Fred Searls, Jr. won world-wide fame as a top-notch exploration geologist and his exceptional leadership contributed immensely to the success of Newmont Mining Corporation.​

In the early 1920s, Fred Searls began doing exploration work for William Boyce Thompson, the founder of Newmont. He searched the world over for potentially profitable mining properties in Africa, China, Turkey, Persia, Mexico, Peru, and Spain, as well as the U.S. and Canada. He was directly responsible for acquiring Africa’s oldest copper mine, O’okiep, for Newmont. The property became a highly successful and profitable enterprise for over 30 years. It was Searls that decided that Newmont’s future lay in gold mining and he pushed for the purchase of the great gold mines: the Empire and the North Star in California’s Mother Lode. The result of this venture contributed enormously to Newmont’s security, for the two mines became the only strong support the company had during the Depression. By 1939, Newmont was operating 12 gold mines.​

By enthusiastically seeking out new and exciting mining prospects, by pushing hard for gold exploration, his contributions directly spurred Newmont on to become a great mining empire.​

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