Charles Butters: Difference between revisions
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== Return to United States == |
== Return to United States == |
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Butters returned to the United States in 1898 and ran his own firm Chas. Butters & Co Ltd.<ref name=mining>{{cite book |title=Mining Magazine |date=1919 |page=229 |url=https://books.google. |
Butters returned to the United States in 1898 and ran his own firm Chas. Butters & Co Ltd.<ref name=mining>{{cite book |title=Mining Magazine |date=1919 |page=229 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v6k_AQAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name=dict>{{cite book|last1=Shavit|first1=David|title=The United States in Africa – A Historical Dictionary|date=1989|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=0-313-25887-2|page=35}}</ref> He was described as having "gained a magnificent fortune" by 1907 by which point one of his gold mines his company purchased for $40,000 cash had generated $3 million in dividends, with a further $3 million of ore identified in the mine.<ref>{{cite book |title=Current Opinion |date=1907 |publisher=Current Literature Publishing Company |page=466 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5DMiAQAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref> Butters owned a large estate in [[Rockridge, Oakland, California]] and, in 1911, opposed the extension of the [[Sacramento Northern Railway|Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railroad]], which passed by his estate and he considered to be a nuisance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wolf |first1=Robin |last2=Wolf |first2=Tom |title=Rockridge |date=2007 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-0-7385-4799-2 |page=59 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZeqxW0n-dAC |language=en}}</ref> |
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In 1920 Butters proposed establishing mints in Mexico in 1920 to produce silver coinage which would be used to pay taxes to the Mexican government and the salaries of mine employees. This scheme, which came to be known as the Butters Plan, would reduce the supply of silver [[bullion]], causing an increase in price, and allow mines to purchase goods with coin for export. The bullion had previously been transported to India and China where it was sold at a fixed price under the [[Pittman Act]]. Butters considered the previous arrangement served to the benefit of the British government, who controlled the eastern silver trade, at the expense of his mines.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Editorials |journal=Daily Morning Oasis |date=3 August 1920 |page=2 |url=https://ndnp.library.arizona.edu/text/batch_az_foolsfortynine/sn83025458/00414217382/1920080301/0202.pdf}}</ref> In 1927 Butters risked a firing squad when he took steps to protect his mines in Nicaragua during [[Nicaraguan Civil War (1926–27)|the civil war]].<ref name=nyt>{{cite news |title=Charles Butters.; Mining and Metallurgical Engineer Was 79 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/11/28/archives/charles-butters-mining-and-metallurgical-engi-neer-was-79.html |accessdate=2 October 2020 |work=New York Times |date=28 November 1933|page=21}}</ref> |
In 1920 Butters proposed establishing mints in Mexico in 1920 to produce silver coinage which would be used to pay taxes to the Mexican government and the salaries of mine employees. This scheme, which came to be known as the Butters Plan, would reduce the supply of silver [[bullion]], causing an increase in price, and allow mines to purchase goods with coin for export. The bullion had previously been transported to India and China where it was sold at a fixed price under the [[Pittman Act]]. Butters considered the previous arrangement served to the benefit of the British government, who controlled the eastern silver trade, at the expense of his mines.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Editorials |journal=Daily Morning Oasis |date=3 August 1920 |page=2 |url=https://ndnp.library.arizona.edu/text/batch_az_foolsfortynine/sn83025458/00414217382/1920080301/0202.pdf}}</ref> In 1927 Butters risked a firing squad when he took steps to protect his mines in Nicaragua during [[Nicaraguan Civil War (1926–27)|the civil war]].<ref name=nyt>{{cite news |title=Charles Butters.; Mining and Metallurgical Engineer Was 79 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/11/28/archives/charles-butters-mining-and-metallurgical-engi-neer-was-79.html |accessdate=2 October 2020 |work=New York Times |date=28 November 1933|page=21}}</ref> |
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Butters was an associate member of the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] and, in 1931, received a medal from the Mining and Metallurgical Society of Freiburg, Germany for his research work.<ref name=nyt/><ref name=ice>{{cite journal |last1=Hatch |first1=F H |title='James Forrest' Lecture 1911, the Past, Present and Future of the Gold-mining Industry of the Witwatersrand, Transvaal. |journal=Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |date=January 1911 |volume=186 |issue=1911 |pages= |
Butters was an associate member of the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] and, in 1931, received a medal from the Mining and Metallurgical Society of Freiburg, Germany for his research work.<ref name=nyt/><ref name=ice>{{cite journal |last1=Hatch |first1=F H |title='James Forrest' Lecture 1911, the Past, Present and Future of the Gold-mining Industry of the Witwatersrand, Transvaal. |journal=Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |date=January 1911 |volume=186 |issue=1911 |pages=380–81 |doi=10.1680/imotp.1911.17848 |url=https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/pdf/10.1680/imotp.1911.17848}}</ref> Butters was married to Jessie Butters and died in [[Berkeley, California]] on November 27, 1933.<ref name=dict/><ref name=berk/> His papers are held in the archive of the [[University of California, Berkeley Libraries]].<ref name=berk>{{cite web |title=Charles Butters papers, 1865-1933. |url=https://dpg.lib.berkeley.edu/webdb/hstc/search?author=&item=127 |website=History of Science and Technology Sources Database |publisher=University of California, Berkeley Libraries |accessdate=2 October 2020}}</ref> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 02:04, 4 October 2020
Charles Butters | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 10, 1854 Haverhill, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | November 27, 1933 Berkeley, California, United States |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Spouse | Jessie Butters |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Mining engineering, metallurgy |
| Significant design | Butters and Meins' Mechanical Distributor |
| Significant advance | Use of gold cyanidation in Witwatersrand |
Charles Butters (August 10, 1854 - November 27, 1933) was an American metallurgist, engineer and mine owner. A graduate of the University of California, he moved to Southern Africa in 1890 to construct a chlorination plant for Hermann Eckstein & Company. Whilst there Butters pioneered the use of the gold cyanidation process for extracting the metal from low grade ore which opened up new deposits in Witwatersrand. He also developed other methods of further increasing efficiency of extraction. Butters left Eckstein in 1894 to jointly found a new firm, the Rand Central Ore Reduction Company. He joined the Johannesburg Reform Committee in 1895 and was fined $2,000 for his participation in the Jameson Raid.
