by highlighting the best in domestic and international mineral discovery, mine development, Aboriginal achievement, environmental and social responsibility, and distinguished service.

Recipients of the 2015 annual awards would be celebrated at the association's awards evening on March 2, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel during the PDAC 2015 Convention.

The PDAC's board selected award recipients based on recommendations of the association's awards committee.

The Bill Dennis award for a Canadian mineral discovery or prospecting success 
was awarded to David Palmer, president and CEO of Probe Mines.

Palmer received the award for the Borden gold project, a discovery located near Chapleau, Ontario. The Borden project was an exciting and important new gold discovery that continued to evolve, grow and improve with ongoing exploration. Located in a previously unexplored area of Ontario, the discovery could potentially be the beginning of a significant new gold district in Canada.

The company's June technical report had estimated a high-grade gold resource with potential for underground extraction totalling 1.6-million ounces in the indicated resource category (9.3-million tonnes grading 5.39 g/t gold), and 430 000 oz of gold in the inferred category (three-million tonnes grading 4.37 g/t) at a 2.5 g/t gold cutoff. The deposit still remained open for expansion.

The Viola R MacMillan award for company or mine development was bestowed on Matt Manson, president and CEO of Stornoway Diamond Corporation. He was receiving the award for leading Stornoway's team in the continuing development of the company's Renard project, located in the James Bay region of Quebec.

The team had completed its $946-million project-financing package in July, more than 13 years after the project's initial discovery. The project is now under construction, with production scheduled to start in the second half of 2016.

The Thayer Lindsley award for international mineral discoveries
 was awarded to the Ivanhoe Mines Kamoa discovery team. The team discovered the Kamoa copper deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deposit is located in the Central African Copperbelt on the western edge of the Katanga basin, about 25 km west of the Kolwezi district.

The deposit was a new and blind grassroots discovery in an area previously written off by other explorers because of its lack of Mines Series rocks, as well as of surface mineralisation.

A 2013 independent mineral resource estimate ranked Kamoa as Africa's largest high-grade copper discovery and the world's largest, undeveloped high-grade copper discovery.

The PDAC’s Distinguished Service award
 was bestowed on Bill Pearson for his outstanding contribution and dedication to Canada's mineral and exploration industry in which he has worked for over 40 years.

He convened the first meeting of the Committee for the Professional Registration of Geoscientists of Ontario in March 1989, which he chaired for seven years. He was president of the Association of Geoscientists of Ontario from 1996 to 2000 and was the founding president of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario from 2000 to 2003. In addition to his work for the geoscience profession in Ontario, Pearson was instrumental in the formation of the Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists (CCPG - now Geoscientists Canada), where he served as one of CCPG's founding directors.

The Environmental and Social Responsibility award
 went to Noront Resources, for its accomplishments and commitment to social initiatives in Northern Ontario. Over the years, Noront had expanded its community engagement programme to include education, skills training, youth programming and economic development in the area.

The company had built a partnership with Matawa's Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services and Confederation College, in Thunder Bay, to create the Ring of Fire Aboriginal Training Alliance. Noront also supported programmes aimed at overcoming barriers to higher education among Aboriginal communities, including Mining Matters, an organization that educates students about Canada's geology and mineral resources, and DAREarts, a movie-making youth camp that helps students better understand mining and a donations and sponsorship programme.

The Skookum Jim award for Aboriginal achievement in the mineral industry
 was given to Sam Bosum for his work bridging the gap between the Oujé-Bougoumou Cree Nation and the mineral industry, as well as his continued efforts to encourage and mentor Cree youth to pursue their future careers, including that of geologists.

Bosum had been working with mining and exploration companies in the Chibougamau region of Quebec for nearly 50 years. He is currently the president of Native Exploration Services, an Aboriginal-owned company that offers significant employment and business opportunities in the region and is considered a major employer in the Oujé-Bougoumou Cree Nation. Bosum had been a member of the Band Council of the Oujé-Bougoumou Cree Nation for the past 38 years. During this time he has served as Deputy Chief and was elected as Chief in 2001, a position he held for eight years.