Frederick Lesley Thomas died at Hove, Sussex, on September 2nd, at the age of 63.
An Australian of Welsh extraction, he began his career in 1900 as assayer and chemist with the Welshmans Gold Extraction Co., Victoria. From 1901 to 1905 he was metallurgist, and later manager, to the Premier Mines, Coolgardie, and from 1906 to 1908 reported on mines for various companies. In the latter year he joined the Western Australian field staff of Messrs. Bewick, Moreing & Co., and was superintendent of Mountain Queen Mines, Ltd., until 1914, when he left for Nicaragua. As general manager of the Leonesa Mines and consulting engineer to Babilonia Mines, a position which he held until 1920.
In 1921, after reporting on mines in Turkey and Anatolia, he went to Colombia for the Colombia Corporation, serving first as superintendent and later as general manager until 1925. From 1926 to 1930 he was general manager of Lake George Mines in New South Wales, and subsequently made professional visits to Abyssinia and British Columbia. In 1934 he was appointed assistant general manager of the Gold Coast Selection Trust, Ltd., and took over the management of Marlu Gold Mining Areas, Ltd, leaving that company in 1938 to take charge of Amalgamated Banket Areas, Ltd., where he superintended the construction work for over a year. At the end of 1939 he was forced by ill-health to retire from active work.
Mr. Thomas was elected a Member of the Institution in 1935.
Vol. 53, Trans IMM 1943-44, p.440
