Chamber of Mines Congratulates PDAC Award Winners

10 December 2015

(Yellowknife, NT – December 10, 2015) On behalf of the northern minerals industry, the Chamber of Mines would like to congratulate two of our colleagues and associates for receiving distinguished mineral industry awards from the national Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada.

  • Darrell Beaulieu will receive the Skookum Jim Award for Aboriginal achievement in the mineral industry for his innovation, hard work and dedication to the mineral industry. Darrell has a long history of working with the minerals industry, beginning with staking mineral claims as a young man. He was the first President of Det’on Cho Corporation, the business arm of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, setting it on a path of strong growth providing business support to the growing NWT diamond mining industry. He has served on multiple boards, including the NWT Mine Training Society, the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines, the Northwest Territories Business Development Corporation, and the Akaitcho Business Development Corporation. He was instrumental in creating the Northern Aboriginal Business Association. Darrell also built the foundation for a new 100% owned Aboriginal mineral industry enterprise, and the new company DEMCo (Denendeh Exploration and Mining Company) was launched in 2013. Today DEMCo is actively exploring in the Sahtu region, and has acquired other attractive mineral properties throughout the NWT. In 2015 he was appointed to the NWT Mining Industry Advisory Board. Darrell continues to contribute to the Chamber as an active Director on the Board. Watch the video of Darrell's exploits here. 
  • The Björkman family, of Björkman Prospecting, are the recipients of the PDAC’s Special Achievement Award for their multi-generational dedication to geology, prospecting and diversity. We have benefitted from the contributions of three members of the family, Jessica, Veronique and Carla Björkman directly and through their association with Chamber of Mines member TerraX Minerals Inc. As well as being positive role models for women in mining they have conducted prospecting courses in several communities in the Northwest Territories helping to re-establish a new generation of northern prospectors, who can help strengthen the NWT minerals industry. Watch the video of the Bjorkman's story here. 

Darrell and the Björkman family, along with other PDAC award winners, will be honoured for their outstanding contributions to the mineral exploration and mining sector at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC) 2016 Convention on March 7, 2016, during the 84th PDAC Convention. The annual awards showcase the best domestic and international mineral discovery, mine development, Aboriginal achievement, exceptional environment or social responsibility effort, distinguished service, and special achievement.

See the list of national PDAC award winners here: www.pdac.ca/programs/awards/2016-award-winners

For more information on the NWT and Nunavut mining industries, please visit the website at www.miningnorth.com or contact Tom Hoefer, Executive Director at Tel: 867-873-5281 or
email: executivedirector@miningnorth.com. 

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