J^SBESTOS 



By EDGAR HALL, F.C.S., and HENRY G. 

 STOKES, F.G.S. 



\_Sead before the Royal Society of Queensland, January 8th, 1892 J 



From time to time the newspapers of Australia amiounce 

 the discovery of Asbestos, and in places widely apart, and the 

 announcements are always accompanied by the statement that the 

 mineral is of first class quality, and that the working of it will 

 speedily become an important and profitable industry. So far 

 these prophecies remain unfulfilled. 



The writers were called upon some three months ago to 

 visit, in a professional capacity, an asbestos-bearing property, 

 and have smce given a closer study to the economic occurrence 

 and value of the mineral, and think that a short paper drawing 

 attention to certain points of importance connected with the 

 industry, and giving a short accomit of its possibilities, may be 

 of interest to the society. As the development of the asbestos 

 field as a commercial enterprise has fallen through, there will be 

 no breach of confidence in using the information gained in the 

 professional visit aforesaid as a basis for remarks on the occur- 

 rence of the mineral in Queensland. 



The short time available for the preparation of this paper 

 will not allow of an unexhaustive examination of the subject, but 

 necessitates confining our remarks to information likely to be 

 valuable from a strictly industrial point of view. 



