When John Gathje started his career in 1971, the price of gold was $45/oz. Eight years later, it had bounced up to almost $460/oz, and now, over the intervening four decades, the price has more than tripled to some $1,600/oz.
“A lot of this award is being in the right place at the right time,” said Gathje, the recipient of this year’s Antoine M. Gaudin Award. “If it hadn’t been for gold, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Gathje, along with James Vanderbeek, recipient of the Robert H. Richards Award, and William Imrie, recipient of the Milton E. Wadsworth Award, were the lecturers at the Mineral & Metallurgical Processing Division’s (MPD) Awards Plenary Session, held the afternoon of Feb. 24, 2020, at the MineXchange 2020 SME Annual Conference & Expo in Phoenix, AZ, and hosted by Scott Shuey, MPD associate chair.
