BY THE RRV J. MILNE CURRAN, P.G.S. 185 



Nodules of ironstone are found in the river drifts. When broken 

 they exhibit a banded structure following the contours of the 

 exterior — due to the change at various intervals of the ferrous 

 carbonate into limonite. 



Eco'iwmic Geology. — About four years ago a sudden fresh 

 removed a considerable amount of sand from the bed of Spicer's 

 Creek near the point where the main road from Wellington crosses 

 that creek. The surface of a bed of coal was in this way laid bare. 

 A rude opening such as means at hand would allow, was made and 

 I measured a seam thirty-seven inches in thickness, without going 

 through the coal. Since then a seam 49 inches has been measured 

 near the same place — probably the same coal. It has never been 

 worked. Nearer to Dubbo, at Ballimore, several shafts have been 

 put down, but although coal has been met with in every instance, 

 the seams were thin. The quality of the coal has not been found 

 fault with. It is bituminous and burns to a soft grey ash. The 

 proportion of fixed carbon is small and as the coal does not cake it 

 does not produce a true coke. An analysis, it is said, gave the 

 following result : — 



Water 6-5 



Vol. Hydrocarbons ... ... 45-4 



Fixed Carbon 37-6 



Ash 10-5 



It makes a good household coal and is no doubt suitable for 

 stationaxy engines, but it would be less satisfactory in the case of 

 locomotives. It easily breaks into small cubical fragments, which 

 would be blown by the powerful blast through the boiler tubes. 

 Efforts have been made in other localities to get payable coal, but 

 the work has been undertaken in a most arbitrary manner, without 

 theoretical or practical knowledge of coal mining. A slight 

 acquaintance with the geology of the district would in most instances 

 have saved a useless expenditure of money. There is every reason 

 to believe that payable coal will yet be found. The physical 

 features of the disti'ict are eminently favourable to the miner, 

 as the rocks are not disturbed to a great extent. Trap is not so 

 plentiful as to materially affect the coal, so that there will be few 

 or no difficulties to contend with. 



