Editor says good-bye to CMJ

For the second time since joining the staff of CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL in 1986, I am leaving the magazine. The first time was a week before my daughter Margaret was born in 1990, and I was ably replaced as editor by Patrick Whiteway. In September 1997, the same day Margaret started Grade 2 and our son Jerome Grade 1, I returned to CMJ to replace Patrick, driven here by the Bre-X scandal and what it did to my husband George Werniuk’s job as exploration manager of Central Asia Goldfields, a Canadian junior working in Kazakhstan.

Our family is again changing roles. Margaret is heading off to university in Nova Scotia to study arts this fall. Jerome is being actively scouted as an up-and-coming baseball pitcher and scholar-watch for him in the major league draft around 2013. George is trying his luck as a vice-president at Viking Gold Exploration, a junior working near Yellowknife. It’s time for me to push along too. I will not be retiring -I’m too young for that. After summer vacation, I will be looking for a different type of work, and likely a number of you will be hearing from me.

I leave the editor’s position to Russ Noble, who comes to this magazine after many years as editor on other trade magazines. Our field editor Marilyn Scales will stay with CMJ, where she has worked since 1977,making her the most senior and experienced mining writer in Canada.

Marilyn and I know many of our readers personally. We enjoy meeting you and hearing from you and hopefully keeping you informed and engaged. Many people in this industry have made our jobs both successful and fascinating over the years; we thank you. At 126, CMJ is one of the older magazines in Canada, and I hope it continues to serve this country’s mining industry well into the future.

Thank you for not complaining about the blatant promotion of some of my favourite causes in this magazine, such the Women in Mining Network. I would like to thank the many readers and companies that donated generously last year to the WIM teams in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk in Toronto as well as the Run for the Cure in Vancouver, Calgary, Kamloops, Toronto and St. John’s, Nfld. Our efforts last year not only raised $232,000 to fight breast cancer, but also tripled the number of women in the networks in Toronto and Vancouver, started up several new WIM networks, and brought us together to co-ordinate our efforts. As a last plug, please note that there will be WIM teams in both events again this September and October (I will be in the Weekend to End Breast Caner walk in Toronto myself); please continue to support us with your dollars and encouragement. You can reach our team pages at http://www.endcancer.ca/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=1254&team_id=51897 and https://www.cibcrunforthecure.com/html/participant_search.asp. As well, the Canadian WIM networks will be launching a major drive this fall to raise money for microfinancing in South Africa.

These women just don’t give up, and that’s a very good thing!

Finally I would like to thank the publisher of CMJ, Ray Perks, who has been so agreeable in letting the editorial staff get on with its job here. Smooth sailing, Ray.