Mirko Vaněček

Prof. Mirko Vaněček has been awarded the EFG Medal of Merit 2021 following his nomination by the Czech Association of Economic Geologists (CAEG). Prof. Vaněček is a former President and Member of Merit of CAEG.

Prof. Dipl. Ing. Mirko Vaněček DrSc., now 91 years old (born on 7th September 1928), belongs among outstanding personalities of Economic Geology in the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe. He studied geology at the Charles University in Prague and later mining engineering in the Mining Institute in Jekaterinburg (formerly Sverdlovsk) in the Russian Federation, where he got to know many ore deposits  of the former USSR, namely in the Ural Mts. His PhD. (DrSc.) studies finished upon the leadership of well-known Russian economic geologist Vladimir Mikhailovitch Kreiter in the All-Union Institute of Mineral Resources in Moscow (1967).
Prof. Vaněček started his professional work in the Geological Survey of Czechoslovakia in 1953. In 1956 became to be Vice-Chief Geologist in the Coal Mining Department of the Ministry of Fuels and Energy, in 1957-1958 expert of the Secretary of the Geological Commission CAME in Moscow and in 1958-1959 Vicedirector of the Geological Survey for geology. He spent most of his professional time in the Faculty of Science of the Charles University in Prague, where he gave lectures in basics of mining, metalogeny of the Bohemian Massif, prospection and investigation of deposits of mineral resources, calculation their reserves, economy, organization of drilling works, etc. He was the first in our country who started lectures on isotopic economic geology, and he was also co-author of a new university teaching programme Geology – Languages. He also founded the Centre for Economy of Mineral Resources (SENS) in the Charles University. In that time, this centre was just one of the 60 similar institutions around the world, but the only one in the Eastern countries. Apart from his university employment, prof. Vaněček was member and vicedirector of the Commission for Classification of Reserves of the Czechoslovak Government, and secretary of the International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits IAGOD (1969-1976 and 1984-1988). Since 1984, he became to be Member-Correspondent of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. He also worked as expert in Iraq (1969-1971).
In 1990, prof. Vaněček – 62 years old – abandoned the University and started to work in the private company Geoterm Ltd. In 2006, he worked in Australia, and in 2007-2011 in Azerbeydzhan, where he maintained the position of Investigation Director  of the international company AIMROC Ltd. in Baku.
During 2009-2017, prof. Vaněček was elected President of the Czech Association of Economic Geologists (CAEG), and he made a great effort for the membership of CAEG in EFG and to obtain first titles of Eurogeologist for the Czech geologists. He also elaborated various studies on economic geology for the Parliament, various ministries, financial and capital sectors, etc. He was head of the project „Comparison criteria used presently in the Czech Republic for classification of the deposits of mineral resources and the classification PERC and JORC“ (2015-2016). On the basis of the results of this project, he published a modern monograph „Introduction to Economy of Mineral Resources for Economic Geologists“, edited by CAEG in 2018. He was also author and co-author of many professional books and text-books during all his professional life (Calculation of Reserves of Mineral Deposits; Raw Materials an Economical Development; Economic criteria for the Use of Trace Elements in Mineral Resources; Mineral Deposits of the World – Ores and Industrial Minerals). The second of the cited books was appreciated as the best professional publication of the year 1982 in former Czechoslovakia.
The CAEG is convinced that the active and fruitful all-life engagement of Prof. Mirko Vaněček, that is continuing still in his 90 years, satisfies the possible award of the EFG Medal of Merit, regarding his academic and practice work, management, organization of his profession in our country and abroad, including developing countries, popularization of economical geology, collaboration both with professionals and non-professionals, and participation as President of CAEG with EFG. His professional work was ever connected both with the scientific as well as practical aims.

For the Czech Association of Economic Geologists
Jiří Jiránek, President