“Bob Dengler is undoubtedly a mining legend,” former Iamgold CEO Stephen Letwin wrote in a 2018 letter of recommendation for an award. “He stands out for his entrepreneurial mindset, the strategic vision he has brought to the industry and the lasting value his efforts have generated for Canada’s economy.”
Early mining exposure
Born in the mining community of Kirkland Lake, Ont., Dengler worked as a hard rock miner during his university years – an experience that his family says instilled in him “respect for hard work and a drive to revolutionize the industry.”
After graduating with a bachelor of science in mining engineering from Queen’s University in 1965, he joined the contracting firm J.S. Redpath as a project engineer in North Bay.
He spent almost 16 years at the firm, becoming vice-president and general manager in 1971. Founder James Redpath would later describe him as “strong on safety, generous, not shy and tough.”
Danger sparked mission
A defining moment occurred early in his mining career when Dengler was pinned between two 12-ton buckets in a near-fatal underground accident, fracturing his pelvis. The experience put him on a lifelong mission to improve mining safety, according to friend and business partner William Shaver.
Together with Fred Edwards, Dengler and Shaver founded Dynatec in 1980.
Under Dengler’s leadership, Dynatec evolved from a fledgling startup with a single pickup truck into an international player with ownership stakes in major mining operations.
Going global
The 1988 acquisition of Tonto Mining and Tonto Drilling allowed Dynatec to more than double in size and gain a foothold in U.S. states such as Utah and Colorado. The company changed its name to Dynatec International to reflect this newfound scale.
In 1997, Dynatec International merged with Sherritt International’s hydrometallurgical technologies unit. The new Dynatec Corporation became a publicly listed company on the Toronto Stock Exchange and started running small mining operations, gradually developing the ability to handle larger projects such as Inco’s Shebandowan nickel mine in Ontario.
In 2003, Dynatec acquired a majority stake in the Ambatovy nickel project in Madagascar from Phelps-Dodge. After buying out Phelps-Dodge two years later, the company was named project operator and brought on Japan’s Sumitomo as partner. Ambatovy would go on to become one of the world’s biggest nickel and cobalt mines.
Dengler retired as CEO in 2005 and served as the company’s vice chairman until 2007.
That year, Sherritt acquired Dynatec for about $1.6 billion. The deal included the company’s holding in Ambatovy and a stake in FNX Mining.
Industry man
Over the years, Dengler published multiple technical papers and served on the boards of companies such as Iamgold, Denison Mines, Rockgate Capital, TVX Gold, and Lundin Mining, as well as with the Mining Association of Canada.
His contributions to the industry earned him an Honorary Doctorate from Queen’s University 1988 and the Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum’s McParland Memorial Award in 1990.
Dengler believed in the power of research and development. Under his watch, Dynatec developed innovations such as the “Long Round Technology,” a concept based on the use of a single large diameter drilled cut in lieu of a burn or shatter cut that the company said improved drilling productivity by more than 20%.
An avid reader of the life histories of high achievers, Dengler told The Northern Miner in a 1992 interview that he hoped his biographer would one day portray him as a company builder who left a legacy of relentlessly pursuing technological innovation.
Can-do attitude
Dengler’s reputation in Canadian mining circles was that of “a reliable, straightforward and ‘can do’ executive,” former Sherritt International CEO Ian Delaney wrote in a 2018 letter of recommendation.
A sports car aficionado, Dengler loved Ferraris and enjoyed watching Ferrari’s Formula 1 team race in his spare time. He also enjoyed golf and travel.
Spreading his wings
He earned his helicopter pilot licence in 2005, at the age of 66. Five years later, he bought a Canadian-made Bell 429 model.
Dengler and his son Steven flew the Canada 150 Global Odyssey, the first Canadian circumnavigation of the world by helicopter, in 2017. The journey received several awards and accolades, including an Exceptional Air Sports Performance by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
Guinness World Records recognized the pair for their achievement in 2023.
“My life has been full of adventures. I’ve worked all through the Arctic. I’ve travelled to over 100 countries in the world. (…) You go to these different places and you face all sorts of unknowns and you deal with them,” Dengler told Vertical magazine in a 2017 interview.
“I learned how to deal with adversity, and you just deal with it. You find your way around it.”
