AUSTRALIAN GOLD

Evening Star, Issue 19765, 16 January 1928, Page 12

AUSTRALIAN GOLD

DISCOVERING DEPOSITS

A definite attempt to discover further gold-bearing ore deposits in Australia is to bo carried out in 1928. ' Professor Sir T. W. Edgeworth David, who reached Sydney by the Moldavia, referred to tho value of geophysical methods in the location of sulphide ore bodies. In regard to tho selection of Australia as a special part of the Empire in which to make experiments on the most up-to-date methods of discovering concealed ore deposits by geophysical survey, he said that one of the greatest objectives at ihe present moment, more particularly for the Commonwealth, in regard to metalliferous ore deposits, was to discover more gold. Hitherto no geophysical method had been invented which would reveal tho prospects of gold-bearing quartz, but the particular method to be applied in the first case in Australia, which was the electrical method, was capable of locating with great precision the position of sulphide ore deposits, such as sulphides of iron, magnetic pyrites, copper, sulphide of lead, and most varieties of sulphides of zinc- “ Without in any way intending to anticipate the deliberations of the committee of scientists which has been appointed under tho Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and which is to assemble on January 13 at Hobart to advise about the best possible sites for the commencement of tho geophysical survey.” declared Professor David, “ it seems obvious that the most important type of sulphide ore deposits to locate will bo one either _of gold-bearing character or one which consists largely of sulphide of lead, possibly also carrying silver. At tho same time, provided sulphide bodies of a character such as copper pyrites or sulphide of zinc are proved to occur in largo masses, even if they are not, in addition, gold-bearing, it inay be possible to exploit them profitably. “One must not forget, however, that in view of the visits of the vast and cheaply-worked copper deposits of Katanga, in the Belgian Congo, it has been found impossible of late for Mount Morgan, in Queensland, to compete, and even at the Mount Leyell copper mine in Tasmania, with its excellent scheme of hydro-electric power, it is difficult to carry on with advantage on account of that competition. On tho whole, therefore, it would seem most desirable if a suitable field can be found in Australia to search by geophysical methods for concealed deposits of gold-bearing sulphide ores or silverhearing sulphides of lead. ,“It may bo added that the conference in Hobart on the subject of suitable areas for the geophysical survey will be held immediately preceding the gathering there of a large nuny of scientists from Australia and New Zealand,,who are to attend the biennia! congress of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Ifcience.” Professor David pointed out that two experts, Mr Broughton Edge, who had been experimenting abroad, and Mr A. N. Lewis, of Melbourne University, who had been sent to Great Britain to learn the intricacies of torsion balance surveying, would carry out the geographical survey. The former will arrive in Australia in March to begin the survey for ore bodies in the locality decided upon.