Provinces are defined in terms of overlapping packages of rocks related by depositional or emplacement process, time and space (for example a sedimentary basin), and overprints resulting from various metamorphic or deformation events. These provinces and the events which formed them are recorded in Geoscience Australia corporate Oracle databases and linked with spatial data at a nominal 1:1 millon scale in a GIS delivered via the WWW.

The Leigh Creek Coalfield is approximately 350 miles north of Adelaide. Coal seams of economic importance are known to occur in two basins about 5 miles apart. Immediately to the north of the known coal basins is an area of some hundred or more square miles, much of which is covered by a thin layer of rocks younger than the coal measures. Other coal basins could exist beneath this cover, and it is considered necessary to the sound development of the coalfield as a whole, that the prospecting of this area should be completed at an early date. The present survey was undertaken at the request of the South Australian Government and was carried out during October, November and December, 1947. The report is a preliminary one since the analysis of the results is not complete. However, sufficient work has been done to make possible the selection of sites for test drill holes. The geology of the area, geophysical method and application, results, interpretation, and testing are discussed in this report. The results of the gravimetric survey are shown on an accompanying plan.

At the request of the South Australian Government a gravity survey to investigate the possibility of further coal basins to the north of the Leigh Creek coalfield was commenced by officers of this Bureau in October, 1947. This survey was suspended in December, and a report was prepared dealing with the work carried out to that date (1948/004 and 1948/048). The area covered, however, was only a small part of a much larger area covered by a superficial layer of Tertiary rocks, beneath which a coal basin could exist. The work was resumed in May, 1948, and was continued until September, when the party was withdrawn. In additional to the geophysical field work carried out on the covered area to the north of the known coal deposits, some work was done on the Center or Telford basin. A number of traverses was read on the western edge of the basin, with a view to determining places where shallow coal might be found. The geology of the area, technical matters, results, and recommendations are discussed in this report. Accompanying plans are included.

The Pilbara gold field area contains many other minerals besides gold. It has long been known that the radio-active minerals, including monazite and certain rare-earth tentalates, occur in portions of the Pilbara field. There is also one known highly radio-active deposit of pilbarite at Wodgina. A survey to determine the position and extent of radio-active occurrences in the Pilbara area was carried out in 1947. In the report on this survey a number of recommendations was made, and subsequently a further field party was sent to the area during the period September - October, 1948. This report is an account of the geophysical work done by this second party. Investigations were carried out at Mount Francisco, Wodgina, Eastern Creek, Pilgangoora, Abydos, Trig Hill, Cooglegong, and Eley's Well. The main part of the work consisted of testing known or suspected rare-earth tantalate deposits. Also, a further search was made for monazite in areas on and near the Cooglegong tin fields. The technical procedure and results of the survey work are discussed in this report.

This statement gives the results of a scout drilling campaign conducted by the Bureau at the Kirby's Hill Area of the Western Coalfield of New South Wales. The area investigated comprises approximately 200 acres of the parish of Cullen Bullen in the County of Roxburgh. At Kirby's Hill itself a maximum of about 300 feet of Coal Measure rocks rests on Upper Marine beds, and this is one of the most westerly exposures of the Upper Coal measures. The purpose of scout drilling was to determine the suitability of the Lithgow and Irondale Seams for open cut exploitation.

The presence of alluvial gold in the river gravels of Mastuj and Chitral has been known for many years, and local inhabitants have realised the value of the gold and have worked the deposits. Tipper (1923), Coulson (1937), Ikramuddin Ali (1951) and Tayyab Ali (1951), have reported on the placers but no accurate determinations have been made of their size or grade. In August, 1951, the Australian Geological Party, J.F. Ivanac, D.M. Traves, and D. King, examined the deposits between Mastuj and Drosh, with the objects of reporting on the size and nature of the placers, and if warranted, to suggest suitable sites for testing. This report gives an account of the examination and its results.

In Portion 11, Ph. of Stockrington Diamond Drilling near an unnamed creek tributary to Surveyor Creek has disclosed coal continuously for a distance of 7,600 feet south from the northern boundary of the Portion. The seam is split and banded and the coal is inherently high in ash. Proximate analyses of the coal were carried out by the New South Wales Mines Department laboratory in Sydney. All coal ores were forwarded from the field and shale etc. bands of greater thickness than half an inch were discarded by the analysts. Stony coal or carbonaceous shale with S.G. greater than 1.6 was also rejected from the assay samples. Consequently the analyses quoted indicate a composition roughly equivalent to that which might be expected for cleaned or hand-picked coal from this area.

The purpose of a visit to the Cloncurry district, which lasted from 21st August to 30th September, 1951, was to see what aid geophysical work could give in the search for copper deposits in this field which is one of the biggest mineral fields in Australia. While the Cloncurry district in the past produced copper from many small but rich deposits, only a few exceeded 200,000 tons, and the search now is being conducted mainly with the idea of finding and developing huge but relatively low grade copper deposits with at least several hundred thousand tons, or perhaps millions of tons of copper ore containing at least 2.5 to 5 percent copper. It is possible that geophysics might help in this search, and consequently, a number of old copper mines were visited and some geophysical test traverses made. With the rather limited facilities available the tests were confined to self-potential measurements and to a few traverses with a new Atlas gravity meter, especially suitable for ore prospecting because of its lights weight and transportability and its high sensitivity and accuracy. This report gives an account of the survey and its results.

The correlation of seafloor features identified on multibeam bathymetry data with subsurface fluid flow pathways interpreted from seismic data provides insights into the nature of fluid flow mechanisms and seal integrity in the Capel and Faust basins. The magmatism and fluid flow activity have implications for petroleum prospectivity of the Capel and Faust basins. Hydrocarbon accumulations that may have formed within the deeper syn-rift and the pre-rift sections are less likely to have been affected by the Cenozoic magmatic and fluid flow processes and, therefore, may represent lower-risk exploration targets.

Australia's Identified Mineral Resources is an annual national assessment that takes a long-term view of Australian mineral resources likely to be available for mining. The assessment also includes evaluations of long-term trends in mineral resources, world rankings, summaries of significant exploration results and brief reviews of mining industry developments.