A veritable who’s who of the Canadian exploration business gathered in a Timmins, Ont. resort on Thursday evening to celebrate the life of Don McKinnon, a true legend of the prospecting business. He died last week at the age of 82.
As reported by Stockhouse, McKinnon is best known for his partnership with John Larche and the staking activity that resulted in the discovery of the Hemlo, Ont., gold camp in the early 1980s, the eventual home of the Williams, Golden Giant and David Bell gold mines.
He had previously hit pay dirt in 1964 when he earned $900,000 in a staking rush that was sparked by the discovery of the Kidd Creek copper-zinc deposit near Timmins.
Don McKinnon, seen here with friend Dawn Salo-Clark
Prospecting made McKinnon a wealthy man, providing him with the funds to indulge his interest in not to only in mineral exploration, but also in property speculation.
So it’s not surprising that much of the talk at the Cedar Meadows Resort in Timmins on Thursday centred on a life and a legacy that will continue to offer a range of options for investors for years to come. Aside from a mansion in Sawgrass, Florida, he also had large land holdings in the Timmins area, including a farm in nearby Connaught.
McKinnon family mining interests and associations.
When he died last week, McKinnon still held a royalty interest in Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd.’s (TSX: T.WDO, Stock Forum) Eagle river mine west of Wawa, Ont. and the surviving Hemlo gold mines – David Bell and Williams -- which are now controlled by Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX: T.ABX, Stock Forum) (NYSE: ABX, Stock Forum).
His son Gordon McKinnon is President and director of Canadian Orebodies Inc. (TSX: V.CO, Stock Forum), a Toronto company focused on the development of the Haig Inlet Iron Ore project on the Belchers Islands in Nunavut.
Another son, Don Jnr., is a prospector wheeler and dealer who recently earned $4 million from the sale of a basket of Ontario properties to Giyani Gold Corp. (TSX: V.WDG, Stock Forum).
McKinnon (Snr.) sat on numerous boards including that of Inter-Citic Minerals Inc. (TSX: T.ICI, Stock Forum), which is advancing its Dachang gold project in China towards production.
People familiar with the legendary prospector credit his success to some of the practices that he adopted after he entered the business in the early 1960s. Journalist Gregory Reynolds recalls that McKinnon and partners Larche and Fred Rousseau staked hundreds of claims in the vicinity of the Texas Gulf discovery. “Nobody had been doing that,’’ he said.
By setting up shop in a local hotel in Timmins, McKinnon was able to earn $900,000 from the sale of his interests in those claims, even though nothing of value was discovered on the claims that they sold. “He was shy and didn’t seek publicity,’’ Reynolds said. “But he was a very smart businessman.”