Vol. VIII. No. 90. 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
[June, 1902.] 153 
r 
2 feet 
7 
inches. 
5 
0 
33 
3 
a 
0 
33 
220 
Dl 
0 
33 
4 
>3 
1 
33 
35 
0 
3 3 
j 
S 3 
7 
33 
150 
3 3 
0 
3 3 
4 
>3 
0 
33 
270 
3 3 
0 
33 
4 
>3 
2 
33 
and 
is 
connected 
for some 20 miles inland to near the sources of the Burrum and Isis Rivers, where, dipping at 
a high angle, they are altered in a series of micaceous schists and finally rest upon granite. 
The principal seams, in descending order, are : — 
Bridge seam coal .... 
, , , , shale .... 
, , , , coal .... 
Shales, with three thin seams . 
Torbanlea seam, 2 feet to 6 feet 2 inches, including a 
band 15 inches 
Shales ...... 
Burrum seam ..... 
Shales and sandstones 
Watson’s seam ..... 
Shales and sandstones 
North Hartley seam .... 
The Torbanlea mine lies 15 miles north of Maryborough and is connected with the 
North Coast railway. A shaft 400 feet deep opens up the Torbanlea and Burrum seams. The 
maximum output possible with the present machinery is 200 tons per day. The Riverbank 
colliery works a seam 3 feet S inches thick at a depth of 250 feet, and is supposed to be the 
united Burrum and Torbanlea seams. The Queensland Collieries Company’s mines are 
situated at Howard and work the Beaufort seam, which lies probably above the Burrum 
seam. The output of the three mines in 1900 was 110,849 tons. 
In the Central Queensland are the Clermont, Dawson and Mackenzie Rivers, Styx River 
and Collide Creek Coalfields, with the recently surveyed field of Hazledean. 
Clermont is the present terminus of a northern branch of the Central Railway line whose 
junction is at Emerald ; the distance between these two places is 62 miles. The coal- 
measures are best exposed at Blair Athol. They are probably not more than 500 feet thick, 
and include sandstones, carbonaceous and clay shales of the Bowen formation (Permo- 
carbonifcrous System). There are two seams of coal occurring within 100 feet below the 
surface. The upper seam, which is worked at the Hope, Imbell, Eldorado and Blair Athol 
collieries, is on an average about 4 feet 6 inches thick, and the un worked one about 15 feet 
thick, with 17 feet of measures intervening. The area of the field round Blair Athol is 
5 square miles, and it probably extends over a much larger district. Taking a minimum area of 
3 square miles and a thickness of 4 feet for the top seam, the quantity contained would be 
11.000. 000 tons, of which 7,000,000 would be available. The lower seam extends over a 
larger area ; about 5 square miles. Calculating on a thickness of 12 feet, it must contain 
56.000. 000 tons, of which 37,000,000 would be available, giving a total minimum quantity of 
44.000. 000 tons available. 
The Dawson and Mackenzie Rivers District . — In the recent geological survey of the 
Dawson and Mackenzie Valleys, it has been shown that an immense area on either side of 
the Central Railway line to the North and South contains coal-measures of great economic 
value. Of the 7,000 square miles of country that have been examined, there are about 
5,000 square miles that are possibly coal-bearing, and this area may extend to the Western 
Railway in the South and to the Isaac River in the North. In the area of 5,000 square 
miles of coal-bearing country, outcrops of anthracitic coal occur in two localities about 
100 miles apart. These localities are not on the same general strike of the measures, but the 
regularity of the strata between the two outcrops would indicate the probability of coal 
existing as a continuous seam or seams between them. 
The country examined is embraced in the Leichardt Division, the whole of which is 
drained by the Fitzroy River and its tributaries. The coal-measures belong to the Lower 
Bowen formation. Below are the Lower Marine and Volcanic series, and above, the Upper 
Marine series on which lie the Upper Fresh Water series. The anthracitic coal is found 
outcropping just south of Dawson Island. The seam here is about 10 feet thick. At Jellinbah, 
the coal is exposed in the bed of the Mackenzie River. The seam appears to be almost 
horizontal and to have a thickness of 20 feet. The coal-measures are undulating. 
Prospecting is being carried on in the vicinity of the Central Railway, with the hope of 
supplying it with coal from these measures. A shaft sunk in 1900 to test the coal away from 
the outcrop shows the seam to fully maintain its thickness and quality. 
The Styx River Coalfield , ( Broaa Sound ). — The area covered by this coalfield is 
drained by the Styx River and its tributaries. The coal-measures cover an area of about 156 
square miles ; about 26 miles from north to south, with an average width of 10 miles. Their 
most southerly point is on Stockyard Creek, about 12 miles W.N.W. of Marlborough. The 
district is generally flat and is covered with deep soil and alluvium. The formations are : 
1st, Recent Alluvium ; 2nd, Recent or Post-Tertiary Conglomerate ; 3rd, Desert Sandstone 
(Upper Cretaceous) ; 4th, Mesozoic Coal-measures (Jura-Triassic) ; 5th, Permo-carboniferous 
beds. The thickness of the coal-measures in the neighbourhood of Tooloomba and Deep 
Creeks is 5,000 feet. These rocks overlie the Permo-carboniferous beds unconformably. The 
dip of the strata varies between north and east from o° to 45 0 . The following seams are 
known and have been worked to some extent. 
