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Guillaume Daniel Delprat
Guillaume Daniel Delprat CBE (1 September 1856 – 15 March 1937) was a Dutch-Australian metallurgist, mining engineer, and businessman. He is known for developing the froth flotation process for separating minerals.
Guillaume Daniel Delprat was born on 1 September 1856 in Delft, Netherlands, the son of Major General Félix Albert Théodore Delprat (1812–1888), later minister of war, and his wife Elisabeth Francina, née van Santen Kolff.
Delprat attended a high school in Amsterdam and later became an apprentice engineer on the Tay Bridge in Scotland. He attended science classes in Newport-on-Tay and learned calculus from his father by post.
On returning to the Netherlands, he is said to have acted as assistant to Johannes Diderik van der Waals, physics professor at the University of Amsterdam. From 1879 to 1882, Delprat worked in Spain at the Tharsis Sulphur and Copper Mines.
In 1898, chairman Edward Wigg of BHP invited Delprat to Australia to become assistant general manager of BHP. He moved there with his wife and children. On 1 April 1899, he was promoted to general manager, a position he held until 1921. At BHP, he pioneered the froth flotation process for refining sulphide ore. Delprat foresaw the exhaustion of BHP's mine at Broken Hill, and pushed for moving the company's smelters to Port Pirie; also construction of the BHP Whyalla Tramway. He shifted BHP from silver and lead mining to zinc and sulphur production. These moves were the basis of BHP's later success.
Delprat also pushed construction of the BHP Newcastle Steelworks. The contract was signed on 24 September 1912 and the steelworks were opened by Governor-General Novar on 2 June 1915.
Delprat was also a sculptor, winning a silver medal in Paris for his bust of Louis Braille which is now held in the collections of Vision Australia, having been gifted to the Victorian Association of Braille Writers in 1929. A medallion set into the plinth is inscribed: "Offert par le Ministère des Affaires Étrangères; Louis Braille Centenary, Presented by French Government to The Victorian Association of Braille Writers, Melbourne 1929" and on the reverse side: "République Française".
For Delprat's visionary judgement in the Newcastle Steelworks project, he was made a CBE.
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Guillaume Daniel Delprat
Guillaume Daniel Delprat CBE (1 September 1856 – 15 March 1937) was a Dutch-Australian metallurgist, mining engineer, and businessman. He is known for developing the froth flotation process for separating minerals.
Guillaume Daniel Delprat was born on 1 September 1856 in Delft, Netherlands, the son of Major General Félix Albert Théodore Delprat (1812–1888), later minister of war, and his wife Elisabeth Francina, née van Santen Kolff.
Delprat attended a high school in Amsterdam and later became an apprentice engineer on the Tay Bridge in Scotland. He attended science classes in Newport-on-Tay and learned calculus from his father by post.
On returning to the Netherlands, he is said to have acted as assistant to Johannes Diderik van der Waals, physics professor at the University of Amsterdam. From 1879 to 1882, Delprat worked in Spain at the Tharsis Sulphur and Copper Mines.
In 1898, chairman Edward Wigg of BHP invited Delprat to Australia to become assistant general manager of BHP. He moved there with his wife and children. On 1 April 1899, he was promoted to general manager, a position he held until 1921. At BHP, he pioneered the froth flotation process for refining sulphide ore. Delprat foresaw the exhaustion of BHP's mine at Broken Hill, and pushed for moving the company's smelters to Port Pirie; also construction of the BHP Whyalla Tramway. He shifted BHP from silver and lead mining to zinc and sulphur production. These moves were the basis of BHP's later success.
Delprat also pushed construction of the BHP Newcastle Steelworks. The contract was signed on 24 September 1912 and the steelworks were opened by Governor-General Novar on 2 June 1915.
Delprat was also a sculptor, winning a silver medal in Paris for his bust of Louis Braille which is now held in the collections of Vision Australia, having been gifted to the Victorian Association of Braille Writers in 1929. A medallion set into the plinth is inscribed: "Offert par le Ministère des Affaires Étrangères; Louis Braille Centenary, Presented by French Government to The Victorian Association of Braille Writers, Melbourne 1929" and on the reverse side: "République Française".
For Delprat's visionary judgement in the Newcastle Steelworks project, he was made a CBE.