Franc Joubin

Francis Guy Renault Joubin (born November 15, 1911 in San Francisco , † January 1, 1997 ) was a Canadian geologist. He is considered the discoverer of one of the world's largest uranium deposits near Elliott Lake north of Lake Huron in northern Ontario .

Joubin had French-born parents with whom he moved to Canada as a child, where he grew up. He studied geology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver with a master’s degree in 1942 and then worked for mining companies in the prospecting of ores (initially especially gold in British Columbia for Pionieer Gold Mine), partly as a freelance consultant.

After the Canadian government had cleared the search for uranium by private individuals in 1948, Joubin set out with a Geiger counter to the Blind River area in northern Ontario, which flows into Lake Huron after learning about the Pechblende discovery at Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) had heard. However, he did not find anything and initially thought the surface radioactivity was caused by thorium . For several years he turned to other tasks, but in 1953 he came to the conclusion that thorium alone could not have caused the radioactivity. He teamed up with the financier and mining entrepreneur Joseph Hirshhorn (1899–1981) to continue searching on the Blind River (under strict secrecy). Over 1,400 claims have been staked over 56,000 acres . Influenced by the geologist Charles Findlay Davidson , he pursued the idea that iron sulfide in the drill cores was an indication of deeper uranium deposits and that one would have to drill deeper following this. Joubin was rewarded with the discovery of large uranium deposits, named Big Z because of their shape . In 1955 the town of Elliott Lake was established there and in its vicinity the Denison Mine, which was in operation from 1957 to 1992, and the Rio Algom Mine. In total, there were nine major uranium mines in the area. Hirshhorn and Joubin had already sold their shares to the British mining company Rio Tinto Group in 1955 , making millions. Joubin continued to work worldwide as a consultant for Rio Tinto, among others, and for the United Nations for twenty years.

In 1983 he received the Order of Canada and he received the Order of Ontario . He received the Leonard Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada and the Blaylock Medal from the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.

Fonts

• with McCormack Smyth: Not For Gold Alone, Toronto: Deljay Publications 1986

Web links

• Canadian Mining Hall of Fame