The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1914-10-03

IN commenting on the recent
death Of Frederick A. Thum, the En-
cheering and Mining Journal said:
Frederick A. Thum, for many
years eminent as a mining engineer
and metallurgist, died at his home
in Newark, N. j., Sept. g., aged so
years. He was born at Freienseen,
in Oberhessen, Germany, where his
father was pastor of the Lutheran
church. He received his education
at the mining academy at Clausthal,
making copper, lead, silver and zinc
his special studies and also taking
great pains to acquaint himself with
the methods of the classic industry
of the Hartz mountains.
His first practical experience was
gained in a position with the Vielle
Montague company of Belgium, and
among the zinc mines and smelters
of the Rhine and Ruhr districts of
Germany; later with the extensive
zinc and lead industries of Silesia
and the neighboring parts of Poland
and Galicia. After that followed an
inspection tour in the service of the
Austrian government under the di-
rection of DR.. Lypold, then Austrian
state geologist. This tour included
geological studies and the examina.
ton of the lead and zinc mines and
deposits in the Klagenfurt, Villach
and Bleiberg districts. Later he ex-
tended the tour into Croatia and
Servia and his discoveries of zinc
deposits there resulted in the de-
velopment of mining enterprises
and the installation of reduction
works, which was entrusted to Mr..
Thum. Considerable initiative and
ingenuity had to be displayed to find
in the neighborhood necessary raw
supplies, such as refractory clays for
retorts and furnace Innings, and to
install the necessary Appliances to
produce the finished materials used
in the operations of the mine and
smelter.
With. such extensive practical ex-
%perience in mining and metallurgical
operations, Mr.. Thum went to Eng
land in the early sixties and remain
ed there with short intermissions for
approximately seventeen years. Dur
ing this period he was identified
with the development of the zinc in
dustries of Great Britain, examining
a large number of mines for English
companies all over Europe, especial
ly in Spain, Italy, Sardinia and Cor
sica. Several zinc smelteries we're
erected and managed by him and
his work in developing the metal
lurgical methods of zinc recovery is
we'll known to the profession, hav-
ing been described by him in nu
merous contributions to technical
literature. His paper or the rolling
of zinc was published in pamphlet
form in nearly all modern languages
At the age of 4G years, in 1880
Mr.. Thum emigrated to the United
States, p%erceiving with Keen fore
sight the wonderful possibilities Of
this country as a metal producer
and the opportunities offered here to
mining and metallurgical
Shortly after his arrival he accepted
a position with the smelling ard 1e-
filming works of Ed Balbach e Son
of Newark, N. j., later the Balbach
Smelling & Refining company. Here
his association vas witt men of
keen foresight and capital. who had
developed the first important smelt-
ing and refining plant in the United
States by the introduction o. the
Parks process for desilverizing lead.
His creative ability brought out
some wonderful results in The de-
velopment Of the electro-metallurai-
cal refining history in the United
States. These results wee: the more
remarkable when 1t is considered
that, as an engineer Of the old
school, he had received his training
before the era of electricity.
The first work taken up at the
Balbach plant by Mr. Thum vas tho
introduction of the Oker blue-v:trol
process for the extraction of gold
and silver from granulated black OF
blister copper in which. gold and sill