Frank Thomas Matthews White (16 September 1909 – 26 November 1971) was an Australian mineral engineering educator. His career included roles in Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, and Canada. Following industry appointments in Australia, he established the Fiji Department of Mines, lead the post-War rehabilitation of Malayan tin mines, founded the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering at University of Queensland (UQ), was instrumental in founding International House, University of Queensland, and chaired the Department of Mining Engineering and Applied Geophysics at McGill University, Canada.
Education and Qualifications Frank White was born in Northcote, Victoria, Australia, son of Edith (née Matthews) and Frank Kenworthy White,Cr. Frank Kenworthy White - Mayor 1932-3, 1945-6 Victorian Collections https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5922bd43d0cde3131ca1dc07 Accessed 1 September 2018 Justice of the Peace, councillor and mayor of the City of Kew, Victoria: 1932–33 and 1945–46.
White attended Melbourne High School. Awarded a Free Place Scholarship (1927–30), he enrolled in the University of Melbourne to pursue a Bachelor of Metallurgical Engineering degree B.Met.E., conferred in 1931. He received Mining and Metallurgical Bursaries from 1928 to 1930,White F. Miner with a Heart of Gold: biography of a mineral science and engineering educator. Friesen Press, Victoria. 2020. (Hardcover) 978-1-5255-7766-6 (Paperback) 978-1-5255-7767-3 (eBook) and the Students' Lecture Prize in 1929. In 1936, he earned the Certificate of Competency as an Underground Superintendent (WA Mines Regulations Act of 1906). In 1946, he qualified through the British system as a Magistrate, First-Class in the field of mining law.White F. Ibid. page 86. In 1950, he was awarded a Bachelor of Mining Engineering degree B.E.(Min) ad eundem gradum, from the University of Queensland. In 1951, he was awarded a Nuffield Foundation Fellowship,White F. Ibid. page 110. and in 1957 a Carnegie Fellowship.White F. Ibid. page 135. A Fellow of the Geological Society of London (FGS), and Fellow of the Institution of Metallurgists (FIM), he was also a member of other professional societies, including the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (London), Institution of Mining Engineers (London), Australian Institute of Metals (President 1953), Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Geological Society of Australia, Royal Society of Queensland, Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, and Société de l'industrie minérale.White FTM. Curriculum Vitae submitted with application for post of Vice-Chancellor, University of Queensland. January 1959.
Career Gold Mining and Milling, Western Australia
In 1931, Frank TM White was appointed by Wiluna Gold Mines Ltd, 500 kilometers north of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia;as chief metallurgical chemist, he conducted research into and managed mineral processing; he also served as a deputy mine geologist for two years (1933–35). In 1935, he was appointed Assistant Manager and Mill Superintendent of Mount Magnet Gold Mines. At Mount Magnet (Hill 50) he earned the Certificate of Competency as underground superintendent (WA Mines Regulations Act of 1906), and became a Registered Mine Manager at 27 years of age, the youngest person to obtain this certification at the time. In early 1937, he contracted as general manager of a start-up Australian mining company, Edjudina Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd. He resigned later that year to take up a post in Fiji in 1937 with His Majesty's Colonial Mines Service.
Setting up a Department of Mines, Fiji
In 1934, a mining ordinance to regulate a fledgling industry (initially at Vatukoula) was introduced by the British Colonial Administration in Fiji. As the Ordinance called for a Mines Inspectorate, H.M. Colonial Mines Service recruited Frank TM White to set up Fiji's Mines Department in Suva. In addition to developing legislation and implementing inspections, by 1939 White (as Inspector of Mines) initiated and developed a geological survey of Viti Levu, resulting in Fiji's first geological survey map, published in 1943.Viti Levu geological sketch map compiled by Frank T M White. Department of Mines. Records of the Colonial Office. Subseries within CO 1054 – Fiji. The National Archives, Kew. London TW9 4DU. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C344389 Retrieved 26 May 2019. Known colloquially as "White's Map", this remained the accepted geological representation until at least the mid-1950s.Taylor JFA. Notes on Geology and Mineralization in Fiji. Proceedings Nos 168–169, pages 1–11. 31 March-30 June 1953. Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (inc). Melbourne, Australia.
