Tony receiving a certificate from the Society of Economic Geologists by then incoming president Judith Kinnaird at the tribute dinner held in the University of Toronto in 2014
One of the world’s best-known geologists through his work on magmatic sulphide deposits, his teaching, and his service to international societies.
Tony spent his early life in Surrey and attended St. Paul’s School in London. After two years military service in the RAF where he learnt to fly Meteor jets, he went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1953. Because of his rowing prowess he was selected for the 1st VIII, which meant spending afternoons on the river. He only studied geology with chemistry and physics because it fitted his schedule, but he loved the subject and a geologist he became.
Ore geology
Tony emigrated to Canada in 1957 and spent two years with Falconbridge Nickel as a mine geologist in Sudbury. Feeling he needed to learn more about ore deposits he enrolled at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario where he completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. From 1964, Tony spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, learning experimentation on metallic sulfides at high temperatures and applying this knowledge to real ore systems. The approach combining the theoretical with the practical was to define the direction of his future career.
Following an informal visit to the University of Toronto in 1966, Tony was immediately offered a job as an Assistant Professor, becoming a full professor in 1972. He remained at the University for 31 years until his retirement in 1998. He was highly regarded for his dedicated teaching and for building world-class geochemical analytical facilities. His graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are in academia around the world, or captains in industry, and in government. Tony’s work on komatiites in Canada, led to an invitation in 1972 from CSIRO in Perth, to spend a sabbatical year working on a nickel deposit in Western Australia. An invitation to spend six months at the Bushveld Research Institute at Pretoria in 1979-1980 was a pivotal point in his career. He was perhaps one of the first westerners to visit to Noril’sk, and his work on this deposit formed the basis of a book published in Russian, Chinese and English. Tony cites his work on Noril’sk and on the Bushveld as his best work.
Over an outstanding academic career, Tony carried out seminal research on the origins of many of the world’s major magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE deposits globally. His research on most of the world's magmatic sulfide ores has culminated in the authoritative
Magmatic Sulfide Deposits: Geology, Geochemistry, and Exploration (2013).
Tony also consulted for and held Directorships of several companies. He served on editorial boards and international panels, and was the chief scientific advisor to the Canadian delegation to UNESCO. Tony was President of the Mineralogical Association of Canada (1982-83), the International Mineralogical Association (1998-2002), the Society of Economic Geologists (1991-1992) and the Geological Society of America (2001-02).
Accolades
Tony won numerous medals and accolades across the world. He was awarded a DSc from Laurentian University (2000) and from the University of Pretoria (2001). He was an Honorary Research Fellow at the Natural History Museum, London (2009-2012), a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and a Chartered Geologist (2004), as well as a Finniston Distinguished Lecturer (2006). In 2004, the IMA Commission on New Mineral Names, accepted Naldrettite (Pd2Sb) as a new mineral, named in Tony’s honour.
Tony was a very social individual who enjoyed a glass of wine. He was always ready to discuss ideas and gave freely of his time. He had huge energy, lived life to the full and was a great raconteur, always ready with a story. He leaves a legacy that will live on in the work of his associates and students. He is survived by his sister Frances, his three daughters Penny, Anne and Jennifer, and two granddaughters.
By Judith Kinnaird
The full version of this obituary appears below (
Editor.)
Anthony James Naldrett (1933-2020)
Anthony James ‘Tony’ Naldrett was one of the world’s best-known geologists through his work on magmatic sulphide deposits, his teaching, and his service to international societies. He passed away at home in Chichester, on 21st June 2020 after a six-month battle with cancer of the oesophagus, two days before his 87th birthday.
Tony spent his early life in Surrey and attended St. Paul’s School in London. After two years military service in the RAF where he learnt to fly Meteor jets, he went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1953. Because of his rowing prowess he was selected for the 1st VIII, which meant spending afternoons on the river. He only studied geology with chemistry and physics because it fitted his schedule, but he loved the subject and a geologist he became.
