The 39th Annual American Mining Hall of Fame Awards Banquet and Fundraiser sponsored by the Mining Foundation of the Southwest (MFSW) will be held at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. Each year the MFSW honors a slate of deserving individuals and companies who have made notable contributions to advance the mining industry.

Proceeds from the event go to funding an education outreach coordinator position managed through the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources at The University of Arizona (UArizona). Chris Earnest has served as the Educational Outreach Coordinator since September 2019 where he creates educational materials, demonstrations and activities to help stimulate interest in and understanding of mineral resources and the mining industry.
This year’s Inductee is Robert Friedland, Founder and Executive Co-Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines is hands down the best promoter in the mining industry. The depth of Friedland's charisma can be measured in atmospheres…most tellingly the expectant hush that descends over a conference auditorium before he approaches the lectern.

Friedland's legendary abilities as a presenter are well known as he plugs the fact that that the world needs vast quantities of copper. Friedland's story is compellingly relevant in a post-COVID world where adoption of clean focused technology such as electric cars is expected to see copper demand skyrocket, sending prices spiraling.

A Medal of Merit will be awarded to Sydney Hay, President of AMIGOS (Arizona Mining and Industry Get Our Support), and Hay graduated Summa Cum Laude from Kansas Newman College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. She taught in Kansas and in Arizona. Since 1994, Sydney has been the President of AMIGOS (Arizona Mining and Industry Get Our Support), a trade association of the small to mid-size businesses that supply Arizona's vital copper mining industry. She was described by the Arizona Daily Sun as like "Martha Stewart with high powered weapons."

A Medal of Merit will be awarded to Sarah Strunk, Chair of the Board of Directors of Fennemore, a Mountain West Law Firm. Strunk has represented numerous clients in the mining and natural resource industry over the past three decades. She has served on the Board of the Arizona Mining Association, been a long-time trustee of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, serving on their Investment and International Committees and was the Chair of the Board of Brio Gold, now part of Equinox Gold. Prior to joining Fennemore, Strunk was Corporate Counsel to the copper and molybdenum division of Cyprus Amax Minerals Company.

The Medal of Merit for young professionals will be awarded to Angela Watt, Manager Underground Engineering for South32 working on the Hermosa Mine Project. Angela joined the Hermosa Project as Chief Mining Engineer with Arizona Mining before South32’s acquisition of the project in 2018. Prior to that, she was with Rio Tinto at various engineering capacities with increasing levels of responsibility in their copper and diamonds group at the Resolution Copper project in Arizona and their Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona.

The 2021 event will also recognize four of the Mining’s Past giants. Robert Metcalfe (1825 – 1905) was an explorer and miner and one of the discoverers of the Morenci ore bodies. George H. Dern (1872 – 1936) was a mining Man and American Politician who was manager of the Mercur (Utah) gold mine and one of the first to use cyanidation.

He also served as the sixth Governor of Utah for eight years, from 1925 to 1933. Francis W. Maclennan (1876 – 1947) was an underground miner and originator of the high block caving method, which extended the life of the Miami Copper Co. mine by over 30 years. Frederick Gardner Cottrell (1877 – 1948) was an American physical chemist, inventor and philanthropist best known for his invention of the electrostatic precipitator and founder of Research Corporation in 1912 which is now known as Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement.

The Industry Partnership Award will be given to Southwest Energy which provides explosive products and services to a broad range of mining, quarry and construction customers across the western United States. Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, Southwest Energy safely manufactures and loads hundreds of millions of pounds of blasting agents every year, working closely with customers to optimize the explosive products, equipment and services to their specific applications.

The Special Citation will be given to the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) celebrating its 150th anniversary on May 16, 2021. One of five engineering Founder Societies, AIME was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and was one of the first national engineering societies established in the United States. Along with ASCE (civil), ASME (mechanical), IEEE (electrical), and AIChE (chemical), it is known as an Engineering Founder Society.

MFSW is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote education and public understanding of the mining industry and its related disciplines. MFSW is currently seeking sponsors to advance its mission and funds raised are designated to support the Foundation’s education program established in conjunction with the Lowell Institute for Mineral Research at the University of Arizona.