Shortly following his arrival in Fiji, he became a founding member of the Fiji Society of Science and Industry and served as its president during the war years.Transactions and Proceedings of the Fiji Society of Science and Industry for the Years 1940 to 1944, Volume 2 Paperback – 1953. By Council of the Fiji Society (Editor). Available on line: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-128402636 He published papers on "Prospecting in Fiji",White FTM. Prospecting in Fiji. Transactions and Proceedings of the Fiji Society of Science and Industry. Read 12 August 1940. pages 1-11. Vol 2 – 1940–1944. Edited and published under the authority of the Council of the Fiji Society. Suva, Fiji. 1953. National Library of Australia. Online: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-128402636 and on "Volcanic Activity and Related Phenomena in Fiji".White FTM. Volcanic Activity and Related Phenomena in Fiji. Transactions and Proceedings of the Fiji Society of Science and Industry. Read 10 July 1944. Pages 254-67. Vol 2 – 1940–1944. Edited and published under the authority of the Council of the Fiji Society. Suva, Fiji. 1953. National Library of Australia. Online: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-128402636 He served on the board of trustees of the Fiji Museum, with a special interest in paleontology.Fiji Museum website. http://fijimuseum.org.fj/about-us/ Retrieved 2018-09-01
In May 1942, in addition to his governmental duties, White joined the Fiji Defence Force (FDF). Since the outbreak of World War II in November 1939, FDF had operated within the command structure of the New Zealand Defence Force. However, following the onset of the Pacific War in December 1941, during 1942 the FDF was transferred to US command (37th Infantry Division) and renamed the Fiji Military Force (FMF). As a special platoon commander, he was now assigned responsibility for training military engineers in explosive demolition methods and related preparations. For his FDF/FMF service, he was later awarded the Defence Medal (United Kingdom).
Rehabilitation of Tin Mining, Malaya
In 1945, Frank TM White was posted to Malaya as a civilian with the British Military Administration. He was engaged primarily in rehabilitation of the tin mines, and writing mining law. His assignment was to address the impact of the scorched earth policy which had rendered many mines inoperable.Frank Owen. The Fall of Singapore. First published by Michael Joseph 1960. Published as a Classic Penguin 2001. (2001) Penguin Books. London. Given its enormous economic importance, this required immediate attention to tin mining. He traveled to mining districts to inspect their state of repair and developed a scheme for the return of equipment from Japanese centres of utilisation. Military administration ended in March 1946, and White's post reverted to H.M. Colonial Mines Service where his role called upon his knowledge of mining law, policies and practices. To adjudicate on legal matters, he qualified as a Magistrate in the field of mining law, with responsibility for a Warden's Court. He developed policy documents to guide mining practices. He reported on specific regions, such as the Borneo Territories, and at times administered the mining industries of Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Malacca, three of the principal mining states of the Malayan Federation (which came into being on 1 February 1948, as successor to the initial Malayan Union which had proven to be politically unsustainable). Times became more turbulent in 1948, with the onset of guerrilla warfare by the Malayan National Liberation Army, setting in motion what became known as the Malayan Emergency. Tin mines and rubber plantations were especially targeted, primarily because of their economic value and relative isolation.Epilogue – Staying on. Tales from the South China Seas. Charles Allen (ed). First presented on radio by the British Broadcasting Corporation. First published 1983 by Andre Deutch Ltd., and the BBC. Futura edition 1990. London.Malayan Emergency. National Army Museum. United Kingdom https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/malayan-emergency Retrieved 2018-09-03. In 1949, while still based in Malaya, he served briefly as mining adviser to Siam, to appraise and advise on their post-war mining rehabilitation issues.
As measures of the effectiveness of this rehabilitation effort over the period 1946–1949, active mines increased from 219 to 660, national output from 8,432 to 54,910 tons, and export value from US$24.7 million to $261.4 million.Nin Chee Siew. Labour and Tin Mining in Malaya. Department of Far Eastern Studies. Cornell University. February 1953. eCommons@Cornell. Accessed 30 November 2018.
University of Queensland, Australia
Frank TM White was named as the founding professor of mining engineering at the University of Queensland (UQ) in 1950. He appointed an assistant lecturer in metallurgy, June McNicol, as the first member of academic staff, in the following year. In 1952, on arrival of additional academic staff, the department expanded to become the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering. The core faculty had grown to include, in addition to White and McNicol: CE Gregory, senior lecturer in mining engineering, J Waring, senior lecturer in metallurgy, O Paterson, lecturer in mining engineering, LM Hogan, lecturer in physical metallurgy, and WR Bull, lecturer in mineral dressing.Notes from the University of Queensland Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering. Part I Queensland Government Mining Journal, 1958.Department of Mining, Minerals and Materials Engineering. 50 years. 1950-2000. The University of Queensland. 2000. Faculty from other Engineering departments also made vital contributions to the teaching program, as did several from other faculties, including Surveying and Medicine. Guest lectures were contributed by individuals based in government and from industry. There were also well qualified technical staff. Teaching programs developed within the first decade were introduced in the following sequence:White FTM, Mining and Metallurgical Education: the role of the University of Queensland. Queensland Government Mining Journal, July 1962. 1950 – mining engineering degree B.E.(Min); 1953 – metallurgical engineering degree B.E(Met); 1957 – metallurgy as a major track for the BSc degree program B.Sc.(Met); 1958 – a master's degree in engineering science M.Eng.Sc.; 1959 – first enrollment for a departmental Ph.D. degree. By 1962, M.E and M.Sc. programs were defined, as were two new doctoral streams, D.E. and D.Sc.