Pierre Lassonde

Pierre Lassonde is a mining executive with decades of experience in the industry. He holds a B.A., BSc, MBA, P.Eng., CFA and Hon Ph.D.’s from the Universities of Toronto, Montreal, Ryerson, York, Western, Concordia, Mt. Allison and Utah.

Mr. Lassonde co-founded Franco-Nevada Mining Corporation in 1982. Acquired by Newmont Mining Corp in February 2002, it became the largest gold mining company in the world. He served as Chairman of the World Gold Council from 2005 to 2009. In 2008, Franco-Nevada came back to the public market. It is now the leading mining royalty company with a market capitalization over US$30B. Mr. Lassonde is Chairman Emeritus.

A dedicated philanthropist, Mr. Lassonde has been a strong supporter of education and the arts. He has served as Board Chair of the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (MNBAQ) and the Canada Council for the Arts and has been a board member of the Riopelle Foundation since 2019. In March 2020, he was appointed Principal and Chair of Polytechnique Montréal.

In 2002 Pierre was made a Member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Grand Officer in 2022. He became a Grand Officer of the National Order of Québec in 2019. Mr. Lassonde is a fellow of The Canadian Academy of Engineering. He was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and the National Mining Hall of Fame USA.

Recently, Mr. Lassonde’s wholly owned investment, Firelight Investments Ltd. has been very active in the creation and development in the early stages of a number of companies, including Foran Mining Corp, Orla Mining Ltd. and Atex Resources Inc.