Joubin

Franc Joubin is a legend in mining circles around the world. During an amazing career that began in gold mining, he supervised the development of Canada’s last hand-hewn mine in British Columbia, searched for strategic minerals during World War II, and engaged in uranium exploration and mining in Northern Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Ontario. Then he did what few people in human history have ever done: he returned to the place where he had completed his mining apprenticeship, purchased the mine and its nearby competitor, and merged them into a single corporation. Later, for nearly twenty years he worked, on a volunteer basis, for the United Nations providing “on the spot” assistance in the preparation of inventories of mineral potential for developing countries on five continents.

Born, 1911, in San Francisco of French parents (a father from Brittany and a mother from Normandy), Joubin was endowed at birth with the strength and resilience of the Bretons and the intelligence and elegance of the Normans. These qualities, combined with his own creative attitude, enabled him to develop as a helpful and joyful human being despite many adversities in his formative years — his father’s death from war wounds, his mother’s hospitalization, and his own life in orphanages. Reunited with his mother and brother when he was about ten years old, he began working to support them.

Throughout the 1930s, he worked continuously and studied, when he had saved enough money, at Victoria College on Vancouver Island, and later at the University of British Columbia (UBC) where he specialized in both chemistry and geology.During his undergraduate years at UBC, in the great Depression of the 1930s, he got a summer job with Pioneer Gold Mines,then one of Canada’s leading gold mines, with operations in the Bridge River valley in British Columbia.

Stimulated greatly by the pioneering work of Pierre and Marie Curie on the use of radioactive materials for medical purposes, he devoted careful attention, as an undergraduate, to the study of uranium and scientific and technical means for its location.Upon graduation from UBC in the late 1930s, he began to work full-time for Pioneer Gold Mines as a geologist.

Following World War II and his completion of his Master of Arts degree in geology, he moved to Toronto as the Eastern Canada representative of Pioneer and mastered the secrets of the speculative penny stock jungle in Canada’s investment capital. When the wartime ban on prospecting for uranium was lifted, he acquired one of the first portable Geiger counters for the identification of radioactive minerals and began his careful search for uranium.

He directed a small group of geologists, engineers, and metallurgists that discovered, developed, and prepared for production ten uranium mines across Canada: in the Beaverlodge district of Saskatchewan, in British Columbia, and north of Lake Huron in Ontario. Since he knew that uranium is typically associated with nickel and cobalt, he and members of his group studied with particular care geological maps of the region west of Sudbury, Ontario, and southwest of Cobalt to the north.

He soon determined that uranium might be found on the north shore of Lake Huron. To test his theory he sought financial support from major mining corporations, but none would provide him with the necessary funding. However, Joseph Hirshhorn,a mining promoter well-known in both New York and Toronto, agreed to provide $35,000 for preliminary testing. Working together they developed what became known as the Pronto Mine. When assay tests confirmed Joubin’s theory, the value of units in their Pronto Syndicate rose dramatically.

After the success of the Pronto venture, Joubin and his colleagues also discovered and developed most of the major mines that came into production in the Elliot Lake region north of Lake Huron. The development of these mines established Canada as the world leader in the production of uranium. During this same period, Joubin and his colleagues also discovered and developed two successful copper mines, one in Saskatchewan and one in Ontario, and a large iron ore deposit in Labrador.

1. Painting (1990) of Dr. Franc R. Joubin, one of the world’s most successful and respected prospectors and geologists. According to Peter C. Newman, Joubin “brought Canada into the nuclear age”; Pierre Berton has called Joubin “a legend in mining circles around the world”; Former Lt.-Gov. of Ontario, the Hon. John Black Aird, has called this Canadian mine hunter a “visionary,” one who “made a great difference to many people” (painting by C. Finn) 2. World-renowned geologist, Franc Joubin, at a gala with the late Viola MacMillan who helped transform the Prospectors and Developers Association from a small, regional group into a highly respected, educational association of professionals engaged in mining exploration. Called “Queen Bee” by associates, she was President
of the Prospectors and Developers Association for twenty years and is an elected member of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame (courtesy /Franc Joubin)

Within five years of the initial development of their first mine on the north shore of Lake Huron, Joubin and Hirshorn sold the major portion of their mining interests, gaining a thousandfold return on the original investment. This enabled Hirshorn to develop his remarkable art collection for which the museum and sculpture garden, which bear his name, were subsequently created on The Mall in Washington, D.C. That magnificent building and garden are as much a silent monument to Franc Joubin’s skills as a prospector and geologist as they are a widely acclaimed monument to Joe Hirshorn’s shrewdness in art collecting.

By the mid-1950s Franc Joubin had become widely known and celebrated. A world-famous movie producer wanted to film his life and accomplishments, and leading publishers urged him to let them publish his life story. But Joubin had other ideas. He became an independent global mining consultant and increased his efforts to promote international peace.

Joubin had first become interested in pitchblende, a form of uranium, because of its role in x-ray and cancer therapy. The later use of uranium for destructive military purposes appalled him. Consequently he devoted much time to the early development of the Canadian Peace Research Institute and the use of uranium for nuclear power generation. Later he was one of the founders of the Canadian Institute for Radiation Safety (CAIRS).

In the early 1960s he became directly involved in the Technical Assistance Program of the United Nations assisting developing countries to prepare inventories of their own mineral resources. Geological and mining officials in more than 30 countries benefited through his analyses and counsel. During his years with the UN he made a variety of mineral discoveries. Some were of the same order as his uranium discovery that had resulted in the development of the community of Elliot Lake. The value of the ore located there was estimated, in the early 1980s, to be about $30 billion.

While he was with the UN, he discovered natural gas in the Caribbean, uranium in Somalia, potash in Poland, rock phosphate in central India, and copper on the old Marco Polo silk trail in Iran. In identifying this last find, Joubin recognized ancient slag, in the desert sand, from a mine he judged was operating more than 500 years ago. He also discovered in Panama, Mexico, and Columbia, porphyry copper deposits that had been largely buried beneath younger rock.

In the midst of his many activities overseas Joubin had not forgotten Canada. He had become greatly intrigued by the discovery of oil in the North Sea and wondered whether oil might also be discovered beneath Canada’s Hudson Bay. He organized an international company, SOGEPET. After much careful planning and the securing of large sums of money, drilling was commenced. While oil and gas have yet to be found in adequate economic form or quantity, he remains confident that both are present in the northern region of the Hudson Bay Basin. He and his associates realized, however, that because of the sub-Arctic location the development of the oil and gas potential there is still in the distant future.

Unlike many other prospectors and geologists who have vast treasures of great stories but rarely write them down, he has published his memoirs in a fascinating volume, Not For Gold Alone. He hopes this volume will encourage others to search for the wealth that lies at their feet.