524 Reviews — The Wolfram Mines of North Queensland. 



VIII. — The Wolfram Mines of Bamford and Carbine Hill, North 

 Queensland. By L. C. Ball, B.E., Assistant Government 

 Geologist. Geological Survey of Queensland, Publications No. 248 

 and 251. 



rpHESE two small mining fields in the North of Queensland 

 JL produce mainly wolfram, though they also contain a certain 

 amount of molybdenite and tinstone and at Bamford bismuthite. 

 The latter field has been in operation since 1893 and has produced 

 in addition to other minerals about 1,580 tons of wolfram con- 

 centrates, while the Mount Carbine field produced about 670 tons 

 between 1906 and 1912. The production of both fields was, at the 

 time of writing, on the down grade, since the rich surface (" Shoad ") 

 deposits were exhausted and the deep veins had not been fully 

 exploited owing to lack of capital and difficulty of working. 



The ore in both cases occurs in veins associated with granites. At 

 Mount Carbine, where the country rock is mainly slate, the mineral 

 veins are found in the slates ; while at Bamford, where the granite 

 is intrusive into massive porphyry, the veins are generally situated in 

 the granite itself, near the contact zone, and are accompanied by 

 greisenization and the formation of quartz rock. At Bamford the 

 veins often widen out into "vugs" or broad cavities filled with 

 quartz, which is the chief "gangue", and metalliferous minerals. 

 Following the ideas of Daly and Van Hise and also the experiments 

 of Fouque and Michel Levy, the author puts forward the hypothesis 

 that the silica was originally introduced into the veins in the colloid 

 state. In this condition it would allow the free passage of the 

 mineralizing gases, but, as the jelly became viscous, the gases would 

 be trapped and attack the side walls of the veins, forming "vugs". 

 Finally the silica was probably precipitated in the crystalline form 

 owing to the action of tungstic acid, since this has been shown to 

 exercise a similar action on albumin. 



The author describes the mining properties in detail and also the 

 methods of dealing with the ore, the supplies of water, timber, and 

 other necessaries of mining communities. The memoirs are illustrated 

 by photographs of the scenery and the mines, and also by diagrams 

 of the most interesting vein phenomena. 



W. H. W. 



IX. — The Satsop Formation of Oregon and "Washington. By 

 J. Harlen Bretz. Journal of Geology, vol. xxv, 1917, pp. 446-58. 

 rnHE Satsop formation is the name given to a series of deposits 

 JL composed of sands and gravels with occasional beds of clay and 

 lignite, which is found in the valleys of the rivers of Washington and 

 Oregon. It occurs along the coast, in the valleys of Coast Range, in 

 the valley between the Coast Range and the Cascade Range, and in 

 the gorge cut through the Cascade Range by the Columbia River. 

 It rises from sea-level, or below, on the coast to the height of 

 3,000 feet in the Cascade Range, and belongs to the cycle of 

 denudation previous to that now in operation. It "was evidently 

 deposited after the uplift of the Coast Range, as it forms terraces 



