Iain Fleming Downie, of Thunder Bay, Ont., passed away peacefully with his wife Anne and children Malcolm, Ewan and Andrea by his side on Aug. 5 at the age of 83.
Iain was born in Scotland and attended the University of Toronto where he graduated as a PEng geologist. He had a successful career in mineral exploration across North America: a pioneer of diamond exploration in Canada, a recipient of the PDAC Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award (as part of the team at Wolfden Resources for their discovery of the West Zone massive sulphide deposit at High Lake, Nunavut, and the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association (NWOPA) Lifetime Achievement Award.
A respected friend and colleague, Iain was involved in numerous mineral discoveries and was a founding director of Wolfden Resources (predecessor to Premier Gold Mines and i-80 Gold), where he worked with his son Ewan.