Arthur Yates died of cancer in March, 1923, at the age or 47.
He was apprenticed to the General Electric Co., at Manchester, in 1890, and during the term of his articles he was an evening student at the Manchester Central Science Schools and the Manchester Technical School in electricity and magnetism, chemistry, metallurgy, mechanics, and machine construction. In 1894 he was appointed chemist, assayer, and draughtsman to the Cassel Gold Extracting Co., of Glasgow, where he rose to the position of engineering chemist. Meanwhile, he attended evening classes at the Glasgow Technical College and Dellahouston Academy.
In 1897 he went to South Africa, as cyanide manager to various gold mines, and as inspector of plants for the Gold Patents Co. (Transvaal), Ltd. In 1901 he left South Africa for Sumatra, to take up an appointment as metallurgist to the Redjang-Lebong Gold Mining Co., which he held until 1913. Returning to England in the latter year, he was appointed to the teaching staff in the mining department of the Royal School of Mines, and held that position at his death.
He contributed two papers to the Institution, one as joint author with Professor S.J. Truscott, on ‘Treatment of the Precipitate and Manipulation of the Tilting-Furnaces at the Redjang-Lebong Mine, Sumatra’ (Trans., xvi, 1906-1907); and the other on ‘Effect of Heating, and Heating and Quenching, Cornish Tin Ores before Crushing’ (Trans., xxviii, 1918-1919).
Mr. Yates was elected an Associate of the Institution in 1904, and was transferred to Membership in 1908.
Vol. 33, Trans IMM 1923-24, p.543
