Rudolf Agnew
AGNEW, Rudolf John AWASM MIMM MAusIMM. (1896-1960)
The son of John Alexander Agnew, Rudolf Agnew studied mining at the Royal School of Mines in London in 1915-16.
While working in Kalgoorlie as an assistant surveyor at the Ivanhoe Gold Corporation (ECGF Boulder) in 1920 and as a surveyor at Great Boulder Perseverance Gold Mining Co. Ltd. (ECGF Boulder) in 1923, he completed the associate diploma course at the WA School of Mines in 1924. He returned to England to become the surveyor at the Mill Close mine in Derbyshire in 1925. He worked as assistant general manager of the Central European Mines at Klagenfurt in Yugoslavia in 1928, and as general manager of the Societe an Miniera Cave del Predil at Raibl in Italy in 1931.
Agnew returned to Western Australia to become, in 1932, general manager of Goldfields Australian Development Company Ltd., one of the companies which was formed by Claude de Bernales and which had a mine at Kintore near Kunanalling (CGF). Agnew was elected a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 1933 and in 1936 was an executive councillor of the Western Australian Chamber of Mines. He was at Wiluna in 1933 with Wiluna Gold Mines Ltd which was developing a very large low grade refractory orebody with treatment by flotation, roasting the concentrate and cyaniding the calcine. Agnew became general manager of Wiluna GMs in 1937, the year in which the company produced 150 thousand ounces of fine gold. In 1940 he was a director of Yellowdine Investments Ltd. (YGF, Yellowdine) which had a peak annual production of 27 thousand fine ounces in 1937.
Agnew was general manager of Goldfields Australian Development Company in 1940, a director of the company in 1943, and chairman of its board in 1948. He was appointed a director of the Lake View and Star Ltd (ECGF Boulder) in 1946, and was general manager of the company from 1950 to 1960. He was the president of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 1955 6 and was one of its councillors for many years.
His presidential address was published as 'The development of Western Australian gold mining' (ProcAusIMM 177, 1956). He was president of the WA Chamber of Mines between 1950 and 1960.
References:
MER May 1937, Aug 1937, June 1953, Jul 1953, Jul 1957;
MYBA 1940, 1959;
CMWA 1950, 1960;
TIMM 71, 1961 2;
ArcAusMM
