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The Northern Australia Development Committee (a Committee composed of representatives of the Commonwealth and the States of Queensland and Western Australia) has recommended that a series of regional surveys be made in Northern Australia with the object of providing data which will enable development of the region to be planned on a scientific basis. These surveys are being made under the direction of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. From June to September 1946 the writer accompanied the C.S.I.R.O. party which was engaged in a reconnaissance survey of the Katherine-Darwin region. Christian, ecologist and leader of the party; Mr. G. A. Stewart, soil surveyor; and Mr. S. T. Blake, botanist. The area examined consists of 27,000 square miles in the north-western portion of the Northern Territory, west of longitude 133° east and between latitude 12° and 15° south. (See Plate 1 for locality map and reference to Australian map grid.) The primary object of the survey was to determine pastoral and agricultural possibilities. A geologist was attached to the party mainly because the area to be surveyed had been very incompletely mapped and the existing geological records did not provide an adequate background for the soil and pastoral work to be undertaken. The primary function of the geologist was, therefore, to provide this background for soil interpretation, but it was also intended that he should gather as much information as possible on the stratigraphy and mineral possibilities of the area. During the course of the investigation it was found, that geological mapping provided the essential framework into which much of the other scientific data could be fitted, and a fairly complete investigation of the stratigraphy and geomorphology of the area became essential. An account of the stratigraphy and geomorphology are submitted in this report with a reconnaissance geological map of the region. This geological map is the result of the combined work of the party and could not have been completed without the full co-operation of the other members and particularly of Mr. G. A. Stewart. An area of approximately 27,000 square miles had to be mapped by a series of traverses in a period of approximately four months, and the geology of the areas between these traverses had then to be filled in from available geological maps and records, and from aerial photographs which covered only parts of the region investigated. (See Plate 2.)

This report describes the results of a micropalaeontological examination of rock samples from the Lesi and Oiapu structures, Papua.

Black sand on beaches in Knocker Bay, near Black Point, and at Record Bay, Port Essington, has been noticed from time to time by Captain F.E. Wells, who mentioned these occurrences to the writer. Opportunity was taken during a recent visit to the locality to secure a sample from the beach at Record Point. The presence of black sand on a narrow beach between Black and Reef Points was confirmed by observations from the ship through binoculars. The locality, general geology of the area, and the occurrence of black sand at Record Point are described in this report. The results of the laboratory examination of the sample are recorded.

The present author accompanied Mr. R.W. Coxon, Director, Mines Department, Alice Springs, and Mr. S.M. Sneddon, Mines Inspector, Alice Springs, as geologist on their journey for road survey and inspection in the mining area of "Tom Hanlon's Camp" in the Eastern Jervois Ranges. The author's observations of the metamorphosed formations, the Oorabra Creek and Eastern Jervois Range areas, and the sandstones south of Alice Springs are recorded in this report.

This report outlines the geophysical survey work completed in the Peak, Coronation, and Mopone areas, in the period to September, 1949. The results and findings of this work are described in the report.

This report describes the results of a micropalaeontological examination of rock samples from Pidinga.

The Tennant Creek Mining Field occupies an area extending some 70 miles east and west and 40 miles north and south. Over this area are scattered a large number of small mines and prospects and it is sometimes difficult to bring a field such as this into perspective so as to obtain some idea of its true valuation. The following notes are designed to help in this direction. The output and nature of the orebodies, and the respective positions and productivity of the major deposits, are discussed in this report.

This report gives an overview of the bauxite resources of the Inverell district, New South Wales, including, in particular, those deposits held or examined by the Australian Aluminium Production Commission. A description of each deposit is given, which includes information on the geology of the area, grade of bauxite, and production figures. Figures are given for the proven reserves of economic bauxite in the district.

The occurrence of ferruginous laterite in the vicinity of Moss Vale, Bundanoon and Wingello, County of Camden, has long been known. In order to define any zones enriched in alumina, a subsurface prospecting campaign was undertaken by the Australian Aluminium Production Commission at Wingello during July and August, 1948 and at Ellsmore in the early part of 1949. The results of this investigation and previous work are summarized in this report. Detailed descriptions of the laterite and of the individual deposits are given.