The Styx River Coal Company’s Seam, Tooloomba Creek, is 2 feet 7 inches thick, and 
lies at a depth of 74 feet. The coal is hard, burns freely, and leaves a white ash. The Deep 
Creek Coal Seam was found outcropping in the bed of the river so named. It is reported to 
be 4 feet thick and to be a hard, compact, free-burning, bituminous coal. The Broad Sound 
Coal Company’s Seam is 6 feet 1 1 inches thick with a band of clay shale 8 inches thick, and 
a clay band I foot 4 inches thick. 
Collide Creek. —This locality is about 52 miles from Gladstone. The coal beds are 
believed to be of the same age as the Ipswich formation, and the seam is 30 feet thick as far 
as the shaft was sunk. The coal is without bands and the beds dip slightly to the north- 
east. A railway is to be constructed from this place to Port Gladstone, a distance of 68 miles 
by the proposed route. 
Mackay District . — In a report on the geology of Hazledean Mr. B. Dunstan, Assistant 
Government Geologist, deals with the mineral resources of the district. Hazledean is 
situated on the top of the range dividing the waters of the Pioneer River, which enters the 
Pacific Ocean at Mackay, from those of Funnel Creek, abranch of the Isaacs River, which empties 
into the Fitzroy and this into Iveppei Bay. Hazledean is about 24 miles direct souih-west of 
Mackay. It is reached by train to Eton and thence by coach along the Nebo road. From 
Mackay to Eton the country traversed by the railway is slightly undulating and made up of 
recent alluvial deposits covering coal-measures. The coal-measure outcrops occur in many 
places above the alluvium, and the coal seams which are exposed on the surface have been 
prospected to a greater or less extent. These strata are also found in the district of 
Hazledean and are its oldest sedimentary rocks. They are separated from those of the plain 
by granite, and, as this separation continues generally in both northerly and southerly 
directions for many miles with the same difference of altitude, the eastern side ofj the granite 
masses is probably a slope down which the coal-measures on the coast side have been faulted. 
Those on the range have a general westerly inclination. The shales are frequently 
fossiliferous, containing “ Phyllotheca ” and “ Glossopteris.” The thickness of the coal seams 
in every case is not an encouraging feature, as of all the seams examined so far the surface 
indications show none are over three feet thick. The measures have been much disturbed, 
and those seams which were unweathered appeared to contain a large percentage of ash. 
The total thickness of the measures at Hazledean is over 1,700 feet, and the age was placed 
/ 
by Mr. 'Maitland in 1SS9 as Permo-carboniferous. Recent work has shown they are 
equivalent of the Lower Freshwater (B) series of the Lower Bowen Formation. Where the 
coal-measures are close to the granite on the range at the heads of Black Waterhole and 
Kemmis Creeks, they are intruded into by dykes of this rock and diorite. On one line of 
such intrusion there are veins of auriferous quartz. Alluvial deposits are of limited extern, 
but are generally auriferous. It is only at Mine Creek, however, that they have been found 
to contain gold in payable quantities, and then only in small patches. While there has been 
no attempt made by prospectors to determine the character and quality of coal at Black 
Waterhole creek (a branch of the Pioneer), the gold deposits have received considerable 
attention, but, though gold has been obtained, the general indication is that the quartz leaders 
are very poor in that metal. 
Hampden — is situated about 20 miles N.W. from Mackay on the coast road to Bowen 
at the crossing of Constant Creek. The sedimentary formations of the district have been 
considerably disturbed by intrusive rocks, and the coal-measures which exist here have been 
contorted and faulted by these dykes where they have been penetrated by them. A shaft 
sunk in the district to 67 feet passed through three seams of coal. The first was penetrated 
at 16 feet and contains two feet of inferior anthracite, containing from 21 to 
29 per cent, of ash, and 66 to 71 per cent, fixed carbon. At 60 feet depth a seam 5 feet 
thick occurs of a similar quality to the above. 
Mount Toby — is 4I miles north of the railway terminus at Mirani. There are several 
seams of coal in the district, but while the thin seams are of good quality, the workable seams 
contain, as far as is known, only inferior coal. An analysis of the former gave water 
6*3 per cent., vol. hydrocarbon 34*3 per cent., fixed carbon 51*8 per cent., ash 7 ‘6 per cent. 
Further exploratory work is desirable. 
The occurrence of limestone, strontianite and graphite in this district is also mentioned. 
North Queensland . — Many large seams of Palaeozoic age have been found on the Bowen 
River, but they appear to have been much injured or destroyed by volcanic outbursts. The 
Kennedy (5 feet 5§- inches ?), Garrick (3 feet 4 inches), and Daintree seams all outcrop on 
the Bowen River. 
Cooktown . — There are several outcrops of coal in the Little River, Oakley Creek and 
others, but the seams are of small thickness. 
