By: Frolick, Vernon
ISBN: 978-1-55192-334-5 [2002 Raincoast Edition]
ISBN: 978-0-88839-715-7 [2024 reprint]
Binding: Trade Paper
Size: 6" X 9"
Pages: 354
Photos: 21
Publication Date: 2002/2022

The amazing true story of Charles Fipke, the mining exploration geologist who discovered the vast diamond fields in Canada's North, reads like a spell-binding adventure fiction. Fire Into Ice follows Fipke in his exotic traves through the fast-paced cutthroat world of mineral exploration- from the jungles of New Guinea to the savannahs of South Africa to the rainforests of the Amazon to the Arctic tundra.

Fipke is a modern-day adventurer- an Indiana Jones of mining exploration- obsessed with the quest for minerals. The story culminates in Fipke's staking of the Ekati Diamond claim in Canada's Northwest Terrtories- now one of the largest diamond mines in the world. 

Vernon Frolick was born in 1950 in Toronto and attended the universities of Toronto and Windsor, graduating with a Bachelor of Law degree in 1974. He commenced his practice of law in Kenora as an Assistant Crown Attorney and later worked as a defense lawyer in Toronto. Since 1982, when he moved to Terrace, BC he has worked continuously as a prosecutor.

By Al Stanton on December 13, 2002

Fire Into Ice is three books in one, principally it is a stimulating insight into the mind of an exploration geologist/explorer; however, it is also an introduction to anthropology and the stresses and strains of marriage. An excellent read, but you should keep an Atlas close at hand.

By dhcanada on July 24, 2011

I am not a prolific reader but a family member handed me this book when I asked for a suggestion for some reading for an upcoming vacation. I opened the book the first morning on the beach and finished it by sunset. I was mesmerized by the adventures of Chuck. I agree with the other comments that this an adventure novel but it is also a must read for anyone that enjoys biographies of people that lived a life that teaches us how to truly live a life holding nothing back. Regardless of his wealth, Chuck should have few if any regrets in life and I am sure that there is nothing left on his bucket list that can top the adventures he has already had. If you do Chuck, please send us an update!

By eskimo56 on October 3, 2001

As a keen observer of the stock market, I was quite interested to "dig" into the background of Chuck Fipke and how he discovered diamonds in the Canadian Arctic. When the Diamet discovery was first announced it was an extraordinary revelation to the "jaded" Canadian Mining community. Frolick does a very good job of embroidering the details of Fipke's exploits as a young, driven, globe-trotting geologist. His first job at Ok Tedi Gold Mine in Papaua New Guinea with BHP/Kennecott, working at the secretive JCI Gold in South Africa, the duplicity of Cominco management while in the Amazonian jungles etc. Unfortunately, the storey of the actual diamond discovery only takes 2 of 58 chapters!. Little is learned about the financial manouvering conducted behind the scence's by BHP and DiaMet after the discovery was announced and the book stops when Fipke's active involvement ends. One discovers little of the tremendous challenges faced and overcome before the actual production of the first commercial diamond discovery in North America. In sum, more of a hagiography to Chuck Fipke than the story of a remarkable mining achievement in Canada, but nonetheless - a worthwhile read.