Yukon mining legend, Gordon Dickson, born in Mount Laurier, Quebec, succumbed quickly to heart failure in Vancouver after a long courageous battle with Hodgkins Disease. He is survived by his devoted wife, Janet.

When Gordon was 17 years of age, he was the youngest structural steelworker in Canada. He was involved in such major projects as the construction of the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the International Nickel Plant in Ontario.

In the 1930s he turnd to prospecting in the interior of British Columbia. After completing service in the Canadian Army in 1946, he was lured to the Yukon to continue his search for metals. Gordon was actively involved in this pursuit until his 80th year.

In 1946, he first travelled by foot from Aishihik into the Mount Nansen area (then known as Brown-McDade) and began his Yukon prospecting career.

In 1950, he did the original exploration work at Casino for the late mining legend, Karl Springer. Gordon formed the Mount Nansen Syndicate in 1962 with some of the major mining companies in Canada, including Noranda Mines, Conwest Exploration, Newmont, Rio Tinto Explorations and Kerr-Addison Mines. The property was owned by BYG Natural Resources of Vancouver in the early 1990s.

Gordon was responsible for building the Mount Nansen Road from Carmacks to what became known as the Mount Nansen Area. He then formed the Dickson Yukon Syndicate which staked lead-zinc claims in the Anvil Range that were later developed into the Faro deposit.

He went to work in Mauretania, North Africa, for eight months in 1965, prospecting in the desert for copper for another mining legend, the late Thayer Lindsley.

Gordon also spent a year in Costa Rica in 1975, working for the late Don Cannon of Asamera Oil Corp. and Cannon Mines. His 46 years of prospecting in the Yukon took him from the Bonnet Plume mountains north of Mayo, Ross River, the White River-Kluane area, to Watson Lake.

He learned to fly airplanes and purchased first a Fleet Canuck and then a Cessna 170 to facilitate his prospecting activities.

Gordon was named Prospector of the Year in 1989 and inducted into the Prospectors' Hall of Fame. His name is engraved in the base of the prospector statue that stands watch over Whitehorse from Main Street and Third Avenue.

He was a member of the B.C. Yukon Chamber of Mines, the Yukon Chamber of Mines, Canadian Institute of Mining, the Canadian Prospectors and Developers Association, the Yukon Order of Pioneers and the Vancouver Yukoners Association.

Gordon was well-known in mining communities across Canada. His original wit and unique character are fondly remembered by all who knew him.

At his request, his remains were donated to the University of British Columbia for Medical Research.

A celebration of his life was held Sunday, March 21, 1993, at the Gold Rush Inn.

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See related article: Jan Dickson: First Woman Honoured as Prospector of the Year (1996)