2011 Hall of Fame

Marco T. Einaudi has made a lasting contribution to economic geology and the mining industry through geologic mapping and related research, education, mineral exploration, and scientific editing. He is perhaps best known in Arizona for his synthesis of skarn deposits related to porphyry copper systems of southwestern North America.

Marco earned a BA degree in Geology from Cornell University in 1961.  He was called to service after graduating because of his fluency in French and served as an Army Intelligence officer operating under cover in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. He later earned a PhD in 1969 in Geology from Harvard University. Marco had academic opportunities after completing his PhD but was enticed by John Hunt to join The Anaconda Company as an exploration geologist. He spent seven years with Anaconda, mostly in the Bingham district, Utah, and the Yerington district, Nevada. His work at Bingham helped lead to discovery of the Carr Fork skarn orebody.

Marco became a professor at Stanford University in 1975 to pursue teaching and research interests. He served as primary advisor to 21 MS and 34 PhD graduates in economic geology, maintaining a highly successful graduate program almost single handedly for three decades, which will pay dividends for years to come. Marco was a driving force in making the Yerington district a new classic locale in economic geology and an outdoor classroom for teaching the methods of mapping mineral deposits. He also took posts in academic administration, society affairs, and scientific publishing. At Stanford, Marco provided leadership as a Department Chairman and Associate Dean. In the Society of Economic Geologists, he served on numerous committees and as Councilor and Vice President. He was the fourth Editor of Economic Geology from 1996 to 2002, when he launched the Map Series to draw attention to the importance of geologic mapping. Awards bestowed on Marco include SEG Thayer Lindsley Visiting Lecturer 1982-83, Award for Excellence in Teaching in the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford in 1993, SEG 1993 Silver Medalist, SEG 1994 International Exchange Lecturer, SEG 2003 Distinguished Lecturer, and SEG 2008 Penrose Gold Medalist.
Marco retired from Stanford in 2003 but continues to offer his wisdom and expertise at sites around the world as a geologic consultant and corporate advisor to exploration companies. He and his wife Meredith split their time between homes at Stanford and in Hawaii.

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Ralph Sievwright was born in 1924 in the then-active mining town of Jerome, AZ.  After graduating from Jerome High School, he enrolled at the University of Arizona.  Shortly thereafter, with WWII in full force, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, where he served as a crew member on a B-17 bomber
(Flying Fortress). Following his discharge from the military, he returned to the UofA, earning a bachelor's degree in Public Administration in 1948 and a LLB from the College of Law in 1952.

After graduation from law school, Ralph joined the law firm of Guynn & Twitty, a boutique practice specializing in public land issues and mining law.  Howard Twitty, one of the firm's founders, was honored by the Mining Foundation of the Southwest in 2002 for his own contributions to the industry.  In 1958 the firm became Twitty, Sievwright & Mills and continued to specialize in providing sophisticated legal advice to mining companies for the next 50 years.

Early in his legal career, Ralph began representing Magma Copper Company and its related mining and smelting entities in San Manuel and Superior, Arizona.  He served as chief negotiator for the company in its labor negotiations with seven unions for over 40 years and advised the company on mining law and compliance with complex environmental laws, especially as they dealt with copper smelting operations.  He is, and was, well-known as a leader in Arizona in these fields of law practice.

Throughout his career, in addition to Magma Copper Company, Ralph represented a wide range of mining industry clients, including Newmont, Molycorp, Unocal, Copper Range, Asarco, Placer, Hecla and others.  His clients produced copper, molybdenum, gold, potash and rare earth minerals and their properties’ locations extended from the Southwest to Alaska to Michigan; but his client base was in the Southwest, especially Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.  He presented legal arguments before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals – Ninth Circuit and other federal and state courts.  He has been an active member of SME and has served on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Conference for many years, providing both legal and practical assistance and knowledge where needed.  He is a member of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. 

Over the years, Ralph declined opportunities to move from Arizona to enter the corporate structure of his clients.  He preferred to remain in Phoenix as an independent practitioner, close to the mining operations that he loves.  His deep knowledge of the industry and generosity of spirit have made him an invaluable resource for the mining law community.  In addition, he serves as the institutional memory for clients in the wake of acquisitions and other restructuring within the industry.  He is widely respected among Arizona lawyers and served as a judge pro tem for the AZ Court of Appeals in 1991.

Ralph resides in Phoenix with his wife of 63 years, Carolyn.  They have two daughters, Jan Feltz (Phoenix) and Kim Mitchell (Menlo Park, CA), both of whom are attorneys.  He has a grandson and three granddaughters.

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Earl Herkenhoff graduated from the New Mexico School of Mines in 1936 with highest scholastic honors in mining engineering. He received a fellowship to the University of Idaho earning an MS in metallurgical engineering in 1937.

