MMEF to celebrate industry honorees at Mining Hall of Fame banquet

The 43rd Annual American Mining Hall of Fame Awards Banquet and Fundraiser, sponsored by the Mining and Minerals Education Foundation (MMEF), will be held Dec. 6 in Tucson, AZ. Each year, the MMEF honors a slate of individuals and companies who have made notable contributions to the advancement of the mining industry. This year’s distinguished nominees are: Kathleen L. Quirk, president and chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is the 2025 Hall of Fame Inductee. Quirk joined Freeport in 1989 and had responsibility for a broad range of corporate functions, including tax, investor relations, corporate development and treasury before being named chief financial officer in 2003. She was named president of Freeport in 2021 and became a member of the board of directors in 2023. As a senior member of the company’s executive team for more than 20 years, she has been instrumental in Freeport’s strategic planning and execution of company goals. During that period, Quirk was named Best CFO in Metals and Mining by Institutional Investor Research magazine on numerous occasions. She holds a bachelor of science in accounting from Louisiana State University. Steve Holmes, chief operating officer for First Majestic Silver, is a Medal of Merit recipient. Holmes is responsible for overseeing all operational functions at the mines and for projects. Prior to joining First Majestic Silver, Holmes held the position of vice president, joint venture portfolio at Barrick Gold Corp., and was responsible for overseeing Barrick’s interest in their global joint venture operations and projects. He previously served as the chief operating officer for KGHM International, operations vice president at the Sierra Gorda copper mine in Chile and has acted in general management roles at Asarco and Freeport-McMoRan at multiple sites, which included leading FMI’s mine technology group. He is a graduate of The University of Arizona with a degree in mining engineering and earned his MBA at Western New Mexico University. Dawn Meidinger is a Medal of Merit recipient and is a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP with multidisciplinary experience in permitting, exploration and mining, renewable energy and linear projects, and handling all aspects of NEPA, NHPA and ESA compliance for those initiatives on public lands. An advocate for the importance of mining and minerals in our daily lives, she has broad transactional experience related to due diligence, land-use planning, earn-in, farm-out and joint venture agreements in conjunction with the development of mineral exploration targets and permitting mining operations. Meidinger has a J.D. from Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and a B.S., cum laude, justice studies from Arizona State University. Jessica (Jess) Scanlan will receive the Medal of Merit for Young Professionals. She is a digital strategist, content creator, and founder of MineLife Media. Named to Women in Mining UK’s 2024 WIM100 list, Scanlan partners with mining companies and industry organizations to enhance their digital presence and public engagement. She is a passionate advocate for improving mining’s public perception and regularly creates educational mining and geoscience content through her “Rock Record” series and geotourism initiatives. She combines her technical background with modern communication strategies to help bridge the gap between the mining industry and the public, while advocating for positive industry change. She earned her degree in geological engineering with an emphasis in mining from Montana Tech. Call & Nicholas Inc. (CNI) will receive the Industry Partnership Award. CNI is an international mining consulting firm that specializes in geological engineering, geotechnical engineering, and hydrogeology. It has been providing a wide range of engineering services to the mining industry for 45 years with an outstanding reputation built on the expertise and integrity of its staff and their dedication to excellence. Four individuals who played key roles in mining’s history will also be recognized: Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968) was an American-British mining magnate and philanthropist. Beatty graduated from Columbia School of Mines in 1898 with master of engineering and doctor of science degrees and immediately went to Colorado to work in the mines. He joined Guggenheim Exploration Co. in 1906 as consulting engineer and assistant general manager, during which time Guggenheim acquired a 25 percent interest in Bingham Canyon. He went on to serve as a director of Nevada Consolidated Copper Co., Ray Consolidated Copper Co. and Chino Copper Co. He moved to England and founded Selection Trust in 1914 with interests in Russia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Rhodesia. Through Rhodesian Selection Trust Ltd., he developed the Bwana M’Kubwa and Mufulira mines in current-day Zambia as well as properties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Clara Clark (1876–1959) and Isabel Little (1883–1936) were in the first class to graduate as mining engineers in 1904, becoming Montana Tech’s first female mining engineering graduates. When the Montana School of Mines opened, Clark was the first student to enroll. Upon graduation, she represented Montana at the American Mining Conference, discovered ore deposits in neighboring states and held the inaugural meeting to form the Montana School of Mines Alumni Association. Heralding from Baltimore, Little came to Butte following her high school graduation. Little became fascinated with mining engineering doing classwork at the Ophir, Colusa Parrot and Neversweat mines. After graduation, she spoke of the hardships she experienced in the underground mines as a woman and of the miners who were reluctant to allow women underground. She worked as an assayer, a mining consultant, and was ahead of her time as a promoter of women in mining engineering. Neil B. Prenn (1942–2023) was born in New York City, raised in rural southern California, and received an engineer of mines degree from the Colorado School of Mines in 1967. He went to work for Cyprus Mines Corp. at its main office in Los Angeles. After seven years in Los Angeles from where he toured and reviewed numerous projects, he was transferred to the Cyprus Pima Mine in Arizona, where he held increasingly responsible positions and went through two sizable expansions. Prenn subsequently worked on many projects of varied minerals. In 1987, he started Mine Development Associates, which was sold to the principal employees in 2016. The employees resold the company in 2019 to RESPEC. Prenn was awarded the AIME Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal in 2022. MMEF, formerly known as the Mining Foundation of the Southwest (MFSW), is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting education and public understanding of the mining industry and its related disciplines. MMEF seeks sponsors to advance its mission, raising funds designated to support the foundation’s education program operated through The University of Arizona School of Mining & Mineral Resources. Chris Earnest and Joshua Page serve as its educational outreach coordinators (K-12), creating educational materials and leading demonstrations and activities for students and the public to help stimulate interest in and understanding of mineral resources and the mining industry.

MMEF to celebrate industry honorees at Mining Hall of Fame banquet

Authored by: Staff

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