Mining People

Toronto-based Boliden Ltd. has appointed Thomas Cederborg as president and CEO and a director of the company. Cederborg, a Swedish national, has more than 20 years of industrial manufacturing experience. He has been with Boliden since 1996, mainly responsible for fabrication and smelting operations.

Joseph Gutnick has been appointed executive chairman of Tahera Corp. of Toronto, and Paul Stein has been elected a director, replacing Glenn Laing, who resigned. David Gold has been appointed vice-president corporate affairs, and Martin St. Pierre has been promoted to vice-president exploration. Ray Meade resigned from his position as a director of the company.

Tiomin Resources Inc. of Toronto has appointed Ian S. Schache as senior vice-president and COO. Schache has had a distinguished 31-year career in the mining industry, having served with both major mineral sands and base metals companies in Australia. Most recently has held the position of executive general manager, operations for Iluka Resources Ltd., the world’s second largest producer of titanium minerals.

Placer Dome Inc. has appointed Steve Price as senior exploration geologist in the company’s new exploration office in Timmins, ON. He will be assisted by Dave Gliddon, Pat Pope, Dave Powers and Paul Adams.

At Inco Ltd.’s Ontario Division, Mike MacFarlane has been appointed mine manager with responsibility for the Frood, Stobie and Garson mines as well as the Victor property. Michael Winship becomes mine manager with responsibility for the Copper Cliff North and Copper Cliff South mines.

The environmental group Pollution Probe, honoured the work of Charles Ferguson, vice-president environment, health and safety at Inco Ltd. at its annual gala dinner. The presentation was “for his lifetime achievements in improving environmental performance in the mining sector.”

The tribute read “in the 1970s Charlie was instrumental in developing Inco’s first technological response to the acid rain threat. Again in the 1980s he spearheaded a co-ordinated response from key players in the mining sector to prepare for compliance with the Canada-U.S. Acid Rain Treaty obligations that came into force in 1991.” His work on the Mine Environmental Neutral Drainage (MEND) program and his efforts for the concepts of perpetual care and financial assurance were also referred to as highlights of his “lifetime of environmental management excellence.”

In a ceremony held in Ottawa, The Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem presented Ron Rafuse, transportation superintendent at Inco Ltd.’s Sudbury operation, with a medal for his volunteer work. The head of the St. John Ambulance branch in Sudbury said Rafuse has served on the organization’s board of directors for the past five years and has been an active, enthusiastic and hard-working contributor to the organization’s health, safety and other related programs.

“I’ve been concerned about safety all my life so this was something I could do for the community,” said Ron. “I never expected an award or anything like this, but it was a real experience. I got to meet people from all over the world.” The Order of St. John is a humanitarian order, which is among the oldest charitable organizations in the world with more than 900 years of international history.