Built to Last: Ross Beaty on Five Decades of Building

Ross Beaty is one of Canada’s most accomplished builders. Over five decades he has founded 16 companies on four continents. They include mining companies with operations across Latin America that created billions in shareholder value, and a renewable power company with geothermal, hydro, solar and wind operations from Iceland to Nevada. Closer to home, his name is on some of BC’s most significant conservation work. Today he invests in the next generation of companies. In this fireside chat, he shares what that career has taught him about patient capital, long timelines and earning community trust, and where he sees Canada’s next builders making their mark.

Ross Beaty, Mining & Renewable Energy Entrepreneur and President, Sitka Foundation

Ross J. Beaty C.M. Biography:

Mr. Beaty is one of Canada’s most successful resource company entrepreneurs, with over 50 years of experience in international minerals and renewable resources. He has founded 16 resource companies in his career worth over $45 billion. He is currently Founder and Chair of Lumina Metals, Founder and Chair Emeritus of Equinox Gold, a major gold producer and Founder and Chair Emeritus of Pan American Silver, one of the world’s largest silver and gold producers.

Mr. Beaty is past President of the Silver Institute, a Fellow of the Geological Association of Canada, the Society of Economic Geologists, and the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM), and a recipient of the CIM’s Past President Memorial Medal. He has received the Association of Mineral Explora􀆟on of B.C.’s Colin Spence Award for excellence in global mineral exploration, the 2008 Mining Person of the Year award from the Mining Association of B.C., the Viola R. MacMillan Award from the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, the CIM’s Vale Medal for meritorious contribution to mining, the Coastal Ocean Research Institute’s North Medal for Ocean Conservation, and the Alumni Award of Distinction from UBC’s School of Law.

Ross is one of the most influential people in the global mining industry for his pragma􀆟c support of environmental causes, ability to build bridges with civil society, and remarkable legacy of philanthropy. Through the Sitka Foundation, which Ross co-founded with his wife Tricia, Ross has supported more than 120 environmental organizations and universities, driving policy, research, and education aimed at protecting ecosystems across Canada and around the world. Ross also played instrumental roles as Director of the Pacific Salmon Foundation and Chairman of the BC Parks Foundation. He is also a board member of Panthera, an organization devoted exclusively to the conservation of the world’s wild cat species and their landscapes.

Mr. Beaty has been inducted into the Resource Hall of Fame (2015), the Business Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame (2017), and the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame (2018). Additionally, he was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2017. Mr. Beaty holds a M.Sc., Distinction in Mineral Exploration from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, England, and a LLB in Law and B.Sc., Honors in Geology from the University of British Columbia.