William B. Middleton died in the Federated Malay States in the latter part of 1919.
He was an American citizen by birth. After three years’ training at the Columbia College School of Mines, and one year in the Colorado State School of Mines, where he graduated in June, 1883, he was appointed Superintendent of the Running Lode Mine in 1884, and of the Michigan group in 1885. He was occupied on sampling work in Arizona in 1886, and in the following year was in Lower California as assistant superintendent of the mines of the Mexican Land & Colonization Co. His next post was as metallurgist of the Gunnison Smelting Co., followed by appointment as chemist and metallurgist of the Tomichi Valley Smelting Co. In 1890 he was at Chihuahua, Mexico, with Messrs. Fraser & Chalmers, Ltd. This was succeeded in 1892 by theft position of assistant assayer of the Denver Mint in 1892, and of chief assayer of the Arkansas Valley Smelter in that and the following year. He was in charge of the MacArthur-Forrest plant at the World’s Fair, Chicago, in 1893.
Mr. Middleton was also connected with the Kendall and Pelatan-Clerici cyanide processes at a later date and gained considerable experience in lead and copper smelting and in milling in different parts of the world; his chief occupation was reporting on mines. In 1907 his work took him into the Far East, to Celebes, New Caledonia, Singapore, and the Federated Malay States. He read a paper before the Institution on ‘The Segregation of Mine Accounts’ (Trans., Vol viii, 1900-1), and took part occasionally in discussion of other papers.
Mr. Middleton was elected a Member of the Institution in 1898.
Vol. 54, Trans IMM 1944-45, p.273
