Opening Plenary

P. Jerry Asp

Jerry is one of Canada’s most prominent Aboriginal Leaders. He is committed to enhancing the quality of life for Aboriginal People through the creation of new business opportunities and development of skills and capacity in the community.

His field experience in the mining industry began in 1965 when he started working on diamond drills. He then went on to work underground for six years in the Tantalus Butte Coal Mine, Carmacks, Yukon. During this stage in his career, he was the underground mine rescue Captain and President of the only all-native United Steelworker’s Local in North America.

Jerry has also applied his leadership skills to serve the public. In 2011, Jerry was awarded the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s Skookum Jim Award which recognizes Aboriginal achievements in the mining industry. He was appointed to sit on the Yukon Mining Advisory Board in 2011.

Jerry was President and founding member of the Tahltan Nation Development Corporation. (1985), the largest native-owned and operated heavy construction company in Western Canada. He is also a founding member of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (1981) as well as the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association (CAMA) (1991 – November 2013) where he server as Vice-President.

Jerry was instrumental in bringing the Aboriginal Toolkit for Mining to fruition. This document received the 2006 Departmental Merit Award from Natural Resources Canada and in 2007 won the International Award as the best Aboriginal mine training document in the world, from UNESCO.

Jerry is an experienced negotiator. His success in this area includes negotiating the first native-owned independent power producer contract with BC Hydro, the first significant Impact and Benefits Agreement in BC’s mining industry (Golden Bear Mine) and he successfully negotiated for a new health facility to serve the Dease Lake area. Jerry has received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Metal March 5, 2013 for his contributions to the inclusion and training of Aboriginal People in industry, as well as the Frank Woodside award from AME BC (2015) and the very prestigious Inspired award for Business and Commerce (2017).

In 2018 he was appointed to the Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Body on Responsible Business Conduct (MSAB) by the Minister of International Trade. Jerry has shared his knowledge and experience with indigenous communities in Peru, Columbia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Belize, Guatemala, Argentina, Australia, Panama, the Philippines, Sweden, Norway, Canada and the United States. On January 9, 2020 Jerry Asp was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.

Dean Gehring

Dean Gehring was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer in June 2019 after joining Newmont as Regional Senior Vice President, South America in June 2017. He brings over 25 years of global operational experience, having lived in Canada, Indonesia, Peru and the US. Prior to joining Newmont, he spent 14 years with global miner Rio Tinto, in a variety of executive roles including President and Chief Executive Officer of Rio Tinto Minerals, Global Head of Safety and Security and General Manager of Resource Development for the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. Dean previously worked as Manager of Technical Services at Freeport's Grasberg mine and held various operational and technical roles with BHP Billiton prior to working for Freeport. He earned his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Idaho, and his Master’s of Science in Project Management from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Dean holds a Nevada Professional Engineering registration and Project Management Professional certification. In addition to having published papers for mining and project management journals, he has served on university advisory boards and is currently the co-chair of the SME Foundation Corporate Giving Committee.