René Van Aubel died on April 14th, 1943, at Brazzaville, French Equatorial Africa, at the age of 53.
He was of French nationality and was educated at the University of Gand, Belgium, from which he graduated in Civil Engineering in 1911. He served in the French Army from 1912 to 1920 and was awarded the Médaille Militaire and Croix de Guerre (avec palme); After the war he attended courses in geology and mineralogy at the Universities of Gand and Liége, and in 1922 was appointed geologist to the Comité spécial du Katanga in the Belgian Congo, where he worked for five years.
In 1928 he was appointed mining geologist to the Colomines, Belgian Congo, and from 1930 to 1935 worked in a similar capacity with the Compagnie Minière des Grands Lacs Africains, in Kivu. During this period he spent some months reporting on gold alluvials in Kenya for Kenya Development, Ltd. From 1936 to 1937 he was prospecting for Compagnie Miniere de l’Oubanghi Oriental, and from 1940 to 1941 carried out work on the Ivory Coast and the Gaboon for the Compagnie Equatoriale des Mines and other interests.
From January, 1942, until his death he held the appointment of geologist to the Gouvernement Général de l’Afrique Equatoriale Française.
Mr. van Aubel, who was the author of many scientific papers in French and Belgian journals, was elected an Associate of the Institution in 1935.
Vol. 54, Trans IMM 1944-45, pp.276-7
