Dr. Stewart & Marilyn Blusson

Born in Vancouver, Dr. Blusson completed his science degree at the University of British Columbia and received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964. For the next 15 years, he displayed extraordinary skills in field work with the federal Geological Survey of Canada, leading regional geological mapping and research programmes in the central Yukon and parts of British Columbia.

He married Marilyn in 1980. She shares his enthusiasm for the wilderness and the stimulation of discovery, and together they planned to explore broad horizons. In 1981, he left the Geological Survey to explore the modes of formation of mineral deposits from Mexico to the Arctic, piloting his own plane and helicopter over vast areas. He discovered a number of important occurrences of gold, copper and other metals in Canada and the US; a gold mine was developed from one of these discoveries in Manitoba by Pioneer Metals Corporation.

His authoritative knowledge of Canadian and global geology led him to conclude that conditions for the occurrence of diamonds in Canada were favourable, and accordingly, he developed an exploration plan using highly refined scientific methods. In 1981, he and fellow geologist Chuck Fipke began searching in geologically appropriate regions of the Northwest Territories, concentrating their search on indicator metals commonly associated with diamonds. By following the trails left when the glaciers melted 10,000 years ago, a diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe was discovered in 1991 in the Lac Gras area north of Yellowknife. This and similar discoveries in the area are expected to result in the development of a diamond mine industry in Canada.

Dr. Blusson continues to conduct arduous scientific field work in the mountains of northern and western Canada and in the Canadian Shield. Energetic, determined and innovative, he quietly pursues dreams of new discoveries.