Franc Renault Joubin, CM OOnt (November 15, 1911 – January 1, 1997) was an American prospector and geologist best known for a huge uranium discovery in northeastern Ontario, Canada in 1953.
A graduate of the University of British Columbia, (Masters, Geology (1942)), Joubin worked independently as a consultant and prospector/geologist for various mining promoters and exploration companies.
Joubin's insight, with help from Dr. Charles Davidson, a leading British geologist, was that the presence of iron sulphide had leached the uranium mineral to a location deeper in the ground.
Drilling results confirmed this and implied uranium deposits along a huge ninety mile Z-shaped geological formation extending north of the area.
By 1955, Joubin and Hirshhorn sold their interests to Rio Tinto of Great Britain and divided paper profits of $35 million.