Mining Foundation of the Southwest

The 1999 American Mining Hall of Fame banquet was held Saturday, December 4, 1999, in the Ball Room of the Westin La Paloma Resort prior to the Annual Meeting of the Arizona Conference, Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration. The event commenced with a member hosted cocktail reception at 6 p.m. followed by a hosted cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m., with dinner served at 7:30 p.m.

This year, the American Mining Hall of Fame Award was presented to Irl F. Engelhardt, President and CEO of the Peabody Group, in recognition of his efforts at making the company an international leader in the technology and business of coal mining and electric power trading. He was the principal speaker.

The foundation's Medal of Merit was awarded to Paul W. Allen, former President of Cyprus Pima Mining Company and Executive Vice President of Cyprus Mines Corporation, for his engineering efforts and leadership on the Island of Cyprus, the iron ore mine at Mt. Goldsworthy, Australia, and the Pima and Bagdad copper mines, Arizona. From 1969 through 1980, when he retired to become an independent consultant, Paul Allen, as Executive Vice President and later a Director, was responsible for the technical operations of all of Cyprus' mines.

Dr. William C. Peters, geologist and Emeritus Professor of Geological Engineering, College of Mines, University of Arizona received the foundation's Medal of Merit. During World War II, Bill Peters served with the U.S. Army in Europe. In 1948 he received a M.S. Degree in Geology from the University of Colorado and joined the New Jersey Zinc Company as mining geologist at their Gilman, Colorado mine. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in 1957. He worked in exploration and mine development for the FMC Corporation. From 1960-64, he was Chief Geologist at Kennecott's Bingham Canyon Mine. In 1964 he joined the newly established Department of Mining & Geological Engineering at the University of Arizona, teaching courses in mining geology, mineral exploration, and mine evaluation until he retired in1982. He is the author of a popular, practical textbook and field manual Exploration and Mining Geology (1978, 1987).

Jorgé Larrea Ortega (1912-1999), former Chairman and CEO of Grupo México, the largest mining company in Mexico, was honored for his leadership, growing a small construction company to a large, diversified mining company which ranks among the world's largest and lowest-cost copper, zinc, and silver producers. Grupo Mexico owns 74% of the largest and most profitable railroad system in Mexicooperates, and operates it in partnership with Union Pacific. Under the leadership of Don Jorge's son, Chairman and CEO German Larrea, Grupo Mexico is merging with ASARCO, making the combination the third largest copper mining company in the world.

Harrison Ashley Schmitt (1896 - 1966), Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1926, noted exploration/mining geologist was honored for his contributions to the mining industry in Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. During World War I he served in the Marine Corps. From 1922 to 1931 he worked as a geologist for ASARCO in Mexico and the United States. Later, he became a consulting geologist operating from his homebase in Silver City, New Mexico. In 1951 and 1952, he evaluated the Bor copper mine, Yugoslavia and the Toquepala mine, Peru for the U.S. Defense Minerals Production Agency. An expert in detailed geologic mapping and leached cappings evaluation, with a "nose for ore," he was involved in the discovery and development of porphyry copper ore bodies at Christmas, Peach (Helvetia), Esperanza and Mineral Park, the deep deposit of Red Mountain, Arizona, and ore bodies at Battle Mountain, Nevada. His greatest contribution to the industry are the many papers concerning his observations of geology, an iteration and structure in the vicinity of many types of ore deposits, and his emphasis on careful geologic mapping and structural analysis coupled with laboratory investigations - techniques that lead to discovery.

Dr. Schmitt's award was accepted by his son, Harrison H. Schmitt, former U.S. Senator and the only geologist to walk upon the moon.

The Mining Foundation's Industry Partnership Award was presented to the Mineral Information Institute (MII), recognizing its outstanding contribution and service to the mining and energy profession with the development of balanced education materials for use in K-12 classrooms. MII distributes educational programs to more than 28,000 teachers free of charge. Three different packages of teaching materials are available for teachers from kindergarten through high school. The packages are also distributed through the Internet at MII.org. These materials provide students with a non-biased, balanced view of the development and use of the earth's mineral and energy resources.

Mining Foundation of the Southwest
P.O. Box 42317
Tucson, Arizona 85733
Tel: 520-577-7519
Fax: 520-577-7073
E-mail: admin@miningfoundationsw.org