T. A. Rickard (1864 – 1953), formally known as ''Thomas Arthur Rickard'' was born on 29 August 1864 in Italy. Rickard's parents were British, and he became a mining engineer practising in the United States, Europe and Australia. He was also a publisher and author on mine engineering subjects.

Biography

Family and education

Thomas Arthur Rickard was born in Crotone, Italy, the son of Thomas Rickard, a Cornish mining engineer. His grandfather was a Cornish miner, Captain James Rickard. His cousin Tom Rickard was Mayor of Berkley, California at the time of the

1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. He was educated in Russia and England. In 1882 Rickard entered the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

, London from which he graduated in 1885.

Career

* 1885 Assayer, British mining firm, Idaho Springs, Colorado * 1886 Assistant Manager, California Gold Mining Co., Colorado * 1887 Manager, Union Gold Mine, San Andreas, Calaveras County, California * 1889-1891 Consultant investigating mines in England and Australia * 1891 In charge, Silver/Lead/Gold mines, French Alps/Isere district * 1892-1893 Investigating mines in Western U.S.A. * 1894 Manager, Enterprise Mine, Colorado * 1895-1901 State Geologist, Colorado - appointed by Governor McIntyre and re-appointed by the next two governors * 1897-1898 Consultant investigating mines in Australia and Canada and other work. * 1903 Editor-in-chief, ''Engineering and Mining Journal'', New York ** In 1903 W.E. Ford published an article in the ''American Journal of Science'' naming a new mineral Rickardite after Rickard. * 1905 purchased Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco * 1906-1909 Editor, Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco * 1909-1915 Founding Editor,

Mining Magazine The ''Mining Journal'' covers global mining investment, finance, and business. Origins The ''Mining Journal'' was founded in 1835 in London by Henry English, a London stockbroker under the name of ''Mining Journal and Commercial Gazette''. ...

, London * 1915-1922 Editor, Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco * 1922-1925 contributing editor, ''Engineering and Mining Journal'', following the amalgamation of Mining and Scientific Press with that Journal * 1925- Devoted his time to writing

Death

Rickard died in Oak Bay, British Columbia on 15 August 1953.

Memberships and Awards

* Institution of Mining and Metallurgy ** 1896 elected Member ** 1903-1909 Member of Council ** 1932 awarded Gold Medal "in recognition of his services in the general advancement of mining engineering, with special reference to his contributions to technical and historical literature" ** 1948 made Honorary Member "in recognition of his long and valued services to the mining and metallurgical profession and to the Institution" * Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy ** Member *

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

** Honorary D.Sc. * Royal School of Mines (Old Students’) Association ** 1913 Founder ** First Honorary Secretary * American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers (AIME) ** 1935 made Honorary Member

Published works

* ‘Minerals which accompany gold and their bearing upon the richness of ore deposits’ Trans I.M.M., vol. 6, 1897-8 * ‘Cripple Creek goldfield’ Trans I.M.M., vol. 8, 1899-1900 * A guide to technical writing (1908) * 'Across the San Juan Mountains', 1907, Dewey Publishing Company, San Francisco * ‘Standardization of English in technical literature’ Trans I.M.M., vol. 19, 1909–10 * ‘Domes of Nova Scotia’ Trans I.M.M., vol. 21, 1911–12 * ‘Persistence of ore in depth’ Trans I.M.M., vol. 24, 1914–15 * ‘The later Argonauts‘ Trans I.M.M., vol. 36, 1926-7 * ‘Copper mining in Cyprus’ Trans I.M.M., vol. 39, 1929–30 * ‘Gold and silver as money metal’ Trans I.M.M., vol. 41, 1931-32 * Man and Metals (1932) * A History of American Mining. New York & London: McGraw-Hill (1932) * ‘The primitive smelting of copper and bronze’ Trans I.M.M., vol. 44, 1934–35 * ‘The primitive use of gold’ Trans I.M.M., vol. 44, 1934–35 * Retrospect (1937) - his autobiography * "Indian Participation in the Gold Discoveries." ''British Columbia Historical Quarterly'' 2:1 (1938): 3-18 * The Romance of Mining. Toronto: Macmillan (1944) * Historic Backgrounds of British Columbia. Vancouver: Wrigley Printing (1948) * Autumn Leaves. Vancouver: Wrigley Printing (1948)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickard, Thomas Arthur 1864 births 1953 deaths Mining engineers People from Crotone