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The area investigated is to the south west of the West Wallsend Extended Colliery near the township of Killingworth within Portion 34, Parish of Teralba, County Northumberland. Drilling was carried out for the Joint Coal Board as part of the programme of the proposed Barnsley Australasian Open Cut, to locate the Great Northern and Fassifern Seams which outcrop at the base of the hills. Five bores were sunk. Bores BMR 1 to 4 penetrated the Fassifern Seam.

Geochemical anomalies in soils over zones of lead mineralization were studied, both in known mineralized areas and in areas of suspected mineralization. The anomalies were readily detected and outlined by using a dithizone technique on acid extracts of soil samples collected from grid systems. By assuming the principles of mechanical mixing of the mineralized rock with other material during soil formation, and of downhill migration of soils, the anomalies were correlated with the zones of their origin: the asymmetric anomalies discovered are typical of such conditions. Applied to areas of suspected mineralization the geochemical prospecting was responsible for the discovery of two new bands of lead mineralization and several large lead and copper anomalies. The method proved to be extremely useful for indicating the most favourable areas for more detailed prospecting such as diamond or churn drilling and geophysical methods.

During the 1952 field season a series of test traverses using magnetic and self-potential methods was carried out over the known radio-active deposits in the Rum Jungle area, to discover whether any definite anomalies were associated with surface showings of radio-active minerals. In the course of the magnetic work in Brown's area, a major magnetic anomaly was discovered south-west of the workings, and a reconnaissance magnetic survey was carried out in order to obtain information on its extent. [Technical details and the preliminary results of the survey are discussed in this report].

The Tennyson Uranium prospects, six in number and referred to as prospects 1 to 6, include 15 deposits all apparently too small and too low in grade, at the surface, to be worth working. Five of them (1A, 1F, 2A, 3, and 5) could be expected to yield 9, 25, 8, 15, and 5 to 18 tons of ore per foot of depth. Assay results are available for prospect 2 only. The estimated average grade of the surface material in deposits 2A and 2C, down to a depth of approximately 3 inches, is 0.21 and 0.13 per cent U3O8 respectively. However, the near surface material may be impoverished by leaching, and the grade may improve at depth. The country is hard, and the width of the orebody ranges from 10 inches in deposit 1F to 16 inches, and possibly 52 inches, in deposit 5. Drilling of a typical deposit should establish the type of mineralization, and indicate the change in grade of ore that might be expected below the surface. It is recommended that any drilling undertaken by the Bureau should be on a deposit, discovered by a Bureau party, 1.25 miles south-east of Tennyson's No. 1 prospect. In any case, the commencement of drilling in the Edith River area should be deferred until after inspection of some, at least, of any anomalies indicated by the proposed air-borne survey of 1953.

The Hundred of Waterhouse, the north-eastern portion of which has been mapped, extends southward from the Hundred of Goyder. Mapping was carried out on air photos at a scale of 4" = 1 mile, and the information was transferred to a mosaic at a scale of 2" = 1 mile. In the following notes are discussed the general geology of the area, the relationship between the formations mapped and the ore-bearing formations at Rum Jungle, the structural geology of the area, and a uranium prospect which was discovered in the course of the regional mapping. Some recommendations for future geological mapping and prospecting are appended.

A reconnaissance survey of the eastern half of the Canberra 4-mile sheet was made during the period January - February 1952. The area mapped may be arbitrarily divided into two sections: the western section includes the eastern halves of the Canberra, Michelago, and Bredbo 1-mile sheets, and the eastern section comprises four 1-mile sheets - Lake Bathurst, Braidwood, Araluen and Bendethera. Belts of strongly folded Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian strata, with associated elongate masses of granite rocks, were encountered; they trend gradually northwards. Graptolites collected from Ordovician strata provide means to date these rocks accurately, and further study of the corals collected from Silurian limestones will similarly permit precise dating. Three fossil localities were found in the Devonian strata, but the brachiopods collected, although well-preserved and representative of many genera, do not permit precise stratigraphical placing without more intensive examination. Outcrops are generally very good in all parts except the Lake Bathurst area, where an extensive cover of Tertiary and later deposits obscures the Palaeozoic rocks.

The stratigraphy and structure of an area in the Carnarvon sedimentary basin covered by the Williambury and Moogooree one mile sheets, is described. Resting unconformably on a Pre-Cambrian basement of schists gneisses and granites, are Devonian marine sediments 4750 feet thick, followed conformably by Carboniferous approximately 2150 feet thick; these are separated from the overlying Permian more than 8000 feet thick, by a possible hiatus. The Cretaceous System is represented by about 40 feet of siltstone lying unconformably on the Palaeozoic rocks. Marine Tertiary arenaceous deposits are widespread and have a maximum thickness of 80 feet; they are not seen in contact with the Cretaceous rocks. The whole area has been subjected, in Tertiary time, to lateritisation, the most prominent feature of which is the presence of a silicified cap ranging in thickness from a few feet to 30 feet. In one place a post-laterite deposit of 12 feet of probably fresh-water limestone has been observed. An account is given of the structural geology, geological history, and physiography of the region.

The Fitzroy Basin is situated south-east of Derby in the Kimberley Division of Western Australia. Results are given of a semi-detailed gravity survey which was made of the portion of the basin between longitudes 123°40' and 124°30' and latitudes 18°05' and 18°40'. The survey disclosed a large basin structure at least 7,000-8,000 feet deep and a few minor anomalies which may prove important. It is not known whether the higher density formation at 7,000-8,000 feet depth in the basin represents Pre-Cambrian basement or sediments of Devonian or Ordovician age. The position of, and displacement on, the Fenton Fault system were indicated. A detailed gravity survey of the Nerrima structure confirmed the existence of faults which had been mapped by the Bureau's geological and seismic parties, but was unable to determine the depths to which these faults penetrated. Seismic refraction work and test drilling are recommended south of the Fenton Fault, between Barnes' Flow and Mt. James, to disclose the nature of the higher density formation. Recommendations are also made for an extension of the detailed gravity survey to areas in which anomalies were revealed by the semi-detailed survey.

This statement has been prepared as a supplement to Summary Report No. 27 - Aluminium and Bauxite - which was issued in 1946. Since that year testing of deposits in Tasmania has been completed and new discoveries of commercial bauxite have been made in northern New South Wales and the Northern Territory. Further exploration in South Gippsland has resulted in minor additions to the proved reserves of Victoria, and the presence of bauxite has been reported in Papua and New Guinea. Exploration of deposits of bauxite on the north coast of the Northern Territory is not complete but sufficient accessible reserves have been proved to change the formerly unfavourable outlook for the aluminium industry now being established in Australia. Re-examination of the formerly known deposits has necessitated recalculation of the stated reserves, and has generally resulted in a reduction of the earlier estimates, but on the other hand a substantial increase has been made for the Tamborine Mountain deposits in Queensland. South Gippsland tonnages have been recalculated and expressed as dry ore so as to be consistent with the statements for other States. Tonnages throughout are long tons (2240 pounds) of dry ore. In the following tables proved reserves are those which have been systematically tested by pits or bores regularly spaced at intervals of not more than 400 feet, and in many cases only 100 feet. Indicated reserves have been tested by more widely or irregularly spaced holes.