King Island Scheelite Mine is located on the east coast of King Island and is sixteen miles by road from Currie, the principal port on the island. The open cut method of mining is employed and the mine is an important producer of scheelite. There is scope for greatly increased production from the open cut area alone and with a view towards assessing the full possibilities of the area as a whole, geological and geophysical surveys were started concurrently by the Mineral Resources Survey Branch in June, 1942. The geophysical field work was conducted between 19th June and 10th July, 1942.

The following notes are intended to accompany Map No.1049, which has the same title as that given above. This map was prepared at the request of the Survey Directorate, L.H.Q., Melbourne, Department of the Army, and is primarily for the use of the Director of Survey, Advanced L.H.Q., Brisbane. The map is termed "provisional" since it is based on only a portion of the data available and the reductions have been made by approximate methods. Nevertheless since use has been made of that portion of the data which has been most recently observed it is considered the most reliable for most practical purposes. For some time work has been proceeding on a final map showing the distribution of magnetic inclination over Australia and the surrounding areas, and this map will be available in the near future.

In the years immediately preceding the present war, 75 per cent of the world's production of tungsten concentrates came from southeast Asia; approximately 50 per cent came from China. This production consisted almost wholly of wolfram. With the entry of Japan into the war in 1941 and its occupation of Indo-China, Thailand and Burma, these supplies were cut off from the United Nations. This cessation of supplies made it necessary that all countries amongst the United Nations should make intensive efforts to increase their production of tungsten ores and concentrates. In Australia, the effort was necessary in order that as much tungsten concentrate as possible could, after domestic requirements were satisfied, be exported to Great Britain and the United States of America. As the King Island Scheelite Mine was (and still is) the largest producer of tungsten concentrates in Australia, the possibilities of increased production from the that mine were among the first to be considered.

At least as early as 1940, it was realised by the Department of the Interior that the reserves of suitable rock (shale or slate) in the pit adjacent to the Canberra Brickworks were limited. A decision was made to find a temporary site to provide sufficient material to supply the brickworks for two years. A site at Deakin, 1700 yards by road east from the existing brickworks was selected and was recommended by Dr. W.G. Woolnough in 1940 as suitable, subject to testing by costeans and pits. A survey of the area in the subdivision of Deakin, Canberra City Area, was then arranged and was made during March and April, 1944, the object being to determine if there were sufficient reserves of suitable material to supply the Canberra brickworks for a period of not less than two years. This report describes the results of this survey.

Results of a microscopic examination of cores from bores Nos. 153, 155, 169, and 171, parish of Maryvale, Nos. 99, 103, and 109, parish of Loy Yang and No. 31, parish of Hazelwood.

On the 5th February, Mr. A. A. McLeod, General Superintendent of King Island Scheelite, N.L., telegraphed that it was desired to obtain further information about the ore structure to the north-east of cross-section line 13, and suggested the drilling of two diamond drill holes. Three possible sites and holes were discussed. In response to a request from Mr. McLeod, a visit was paid to the mine on the 26th and 27th ultimo, when returning from Mount Bischoff mine, Tasmania. The whole position regarding the above portion of the deposit and open cut were reconsidered, and problems regarding drilling further west on the northern side were also investigated. A short statement was prepared while at the mine which forms the basis of the remainder of this report.

As a preliminary step in the investigation of the problem of detecting a non-metallic body buried in soil at a shallow depth, a critical study was made of the various ways in which such a body might vary physically from its surroundings. One way in which such a body might differ from the enclosing soil was in such thermal properties as heat conductivity and heat capacity. The possibility of turning such differences to account in the problem of detection, however, seemed a very remote one. As it was desirable that no possibility, however remote, should be ignored it was decided to make a brief investigation of the thermal properties of soil and non-metallic materials such as might be used in the construction of the body in question. The following notes give the salient features of this investigation and show that detection of the buried object by virtue of its difference in thermal properties from the soil cannot be considered feasible. As a working hypothesis, it was assumed that the processes of heat exchange in the cycle of solar energy absorption and re-radiation would be changed in the vicinity of the buried object. The notes, therefore, deal briefly with this cycle, and the factors which influence the amount of solar energy absorbed and re-radiated.

During the period August 1942 - August 1943, a boring campaign was conducted in the Coorabin section of the coalfield by the Commonwealth Coal Commission. The boring was done by the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission of New South Wales under the supervision of the Mineral Resources Survey Branch of the Department of Supply and Shipping. When the Coal Commission withdrew, and before the plant was removed from the field, an additional bore was put down by the Department of Supply and Shipping in the Oaklands section of the field. This report contains the results of analyses of the bores.

This report is written primarily to present the determination of the permeability and porosity of a number of rocks and minerals, but it has also been considered advisable to give a brief description of the different kinds of apparatus designed and used in making the determinations. The materials on which the tests were carried out included a suite of specimens from No. 10 bore, Lakes Entrance, two specimens of sandstone from one of the bores at Roma, Queensland, and a number of Australian diatomites. The method of presentation adopted in this report is, firstly to describe the apparatuses used in making the determinations and the technique adopted in preparing the specimens for testing and secondly to discuss the results obtained for each set of specimens. In addition to the permeability and porosity tests already mentioned, a number of tests of compressive strength were made on wet and dry samples of glauconitic sandstone from Lakes Entrance.

Red ochre of high quality has been produced from deposits in Ophthalmia Range since 1937. The bulk of the production has been derived from one lease, No. 37OH, the deposits on which are the subject of this report. The locality was visited in June, 1944. This reports comprises notes on access, topography, geology, economic geology, and production. A geological plan of the vicinty of the ochre deposits accompanies this report.