Allen Born has always held an innate interest in the mining industry, as he was influenced by his grandfather and father, who were both involved in the business years ago. Desiring to discover and produce oil and gas, he subsequently focused his learning on metallurgy and geology, and obtained a Bachelor of Science in metallurgy and geology from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1958.
At the inception of his career in 1958, Mr. Born served the El Paso Natural Gas Company as an exploration geologist for two years before moving on to the Vanadium Corporation of America, where he was a metallurgist from 1960 to 1962. Subsequently, he became a general foreman for Pima Mining for the following two years, as well as assistant superintendent for MolyCorp from 1964 to 1967. Hired by AMAX, Inc., in New York soon thereafter, he commenced his tenure there as senior metallurgist of the Climax mine in Colorado, chief metallurgist and mine manager until 1976. Notably, he became president of AMAX of Canada Ltd. in 1977, a position he held for four years.
Punctuating his roles at AMAX, Mr. Born served as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors of Placer Development Ltd. in Vancouver, BC, Canada, from 1981 to 1986, before returning to AMAX in 1986 as chief executive officer and chairman. He retired from his roles in 2004. At Placer Development, he developed, explored and operated mines in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Alongside these prominent positions, he was also president and chief executive officer of Canada Tungsten Mining Corp. Ltd. and chairman of Alumax, Inc. In the present day, Mr. Born is chairman and chief executive officer of Born Investments LLC, a private investment company, which specializes in venture capital and directional drilling for natural gas production.
Alongside his primary appointments, Mr. Born is a past chairman of the Aluminum Association and the American Mining Congress, and past co-chairman of Cyprus-Amax Minerals Company. Likewise, he sat on the board of directors of numerous facilities and organizations, such as Inmet Mining Corporation, AK Steel Holding Corporation, Cyra Technologies, Morgan Bank of Canada and the British Columbia Business Council. Furthermore, he is a past board of trustee member of the Robert Woodruff Arts Center and the Carter Center in Atlanta, as well as vice chairman of the Kennedy Centers’ corporate board in Washington.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Born was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953, serving two years in the Far East Command. Born on July 4, 1933 in Durango, Colorado, he currently resides in Carefree, Arizona, with his wife Pat.