For the next four years he worked in various mines and mills in New Mexico, Arizona and Montana for New Jersey Zinc, Phelps Dodge, and Anaconda. In late 1941, Earl started a ten-year association with American Cyanamid Co. in Stamford Conn. and Hibbing MN. After ten years with Cyanamid, he joined Pickens Mather & Co. as assistant chief metallurgist at Hibbing, MN. In late 1955, Utah Construction and Mining hired him as director of metallurgical research. Four years later, he became vice-president of a Utah affiliate-Marcona Mining Co., with a large iron ore deposit in Peru. The success of this project is largely due to his expertise in ferrous metallurgy and materials handling.

After Marcona, in 1963, Earl worked on two other projects as a vice president, involving a copper-iron mine in British Columbia and a phosphate project in Peru. In 1966, Earl rejoined Pickens Mather as vice-president and general manager in Australia. In 1969, he returned to the US, joining Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp. where he worked on the feasibility of various projects worldwide. In 1971, he joined the Southern Peru Copper Cuajone project as manager-owner's control group at Fluor-Utah, fully utilizing his skills in mine, mill, powerhouse and smelter design.

 After Southern Peru Copper, Earl worked for AG McKee and Kaiser Engineers, consulting or directing various projects in Algeria, Guatemala and South Africa.

He became engineering director for Phillips Uranium Corp. During the times of projected high energy prices a deep low grade uranium mine/mill complex was viable, but when prices weakened in 1980, Earl, with his knowledge of energy and economics, resigned ahead of the crowd. He continued to consult until his health started to fail in the mid 1990’s.

He was recognized as a Distinguished Engineer by SME, published at least fifteen technical papers and held fifteen patents, primarily in iron ore beneficiation.

He is remembered as one who could look at a project's flowsheet and immediately spot fatal flaws or trouble areas.

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Samuel Newhouse was born in New York City and grew up in Pennsylvania, where he studied law. In 1879, he moved to Colorado. In Leadville, he was in the freighting and hotel business. He acquired mining property at Ouray, sold later for several million dollars. He moved to Denver where he operated as a speculator and promoter, gaining contacts in the East and in Europe.

In 1896, Newhouse moved to Utah, where he and Thomas Weir, a respected mine operator from Leadville and Butte, acquired properties at Bingham Canyon. One, the Highland Boy, was promoted as a gold mine, but on the discovery of high grade copper, was sold to The Standard Oil Company in 1899 for twelve million-dollars.

In 1898, Newhouse and Weir purchased additional mining property at Bingham Canyon. Development proved a large tonnage of lower grade disseminated copper. This became the Boston Consolidated Copper Co. In 1905, a pilot plant was built for the Bingham Canyon ores, followed by the construction of a 3000 ton per day concentrator at Garfield, where water was abundant. Assisted by Louis Cates, Boston Consolidated became an early successful porphyry copper producer. It was the first porphyry copper to use steam shovels (1906), beating Jackling's Utah Copper by two months.  

Boston Consolidated's property occupied the top of the Bingham Canyon deposit, and it was vital the properties be consolidated, or Utah Copper would have had to mine underground. The late 1909 merger of Boston Consolidated into Utah Copper marked the end of Newhouse's mining ventures. He then turned his interests to real estate development, building Utah's first high rises, as well as the Flatiron building in New York City. He also donated land for the Salt Lake Stock Exchange.

It was Newhouse who gave publicity to Utah copper mining, enlisted the support of Eastern and British capital and was among the first to have a vision of successful open-pit mining. By 1903, he was known as "the father of copper mining in Utah", a title later eclipsed by Jackling after the merger of Utah Copper and Boston Consolidated.

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Thomas Leggett graduated from the Columbia School of Mines in 1879. He first worked at an iron works in New York. When the plant shut down in 1880, his next job was at the Botapilas silver mines in Chihuahua, Mexico. Here, he learned much about concentrating lead-silver ores. In 1884, he worked as an assayer at a smelter in Lake Valley, New Mexico. The smelter closed in a few months, whereupon Leggett was hired as a mining engineer with the New York and Honduras Mining Co. in Honduras, working there until 1887. He then returned to Colorado to conduct an eight week test program for a friend. Following this, he went to the Darien peninsula in Panama in the fall of 1888. The climate caused health problems, so he returned to the US in 1890. Following a six month period to regain his health, he became the manager of the Standard Consolidated Mining Co. in Bodie, CA.

