Haddon Rymer Forrester King (4 February 1905 – 1990), was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

geologist, winner of the

Clarke Medal The Clarke Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales, the oldest learned society in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, for distinguished work in the Natural sciences. The medal is named in honour of the Reverend William Branw ...

in 1972. King was born in

Georgetown, British Guiana Georgetown is the capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is the retail, administr ...

, son of George Forrester King and his wife Jessie Ann, née Kingsland. In 1926 he started as a surveyor’s assistant on the Geological Survey of British Guiana under the supervision of H. J. C. (Terence) Conolly. King obtained his surveyor’s licence in 1929 and then moved to Canada where he studied mining engineering at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

(B.A.Sc., 1934). King gained experience in mineral exploration working with Conolly in the

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...

and Sudbury Basin regions. King was invited to join the newly formed

Western Mining Corporation Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in 1934 `to apply the latest ideas in geology, geophysics, geochemistry and aerial photography to the scientific search for new mineral deposits’, collaborating with U.S. consultants. King became senior geologist in 1936. In 1953, King became chief geologist of

Consolidated Zinc Consolidated Zinc was an Australian mining company from 1905 to 1962. History The company's initial operations focused on extracting zinc from mine tailings of the Broken Hill Ore Deposit at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. The company ...

. King’s most significant contribution to

mining geology Mining geology is an applied science which combines the principles of economic geology and mining engineering to the development of a defined mineral resource. Mining geologists and engineers work to develop an identified ore deposit to economica ...

came from his recognition that the Broken Hill ore body (along with other similar deposits worldwide) originated as sedimentary layers of metals, rather than later replacements from metallic solutions. King won the W. R. Browne Medal of the

Australian Geographic Society Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' magazine, ''DMag'' magazine, specialist book titles, travel guides, diaries and calendars and online media. It published editions of the Australian Encyclop ...

in 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Haddon 1905 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Australian geologists University of Toronto alumni People from Georgetown, Guyana Guyanese expatriates in Canada Guyanese emigrants Immigrants to Australia