Bernard Venour Barton died on 8th February, 1955, at the age of 74.
He was born in Australia and in 1898 was employed at the Melbourne Mint as assistant to the assayer. He studied mining at Sydney University from 1899 to 1902 and on leaving was appointed surveyor to the Lloyd Copper Co., Ltd., in New South Wales. He moved to Mount Lyell Blocks, Ltd., Tasmania, during the next year, and then held various metallurgical and mining posts in Western Australia. At the end of 1908 he did sampling and reporting work for Messrs. Bewick, Moreing & Co., of Melbourne, and from 1909 to 1915 was associated with the Broken Hill zinc-lead mines, at first with South Blocks and subsequently as underground manager for the Zinc Corporation, general manager of Junction mine, and from 1913 to 1915 as manager of the Broken Hill water supply.
Mr. Barton went to Korea in 1915 where he was superintendent of prospecting and later acting general manager for Seoul Mining Co., but returned to Australia in 1919 to take up the appointment of mining superintendent of Bendigo Amalgamated Goldfields in Victoria.
From 1920 to 1922 Mr. Barton was in Northern Rhodesia in the capacity of assistant, later acting, general manager to Rhodesia Broken Hill Development Co., Ltd., and in 1922 went to New Guinea to test for alluvial gold. He was in Italy for six years managing a zinc-lead property, and then spent a few months in England reporting for Messrs. Bewick, Moreing & Co. before returning in 1931 to Australia to set up a consulting practice with headquarters in Melboume. From 1938 until his retirement in 1953 to Galston, N.S.W., he was consulting mining engineer to Clutha Development, Ltd., a subsidiary of Placer Development, Ltd.
Mr. Barton was elected to Associate Membership of the Institution in 1910 and was transferred to Membership in 1913. He was a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and had recently served as a Member of Council of that body.
Vol. 65, Trans I.M.M. 1955-56, p. 111
