Monture Nominated To Head Tin Council

Dr. Gilbert C. Monture, a native of the Six Nations Reserve who has gained world recognition as a mining engineer and tin expert, was nominated for a top international post in London, England, today.

Dr. Monture was one of five men proposed for the chairmanship of the International Tin Council, an organization made up of representatives of 20 producing and non-producing nations. One of the tasks of the council is to set international floors and ceilings on tin prices. Dr. Monture, who is 65, is a great-grandson of the famous Six Nations chief, Joseph Brant, for whom Brantford and Brant County are named.

He was nominated for the chairmanship by J.M. Rochon, Canadian commercial counsellor in London. He is opposed by nominees from Australia, France, Indonesia, and Italy. Georges Peters of France has held the post since the council was formed in 1956.

Dr. Monture gained his wealth of experience as a long-time official of the federal department of mines. He retired from government service in 1956 to accept his present post of vice-president of Stratmat Ltd., a mining firm with headquarters in Ottawa.

He was born in Tuscarora Township in 1896 and received his early education on the reserve and at the BCI. After overseas service as an artillery officer in the First World War, he was graduated from Queen's University. In 1948 was presented with an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Monture joined the department of mines in 1923 and served for 33 years, including a 10-year period, immediately before his retirement, as head of the mineral resources division.

Dr. Monture was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1946 after distinguished achievement in the field during the Second World War. From 1940 to the end of the war he was executive assistant to the metals controller of the department of munitions and supply. As well, he served as Canadian executive officer of the combined Canada - U.S. production and resources board which was charged with the allocation of strategic materials.

Following the war, Dr. Monture continued to represent the country at international conferences on minerals. For two years he was a member of the United Nations committee which studied world iron ore resources. In 1956 he served on a Colombo Plan mission studying the mineral economy of Indonesia.

Dr. Monture's work for the government and the UN has also taken him to Malaya, Israel, South America, Britain and Europe.

Dr. Monture's achievements brought recognition from his own people. In 1957 he became the first Canadian Indian to win the Indian Council Fire Medal, given annually to the outstanding Indian of the year. In 1958, he was made an honorary Six Nations chief with the title Chief Big Feather.

His most recent honor came in April of this year when he was named mining man of the month. With the presentation of this award, his record was described as "one of the most distinguished of anyone ever engaged in Canadian mining."