It is with great sadness we announce the passing of John Hansuld, peacefully, on Tuesday, November 26, 2022. John was born in Port Arthur, ON, and raised in Galt, ON. John graduated from Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School, where he was also named a distinguished member of GCI’s Stairway of Excellence (2003). Following high school, John attended McMaster University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in Geology (’54). John knew Geology was to be his lifelong career and on graduation was encouraged to pursue a master’s in Geochemistry, which he did at UBC.

Following UBC, John went on to complete his PhD at McGill and thereafter joined Amax (now Freeport-McMoRan) in 1961 to lead this company’s exploration program as chief geochemist in Denver, Colorado. John returned to Toronto in 1968 to lead Amax’s Canadian exploration division and, now on the business side, returned to school part time to earn his PMD degree (MBA) from Harvard Business School.

John went on to build Amax Exploration (Canada) into one of the largest exploration groups in Canada. In 1983 John spun this division to a public company, Canamax, of which he became president and CEO. This was one of John’s proudest career accomplishments, as it introduced flow through share financing to the mining sector. This creative approach helped push Canada to be a global leader in exploration and mining. John was recognized for this innovation, among many other things, and in 1988 was named Mining Man of the Year. He was later inducted to the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

John leaves behind his wife Jane of 64 years, three children, six grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.