10/25/2006
For additional information please contact:
Laura Skaer
Executive Director
(509) 624-1158
www.nwma.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 25, 2006
Dirk Van Zyl to Receive the Dr. Adrian Smith International Environmental Mining Award at the Northwest Mining Association Annual Meeting
Spokane, Washington —Dr. Dirk Van Zyl, Director of the Mining Life-Cycle Center and Professor and Chair of Mining Engineering at the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno has been chosen to receive the prestigious Dr. Adrian Smith International Environmental Mining Award. The award will be presented at the Industry Outlook Luncheon on Thursday, December 7, 2006 during the Northwest Mining Association’s (NWMA) 112th Annual Meeting, Exposition and Short Courses – Sustaining the Boom.
The award was created by TIMES Limited in conjunction with the Mining Journal and SRK Consulting, a firm in which Dr. Smith was a partner. The award will be presented by Dr. Terry Mudder, co-owner along with Dr. Karen Hagelstein of TIMES Limited. The award is for life- time achievement in the advancement of environmental stewardship and sustainability within the global mining industry. Dr. Van Zyl has been a pioneer in educating not only the public but consultants, government agencies, NGOs, mining personnel, and students.
The award honors the incredible career of Dr. Adrian Smith and the lifetime achievement of professionals dedicated to the development and application of the principles of environmental stewardship in the mining industry worldwide. Dr. Smith pioneered innovative solutions and approaches on many mining projects throughout the world. The award, created in 1996, has only been awarded on three previous occasions.
Dirk Van Zyl is the fourth recipient of the award. He has 30 years experience in research, teaching and consulting in tailings and mine waste disposal and heap leach design. He is one of the leading advocates on mining and sustainable development. Dirk was a key player in the Global Mining Initiative and the MMSD project that helped define and clarify the role of the mining industry in contributing to sustainable development in various settings on a global basis.
He has more than 70 publications to his credit and has created and directed numerous short courses on heap leach design, mining environmental management and mine closure in the U.S. and abroad. He was responsible for organizing the first conference on the use of cyanide in the mining industry in the middle 1980’s.
Laura Skaer, NWMA Executive Director said, “NWMA is again honored to be chosen as the venue for the presentation of this prestigious award to one of our members, Dirk Van Zyl. Dirk is a great choice for this award. We look forward to joining TIMES Ltd., the Mining Journal and SRK Consulting in honoring him.”
The three previous recipients of the award were Mr. James Scott of Environmental Canada, Mr. Fred Fox, Director of Health, Safety and Environmental Quality for Kennecott Minerals, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto and Mr. Gavin Murray of Sydney, Australia, formerly the Director of Environmental and Social Development at the International Finance Corporation, the private lending institution at the World Bank Group and vice president of sustainability for Placer Dome, Inc.
The NWMA Annual Meeting is the 2nd largest annual mining convention in the U.S. and the largest annual gathering of the exploration and junior mining sectors in the U.S. NWMA is a 111 year-old, 1,300-member non-profit trade association based in Spokane, WA. The purpose of the association is to support and advance the mineral resource and related industries, to represent and inform members on technical, legislative and regulatory issues, to provide for the dissemination of educational materials related to mining, and to foster and promote economic opportunity and environmentally responsible mining.
- 30 -
