Clark, Donald (1864 - 1932)

Summary

Donald Clark, an engineering graduate of the University of Melbourne, became foundation Director of the Bairnsdale District School of Mines in 1889-1906, then Director of the Bendigo School of Mines to 1909. He lectured at the University of Melbourne in 1910 in metallurgy and from 1911 to 1930 was Chief Inspector of Technical Schools.

Details

Donald Clark contributed largely to the solution of the treatment of complex ores in the Cassilis district in Gippsland, as well as to the evolution of the flotation process and the methods of refining cyanide precipitate and sludge from electrolytic copper refineries.

He significantly contributed to the Australian literature on the treatment of ores, and wrote "Australian Mining and Metallurgy" 1904, "Gold Refining" 1909, and three important booklets on technical education between 1923 and 1929.

He was largely responsible for the junior technical schools as an integral part of the Victorian post-primary education structure.

Chronology

1883 - 1885

Career position - Surveyor's Assistant

1889

Education - Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE), University of Melbourne

1889 - 1906

Career position - Foundation Director, Bairnsdale District School of Mines and Industry

1901

Career event - Member (MAusIME), Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers

1905

Patent - Process for the treatment of gold slimes by the nitre cake method.

1906 - 1909

Career position - Director, Bendigo School of Mines

1907

Education - Master of Mining Engineering (MME), University of Melbourne

1910

Career position - Lecturer in metallurgy, University of Melbourne

1911 - 1930

Career position - First Chief inspector of Technical Schools, Education Department, Victoria

Related entries

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Collins, David, Chemistry in 19th Australia - Select Bibliography, An exhibition of the Encyclopedia circa 2005 with assistance from Ailie Smith and Gavan McCarthy., eScholarship Research Centre (original publisher), Melbourne, 2009, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/ciab/ciab_ALL.html. Details

Book Sections

• Murray-Smith, S., 'Clark, Donald (1864-1932)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 8: 1891 - 1939 Cl-Gib, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1981), pp. 5-6. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080005b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Clark, Donald, 'Minerals of Eastern Gippsland', Report of the fourth meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 4 (1893), 285-289, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15558748. Details
• Clark, Donald, 'Remarks on the Fineness and Distribution of Gold in North Gippsland', Report of the fifth meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 5 (1894), 332-337, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15362528. Details
• Clark, Donald, 'The Roasting and Treatment by Chlorine of Gippsland Auriferous Ores', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, New Series (1898), 1-13. Details
• Clark, Donald, 'Notes on the Solubility of Gold-Silver Alloys in Cyanide of Potassium Solutions', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, New Series (1898), 147-151. Details
• Clark, Donald, 'The training of an engineer (Paper & Discussion)', Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers vol. XVI (1917), 20-49, 54-67, 84-90, 114-122. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24587. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q24250561. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/163144647667950668239. Details
• 'Clark, Donald (1864-1932)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1470800. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_c.html. Details