In January, 1951, samples of radioactive minerals stated to have been collected in the Mt. Kavanagh (Cavenagh) area, Central Australia, were submitted to the Bureau by Mr. Norman Ashmore. Two radioactive minerals were present, one apparently allanite, and the other a strongly radioactive mineral of composition similar to betafite. The opportunity was taken of the presence in Alice Springs of the geophysical party destined for Rum Jungle and the geological party destined for Maranboy to make a brief inspection of the area. Two days were spent in the area. This report gives an account of the investigations and their results.

This report records observations made during two brief visits to the area when reconnaissance was limited to the shores of Melville Harbour and to the immediate vicinity of Gove aerodrome. Pisolitic bauxite containing upwards of 50 per cent alumina was observed throughout a traverse of 5.5 miles easterly from the airstrip. This bauxite, which rests on tubular laterite, may exceed 5 feet in thickness. The bauxite and associated laterite near Gove are derived from sedimentary beds which overlie coarse garnetiferous granite. The geology of the area, characteristics and composition of the bauxite, and mineral rights, are discussed in this report.

The information presented in this paper was collected in 1947-8 by a combined scientific team composed of officers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and the Commonwealth Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, who carried out a reconnaissance of the natural resources of the Barkly Region. The subsurface water supplies and the geological features which assist in determining the characteristics of water supplies are discussed in this report.

In conjunction with an engineer of the Works and Housing Branch, a brief examination of the limestone deposits at White Rocks was made on 2/11/50 to determine their suitability as a source of road-metal and aggregate. The location and characteristics of the limestone deposits are described in this report. The northern and southern outcrops are described in some detail, and recommendations are made for further investigation.

<p>This data package includes raw (Level 0) and reprocessed (Level 1) HyLogging data from 25 wells in the Georgina Basin, onshore Australia. This work was commissioned by Geoscience Australia, and includes an accompanying meta-data report that documents the data processing steps undertaken and a description of the various filters (scalars) used in the processed datasets. <p>Please note: Data can be made available on request to ClientServices@ga.gov.au

A deposit of weathered graphic granite at White Rocks, 2 miles south of Queanbeyan, was investigated and the limits of material in it suitable for easily quarryable road metal were determined. The area was divided into two sections: a northern one held for the most part by the Queanbeyan Council, and a southern section at present held privately as a grazing lease. "Indicated" reserves, based on the present quarrying level, of 170,000 cub. yds were established in the northern section. Most of this material will be of the same quality as that being quarried at present; some of the material towards the southern boundary of the lease will however be harder and require more blasting. In the grazing leases "inferred reserves" of 140,000 cub. yds. were delineated. It is expected that this material will be quite suitable for road making but may be slightly inferior in sizing to the material at present being quarried; also it may require more blasting in some portions than the material being quarried at present; it will carry a higher average overburden than the Queanbeyan lease.

In the search for deposits of radioactive minerals in Australia the area of the Barrier Ranges appears especially worthy of investigation on geological grounds because it is composed of highly mineralised pre-Cambrian rocks. Mines in this area comprise the major producing mines along the main Broken Hill lode, one developed mine of less importance (the Pinnacles), and a number of small silver, lead and copper mines scattered over the surrounding district. The present report deals with the results of a reconnaissance radio-active survey performed by the Geophysical Section of the Bureau during July and August, 1950. The work was confined to the smaller mines, attention being directed, in the first instance to the mines from which radio-active museum specimens were stated to have come. At each mine the following tests were performed: tests on dumps and residues to discover whether any quantity of stone carrying a significant content of radio-active minerals had been broken during mining operations, tests on accessible exposed faces, and tests on rocks surrounding the mines. The tests were made with portable Geiger-Mueller rate-meters. Readings taken are quoted as multiples of background count, which has been considered as a constant characteristic of the instruments, rather than as the general reading obtained on country rock in the area. In most areas these methods of defining background would lead to the same result. As mentioned later, however, in the Broken Hill area this is not the case. Generally, the schists and gneisses on this field are definitely radio-active, and a true background reading, indicative of the complete absence of radio-active minerals, is obtained only on basic rocks. A reconnaissance survey was also made over the Euriowie tin field. Tests were also made around felspar quarries at Egebeck.

Rock properties provide the vital link between observed geophysical data and interpreted geology. Geoscience Australia has periodically made measurements of rock properties to support various investigations into the composition and structure of the subsurface. The Rock Properties Project consolidates this information into a single database structure and makes it accessible to external clients via a web delivery application. We have chosen to initially concentrate on mass density and magnetic properties, as these are of prime importance to the important gravity and magnetic datasets maintained for the Australian region by Geoscience Australia. Additional property types and more extensive datasets will be added over time.

The Ordovician to Cretaceous Canning Basin of Western Australia is an underexplored prospective onshore petroleum basin with proven petroleum systems currently producing on a small-scale. The Canning Basin has recently become a site of interest for unconventional hydrocarbon exploration, with several formations within deeper basin depocentres being investigated for resources and estimates that suggest it may have the largest shale gas potential in Australia. Modern petroleum resource evaluation generally depends on an understanding of both local and regional stresses, which are a primary control over the formation and propagation of induced fractures. Presently, there are significant gaps in our understanding of these factors within the Canning Basin. This study characterises the regional stress regime of the onshore Canning Basin and presents detailed models of present-day stress within the subsurface. These allow for the identification of significant stress heterogeneities and natural barriers to fracture propagation. Wireline data interpretation reveals a variable present-day state of stress in the Canning Basin. An approximately NE-SW regional present-day maximum horizontal stress orientation is interpreted from observed wellbore failure in image logs, in broad agreement with both the Australian Stress Map and previously published earthquake focal mechanism data. One-dimensional mechanical earth models constructed for intervals from 15 Canning Basin petroleum wells highlight the relationship between lithology and stress. This study describes significant changes in stress within and between lithological units due to the existence of discrete mechanical units, forming numerous inter- and intra- formational stress boundaries likely to act as natural barriers to fracture propagation, particularly within units currently targeted for their unconventional resource potential. Broadly, a strike-slip faulting stress regime is interpreted through the basin, however, when analysed in detail there are three distinct stress zones identified.: 1) a transitional reverse- to strike-slip faulting stress regime in the top ~1 km of the basin, 2) a strike-slip faulting stress regime from ~1 km to ~3.0 km depth, and 3) a transitional strike-slip to normal faulting regime at depths greater than ~3.0 km. This study is a component of the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) initiative, which is focused on gathering new data and information about the resource potential concealed beneath the surface across northern Australia. Appeared online in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 17 Feb 2021

A reconnaissance geological and radiometric survey of the Mt. Cavenagh area was carried out by B.P. Walpole and J. Sleis of the geological section and J. Daly and D. Dyson of the geophysical section of the Bureau of Mineral Resources. The objects of the survey were to examine reported occurrences of radioactive minerals in this area and to determine whether further prospecting of the area for radioactive orebodies was warranted. The general geology of the area, and the economic geology of the six prospects examined, are described in this report.