Acceptance of the Waldemar Lindgren Award for 2002

Abstract

Thank you very much, Nic, for the kind introduction. Mr. President, members of the Society, guests and friends: it is a great honor for me to accept the 2002 Waldemar Lindgren Award. What influences a young person to study in the field of geosciences in general, and economic geology in particular? Certainly, there are many explanations for this decision, but it appears to me that personal exposure––often at a very young age––to rocks, minerals, ores, and mines is the most common driving force. My career choice was no exception. As a child, I had the full view of headgear and washing plant of an abandoned iron ore mine from my bedroom window. At the age of 10 I spent first hours roaming the old mining dumps in the search for fossils and minerals. I have to be grateful to my parents, Ingrid and Heinz Gutzmer, for their support in what was then a rather eccentric pastime. Soon, I was so fortunate to be introduced to Siegfried Flach, one of those dedicated enthusiasts that do not only collect minerals and rocks, but who identify and describe them very accurately using little else but a binocular microscope, a series of good textbooks and a large dose of common sense. My decision to study mineralogy and economic geology at the Technical University of Clausthal-Zellerfeld, at the …