Medals and Awards

Richard Goldfarb received his B.S. degree in geology from Bucknell University, his M.Sc. degree in hydrogeology at the University of Nevada-MacKay School of Mines, and his Ph.D. degree in geology at the University of Colorado. He was a research geologist for 36 years at the U.S. Geological Survey, where his studies focused on global metallogeny, geology of ore deposits in the North American Cordillera with emphasis on orogenic gold, lode gold deposits in China, and geochemical applications to the understanding of ore genesis. He has served as President of the SEG, Chair of the SEG Publications Board, member of the Editorial Board of Economic Geology, and chief editor of Mineralium Deposita. He was awarded the Silver Medal by SEG in 2011, Kutina-Smirnov Medal by the International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (IAGOD) in 2014, and the Gold Medal by the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) in 2022 for his various contributions to economic geology. Presently, Rich is a research professor at China University of Geosciences Beijing and Colorado School of Mines and is an independent consultant to the exploration and mining industry.

Jon Hronsky is a principal of Western Mining Services (WMS), a consultancy group based in Perth and Denver, that provides strategic-level services across the global mineral exploration industry. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the mining and exploration industry, primarily focused on exploration targeting and the strategic management of mineral exploration. Jon is also directly engaged in the global mineral exploration industry through various directorship roles in public companies and as a partner in Ibaera Capital, a mining-focused private-equity fund with a global portfolio of investments. Previous roles included manager of strategy and project generation for BHP's global mineral exploration group and chief geoscientist for WMC Resources. In parallel with his industry-focused career, Jon has maintained a strong interest and involvement in economic geology research, most particularly in the field of developing the application of the mineral system concept to exploration targeting. Jon is an adjunct professor at the Centre for Exploration Targeting at the University of Western Australia and was one of the original co-founders of this research center in 2005. In 2019, he was awarded the Order of Australia medal for services to the mining industry.

Joe Magnall is currently a research scientist at the GFZ Helmholtz Centre in Potsdam (Germany). Joe has a broad academic background, having completed his B.Sc. (environmental geology) and M.Sc. (geochemistry) degrees at the University of Leeds (UK), his Ph.D. degree at the University of Alberta (Canada), and seven years as a postdoctoral researcher at GFZ Potsdam. To date, most of Joe's research has focused on investigating sediment-hosted mineral systems and developing genetic models for Zn and Cu deposits. This research combines field work with multiple types of petrological, mineralogical, and geochemical data sets. Joe is also passionate about sustainable resource development and the role of mining in the energy transition.

Jeffrey Hedenquist is an independent advisor to the mineral industry and governmental groups on exploration and assessment of hydrothermal gold and copper projects. He has worked for ~125 companies in over 40 countries on more than 400 assignments, including field and classroom training. Prior to 1999 he spent 10 years each with government institutes of New Zealand and Japan, working on geothermal energy development and volcanic discharges; during this time he also studied the formation of epithermal gold and porphyry copper deposits. Dr. Hedenquist is adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa.

Antonio Arribas teaches at the Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences of The University of Texas at El Paso, where he is the inaugural holder of the Kenneth F. and Patricia Clark Distinguished Chair. Previously he taught at Akita University (Japan) and worked for two decades with the mineral exploration industry, including Vice President Geoscience (BHP), Senior Manager Geosciences (Newmont), and Exploration Manager South America (Placer Dome). Antonio conducts research in geology and geochemistry of mineral deposits and is interested in the history and teaching of economic geology and mineral exploration.