Papers of Louis C. Graton

Louis Caryl Graton (1880-1970), geologist, chemist, and educator, was the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard University. Graton's research focused on the geologic, chemical, and physical processes by which ore deposits are formed and the techniques necessary to make them valuable as sources of metals. Graton made significant contributions in applying the science of geology to the practical job of finding ore.

Graton received his BS degree from Cornell University in 1900, then entered McGill University as a graduate student, studying many noted mines in Ontario and Quebec. He returned to Cornell in 1902 for graduate work, but his doctoral thesis was not completed until 1930 when he was fifty years old. In 1903, Graton was appointed an assistant to Waldemar Lindgren of the United States Geological Survey. At the time, Lindgren was one of the leading geologists in the United States. From 1903 to 1909, Graton worked classifying ore deposits in the Cripple Creek district of Colorado, in the southern Appalachians, New Mexico, and California. In 1909, Graton was appointed an instructor in mining geology at Harvard. He was appointed Assistant Professor in 1910 and Professor in 1912. During World War I, on leave from Harvard, Graton directed the copper committee of the War Industries Board. On behalf of the Internal Revenue Service, Graton also worked to rationalize the taxation of extractive industries, helping to establish the concept of the depletion allowance. In 1942, Graton was appointed Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology.

Graton was a consultant for many mining companies, including Calumet and Hecla, Noranda Copper, International Nickel, Hercules Mining, Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines, New Jersey Zinc, and the United States Bureau of Mines. However, it is the Cerro de Pasco Corporation with which Graton held his closest ties. Graton began consulting for Cerro in 1920, continuing until 1950. He also served on Cerro's Board of Directors from 1945 to 1967. As a geologist, Graton traveled the world, exploring every major mining district and every mine 5,000 feet deep. Graton visited the thermal areas of Iceland, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Java and explored new sources of ore in Central America. In addition, he organized a study of the chemistry, mineralogy, and geology of significant copper deposits for the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution. Additionally, Graton developed new methods and devices for observing ore texture; and was also successful in convincing mining companies to establish geology departments in an era when many companies doubted the value of employing mining geologists. Graton's scientific achievements were widely recognized, and in 1950, he was awarded the Penrose Medal from the Society of Economic Geologists for "outstanding achievements in the earth sciences."