Butters returned to the United States in 1898 where he ran his own company, Chas. Butters & Co Ltd. By 1907 he had amassed a significant fortune from his mining operations. Butters proposed that his mines in Mexico be permitted to mint their own coinage, which would reduce the supply of silver bullion and increase the sale price. Butters risked execution by firing squad by taking steps to protect his mines in Nicaragua during the 1926-27 civil war.
Early life and career
Charles Butters was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts on August 10, 1854. After graduating from the University of California he worked as a metallurgist in mines in the Western United States.[1]
Southern Africa
Butters travelled to the Transvaal in 1890 to construct a chlorination plant to treat ore at the Robinson Gold Mine for Hermann Eckstein & Company.[1] Whilst in southern Africa he pioneered the use of the gold cyanidation process for extracting gold from low grade ore.[1] This revolutionised gold mining in Witwatersrand as it was much more efficient than the vanning and shaking table methods and allowed the exploitation of many deposits previously ruled out as being too low in yield. Butters also developed the Butters and Meins' Mechanical Distributor which removed slime from sand tailings to allow them to be treated by cyanide process, further improving efficiencies. By 1894 Butters was experimenting with the treatment of the slime with lime and in settlement tanks to allow residual gold to be extracted.[2] Butters left Hermann Eckstein & Company in 1894 to become a founder of the Rand Central Ore Reduction Company. He joined the Johannesburg Reform Committee in 1895 and at the end of that year took part in the Jameson Raid. After the raid he was arrested, sentenced as an accomplice and fined $2,000.[1]
Return to United States
Butters returned to the United States in 1898 and ran his own firm Chas. Butters & Co Ltd.[3][1] He was described as having "gained a magnificent fortune" by 1907 by which point one of his gold mines his company purchased for $40,000 cash had generated $3 million in dividends, with a further $3 million of ore identified in the mine.[4] Butters owned a large estate in Rockridge, Oakland, California and, in 1911, opposed the extension of the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railroad, which passed by his estate and he considered to be a nuisance.[5]
In 1920 Butters proposed establishing mints in Mexico in 1920 to produce silver coinage which would be used to pay taxes to the Mexican government and the salaries of mine employees. This scheme, which came to be known as the Butters Plan, would reduce the supply of silver bullion, causing an increase in price, and allow mines to purchase goods with coin for export. The bullion had previously been transported to India and China where it was sold at a fixed price under the Pittman Act. Butters considered the previous arrangement served to the benefit of the British government, who controlled the eastern silver trade, at the expense of his mines.[6] In 1927 Butters risked a firing squad when he took steps to protect his mines in Nicaragua during the civil war.[7]
Butters was an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and, in 1931, received a medal from the Mining and Metallurgical Society of Freiburg, Germany for his research work.[7][2] Butters was married to Jessie Butters and died in Berkeley, California on November 27, 1933.[1][8] His papers are held in the archive of the University of California, Berkeley Libraries.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Shavit, David (1989). The United States in Africa – A Historical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 35. ISBN 0-313-25887-2.
- ^ a b Hatch, F H (January 1911). "'James Forrest' Lecture 1911, the Past, Present and Future of the Gold-mining Industry of the Witwatersrand, Transvaal". Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 186 (1911): 380–81. doi:10.1680/imotp.1911.17848.
- ^ Mining Magazine. 1919. p. 229.
- ^ Current Opinion. Current Literature Publishing Company. 1907. p. 466.
- ^ Wolf, Robin; Wolf, Tom (2007). Rockridge. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-7385-4799-2.
- ^ "Editorials" (PDF). Daily Morning Oasis: 2. 3 August 1920.
- ^ a b "Charles Butters.; Mining and Metallurgical Engineer Was 79". New York Times. 28 November 1933. p. 21. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Charles Butters papers, 1865-1933". History of Science and Technology Sources Database. University of California, Berkeley Libraries. Retrieved 2 October 2020.