Fred Banfield

Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the mining technology industry for 50 years, Fred is a founding partner at Eclipse Mining Technologies (EMT or Eclipse Mining). His simple business plan remains unchanged: make the client successful. The foundation for that business plan lies partly in his expertise. Few people have been applying computer techniques to mining engineering tasks longer than Fred. He offers decades of experience in mine design, developing databases, evaluating exploration data and open-pit mines, calculating and auditing reserves, and financial analysis.

Fred received his bachelor’s degree as Engineer of Mines from the Colorado School of Mines, where he also pursued studies on the application of computer technology to mining. After serving in the U.S. Army, he became Director of Applications Division for Computech Research Ltd. and was part of the team which developed MinVal, one of the first geologic modeling and mine planning software.

In 1970, Fred and a colleague founded Mintec, Inc., a consulting and software development company for the application of computer techniques in the mineral industry and remained the chairman until 2014. Fred offers decades of experience in the mining industry and has worked on a broad range of projects, including auditing reserve calculations and mine plans worldwide, the design and implementation of computerized systems for reserve calculations, the design of ultimate pit limits and mining schedules for open-pit mines, and the design and implementation of financial models and calculation of reserves for mining projects worldwide.

Fred has received numerous honors throughout his long career and was inducted to the American Mining Hall of Fame in 2014, and the International Mining Technology Hall of Fame in 2015. He was also a recipient of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration’s Daniel C. Jackling Award in 2007 for significant contributions to technical progress in mining geology and geophysics. Fred is currently a member of CIMM, SME, and a member of the Board of Directors of Seabridge Gold, Inc.