John Hays Hammond

John Hays Hammond was an American mining engineer who became one of the most prominent mine consultants of his era. Trained at Yale and the Royal School of Mines in London, he managed major gold-mining operations in South Africa's Witwatersrand for Cecil Rhodes's Consolidated Gold Fields before advising mining ventures across Mexico, Russia and the United States, and he commanded exceptionally high consulting fees reflecting his reputation for accurately evaluating ore deposits. He later chaired an international commission on tariffs and served as an advisor on economic and engineering matters to several U.S. presidents.