Business Career
Before returning to his agricultural roots Ross Fitzpatrick had a successful business career in both founding and successfully developing businesses in the aerospace, oil and gas, and mining industries.
From the very beginning of his business career he demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting the environment. His leadership in developing Viceroy Resource Corporation's Castle Mountain Mine in California resulted in it being cited as a model mine by the U.S. Bureau of Lands and Management. The mine's record received numerous environmental awards:
| 1990 | Recipient of the California Mining Association "Excellence in Reclamation Award" for the Reclamation Plan for the Castle Mountain gold mine. |
| 1992 | Recipient of Financial Post's 1992 Environment Award for Business. |
| 1992 | Bureau of Land Management designated Castle Mountain gold mine as a "showcase" for demonstrating responsible multiple use of public lands administered by the BLM. |
| 1993 | Recipient of Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada "1993 Environmental Award". |
| 1993 | Recipient of the California Mining Association's "Technical Excellence Award" for the design and operation of the Supplemental Grinding Circuit, which uses an agglomeration process in place of a tailings containment facility. |
| 1995 | Recipient of the Bureau of Land Management's "Health of the Land Award" to Viceroy Gold Corporation for its commitment to using innovative technical procedures to protect environmental resources. |
"Mining Industry officials thought the president of Viceroy Resource Corp had lost his mind last year when he committed to $4.4 million in environmental concessions before extracting a speck of gold from the company's Castle Mountain project here.
In an unprecedented accord with the environmental community, D. Ross Fitzpatrick agreed to restore the 2,800-acre site after mining it and spend $1.3 million to protect the threatened desert tortoise. His company also became the first to build an enclosed cyanide leaching system in place of open storage ponds to prevent the poisoning of birds.
The settlement was hailed by environmentalists as an industry model and spared Viceroy costly delays and legal fees. It also cleared the way for the Canadian-based firm to pour the first 450-ounce gold brick last month at its mine site in the East Mojave Desert."
The Los Angeles Times, March 20, 1992
"The environmental community respects what was done by Viceroy to improve the way mining companies approach mining and the way they have agreed to do reclamation."
Daphne Bramham, The Vancouver Sun, December 24, 1992