Frank Racicot is both a geologist and prospector. He had known since he was in high school that he wanted to work outside and not be cooped up inside an office.
Racicot graduated from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. in 1974 with a geology degree. He then went on to work for various junior mining and consulting companies across Canada in their grassroots prospecting, stripping, mapping or drilling programs.
“I’ve worked in the Yukon, Nunavut and every province – except for in the Maritimes,” Racicot says.
Racicot’s roots in this field stretch back all the way to the beginning of the 20th century. Many of his relatives were involved in mineral exploration; his great-great-uncle Adney Cryderman was credited with staking the Garson Mine in Sudbury, and his great-uncle Ted Cryderman was a mining engineer.
“Right now, I’m just doing research and getting ready to work for some other junior company,” he says, adding he participated in a talk at last spring’s symposium in Thunder Bay, Ont. on low-tech prospecting techniques. The discussion focused on exploration techniques that don’t rely on computers or expensive digital exploration instruments.
“Things are getting more technical, and there are many types of instruments being used out in the field,” says Racicot. “I’m more into low-tech things – and you can’t get more low-tech than a hammer,” he adds with a laugh.
Racicot says a good prospecting hammer is one of the most underrated tools for prospecting and sampling. Some prospectors carry a grub hoe and a sledgehammer while many use what is known as a ‘GeoTool’. Racicot prefers a blacksmith’s hammer with a piece of hard, ‘grader-blade’ steel welded to it.
“I’ve combined two tools into one and it is certainly much more effective,” says Racicot. “It cuts two-inch tree roots and peels moss off outcrops with ease – yet has the necessary heft that it can break open just about any rock.” He claims he always finds new showings or geologically important outcrops with his Pt pounder every year.
While Racicot says he doesn’t have just one highlight that stands out from his career, he fondly remembers several recent gold showing, as well as the time him and his partner, veteran prospector Dan Brunne, found a platinum showing west of Sudbury in the 1990s.
“We found 15 grams of PGEs with a high Pt value – that was a nice find,” he says. So was the 100 units he staked for palladium east of Sudbury the next year.