While Leggett managed this mine, two significant events occurred. It became one of the pioneers in using cyanide for the recovery of gold and silver. In 1894, he built the first cyanide plant on the Pacific coast at Bodie. The second event, with consequences far beyond the mining industry, was the long distance transmission of electricity. Faced with having to use wood for fuel, Leggett searched for cheaper alternatives. He discovered that in 1892, alternating current had been successfully transmitted three miles at Telluride CO. He installed a 250-kw Westinghouse generator powered by Pelton water wheels with a 300-foot head. The power generated was at 3000 volts and was carried 13 miles on a #1 bare copper wire. By late 1894, the system was considered proven and the steam powered equipment removed.

Following his success at Bodie, Leggett worked as a consulting engineer in the South African gold mines for eight years. After his African experience, he became a consultant in New York City.

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Pope Yeatman received an Engineer of Mines degree from Washington University (St. Louis, MO) in 1883. He soon joined other American mining engineers working in the gold mines of South Africa. On his return to the US, he joined John Hays Hammond, who had become the Guggenheim’s consulting mining engineer.

In 1906, Hammond sent Yeatman to Alaska, to examine the claims that became the Kennecott mine. Based on Yeatman’s recommendation, the Guggenheim’s acquired this property, which proved to be a bonanza.

Following the departure of Hammond from the Guggenheim interests, Yeatman became their top mining engineer. He acted in various roles at the Guggenheim controlled Nevada Consolidated Copper Co. - as consulting engineer, general manager and managing director.  He was in charge of the design and construction of the reduction works at Nevada (Concentrator and smelter).

His next major accomplishment occurred in Chile. In 1909, the Guggenheims acquired control of Braden Copper Co. Pope Yeatman was made consulting engineer and assumed direct responsibility for the administration of all operations. To develop the property to its potential, in addition to mine development, a railroad had to be constructed, hydro power plants constructed,( including the canals and/or pipelines to get the water to the generating plants), construct and expand the concentrator, install aerial trams for both ore and concentrates, build a smelter, and provide the necessary infrastructure.

Around 1911, Yeatman directed Edwin S. Berry to make an examination of a property in northern Chile for the Guggenheim interests. This was the Chuquicamata property. By the end of 1911 when the Guggenheims took control of this property, Yeatman had the dual responsibility of directing the additional exploration and development of Chuquicamata, with its exotic copper minerals requiring special metallurgy, as well as the ongoing work at Braden.

At Braden, he followed up on William Braden’s work with The Minerals Separation Co. on flotation of the Braden (El Teniente) ore. By using fresh, unoxidized ores, excellent recovery of copper was obtained, something not thought possible with chalcocite (copper sulfide). Braden Copper Co. thus became the first place to use flotation for the recovery of copper on a large scale, albeit to scavenge additional values from the gravity concentrator.

After leaving the Guggenheim’s, Yeatman and his colleague Berry established a consulting business in the US. He received the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his service to the nation on the War Industries Board in procuring vital nonferrous metals for the World War I effort.

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Renowned molybdenum geologist, Discoverer of the Henderson molybdenum deposit, and Philanthropist. Stewart Wallace and his team of geologists at Climax Molybdenum Company, through their discoveries of the Henderson mine and the Ceresco deposit at the Climax mine, profoundly influenced molybdenum mining in Colorado and molybdenum exploration in Western North America.

Steward Wallace earned his B.A. in geology at Dartmouth College, graduating in 1941. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1946, he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology at the University of Michigan. From 1948 to 1955, Wallace served with the U.S. Geological Survey, mapping mineral districts in the western United States. In 1955, he went to work for the Climax Molybdenum Company, first as Resident Geologist at Climax, Colorado, then as Chief Geologist and finally as Chief of Geology and Exploration.

While working for Climax Molybdenum, Wallace conducted detailed studies of the geology at both Climax and Red Mountain, the location of the Henderson deposit. He developed a multiple-intrusion model to describe the complex magmatic and hydrothermal events that produced the Climax orebody. This model enabled him to find the Henderson orebody. At the Climax mine, Wallace’s work resulted in the discovery of the Ceresco orebody and the deep, offset portion of the Ceresco orebody. During his tenure with Climax Molybdenum, he also examined numerous foreign and domestic deposits.

From 1970 to 1976, Stewart Wallace served as President and Director of Exploration for Mine Finders, Inc. In that capacity, he conducted mineral exploration in western North America for a three-way joint venture with Coolbaugh Mining and Bethlehem Steel. In 1976, he began a career as a geologic consultant whose advice was sought by many. Wallace published a number of outstanding articles on geology, was a Distinguished Member of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, and served as President of the Society of Economic Geologists in 1992-1993.  In 1974, SME presented its prestigious Daniel C. Jackling Award to Stewart Wallace in recognition of his discovery of the Henderson orebody. Wallace trained and mentored many exploration and mining geologists; his legacy and commitment to science, engineering, and education continues through his generous legacy gifts to SME, SEG, and the Colorado School of Mines.

Click here for a Video Presentation on the 5 inductees (9:09 min).