I was born and raised in Toronto and graduated from the Haileybury School of Mines with a diploma in mining technology in 1965. My studies continued and he obtained B.Sc. Eng. and M.Sc. Eng. degrees in geological engineering from Queen’s University, followed by a Ph.D. in structural and economic geology from the University of New Brunswick. I taught structural and mineral deposit geology at St. Francis Xavier University and for the last 40 years worked throughout Canada and the World in mineral exploration.

 

Evaluations of mineral deposits and field mapping of their environments, consolidated his views that mineral deposits were an integral part of the regional geological system. Early studies included a study of graphitic schists in the Archean of Northern Ontario, the geochemistry of a porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit in B.C., the Structure and Stratigraphy of the Heath Steele Mines B Zone Massive Sulphide Deposit, the subject of his Ph.D. thesis. My published papers include the tectonic evolution of two mobile belts including one which he showed position of gold mineralization in the evolution of the Beardmore-Geraldton Greenstone Belt. Exploration parameters were developed to direct exploration in areas not known for gold deposits.

 

These parameters guided the exploration that led to the discovery of the Nugget Pond Gold Mine in Newfoundland for which I is given credit. I also is credited with the discovery of the Reward Gold Deposit in Hill End, NSW, Australia. My written reports cover deposits in 16 countries around the world and include most types of precious and base metal deposits. Many of these reports have ended up in government and securities files or appear for the first time in this book.

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I met my coauthor many years ago and discussed their views.  Ulrich decided to write a study on gold deposits from the syngenetic view point. In December 2014, he suddenly passed away and I was asked by Elsevier Publishers to complete the study. I had been convinced of a syngenetic control on gold mineralization from a regional mapping project in Nova Scotia in 1975 and later my work on the Northern Empire Mine in Beardmore, Ontario in 1982.

 

My interests are in showing young geologists to be original thinkers. The first step is to show how one establishes a data base through observing the rocks in the field laboratory followed by full use of existing historical and public files.