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.

Report on the possibilities of underground water on Piney Creek pastoral lease. This report follows a visit to the lease conducted in response to a request for advice regarding water supply.

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.

The presence of quartz crystals in the dump of an old gold mine, known as Black Charlie's mine, in the Strathbogie Ranges led to the reopening of part of the workings in the search for crystal suitable for piezo-electric applications. To date the search has met with success, and has resulted in the discovery of a second crystal deposit adjacent to the old workings. The mine which is now named the Crystal King mine was visited in December, 1944. The locality, topography, geology, economic geology, and production of the mine are discussed in this report. A sketch section of the mine is included.

The testing programme described herein is the result of a recommendation made in a previous report. Twenty-four boreholes were put down during October, 1944, to determine the extent and quality of the bentonite and associated clays. During the early part of the boring campaign the area was surveyed in detail by plane-table with the assistance of the Queensland Geological Survey. The details and results of boring, origin of the bentonite, micro-fossil content, testing, and reserves are discussed in this report. Logs of Boreholes, a plan of the bentonite deposit, and cross section diagrams are included in the report.

This report deals with an investigation of the electrical resistivities of a variety of wet surface soils, gravels and sands. The work may be regarded as preliminary to an investigation by Mr. R.F. Thyer into the detection of electrically resistive bodies buried in wet soils at shallow depths. It was required to determine the range over which the resistivities of surface soils vary, and also the changes that may be expected in any one type of soil between measurements made within any 1 foot of each other. Measurements were made in four localities, three being in the bed or on the banks of the Molonglo River, where the surface materials are sand, gravel, silts, and in some places, clay. The fourth locality was near the head of Sullivan's Creek, where the soil is a heavy black clay.

This report deals with the problem of detecting electrically resistive bodies of small size buried at shallow depths in wet soils. Detection was attempted by means of measurements made on the surface of the soil using the electrical resistivity method. The present report can be regarded as an extension of an earlier one (No. 1943/64B). The purpose of the new tests was twofold. Firstly it was proposed to make tests of 'normal' resistivity effects using a constant electrode arrangement and measuring the resistivity at closely spaced points on water saturated soils. The second part of the testing programme was contingent on the first part proving that under saturated conditions soil resistivities were sufficiently constant to warrent an attempt being made at detection. If this condition of constancy existed, it was proposed to extend the work of the tests, reviewed in the previous report, to actual field conditions. This has been done and the present report deals with the results obtained.

Quartz crystals occur in the county of Dampier near the head of Tuross River 13 miles east-southeast from Countegany and about 5 miles east-southeast from Tuross Post Office. The presence of small quartz crystals in this locality has been known to Mr. L.W. Schaeffer of Tuross for many years, but only recently has he found larger crystals and undertaken more systematic prospecting. This report comprises notes on the quartz crystals, following an examination of the locality, 1944.

The Gawler talc deposit is situated about 2 miles south from Ulverston and about half a mile north from Gawler where the bitumen road ends. The lease is held by Messrs. Pearson and Smith, and one man is working on it at present. A geological examination and plane table survey of the deposit was conducted on the 1st May, 1944.

The presence of foraminifera in the Permian sediments of Australia was recorded as early as 1882. Some systematic work was done up to 1905, but there was no further investigation into these micro-fossils until 1937. A considerable amount of research is still necessary before it can be stated whether or not a definite system of zoning, based on micro-faunas, can be applied to the Permian rocks of Australia. It seems possible, however, that certain species may be characteristic of the Upper and Middle Permian deposits. In the extensive collections of Permian rocks examined from the Hunter River District in New South Wales, assemblages of foraminifera rather than restricted species have proved useful for zonal purposes and this method of zoning should prove valuable when more material is examined from the Permian deposits of other States.