OBITUARY: Tech innovator Dengler took Dynatec to global stage

Long time mining market exec W. R. “Bob” Dengler, a designer that constructed Canadian start-up Dynatec right into among the nation’s largest mine service providers and drivers, has actually passed away. He was 84.

Dengler died in harmony on Might 15 in Aurora, Ont., his family members stated in an emailed declaration. No reason of fatality was revealed.

” Bob Dengler is unquestionably a mining tale,” previous Iamgold chief executive officer Stephen Letwin composed in a 2018 recommendation letter for an honor. “He attracts attention for his business frame of mind, the critical vision he has actually offered the market and the long lasting worth his initiatives have actually produced for Canada’s economic situation.”

Very early mining direct exposure

Birthed in the mining neighborhood of Kirkland Lake, Ont., Dengler functioned as an acid rock miner throughout his college years– an experience that his family members states instilled in him “regard for effort and a drive to transform the market.”

After finishing with a bachelor’s degree in mining design from Queen’s College in 1965, he signed up with the having company J.S. Redpath as a task designer in North Bay.

He invested nearly 16 years at the company, coming to be vice-president and basic supervisor in 1971. Creator James Redpath would certainly later on explain him as “solid on safety and security, charitable, not reluctant and hard.”

Threat stimulated objective

A specifying minute happened early in his mining job when Dengler was pinned in between 2 12-ton pails in a near-fatal below ground mishap, fracturing his hips. The experience placed him on a long-lasting objective to boost mining safety and security, according to pal and company companion William Electric shaver.

Along With Fred Edwards, Dengler and Electric shaver started Dynatec in 1980.

Under Dengler’s management, Dynatec developed from a new start-up with a solitary pickup right into a worldwide gamer with possession risks in significant mining procedures.

Going international

The 1988 purchase of Tonto Mining and Tonto Boring enabled Dynatec to greater than dual in dimension and acquire a grip in united state states such as Utah and Colorado. The firm altered its name to Dynatec International to mirror this newfound range.

In 1997, Dynatec International combined with Sherritt International’s hydrometallurgical innovations system. The brand-new Dynatec Firm ended up being an openly detailed firm on the Toronto Stock market and began running little mining procedures, progressively creating the capacity to take care of bigger tasks such as Inco’s Shebandowan nickel mine in Ontario.

In 2003, Dynatec got a bulk risk in the Ambatovy nickel job in Madagascar from Phelps-Dodge. After getting Phelps-Dodge 2 years later on, the firm was called job driver and induced Japan’s Sumitomo as companion. Ambatovy would certainly take place to turn into one of the globe’s largest nickel and cobalt mines.

Dengler retired as chief executive officer in 2005 and acted as the firm’s vice chairman till 2007.

That year, Sherritt got Dynatec for around $1.6 billion. The offer consisted of the firm’s holding in Ambatovy and a risk in FNX Mining.

Sector male

For many years, Dengler released several technological documents and offered on the boards of business such as Iamgold, Denison Mines, Rockgate Resources, TVX Gold, and Lundin Mining, along with with the Mining Organization of Canada.

His payments to the market gained him an Honorary Doctorate from Queen’s College 1988 and the Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Oil’s McParland Memorial Honor in 1990.

Dengler relied on the power of r & d. Under his watch, Dynatec created developments such as the “Lengthy Round Modern Technology,” a principle based upon using a solitary huge size pierced reduced in lieu of a melt or ruin cut that the firm stated boosted boring performance by greater than 20%.

An enthusiastic visitor of the biography of high up-and-comers, Dengler informed The North Miner in a 1992 meeting that he wished his biographer would certainly someday represent him as a business building contractor that left a tradition of non-stop going after technical development.

Can-do perspective

Dengler’s online reputation in Canadian mining circles was that of “a reputable, uncomplicated and ‘can do’ exec,” previous Sherritt International chief executive officer Ian Delaney composed in a 2018 recommendation letter.

A cars fanatic, Dengler enjoyed Ferraris and appreciated seeing Ferrari’s Solution 1 group race in his extra time. He likewise delighted in golf and traveling.

Spreading his wings

He gained his helicopter pilot permit in 2005, at the age of 66. 5 years later on, he got a Canadian-made Bell 429 design.

Dengler and his child Steven flew the Canada 150 International Odyssey, the initial Canadian circuit of the globe by helicopter, in 2017. The trip obtained numerous honors and honors, consisting of an Exceptional Air Sports Efficiency by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

Guinness Globe Records acknowledged both for their accomplishment in 2023.

” My life has actually had plenty of journeys. I have actually functioned throughout the Arctic. I have actually taken a trip to over 100 nations worldwide. (…) You most likely to these various locations and you encounter all type of unknowns and you handle them,” Dengler informed Upright publication in a 2017 meeting.

” I discovered just how to handle hardship, and you simply handle it. You locate your means around it.”