Analyses of Queensland Coals. 
tfi 
r* 
s 
p 
u 
O 
JJjZ, 
■ -H J- 
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5 
U 
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P 
3 
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fa 
Ipswich Coalfield : 
' 
Aberdare Seam, Black- 
174 
33 *i° 
60-64 
4*52 
-742 
Queensland 
New Chum Seam, Whit- 
wood Colliery 
Braeside Bundamba No. 4 
2 '07 
I ’ I 5 
3 ° * 5 ° 
31-20 
64-13 
59-10 
37 ° 
S *55 
*8ll 
*592 
International 
- Exhibition 
Exhibits, 
Bishops Seam, Bishops 
1*15 
2475 
72-69 
1-41 
loi 
J ° 97 - 
Colliery 
Burrum Coalfield: 
Beaufort Seam 
— 
29-8 
28-00 
28-00 
62-2 
S-o 
— 
Sp. Gr. 
\ 
Burrum Seam, Torbanlea 
Colliery 
Torbanlea Seam 
275 
2 ’00 
65*55 
61 -60 
3*25 
8-o 
*45 
0-4 
1-27 
1-31 
W. H. Rands, 
1- Government 
(bottom coal) 
Geologist. 
Do. (top coal) 
2 '25 
29*15 
66-50 
2-10 
— 
1-26 
Clermont Coalfield: 
Imbell .... 
5-69 
32 * 3 ° 
57 *i 8 
4 *S 3 
Trace 
i *43 
\ B. Dunstan, 
Mercer .... 
471 
26-24 
59-17 
io'oS 
do. 
i *33 
f Assistant 
Eldorado 
579 
34*16 
55*72 
4-28 
do. 
I Government 
Hope .... 
Dawson- Mackenzie 
5 - 6i 
30-60 
5973 
4'g6 
do. 
— 
J Geologist. 
Coalfield : 
Dawson Is. 
3-75 
12-98 
7«*45 
4-84 
— 
1-42 
(mean of 7 analyses) 
J ellinbah,MackenzieRiver 
Styx River Coalfield: 
2*05 
16-74 
75 72 
60-36 
579 
670 
— ” 
— 
Deep Creek Seam . 
175 
31-19 
0*40 
1-298 
\ 
Styx River Coal Co.’s 
170 
3°'°5 
64*96 
3*40 
0-26 
— 
1 
Seam 
Broad Sound Coal Co.’s 
i .75 
28-86 
6676 
2*00 
0-63 
. 
> W. H. Rands. 
Seam 
J 
Do. middle band 
— 
3°75 
60-15 
9 * 5 ° 
— 
— 
Dr. Storer. 
Collide Creek Coalfield: 
Do. No. 2 Shaft 
8-40 
24-49 
5776 
9 * 5 ° 
0-25 
— 
j W. A. Dixon. 
Do. ,, 4 }> 
9‘95 
23*63 
54*20 
12-04 
o-iS 
• 
Do. 
9-510 
26-365 
59-850 
4*275 
— 
— 
J, Cosmo- 
j Bowen River Coalfield: 
Newberry 
Kennedy Seam » » 
1*12 
41 -Si 
4279 
14-28 
1-463 
A NEW FORM OF PHOSPHATIC MANURE. 
The chief forms of phosphatic manures wmich are at present in common use are : (1) the 
superphosphate ; (2) the finely-powdered natural phosphates ; and (3) the well-known basic 
slag or Thomas phosphate powder. These differ considerably in character and properties, so 
that, as would be anticipated, they each produce their best results on soils belonging to a 
particular class. The superphosphate, which possesses an acid reaction, has almost the 
whole of its phosphate present in a form readily soluble in water and is most suitable for 
application to land containing plenty of lime. The natural phosphates are neutral and the 
basic slag slightly alkaline, but both contain their phosphates in a form which is only slightly 
soluble in water but soluble to a certain extent in weak solutions of vegetable acids. On 
certain soils, notably upon sour land deficient in lime, these insoluble phosphates have given 
excellent results, and probably owe their action to the neutralisation of the vegetable acids 
present in the soil and the consequent solution of some of the phosphate. The drawback to 
their use is the slight solubility, which renders very fine grinding essential if the material is 
to prove of value, and even then not more than half of the contained phosphate will be 
available as food for the crops. Recently a new form of alkaline phosphatic manure, in 
which this difficulty is overcome, has been suggested by Mr. J. Hughes, and in a paper read 
before the Society of Arts {Jown. Soc. Brts, Vol. L, p. 356), he furnished the following 
particulars of this. 
It is produced by mixing ordinary acid superphosphate with finely-ground or slaked 
lime in such proportions that the product has a distinct alkaline character and, at the same 
time, contains from 25 to 27 per cent, of phosphate of lime readily soluble in a weak solution 
(1 in 1000) of citric acid. It has been named “basic superphosphate,” since it combines the 
alkaline character of the basic slag with the ready solubility of the superphosphate. In 
mechanical condition it is superior to both ; it is more than twice as bulky, weight for 
weight, as basic slag and much drier than superphosphate, containing only 4 or 5 per cent. 
