James Edward Gill (1901 – January 26, 1980) was a scientist, teacher, explorer and mine developer. Along with William R. James, Sr. he discovered the high-grade

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

deposits of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

. He is remembered for his important contributions in the fields of

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

and

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

. Gill was born in

Nelson, British Columbia Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the British Columbia Interior, Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of resto ...

. He started off attending the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, but completed his B.Sc. in Mining Engineering in 1921 at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. He worked as a Mining Engineer for two years in British Columbia, before going on to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

as a Proctor Fellow. In 1925, he obtained his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

Career

Gill began at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

as Assistant Professor in 1925. After three years he moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

to teach at McGill. While at McGill he introduced the Master's of Applied Science in Mineral Exploration program and established an analytical laboratory for the application of geochemistry to mineral exploration. Gill focused his studies on the structural geology of ore deposits. He formulated the concept of a "structural province" and used it to define the fundamental subdivisions of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...

. He then published over 50 technical papers. He served as Managing Editor for the 24th International Geological Congress. Outside of academia, Gill discovered deposits, which became mines and expansions of producing mines. In 1929, Gill and Dr. William R. James Sr., an internationally famous mining consultant, conducted one of the first major air-supported exploration projects. It resulted in the discovery of the high-grade iron ore deposits that led to the opening up of the iron wealth of Quebec and Labrador. Gill was instrumental in discovery of more than three

gold mines Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface, ...

in northwestern Quebec and served as consultant and advisor on several other successful gold mines. His field work identified

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

fire clay Fire clay is a range of refractory clays used in the manufacture of ceramics, especially fire brick. The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines fire clay very generally as a "mineral aggregate composed of hydrous silicates of alumin ...

s in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, the mineral resources of the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

and

Red Lake, Ontario Red Lake is a municipality with town status in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, located northwest of Thunder Bay and less than from the Manitoba border. The municipality consists of six small communities� ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Gill directed the development and opening of Canada's only

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The element magnesium can s ...

mine. In 1949, Gill was a founding member of the executive committee of the National Advisory Committee on Research in the Geological Sciences. Gill retired from McGill in 1969 as Emeritus Professor.

Honours

*1939, awarded the Barlow Memorial Medal by the

Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum The Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) is a not-for-profit technical society of professionals in the Canadian minerals, metals, materials and energy industries. CIM's members are convened from industry, academia and go ...

*1943, awarded the

Leonard Medal The Leonard Medal honors outstanding contributions to the science of meteoritics and closely allied fields. It is awarded by the Meteoritical Society. It was established in 1962 to honor the first President of the Society, Frederick C. Leonard. ...

of the

Engineering Institute of Canada The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) ( French: l'Institut canadien des ingénieurs; ICI) is a federation of fourteen engineering societies based in Canada, covering a broad range of engineering branches, and with a history going back to 1887. ...

*1957, awarded the

Willet G. Miller Medal The Miller Medal is an award of the Royal Society of Canada given for ''outstanding research in any branch of the earth sciences''. The award consists of a gold-plated silver medal and is awarded every two years if there is a suitable candidate. ...

by the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

*1967, awarded the

Logan Medal :::''There is also a Logan Medal of the arts, awarded by the Chicago Arts Institute.'' The Logan Medal is the highest award of the Geological Association of Canada. Named after Sir William Edmond Logan, noted 19th-century Canadian geologist. It ...

by the Geological Association of Canada] *2003, inducted into the

Canadian Mining Hall of Fame The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame was conceived by Maurice R. Brown as a way to honor Canada's mine finders and builders, in recognition of accomplishments by leaders in the Canadian mining industry. The Hall was established in 1988; in 2022 it ha ...

by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum

References

Canadian Mining Hall of Fame entry

Willet G. Miller Medal

Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada

Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, James E. 1901 births 1980 deaths 20th-century chemists 20th-century Canadian geologists Canadian mining engineers Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni People from Nelson, British Columbia Princeton University alumni University of British Columbia alumni Canadian explorers Logan Medal recipients