Background
Blusson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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Stewart Blusson
Edit ProfileEducation
He completed an undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia (1960) and a doctorate in geology at the University of California, Berkeley (1964).
Career
He co-discovered billion-dollar Ekati Diamond Mine, 300 kilometres from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. He is President of Archon Minerals Limited. In 2002, Blusson donated key start-up funds necessary for Quest University Canada in Squamish, British Columbia.
Blusson had a Netto worth of $660 million CDN in 2006.
After school, he joined the federal Geological Survey of Canada, leading regional geological mapping and research programs in the central Yukon and parts of British Columbia. During that time he survived a serious helicopter crash and a Grizzly bear attack.
In 1969, Chuck Fipke, a geologist, needed to be rescued from the side of a mountain where he had been stranded for close to a week. Blusson was the helicopter pilot that saved him.
From this first encounter, Fipke and Blusson became friends and prospecting partners.
He left the Geological Survey in 1979 to explore the modes of formation of mineral deposits from Mexico to the Arctic. He discovered a number of important occurrences of gold, copper and other metals. In 1981, he and Fipke began searching for diamonds in the Northwest Territories, concentrating their search on indicator minerals commonly associated with kimberlite, a host rock for diamond.
They found kimberlitic indicator minerals near Lac de Gras in the Northwest Territories in 1985, and their first kimberlite at Point Lake in 1991.
In 1998, Ekati opened, a joint venture between BHP Diamonds Incorporated. (51%), Dia Met Minerals (29%), Fipke (10%), and Blusson (10%).
Blusson"s Netto worth in 2002 was estimated to be $295 million (United States). In 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Meda
1998- $50-million (Cdn) to the University of British Columbia for genetic research performed by Michael Smith, Nobel laureate 2002- $32-million to Quest University Canada in Squamish, British Columbia 2006- $5-million (Cdn) to Vancouver Aquarium for an educational program 2006- $10-million (Cdn) to the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre which houses ICORD, Vancouver Coastal Health and the Rick Hansen Institute, and is backed by activist Rick Hansen 2006- $10-million (United States) to Archon X PRIZE 2007- $12-million (Cdn) to the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University 2016- $11-million (Cdn) to the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute at the University of British Columbia.
Achievements
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In 2006, Blusson donated the largest medical prize in history, $10 million (United States), for the The prize is named after the ancient Archean Craton core plate beneath Canada where diamonds were discovered. The prize will go to the person or group that can develop a quick (100 people in 10 days) and inexpensive way to sequence a human genome.
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Born
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Nationality
Canadian
Awards
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Officer of the Order of Canada Logan Medal; Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal; ; Order of Canada
The Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Express Scripts for Genomics, the second X Prize offered by the X Prize Foundation, based in Playa Vista, California, was announced on October 4, 2006 stating that the prize of '$10 million will be awarded to the first team to rapidly, accurately and economically sequence 100 whole human genomes to an unprecedented level of accuracy'.; The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is the second highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada.; The Logan Medal is the highest award of the Geological Association of Canada.The Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Express Scripts for Genomics, the second X Prize offered by the X Prize Foundation, based in Playa Vista, California, was announced on October 4, 2006 stating that the prize of '$10 million will be awarded to the first team to rapidly, accurately and economically sequence 100 whole human genomes to an unprecedented level of accuracy'.; The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is the second highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada.; The Logan Medal is the highest award of the Geological Association of Canada.