The Society of Economic Geologists 2003 Awards>R.A.F. Penrose Gold Medal for 2003> Citation of J. David Lowell

Abstract

Mr. President, members of the Society of Economic Geologists, and guests: It is my great pleasure, honor, and privilege to introduce to you my friend, colleague, and mentor, J. David Lowell. Dave has been nominated as the 30th recipient of the highest award of the Society of Economic Geologists, the Penrose Gold Medal, for his outstanding contributions to economic geology. For more than 46 years, Dave has practiced his profession as an ore-finder, and is still practicing it; he has been described as the world's most successful exploration geologist. Dave's success is easy to recognize but difficult to analyze. His mining engineer father no doubt gave him the right genes, and his early training as a mining engineer undoubtedly set him apart from many of his colleagues as being much more interested in ore than in waste. This, combined with a later, high quality geological education plus a natural shrewdness and tenacity, has led to an amazing series of world-class copper and gold discoveries, many of which have been developed into mines. Dave is the quintessential prospector, explorationist, and, more lately, entrepreneur, who nowadays seems to lead the charge into new exploration ventures as much for the love of the game as for catching the prize. Those of us who know him well, know a quiet, warm-hearted, soft-spoken Arizonan with gentlemanly, old-time Western manners which overlay a true professionalism and a steely resolve. Dave's grandparents moved to the Mexican border region of Arizona in the late 1800s, while the Apache were still on the warpath, and raised a …