John Lyons Agnew died suddenly through heart failure, at Copper Cliff, Ont., Canada, on July 9th, 1931, at the age of 47.
He was born at Pittsburg, Pa., U.S.A., in 1884, and while in his twentieth year went to Canada to enter the service of the Canadian Copper Co. A year prior to the outbreak of the Great War he became smelter superintendent, and played a great part in promoting mass production of nickel and copper to meet military requirements. In 1922 the company was reorganized as a subsidiary branch of the International Nickel Co., Inc., of New Jersey, and Mr. Agnew was appointed president of the Canadian section, which operated under the title of the International Nickel Co. of Canada, Ltd. Under his management the research department of the company was considerably developed in the direction of finding new uses for nickel and discovering fresh sources of supply of the metal. A result of this activity was the discovery and development of the Frood mine.
When the company became amalgamated with the Mond group, Mr. Agnew was appointed vice-president, and his close association with that and other mining enterprises enabled him, just before his death, to see the completion of a programme of industrial expansion in Canada of outstanding importance. In three years a total of about fifty million dollars had been expended in development and the construction of new plants.
Mr. Agnew was elected an Honorary Member of the Institution in 1928.
Vol. 41, Trans IMM 1931-2, p.651
