USask Engineering’s Donna Beneateau recognized provincially and nationally for leadership

University of Saskatchewan (USask) Associate Professor of Geological Engineering, Donna Beneteau, P.Eng., is leaving her mark on the next generation of mining professionals, teaching them that mining far more than an industry. She is showing the connection between the resources we reply on every day, the people who develop them and the responsibility that comes with developing those resources.

Beneteau’s impact on Canadian mining has earned two major honours this past year, recognizing her contributions to engineering, mining education and professional service.

Beneteau received the Brian Eckel Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan (APEGS), recognizing her outstanding contributions to the engineering and geoscience professions, community and technical fields.

She was also presented with the Mining Engineering Outstanding Achievement Award from the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) at CIM Connect 2026. The honour recognizes her contributions to the innovation and research of mining engineering, including her work in education, academia and preserving Canada’s mining heritage. This marks her third honour from CIM, including her 2022 Diversity and Inclusion Award and induction as a CIM fellow in 2019.

At USask, Beneteau teaches geological engineering and is passionate about helping students see the connections between their education and the world around them. One of her favourite questions to ask is: “What have you done today that did not involve a mineral?”

For Beneteau, the question is a simple way to start a much bigger conversation about our reliance on mineral resources and the role engineers can play in developing them responsibly.

Her passion for sharing knowledge also extends beyond the classroom. In 2017, Beneteau began building a database of Canada’s historic mines after noticing how difficult it was to find information about the country’s mining history. The project has since grown into an open-access database with more than 90,000 records covering more than 14,000 Canadian mines.

She is also leading efforts to digitize historic CIM bulletins from 1908 to 2006, helping preserve valuable mining knowledge for future generations. She has recently co-authored ten articles in a series published in the Canadian Mining Journal and says that she and her co-author Bruce Downing have several more ideas to share.

Through teaching, research, professional service and public outreach, Beneteau continues to make a positive impact on Canada’s mining industry, connecting people with the history, science and importance of mining.