Ferdinand Dietzsch died at Kingston, Surrey, on February 24th, 1939, at the age of 71.
He received his early technical education in Germany and the Camborne School of Mines and after two years spent in Cornish and Welsh mines he entered a three years’ course at the Royal School of Mines, and obtained his A.R.S.M.
On leaving the school he went to Nova Scotia, where he spent some years, first as assistant manager and afterwards as manager of the Cochrane Gold Syndicate, Ltd. He then went to South Africa on behalf of the Gaseitive Concession Syndicate, and conducted prospecting operations for gold and diamonds in the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
In 1893 he was appointed assistant manager, afterwards manager, of the Chiapas Mining Co., Ltd., and the Santa Fé Mining Co., Mexico. Five years later he returned to England and established a consulting practice in London. He acted in an advisory capacity to a number of Cornish mines, and visited various parts of the World on reporting work, and later, until his retirement from practice, interested himself in the metallurgy of lead and copper.
He contributed a paper to the Institution in 1905, ‘The Treatment of Tin-Wolfram-Copper Ores at the Clitters United Mines’ (Transactions, vol. xv). Mr. Dietzsch was elected a Member of the Institution in 1896.
Vol. 62, Trans IMM 1952-53, p.79
