Probert, Alan

Mining engineer.

Alan Probert graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1925. He worked as a mining engineer in California, Arizona, Idaho and Central America. He spent several years in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico with U.S. Smelting, Refining, and Mining Comapny.

Mining engineer, author. Born 1901 in London; died 1985 in Laguna Hills, California. Wife Lillie May Walker Probert died in 1989. Alan Propert earned a B.S. degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1925. He worked in mines in the U.S. before he began a 23-year association with U.S. Smelting, Refining and Mining, for which he worked first in the U.S. and then for 13 years with the Compañía Real del Monte y Pachuca in Mexico. He spent 1950-1955 with the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Mexico and Washington, D.C. From 1955-1961 he was vice-president and general manager of the Compañía Minera de Guatemala. From 1961 until retirement, he served as a consultant employed exclusively in Latin America. Probert researched and collected materials on mining in Mineral del Monte, focusing on early British involvement in the years 1824-1829. His research interests included mining history and British technical expertise. He also researched and wrote on diverse subjects, most related to either mining or Mexico. Lillie Probert assisted her husband's research and published at least one article.

Alan Probert (1901-1985) was a mining engineer and mining historian. After graduating from the University of California in 1925, he worked for the United States Smelting, Refinery and Mining Company for 23 years, with much of this period spent in Pachuca, Mexico. He worked for the United States Department of State for about five years before becoming vice president and general manager for Compania Minera de Guatemala, S.A. After his semi-retirement in 1962 Probert did research and writing on mining history in the Western United States, Mexico and Central America. Probert was working in Mexico in 1943 when the Parícutin Volcano erupted for the first time. Over a period of three years, he recorded its growth in his film "Volcano."