Hugo Dummett
Encyclopedia
Hugo T. Dummett was a South African mineral-exploration geologist
who is best known for his role in the discovery of the Ekati Diamond Mine
in the Barren Lands of Canada's Northwest Territories
. Dummett has been described as “the brains, the ideas and the energy” behind the discovery of Ekati, which lead to the creation of a new Canadian diamond-mining industry.
in 1964, and moved to Canada in 1965. In 1970, he entered the University of Queensland
for graduate work. In 1977, Dummett signed on with Superior Oil to prospect for diamonds in North America, just as the science of using indicator minerals -- pyrope
garnets, chrome diopside
and chromite
-- for diamond
exploration was being worked out. Superior formed a joint venture
with Falconbridge
, and the JV hired geologist Charles Fipke for the diamond exploration project. Early in the program, Dummett tried to convince Governor Bill Clinton
to lease Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds State Park. Between 1979 and 1982, the partners found at least 20 kimberlite
pipes, but none had commercial diamond potential. The Falconbridge-Superior joint venture then funded a research program by South African geochemist John Gurney, to study possible indicator minerals for diamondiferous pipes. By 1982, Gurney had established that the kimberlite pyrope
garnet "G10" was critical to diamond discovery. Pipes without the G10 garnet were likely to be barren. Using this new technology, the JV discovered a promising pipe in eastern Botswana
, but lost the land to De Beers
, who later discovered a commercial diamond deposit there.
Mobil Oil then bought Superior, and ended its mineral exploration program in 1983. Dummett convinced Mobil to turn over its data to Fipke so the exploration effort could continue. Fipke and his partner Stewart Blusson
, working on a "shoestring," staked some promising ground near Lac de Gras
in 1989. Dummett took a new job with BHP Minerals
in 1989, and convinced his new employer to lease their property. In 1991, BHP drilling on their leased claims found micro-diamonds, sparking one of largest claimstaking rushes in mining history.
Under Dummet's direction, BHP eventually developed commercial diamond reserves in five pipes; the discovery pipe turned out to be non-commercial. BHP began the permitting process for the Ekati Diamond Mine
in 1995, received final approval in 1997, and opened the mine late in 1998. By 2009, annual sales from EKATI amounted to about 5% by value of world diamond production.
In 2001, Dummett joined Ivanhoe Mines
as Vice President. He contributed to the discovery of a large porphyry copper-gold deposit that was renamed in his honor, at the advanced Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia.
Dummett was killed in an automobile accident in South Africa in August 2002.
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
who is best known for his role in the discovery of the Ekati Diamond Mine
Ekati Diamond Mine
The EKATI Diamond Mine is Canada's first surface and underground diamond mine. It is located north-east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and about south of the Arctic circle, near Lac de Gras. EKATI is a joint venture between BHP Billiton Canada Inc...
in the Barren Lands of Canada's Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
. Dummett has been described as “the brains, the ideas and the energy” behind the discovery of Ekati, which lead to the creation of a new Canadian diamond-mining industry.
Career
Dummett earned his BSc degree at the University of the WitwatersrandUniversity of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
in 1964, and moved to Canada in 1965. In 1970, he entered the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
for graduate work. In 1977, Dummett signed on with Superior Oil to prospect for diamonds in North America, just as the science of using indicator minerals -- pyrope
Pyrope
The mineral pyrope is a member of the garnet group. Pyrope is the only member of the garnet family to always display red colouration in natural samples, and it is from this characteristic that it gets its name: from the Greek for fire and eye. Despite being less common than most garnets, it is a...
garnets, chrome diopside
Diopside
Diopside is a monoclinic pyroxene mineral with composition MgCaSi2O6. It forms complete solid solution series with hedenbergite and augite, and partial solid solutions with orthopyroxene and pigeonite. It forms variably colored, but typically dull green crystals in the monoclinic prismatic class...
and chromite
Chromite
Chromite is an iron chromium oxide: FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. Magnesium can substitute for iron in variable amounts as it forms a solid solution with magnesiochromite ; substitution of aluminium occurs leading to hercynite .-Occurrence:Chromite is found in...
-- for diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
exploration was being worked out. Superior formed a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
with Falconbridge
Falconbridge
Falconbridge can mean:*Falconbridge Limited*Falconbridge, Middlesex County, Ontario*Falconbridge, Greater Sudbury, Ontario*A visual and radar UFO incident near Sudbury, Ontario on November 11, 1975*The Bastard of Fauconberg...
