Mining and Minerals Education Foundation |
Jean Michel Rendu
2009 Medal of Merit Recipient
Jean Michel (“JM”) Rendu graduated with a degree in Mining Engineering from École Nationale Supérieure de Mines de Saint Étienne, France, in 1966. Subsequent graduate studies earned him a Master of Science degree in Engineering (1968) and a doctorate in Engineering (1971) from the Henry Krumb School of Mines at Columbia University. After serving as a reserve officer in the French Army, he journeyed to Johannesburg, South Africa, to work for Anglovaal Group. His last position with Anglovaal was Director, Operations Research Section, reporting to Dr. D.G. Krige.
In 1976, JM returned to the U.S. where he served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Mining Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1979, he joined a new mining consulting group being formed by Golder Associates in Denver and at the same time served as an Adjunct Professor at the Colorado School of Mines. Subsequent senior positions the mining industry included a tenure as head of Newmont Mining Company’s Technical and Scientific Systems Group, during which time he provided technical support to gold mines in Australia and Nevada and copper operations in Canada.
Subsequently became a Vice President for Newmont, responsible for mine planning at the company’s Nevada operations and for corporate technical and commercial information systems worldwide. In 2001 he retired from Newmont as Vice President, Resources and Mine Planning.
Since “retiring”, he has vigorously supported the mining industry, playing a leading role in the development of U.S. and international standards for the public reporting of mineral resource and mineral reserve standards. He has served as Chairman of the Resource and Reserve Committee of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration Inc. (SME), and is a founding member and active participant on CRIRSCO, the Combined Reserves International Reporting Standards Committee. He is the author of over 50 technical publications and has received numerous awards and citations, including the SME Daniel C. Jackling Award (1994) and two SME Presidential Awards (1992 and 2004). JM is a past Director of SME, an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), and a member of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). He is recognized as a foremost authority in the field of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimation, and a most gracious man by all who know him.