The National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum (NMHFM) announced the class of 2022 National Mining Hall of Fame inductees. This year’s inductees, selected by the National Mining Hall of Fame’s Board of Governors, are being honored for trailblazing a commitment to sustainability concepts, leading the mineral royalty business, building academic mining programs, innovations in coal mine ground control and longwall mining, and advocating for a strong domestic mining industry to supply the nation’s needs for critical minerals.

The Prazen Living Legend of Mining Award, named for renowned mining artist Gary Prazen, will be awarded to an industry-leading organization with a significant commitment to educating and engaging the public stakeholders.

2022 National Mining Hall of Fame Inductees:

Timothy J. Haddon (1948- ) was once described by the Mining World News as “a new generation of mining CEO who combines the high-risk, pull-out-all-stops legacy of yesterday’s miners with the modern executive’s keen awareness that excellent community and government relations are critical to the survival of a mining company.”

Pierre Lassonde (1947- ) is globally recognized as a mining executive, business innovator, analyst, philanthropist, and author. He once said “If you want to make a difference, you have to pick where you want your support to be. I have said a thousand times – the natural resources of a country are not its commodities, but its people. So that is what we invest in.”

Thomas J. O’Neil (1940- ) has demonstrated outstanding leadership throughout his career as a mining industry corporate executive, educator, board member, author, and volunteer. He graduated from Lehigh University’s Mining Engineering program in 1962. He started his career in Utah at the Kennecott Copper Company, but soon enrolled at The Pennsylvania State University and earned an M.S. in Mining Engineering in 1966. O’Neil’s 1967 technical paper “Computer Simulation of Truck Haulage in Open Pit Mines,” won him the Robert Peele Award for best paper from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME).

Syd S. Peng (1939- ) is among the world’s most renowned experts in ground control and longwall mining. He has educated thousands and authored numerous textbooks and technical papers. Peng and his team have introduced numerous new ground control technologies, many of which have become standards of the industry.

Sheldon P. Wimpfen (1913-2003) was a tireless advocate for a strong domestic mining industry capable of supplying our nation’s need for critical and strategic minerals. Wimpfen graduated in Mining Engineering from the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy in 1934 and embarked on a colorful, globe-trotting career. Wimpfen honed his practical skills at mines in the U.S. before joining mines in the Philippines in 1937. With the threat of Japanese invasion, he returned to the U.S. and became Assistant Superintendent of the Benton Mine in Oregon before heading to the Potosi and Pulacayo tin mines in Bolivia. He then served in the Pacific Theater as a Marine. After the war, Wimpfen became Assistant Editor of Mining and Metallurgy and subsequently Editor of the Mining Congress Journal

2022 Prazen Living Legend of Mining Award: The education outreach program at the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources works to help K through 12 students and teachers understand the importance of mining and mineral resources in everyday life. By helping students learn more about how they use minerals, where those minerals come from and the diverse people who work to obtain those minerals, the program hopes to encourage more young people to understand how mining supports their lives and to see themselves as part of the mineral industry. The program does this by providing standards-based virtual and in-person classroom presentations to K-12 students across the state of Arizona, hosting the “Mineral Resource Discovery Workshop” for 6-12 students at Flandrau Planetarium and Science Center, producing the “Minerals Make It” video series on YouTube, putting together Google Earth based virtual tours of mines in Arizona, maintaining the outreach website, and by creating virtual activities for students wherever they may be. The education outreach program also works with the recruitment outreach program to guide students on their journey from user of mineral resources to provider of those resources. The Mining Foundation of the Southwest provides the funding for the program’s Education Outreach Coordinator. The program reached over 5,000 people in 2021 which included 3,700 views on YouTube, virtual presentations to 542 students, and in-person presentations to 836 students.

Regarding this year’s honorees, National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum Board of Directors’ Chair David Travis stated, “We are proud and honored to be inducting such a worthy class of mining legends. I would also like to thank our Board of Governors who are dedicated to providing a great list of nominees every year.”

The 35th annual Induction Banquet will be held the evening of October 29, 2022 at the Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows in Lone Tree, CO. Visit www.MiningHallOfFame.org for updates. Sponsorships are available; contact Stephen Whittington, Executive Director, at director@mininghalloffame.org for details.