John Carroll Nicholls died in the Toronto General Hospital on 28th May, 1952, at the age of 73.
Born in Grass Valley, California, he entered the College of Mining of the University of California in 1896, and graduated with the B.S. degree in 1900. After further work in electrical engineering in 1900-01, he spent nine months prospecting in California for the Oroville Gold Dredging and Exploration Co., before leaving America early in 1902 to take a post with the Oriental Consolidated Mining Co. in Korea. Mr. Nicholls remained with this company for six years, being successively assayer, cyanide plant manager, and superintendent of a group of three mines. On leaving the company in January, 1908, he made an extensive tour of mining districts in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the Transvaal, and from August, 1908, until early in 1910 he worked on the staff of New Modderfontein Gold Mining Co., Ltd.
Mr. Nicholls returned to America in 1910, and made examinations of mines in Alaska, British Columbia, the Western U.S. and Salvador. For five months he worked at Dome Mines, South Porcupine, later spending a further three months on a mine examination in the Western States. In August, 1912, he joined the mining engineering staff of the Canadian Copper Co., which in 1916 became the International Nickel Co. of Canada, Ltd., and in 1913 was appointed superintendent of all the company’s mining operations. Five years later he was appointed general superintendent, and was promoted to the post of general manager in 1922, and made assistant to the president in 1931, a position which he held until his retirement in 1944. He thus took a leading part in the spectacular development of the company, which during his period of service became one of the largest mining concerns in the Commonwealth.
Mr. Nicholls was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1910, and was transferred to Membership in 1921. For the four sessions 1944-5 to 1947-8 he was Member of Council for Canada. He had also served on the Council of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, of which he was Vice-President for 1933-34.
Vol. 62, Trans IMM 1952-53, p.259
