George Richard
RICHARD, George Anderson, MAusIME (1861-1943)
RICHARD, GEORGE ANDERSON, metallurgist, was born in 1861 in Creswick, Victoria. He attended the Ballarat School of Mines, studying assaying, chemistry and metallurgy in 1882-83 under the legendary Professor Mica Smith. In 1884, Richard went to Mount Morgan, central Queensland, where he was to remain throughout his professional career for the next twenty-eight years. Mount Morgan had been discovered in 1882 and two years later was still operated by a syndicate of the Hall brothers, D'Arcy and others. Wesley Hall, the youngest brother, was manager and Richard worked under him in the stamp battery and assay office. The chlorination process for the treatment of gold ores was being developed and experiments were in progress at Mount Morgan. In late 1886 Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Ltd was formed and the "Lower Works" for gold treatment built, Richard being appointed Chlorinator in-Charge. Development continued and the "Hall-Richard" chlorination process was introduced in the Lower Works in 1892. In 1894 he visited gold mining plants throughout Australia studying treatment methods. In the following year Richard designed the West Works for treating low-grade gold ore by chlorination and was appointed Superintendent of Treatment; in 1897 he was promoted to the position of Metallurgical Engineer. In this same year he gave evidence on Mount Morgan treatment practice and other matters to the Queensland Royal Commission for Mines.
Shortly after his arrival at Mount Morgan, Richard had joined the Queensland Militia, and after promotion to Captain he was generally known as Captain Richard. Mount Morgan continued to expand, the Mundie works being built during 1897-1901. In the latter year Richard accompanied the company's Mine Engineer, H.P. Seale, on a visit to mines and plants in Europe, North America and South Africa, examining methods for treating copper ores because the rich surface-oxidized gold ores of Mount Morgan were being succeeded at depth by copper-gold sulphides. He also studied the iron and steel industry and subsequently gave evidence (based on his overseas tour) to the Commonwealth Commission of Inquiry into the Australian iron industry. In 1903 Richard was appointed General Manager, and in 1904-6 a copper smelter was built at Mount Morgan to treat copper-gold sulphide ores. With the depletion of local timber supplies Richard supported the search for coal, particularly at Baralaba, 110 km west of Mount Morgan where the company developed a coal mine. In 1907, the directors and staff (including Richard) promoted the Many Peaks Copper Mining Company to provide a suitable flux for the Mount Morgan ore in the copper smelter. In 1907 he again visited the USA where he inspected many copper mines, mills, smelters and refineries. As a result of his report the company promoted the Electrolytic Refining and Smelting Company Pty Ltd, at Port Kembla in New South Wales.
In 1910 G.A. Richard became President of the Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers; at its meeting in Mount Morgan he delivered at outstanding Presidential Address entitled "Statistics and Economics". Richard was an advocate of a strong and centralized Queensland School of Mines. He engaged numerous brilliant engineers to work at Mount Morgan, many coming from the Ballarat School of Mines and Sydney University. He introduced major improvements at Mount Morgan, notably "glory hole" mining, the installation of the first Australian-made electric winder, and the commencement of copper smelting. Unfortunately there were also serious disasters, including falls of ground, fire in the underground workings and problems in the copper smelters.
Richard married and had two sons and four daughters, his great interests apart from work being his family, the militia and billiards. He died on 7 September 1943, and is remembered as a notable metallurgist who did much for a great company.
References:
Eminent Queensland Engineers Vol 1 is available here.
V&P (LA Qld), 1897, pp. 494-502;
G.A. Richard, •statistics and Economics•, Trans. Austratas. Inst. Min. Engrs, Vol. 15 (1911), p.1;
The Bulletin, 6 June 1912;
John Kerr, 'Mount Morgan: Gold, Copper and 0111 (Brlsb, 1982);
Biographical research by Mrs L. MacDonald, Rockhampton;
Information trom Mrs C. Kennedy and Mrs S. Thynne, Sydney.
