NWMA Presents Members' Awards at 106th Annual Meeting in Spokane
December 06, 2000

Spokane, Washington — Each year, the Northwest Mining Association (NWMA) presents awards to individual members who have provided outstanding service to the Association and/or minerals industry. Four awards were bestowed, including two Life Member Awards, the highest award given by the Association. The awards were presented Tuesday evening at the Annual Life Members, Past Presidents Awards Reception, sponsored by Caterpillar, Inc.

Receiving “Honorary Life Member” awards, the Association’s highest individual award, were Lyle Taylor, President and CEO of Geotemps, a mining industry personnel service in Reno, Nevada, and Jami Paul Fernette, Land Manager for Cominco American Inc., in Spokane.

Taylor, a 30-year veteran of the mining industry, has promoted the industry through lobbying, donations and personal service, in addition to providing career opportunities for mining personnel and professionals to domestic and international mining companies with special needs. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Taylor serves on the Advisory Board to the Dean of the Mackay School of Mines, and served on NWMA’s Board of Trustees from 1997-1999. As Chairman of NWMA’s Membership Committee, his efforts led to the highest number of individual members in the Association’s history, for which he received the Association’s Starter’s Award. In 1998, Taylor’s company, Geotemps, received NWMA’s Platinum Award for Corporate Excellence.

Fernette, a graduate of Beloit College, has been responsible for land management activities for Cominco American Incorporated since 1991. Originally an exploration geologist, her responsibilities now include option, joint venture and lease negotiations, title search and due diligence, and bonding and compliance activities relating to permitting.

Fernette served on NWMA’s Board of Trustees for six years, and led the Association as its President in 1996. In 1998, she received NWMA’s President’s Award for her work in formulating the Association’s “Statement of Environmental Principles” that formed the basis for this year’s first-time awards for Environmental Excellence.

This year’s recipient of the “President’s Award” for important contributions to the Association, was Jim Duff, Vice President-Business Development for Coeur, The Precious Metals Company.

Duff, a longtime member of NWMA, has served the Association in many different roles, including Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Annual Meeting, a Trustee (since 1996), and immediate past President (1999) of the Spokane-based non-partisan trade organization. He holds geology degrees from the Mackay School of Mines and the University of Idaho, has been a stalwart for efficient management and progressive growth of the Association. In 1999, Duff appointed a Strategic Planning Committee to develop the Strategic Plan recently approved by NWMA’s Trustees, and has been a major contributor to the work of that committee.

“The Starter’s Award,” given in recognition for starting a new project for NWMA, was presented to Otto Schumacher, President of Western Mine Engineering Inc., of Spokane for his role in creating the Annual Meeting & Exposition Energizers Committee. A specialist in mining economic analysis and publisher of Mining Cost Service and other materials used by companies worldwide in the evaluation of mining projects, he has a respected resume in the mining industry, including important work for Magma Copper Co., Hecla Mining Co., and U.S. Bureau of Mines.

Schumacher has served on NWMA’s Board of Trustees for six years, participated on more than eight committees over the years and was the Association’s President in 1997. He holds an undergraduate degree in geological engineering from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in geology from the University of New Mexico.