The first discovery of bauxite in South Gippsland which was brought to public notice is said to .have been made in 1918 by Mr. Donald Clarke on the property known as Nahoo , allotment 8, Parish of Narracan South. Bauxite from this deposit has been used for chemical purposes for over twenty years. It is understood that other occurrences had been noted prior to Mr Clarke's report. Eleven additional discoveries were made from time to time up to April, 1942, when the extensive prospecting programme mentioned in the foreword was undertaken. In the short time that has elapsed since then a further twelve deposits have .been discovered, making a total of 24 deposits in the adjoining parishes of Moe, Allambee East, Narracan South, Mirboo and Budgeree in the county of Buln Buln. Several of these deposits have been systematically tested by shaft sinking and boring. The deposits at Boolarra, Oallignee and Nahoo have been reported on very briefly by Whitelaw (1921), Ferguson (1936) and Baragwanath (1940), but there have been no detailed descriptions of the deposits and no general account of their geological relationships. It should be noted that there has been no authenticated report of the occurrence of bauxite in Victoria outside South Gippsland and that little is known of the deposits other than those in the Boolarra-Mirboo North area.

The geophysical surveys reviewed in this report were part of an investigation carried out by the Commonwealth Government on behalf of the British Government. Deposits of uranium minerals occurring at several places in the Northern Flinders Ranges of South Australia, and centred about Mount Painter, were subjected to detailed geological examination followed by surface and underground prospecting by means of costeans, shafts, drives, etc. The geophysical work undertaken with the object of assisting the geological examination by measuring the radioactivity of rocks in situ and of hand specimens and assisting the prospecting work by making estimates of uranium content of mine samples. The geophysical surveys consisted of two main parts, namely, field surveys to locate and delineate areas of high radioactivity, and laboratory work to make approximate determinations of uranium content of mine samples by measuring the radiation from them. It is proposed to describe briefly the fundamental nature of radioactivity with specific reference to such features as have a particular bearing on the problems encountered in the field and assay work. In addition, it will be necessary to deal briefly with the geology of the various areas covered by the field work in so far as it effects the geophysical problems.

The work described in this report forms part of the uranium investigation being conducted by the Commonwealth Government for the British Government. The work was carried out at Mt. Painter from 7th February to 26th March, 1945, following prior geophysical work. This report covers work including setting up and calibrating the assay equipment, and testing 100 samples from the Mount Painter No. 6 workings and 12 samples from East Painter No. 1 adit. In addition, some field work was carried out on Radium Ridge using a new type of portable equipment. The report is divided into two parts, the first dealing with the assay work and the second with the field work.

A report was prepared in December, 1944, on the ore reserve position at the Mount Bischoff Tin Mine. Since that date, further field work has been carried out, and the additional observations made have rendered necessary a revision of conclusions advanced in that report. The present report is to be read as a supplement to the previous one, but supercedes it in many respects. A revised summary of the ore reserve position is given herein. The additional geological observations affect both the interpretation of the structure of the Mount Bischoff ore-body as a whole, and the interpretation of the structure of individual ore occurrences.

The pressure of the liquid, or reservoir pressure, within the glauconitic sandstone at Lakes Entrance has been the subject of conjecture in recent years and the low yields of oil which typify the field have been attributed by some observers to low reservoir pressure. Reservoir pressure, however, is only one of a number of factors upon which the rate of yield depends. Other factors of equal importance are the permeability of the producing formations and viscosity of the fluids produced. The methods, tests, and results involved with the determination of reservoir pressure from liquid level data are discussed in this report.

During August, 1944, a mineral specimen received at this Branch from Mr. C.R. Wright of Alice Springs was tentatively identified as altered allanite, and on testing with the Geiger-Muller apparatus was found to be radio-active. In October, 1944, the site of the discovery was visited by the writer and further specimens were collected. A portion of these specimens, which are also radio-active, was forwarded to the Division of Industrial Chemistry, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Melbourne, where the sample forwarded was identified by R. Grenfell Thomas as triplite. Triplite is essentially a fluo-phosphate of manganese and iron. Later a further small parcel of specimens was received and it is now realised that the specimens so far examined contain more than one mineral, but apparently no allanite. This report comprises detailed descriptions of the deposit and the triplite.

The Pannikin Mine is situated on the south side of the Hart's Range about 7 miles southeast of Mount Riddock and about 9 or 10 miles a little south of east from Schaber's homestead. The Elbow deposit is about 1 1/2 miles south-southwest from the Pannikin. The two deposits, and another smaller one in the same locality, were visited on 22nd October, 1944. The accompanying plan of the Pannikin was made with compass and tape. The report comprises notes on the two mica deposits. Accompanying sketch plans of the Pannikin and Elbow deposits are included.

At the request of Mr. G. Lindesay Clark, Deputy Controller of Minerals Production, estimates have been made of the grade of ore likely to be delivered to the mill during the next two years under conditions of half-scale production. The methods of estimating tonnage and grade, as well as the resultant estimates, are discussed in this report.

Four core samples were submitted by New Occidental Gold Mines N.L. on 4th December, 1944. The descriptions of the samples that follow are based on a brief megascopic examination of the cores by H.B. Owen, Geologist of the Mineral Resources Survey. The results of tests for magnetic orientation and susceptibility are described.

Western Australia is the only State from which vermiculite is produced. Occurrences are known in some of the other states and in the Northern Territory, but the information is not sufficiently detailed to enable their importance to be assessed. Vermiculite occurrence by State and Territory, and processing capabilities, are detailed in this report.