Ore geology
Along with three undergraduate colleagues he emigrated to Canada in 1957, and spent two years with Falconbridge Nickel as a mine geologist in Sudbury. Feeling he needed to learn more about ore deposits he enrolled at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario to study magmatic ore deposits. His MSc thesis in 1961 was entitled
Geochemistry of cobalt in the ores of the Sudbury district, and his Ph.D. thesis in 1964 was on
Ultrabasic rocks of the Porcupine and related nickel deposits. Between 1964 and 1967, Tony spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Geophysical Laboratory in Washington learning experimentation on metallic sulfides at high temperatures and applying this new knowledge to real ore systems. The approach combining the theoretical with the practical was to define the direction of his future career.
Following an informal visit to the University of Toronto in 1966, he was immediately offered a job as an Assistant Professor, becoming a full professor in 1972. He remained at the University for 31 years until his retirement in 1998. He was highly regarded for his dedicated teaching and for building world-class geochemical analytical facilities. His graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are in academia around the world, or captains in industry, and in government. Tony’s work on komatiites in Canada, led to an invitation in 1972 from CSIRO in Perth, to spend a sabbatical year working on a nickel deposit in Western Australia. An invitation to spend six months at the Bushveld Research Institute at Pretoria in 1979-1980 was a pivotal point in his career and he retained his interest in the Bushveld Complex for the rest of his career. A visit to Moscow led to a visit to Noril’sk, and he was perhaps one of the first westerners to do so. His work on this deposit formed the basis of a book published in Russian, Chinese and English. Tony cites his work on Norilsk and on the Bushveld as his best work.
In January 1995 Tony was invited to the exploration site of the Voisey’s Bay nickel prospect in Labrador for which he received substantial national funding. Collaborative research with an international group of researchers was published in 2000. In 1998 he retired from the University of Toronto and became a University Professor Emeritus. In his retirement he joined the Bushveld Research Group of Judith Kinnaird at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and he visited South Africa twice each year until 2012. In 2010, Tony undertook a three-week lecture tour of China and subsequently spent six weeks per year in Guiyang in 2010-2012.
Magmatic sulphides
Over an outstanding academic career, he carried out seminal research on the origins of many of the world’s major magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE deposits: in Canada, the US, Western Australia, Russia, China, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Much of our understanding of such deposits is directly attributable to Tony’s publications on chemical processes related to magmatic sulphides, including work on the Fe–S–O and Fe–Ni–S systems, sulphur solubility in silicate melts, partitioning of Ni, Cu, Co and PGE between sulphide and silicate melts and between monosulphide solid-solution and sulphide melt. His research on most of the world's magmatic sulfide ores has culminated in the authoritative
Magmatic Sulfide Deposits: Geology, Geochemistry, and Exploration (2013).
In addition to his research, Tony consulted for 43 companies worldwide and held Directorships of several companies. He published around 200 scientific papers, 62 books or chapters in books and 50 unpublished professional reports. In addition to these scholarly activities he has served on the editorial board of major journals, chaired several international panels, international advisory boards and been the chief scientific advisor to the Canadian delegation to UNESCO. He was President of the Mineralogical Association of Canada (1982-83), the International Mineralogical Association (1998-2002), the Society of Economic Geologists (1991-1992) and the Geological Society of America (2001-02).
Accolades
Tony won numerous medals and accolades across the world. He was awarded a DSc from Laurentian University in 2000, and from the University of Pretoria in 2001. He was a visiting professor at the Univerities of Pretoria (1979-1980); Toronto (1984-1988); Florida (2001-2003); Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (2005-2018) and Royal Holloway, London (2005-2008). He also won awards in Canada, the EU, the US, the UK, South Africa and Australia. He was an Honorary Research Fellow at the Natural History Museum, London (2009-2012), a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and a Chartered Geologist (2004), as well as a Finniston Distinguished Lecturer (2006). In 2004, the IMA Commission on New Mineral Names, accepted Naldrettite (Pd2Sb) as a new mineral, named in Tony’s honour. The mineral was discovered in drill core at the Mesamax Northwest Ni–Cu–Co–PGE deposit in far northern Quebec.
Tony was a very social individual who enjoyed a glass of wine after work with students or colleagues. He was always very approachable, ready to discuss ideas and to give freely of his time. He had a huge energy and lived life to the full, enjoying travel, food and wine. He was a great raconteur, always ready with a story. He leaves a great legacy which will live on in the work of his associates and students. He is survived by his sister Frances, his three daughters Penny, Anne and Jennifer, and two granddaughters.
By Judith Kinnaird