The first airborne scintillometer surveys to be carried out by the Geophysical Section of the Bureau have now been completed. In this work the Shoran radar positioning system was also used for the first time. Detailed surveys were made over an area of about one thousand square miles surrounding the Rum Jungle granite and one of about twenty square miles in the Edith River district. In addition, flights were made over several other known granite masses in the northern part of the Northern Territory and along both sides of the railway line from Batchelor to Katherine. In addition to the Dakota aircraft, an Auster aircraft was chartered for some experimental low-level flights over areas of special interest selected on the basis of indications discovered during the survey by the Dakota. Instruments and methods used in the course of the surveys, results, and conclusions are discussed.

Thirty-nine samples of bore cores from Stockton No. 2 Diamond Drill Hole, at Collie, were submitted for micro-palaeontological examination. The results of the examination are described in this report.

Information concerning the air-borne scintillometer anomalies has been compiled in this report. The following information is provided for each of the localities included in this report: access, topography, geology, radio-activity, probable cause of the anomaly, and future work recommended.

The area covered by this investigation, totalling approximately 100 square miles, surrounds an occurrence of radio-active minerals which was discovered in 1950. The deposit is 30 feet east of the Stuart Highway, 21 miles south-east of Pine Creek, Northern Territory, and 40 miles north-west of Katherine. It is one third of a mile north-east of the Fergusson railways siding. Mapping of the area was undertaken consequent upon an examination of the Fergusson River Crossing Deposit by H.J. Ward in September 1950 and by Ward and R.S. Matheson in November 1950. Although the prospect itself was not considered to warrant further work, it was thought that further occurrences might exist in the area, particularly along the shear which had localized the known deposit. Mapping and prospecting of the area was therefore recommended. This report records the results of that investigation.

Hermannsburg Mission Station is situated 80 miles west of Alice Springs. In the winter of 1951, Pastor Albrecht, the Superintendent of the Mission, made a request for government assistance in the location of underground water supplies. Early in October, G.F. Joklik and S.A. Tomich, of the Bureau of Mineral Resources, spent five days on the station and picked seven sites for possible water bores. Throughout this report, reference is made to the accompanying map.

On 10th November, 1952 a brief visit was made to Channel Island with Mr. F. Vidgen, Director of Works, to investigate the possibilities of developing an underground water supply for the leprosarium. It appears unlikely that a good supply of underground water will be obtained on the island, and this is probably due to the fact that it offers too small a catchment area and the beds are not particularly favourable to allow for the accumulation of good supplies of underground water.

Five core samples from the Ravensworth Bore were received for examination. These cores consisted of hard, dark grey, partly carbonaceous shale and the only fossils that could be examined were on the fractured surface of the samples. A detailed examination is given below.

The results of the present investigation continue northward the information already gathered in the Australian Capital Territory by Dr. A.A. Opik of the Bureau of Mineral Resources. The work was carried out to fill in a gap in geological information, which existed in this area, to enable completion of the Lake George one-mile geological map.

In December, 1950, the Pakistan Government filed a formal application to Australia, through the Technical Assistance to South-East Asia Co-operation Scheme, for three geologists to carry out geophysical surveys in Pakistan. In May 1951, the geologists, J.F. Ivanac and D.M. Traves of the Bureau of Mineral Resources and D. King of the South Australian Mines Department, arrived in Pakistan. Their instructions were to carry out a geological survey of a portion of the Gilgit Agency, and to discuss with the Director of the Pakistan Geological Survey or any other Government Officer familiar with the problem, the alluvial gold deposits of Chitral River and the lignite deposits of West Bengal and Sind. Field investigations commenced from Gilgit in June 1951, and the party spent four months in the region. This report gives an account of the visit and the results of the investigation.

The beach sands on which investigations were carried out, were mainly from beaches along the eastern coast of Australia and from islands adjacent to this coast. A high percentage of the mineral grains of the heavy mineral fraction in these sands have grain sizes within the range -100 to +200, referred to British Standard Sieves. The grain size of the minerals, combined with the fact that the grains are quite well rounded, makes the heavy mineral sands an ideal subject for separation using the inclined method with the Isodynamic Separator. The use of this method, and the results obtained, are described in this report.