, and the JV hired geologist Charles Fipke for the diamond exploration project. Early in the program, Dummett tried to convince Governor Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
to lease Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds State Park. Between 1979 and 1982, the partners found at least 20 kimberlite
Kimberlite
Kimberlite is a type of potassic volcanic rock best known for sometimes containing diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond in 1871 spawned a diamond rush, eventually creating the Big Hole....
pipes, but none had commercial diamond potential. The Falconbridge-Superior joint venture then funded a research program by South African geochemist John Gurney, to study possible indicator minerals for diamondiferous pipes. By 1982, Gurney had established that the kimberlite pyrope
Pyrope
The mineral pyrope is a member of the garnet group. Pyrope is the only member of the garnet family to always display red colouration in natural samples, and it is from this characteristic that it gets its name: from the Greek for fire and eye. Despite being less common than most garnets, it is a...
garnet "G10" was critical to diamond discovery. Pipes without the G10 garnet were likely to be barren. Using this new technology, the JV discovered a promising pipe in eastern Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
, but lost the land to De Beers
De Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
, who later discovered a commercial diamond deposit there.
Mobil Oil then bought Superior, and ended its mineral exploration program in 1983. Dummett convinced Mobil to turn over its data to Fipke so the exploration effort could continue. Fipke and his partner Stewart Blusson
Stewart Blusson
Stewart Lynn "Stu" Blusson, OC is a multimillionaire and philanthropist. He co-discovered billion-dollar Ekati Diamond Mine, 300 kilometres from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. He is President of Archon Minerals Ltd. In 2002, Blusson donated key start-up funds necessary for Quest...
, working on a "shoestring," staked some promising ground near Lac de Gras
Lac de Gras
Lac de Gras is a lake approximately 300 km north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Lac de Gras was the centre of the Canadian diamond rush of the 1990s. There are two working diamond mines in the area, Ekati Diamond Mine, and Diavik Diamond Mine.It was called Ekati by aboriginal...
in 1989. Dummett took a new job with BHP Minerals
BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...
in 1989, and convinced his new employer to lease their property. In 1991, BHP drilling on their leased claims found micro-diamonds, sparking one of largest claimstaking rushes in mining history.
Under Dummet's direction, BHP eventually developed commercial diamond reserves in five pipes; the discovery pipe turned out to be non-commercial. BHP began the permitting process for the Ekati Diamond Mine
Ekati Diamond Mine
The EKATI Diamond Mine is Canada's first surface and underground diamond mine. It is located north-east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and about south of the Arctic circle, near Lac de Gras. EKATI is a joint venture between BHP Billiton Canada Inc...
in 1995, received final approval in 1997, and opened the mine late in 1998. By 2009, annual sales from EKATI amounted to about 5% by value of world diamond production.
In 2001, Dummett joined Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its focus is on the pacific rim where it is in the process of developing several large mines, the principal one being the Oyu Tolgoi Project in Southern Mongolia 200 km...
as Vice President. He contributed to the discovery of a large porphyry copper-gold deposit that was renamed in his honor, at the advanced Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia.
Dummett was killed in an automobile accident in South Africa in August 2002.
Honors and awards
- Hugo Dummett won The Northern MinerThe Northern MinerThe Northern Miner is a weekly trade journal that reports on the mining industry. The Northern Miner began publication Cobalt, Ontario Canada in 1915, and has since moved publication to Toronto....
's "Mining Man of the Year” award for 1998.
- In 2002 Dummett was President of the Society of Economic GeologistsSociety of Economic GeologistsThe Society of Economic Geologists originated from a 1919 gathering of a group of Geological Society of America members who were especially interested in economic geology. The Society was established on December 28, 1920, during a constituting meeting of 60 distinguished professionals...
.
- The Far North Zone of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit in South Gobi, MongoliaMongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
was renamed the Hugo Dummett Deposit in 2003 by his last employer, Ivanhoe MinesIvanhoe MinesIvanhoe Mines Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its focus is on the pacific rim where it is in the process of developing several large mines, the principal one being the Oyu Tolgoi Project in Southern Mongolia 200 km...
. The Oyu Tolgoi mining project is the largest financial undertaking in Mongolia's history, and is projected upon completion to account for more than 30% of the country's economy.
- The Hugo Dummett Diamond Award was created in his honor in 2004 by the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC).
- Dummett was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of FameCanadian Mining Hall of FameThe Canadian Mining Hall of Fame aims to recognize the accomplishments of leaders in the mining industry.It was conceived by Maurice R. Brown as a way to recognize and honor the legendary mine finders and builders of this Canadian industry. The Hall was established in 1988...
in 2010.
- Dummett has also received the William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal (1997) and the Daniel C. JacklingDaniel C. Jackling-Career:Daniel Jackling was educated in mining and metallurgy disciplines at the Missouri School of Mines in Rolla, Missouri, now known as Missouri University of Science and Technology. In 1898, Jackling and Robert C. Gemmell made a detailed examination of the Bingham Canyon copper property. They...
Award (2000), among other awards and honors.
Further reading
- Kevin Krajick, Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic. 2001, Freeman/Henry Holt, ISBN 0716740265. Review at Smithsonian Magazine
- The Story of Indicator Minerals - Pyrope Garnet (G10), by Bryson Burke Diamond Corporation
External links
- 1998 Dummett biographical sketch from Engineering and Mining Journal