= — 
WORK AND POSITION OF THE TEMPORARY INSTITUTE. 
The question of fuel economy, and the recovery of! the valuable by- 
products from coal now wasted,'have also received attention. Investi- 
gational work is, however, in abeyance, owing to the fact that the 
necessary funds are not available. 
D.—Mining and Metallurgy. : 
1. General.—-There is a wide scope in Australia for investigational 
work in connexion with the mining and metallurgical industries, with 
a view to’ the development of new and improved processes, especially 
for the treatment of low-grade ores and the manufacture of various 
alloys. The temporary Institute has initiated several investigations in 
this field. ois se 
2. Mode of Occurrence of Gold.—-Investigations on this matter have 
been carried out on the Bendigo Gold-fields: Their main object is to 
determine the principles which have caused the erratic localization of 
the gold shoots in the quartz reefs, and thus, among other things, to 
cheapen the cost of deep prospecting. -The cost of the work has been 
borne partly by Bendigo mining companies, and the Mine Managers 
Association and other mining associations have expressed their appre- 
ciation of the valuable results obtained. 
3. Ferro Alloys—lInvestigations have been carried out on the manu- 
facture of ferro-chrome and ferro-tungsten, and economical methods of 
preparing these alloys have been devised. The results have been of 
industrial value. 
4. Alunite——Methods for obtaining potash salts from various Aus- 
tralian deposits of alunite have been worked out. ‘The results obtained 
were taken up industrially, but owing to commercial and economic 
reasons, the industry has not yet been established. 
5. Miscellaneous——The question of the manufacture of aluminium 
in Australia has been inquired into from the commercial point of view. 
Attention has also been given to other matters, such as the utilization of 
the natural phosphatic rocks of Australia, and of platinum and 
osmiridium. The Institute is co-operating with the Imperial Mineral 
Resources Buteau, established to collect information regarding the 
mineral resources and the metal requirements of the Empire, and to. 
advise as to action to be taken for the development of the resources. 
f.—Miscellancous. 
1. Chemical Investigations —A large number of chemical questions 
has been investigated and reported upon. A revised list of chemical 
imports has been compiled on a scientifie basis, and has been adopted 
by the Customs Department ‘and the Statistical Bureau. The results 
obtained are of commercial and’ industrial utility. The question of 
- sources for raw material for artificial fertilizers has been investigated, 
including potash from kelp; wool grease, wood ashes, salt lakes and 
brine springs, flue dusts from blast furnaces and cement works, and the 
water hyacinth. In co-operation with the British Nitrogen Products 
Committec, the question of the nitrogen requirements of Australia has 
been investigated and reported on. 
_A great number of other matters in this connexion has been inquired 
into. The following brief list gives some idea of the variety of subjects 
dealt with :—Destructive distillation of Australian hardwoods; manufac. - 
ture of sheep dips in Australia; spontaneous combustion and drying of 
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