The National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum (NMHFM) recently announced the class of 2024 National Mining Hall of Fame inductees and the recipient of the Prazen Living Legend of Mining Award. The 37th Induction Gala will be Nov. 2 at The Cable Center in Denver.
Arthur C. Daman
(1889-1968)
Arthur C. Daman, known as “Mr. Denver Equipment,” was a pioneer in modern mineral processing. He founded Denver Equipment Company (DECO) and obtained over 50 patents during his 40-year leadership. Daman and his team wrote what many called “the bible on mineral processing and process equipment.” Published in 1954, his Denver Equipment handbook is still well known today. Daman was active in the AIME/SME, Denver Mining Club, Colorado Mining Association, and was the 2010 inductee from Mining’s Past into the American Mining Hall of Fame. He is remembered daily at Colorado School of Mines for the carillon he donated in 1966 which is prominently housed in Guggenheim Tower. Daman’s accomplishments were many. His legacy is celebrated through the Arthur C. Daman Lifetime Achievement Award, presented annually to a mining industry contributor by the SME Colorado Mineral Processing Division.
Ronald Gene Dewey
(1940-2023)
Ronald Gene Dewey was a leader in molybdenum and founding member of the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum. During his tenure as president and CEO of Molycorp Inc., Molycorp was the only producer of primary rare earths in North America from its mine at Mountain Pass, California. Dewey spent 10 years at the Questa Mine in New Mexico, Molycorp’s molybdenum operation. He was instrumental in implementing a cost accounting system and establishing a component rebuild and replacement system for mining equipment. Dewey was director of the National Mining Association, Legion of Honor member of SME, and a member of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America. In 2014, he was inducted into the University of Arizona’s Sigma Phi Epsilon Hall of Fame and received the 2023 Medal of Merit from the American Mining Hall of Fame. A staunch believer in both education and industry experience, Dewey and his wife Lynne endowed a scholarship at the University of Arizona’s Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources to support an outstanding Ph.D. candidate in mining, metallurgical or geological engineering with at least one year of work experience.
Dale B. Elphinstone
Dale B. Elphinstone has been instrumental in the transformation of the global underground mining industry. Initially modifying Caterpillar surface mining equipment for safer and more efficient underground mining in the 1970s, Elphinstone used this experience to develop and manufacture a new generation of Elphinstone underground mining LHDs and articulated trucks in the late 1980s and 90s (now Caterpillar products). The exceptional productivity of Elphinstone equipment gave new life to many marginal mining operations. To this day, Elphinstone continues to design and manufacture innovative underground support vehicles for the global mining industry. Starting his career as an apprentice diesel mechanic with the William Adams Caterpillar Dealership he now owns, Elphinstone established his underground mining equipment company, Dale B. Elphinstone Pty. Ltd., in 1975. The Elphinstone Group now employs over 2,500 people with annual revenues exceeding $1.5 billion Australian dollars. Dale has relentlessly advocated for his employees, his local community of Burnie, Tasmania, and the global mining industry while continuing to innovate and create employment for people in the region and around the world. He is a generous philanthropist and is passionate about giving back to the community, working with the federal and Tasmanian state governments and others to build a new cancer treatment center in Burnie, among many other projects. Elphinstone works long hours to assist countless business groups, training organizations, governments and associations, all with the goal of elevating the productivity, prosperity and perception of the global mining industry.
Patrick M. James
Patrick M. James is a renowned builder of mines, mining companies and mining executives. A 1968 mining engineering graduate from the Colorado School of Mines, he played a key role in transforming a small start-up into Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation (SFPG), leading the development of the Lee Ranch Coal Mine and the Rabbit Creek and Lone Tree gold mines. As SFPG’s COO and later CEO, he oversaw significant mergers and acquisitions, culminating in the company’s $2.5 billion acquisition by Newmont. James then led Rio Algom Limited, developing and expanding operations in…
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