Portrait of Jules Cornet

People/geologist, explorer

Jules Cornet

Jules Cornet (1865–1929), geologist, explorer, from Belgium. Linked to copper.

The lucky break

Joined the 1891 to 1893 Bia-Francqui expedition to Katanga and found copper at Kambove, Likasi, Shituru, Luishia, Luiswishi and Kipushi.1,2,3

The downfall

Leopold II made him keep commercially sensitive findings confidential, so he could publish his scientific work only after the 1894 Anglo-Belgian treaty.1,2,3

Legacy

A professor at Mons and Ghent, he trained about 80 geologists and engineers who worked in Congo. The copper mineral cornetite, described in 1912, is named for him.1,2,3

Story cards

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Where next

Mines

DiscoveredKamoto Copper Company (KCC) / Katanga Mining ComplexA young Belgian geologist found Katanga's copper on foot.1

Sources

  1. Biographie Belge d'Outre-Mer: Cornet, Jules Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences (KAOW-ARSOM)
  2. Wikidata item Q3188493
  3. File pages and licence metadata for portraits (via the Commons imageinfo/extmetadata API) Wikimedia Commons

Pictures on this page: Portrait Jules Cornet.jpg, Unknown author (Public domain).

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Timna in de Negevwoestijn; rotspartij "de zuilen van Salomo", Poll, Willem van de / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Mijnramp Bois du Caizier, Marcinelle, België. Schacht, Rossem, Wim van / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Escondida Mine, Chile, NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)).