| Mining and Minerals Education Foundation |
Steve Holmes Chief Operating Officer First Majestic Silver Corporation 2025 MEDAL OF MERIT RECIPIENT Steve Holmes, Chief Operating Officer at First Majestic Silver Corp., is a mining engineer with over four decades of experience. In this role, he oversees all operational aspects of the company’s silver mines and development projects across the Americas, ensuring safety, efficiency, and long-term sustainability. Born in 1961 in Bisbee, Arizona, Holmes was raised in a mining family. His father, an underground miner, was transferred to Safford, AZ in 1973, where Holmes continued his upbringing. He graduated from Douglas High School in 1979 and enrolled at The University of Arizona as a Mining Engineering student, motivated by a strong desire to contribute to the mining industry and inspired by his family’s deep roots in the field. After earning his degree in 1983, Holmes began his career with Phelps Dodge in Morenci as a junior ore control engineer. Just six weeks later, he was thrust into the realities of mining life, working 12-hour night shifts as a smelter converter skimmer during a labor strike. Over the years, he held various supervisory and management roles at Morenci, Chino Mines, El Paso, and Sierrita, gaining firsthand experience in both technical and leadership capacities. In 2003, Holmes returned to Safford to establish and lead the Mine Technology Group. Under his guidance, the team completed feasibility studies, NEPA permitting, and land exchanges, ultimately securing board approvals for the Safford Project under both Phelps Dodge and Freeport-McMoRan. His leadership helped lay the groundwork for one of the company’s most significant development efforts. In June 2009, he became General Manager at Asarco’s Ray copper operation. He later joined Quadra FNX (later KGHM), where he partnered with Sumitomo to develop the large-scale Sierra Gorda Copper Mine in Chile. From 2011 to 2015, he served as VP of Operations, then moved to Vancouver as COO of KGHM International, managing operations in Canada, the U.S., and Chile. In 2019, Holmes joined Barrick Gold to support global joint ventures before assuming his current role at First Majestic in 2020. He also holds an MBA from Western New Mexico University (2000), which he credits for enhancing his understanding of mining’s complex business landscape, including finance, strategy, and global operations. Holmes is deeply grateful to his wife, Cindy, for her unwavering support. Together, they cherish their four children, their spouses, and 13 grandchildren. |
Dawn Meidinger
Partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP
2025 MEDAL OF MERIT RECIPIENT
Dawn Dawn Meidinger joined the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP as a Regulatory Affairs partner in 2024. Meidinger has multidisciplinary experience permitting mining, linear and renewable energy projects and managing all aspects of necessary federal approvals (including NEPA, NHPA, and ESA processes) while working with various federal and state agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Arizona State Land Department.
Meidinger has significant experience in project development on public lands. She has acted as lead counsel on significant BLM land exchanges and state land purchases and the permitting of numerous exploration and mine plans of operation and solar projects in Arizona and New Mexico. She also has experience in land development, entitling master planned communities and industrial projects and negotiating related development agreements.
She has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® for expertise in Energy Law, Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law and Mining Law (2016-2024) and been ranked by Chambers USA for the past seven years as a leading environmental lawyer. In 2017 she was included on the list of Most Influential Women in Arizona, by AZ Business and AZRE magazines.
She is a member of the Arizona Mining Association, where she also served as a board member from 2016-2108. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Phoenix Zoo (Arizona Center for Nature Conservation) and has twice served as a trustee for the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation (now known as the Foundation for Energy and Natural Resources Law or FENRL).
Prior to joining Dorsey, Meidinger was a partner at Fennemore for nearly 20 years and prior to that was in-house counsel at Phelps Dodge Corporation from 1996-2002. She received her J.D. from Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and her B.S. from Arizona State University.
Meidinger received a full athletic scholarship to attend Arizona State University to play volleyball, where she honed her focus and competitive nature. As the daughter of a retired exploration driller in Wyoming, her familiarity and passion for natural resource development and wide open spaces influenced her choice of career.
She enjoys the great outdoors and spending time with her significant other (Craig) and their Vizsla, a rescued Hungarian sporting dog named Rocco.
Jessica (Jess) Scanlan
Owner, MineLife Media LLC
2025 MEDAL OF MERIT UNDER 40 RECIPIENT
Jessica Scanlan, mining & geological content creator and digital storyteller, has a passion for making the industry visible. Through strategic social media management and content creation, Scanlan is working to transform the perception of mining one post at a time while creating educational content through her "Rock Record" series and geotourism initiatives. Through her popular "Rock Record series", she brings Earth's history to life and invites more people into the world of rocks and tunnels. Scanlan has a knack for blending technical mining knowledge with digital marketing expertise to translate complex industry concepts into engaging stories.
Jessica Scanlan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geological Engineering from Montana Technological University. While in school, she was active in SME, SWE, Geology Club, and the Montana Tech Mining Team and volunteered with several organizations.
Scanlan has always liked rocks! Her dad owns a construction company, and she was fascinated with that industry. In the Intro program to Geological Engineering, the class visited an underground mine, which terrified her. Once she got over the initial fear, she was amazed by it all, loved the excitement and mystery that goes along with it, and the skills it takes to work underground.
Upon graduating, she was hired full-time by Sibanye-Stillwater as an underground grade control geologist in Nye, Montana, where she also assisted in special projects such as backstope ore outlining, assisting in new grade control training, implementing digital face mapping, stope proposals, digital hovermapping, and creating tutorials.
After gaining valuable experience in the mining industry, Scanlan founded MineLife Media LLC in 2023, a social media agency dedicated to helping mining companies connect authentically with their audiences and to showcase the people behind mining, geology, and minerals.
Scanlan was recognized in the 2024 edition of Women in Mining UK's "100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining" (WIM100). The WIM100 publication celebrates women who demonstrate trailblazing spirit, resilience in facing challenges, and commitment to creating positive change in the mining industry.
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