Jesse West died at Maidstone, Kent, on 10th September, 1959, at the age of 65.
Mr. West was educated at Wolverhampton School and received his training at the Royal School of Mines between 1912 and 1914 (when war service interrupted his studies) and 1919 to 1920.
He served with distinction in France with the 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment as adjutant and company commander and was demobilized with the rank of captain. He was awarded the M.C. and Bar, and later received the Efficiency Decoration.
Mr. West obtained a first-class Associateship (Mining) of the Royal School of Mines and the B.Sc. degree. His first professional appointment was as a surveyor with Mazapil Copper Co., Ltd., in Mexico, and a year later he joined Anglo Ecuadorian Oil-Fields, Ltd., as a surveyor at Santa Elma and was later promoted to chief surveyor. He left South America in 1925 for West Africa and began his long association with Nigerian tinfields. He was mining assistant with Anglo-Nigerian Tin Mines, Ltd., for two years, and in 1927 joined Anglo-Bauchi Tin Dredging Co., Ltd. as assistant manager transferring in 1929 to Nigeria Base Metals Corporation, Ltd., as mining engineer.
Mr. West was appointed general manager of The Ex-Lands Nigeria, Ltd., in 1931 and held this post until 1951. He was also local director and resident consultant until 1954 for the Finsbury Pavement House Group in Northern Nigeria: Bisichi Tin Co. (Nigeria), Ltd., Ex-Lands Nigeria, Ltd., Gold and Base Metal Mines of Nigeria, Ltd., Nigerian Consolidated Mines, Ltd., Ribon Valley (Nigeria) Tinfields, Ltd., and United Tin Areas of Nigeria, Ltd.
In Nigeria Mr. West did not confine himself to mining activities but was prominent in local affairs. He was appointed Chairman of the newly-incorporated Nigerian Chamber of Mines in 1951. He was also Mining Member of the Legislative Council and a member of the House of Representatives, and in 1952 was awarded the O.B.E. for public services in Nigeria. On his retirement Mr. West returned to live in England.
Mr. West had joined the Institution as a Student in 1919; he was transferred to Associate Membership in 1924 and to Membership in 1945. He served on the Council of the Institution as Overseas Member for West Africa for the session 1954-55. He was the first Chairman of the Nigerian Section of the Institution, formed in 1953.
Vol. 70, Trans IMM 1960-61, pp.159-160
