A total of 25 rotary cored holes were drilled by the Bureau in Portion 49, Parish of Wallarah, County Northumberland, 2 miles south of Swansea. Approximately 1400 ft. of "test and define" drilling proved a possible 200,000 tons of coal suitable to be open cut under an average overburden of 6/1 ratio. The initial drilling programme showed a rolling seam. After surveying, further holes were drilled to locate the displacement which is 10 to 15 ft. in the S.W. corner of the area. No other obstacles are known which would hinder immediate working of the area. The lower split of the Wallarah Seam was tested in three holes but was found to be too thin to warrant further prospecting. The geology of the area is discussed in this report, and the results of the drilling programme are shown in the accompanying graphic and bore logs.

During late 1951 and early 1952 the Bureau, while searching for open-cut coal in New South Wales, prospected the Big Ben and Donaldson's Seams in the Bloomfield Area which is 3.5 miles south of East Maitland. Drilling involving 21 holes and totalling about 2400 ft. revealed that although the actual coal of the seams was quite good in parts, the seams themselves were subject to marked bending, thinning, and splitting. This not only severely limits open-cut prospects to small areas but will make mining difficult. In the contiguous East Bloomfield, Stoney Pinch and Thornton Areas an additional 16 holes with a total footage of 2,250 feet were drilled and indicated that the seams were characterised by the same rapid variation and offer no better possibilities than the main Bloomfield Area. Operations, including mining, coal analyses, logging, and surveying are discussed. Bore logs and the results of coal sample analyses are appended to this report.

A total of 22 "testing and defining" rotary cored drill holes were drilled by the Bureau and J. McD. Royle Ltd., contractor to the Bureau, during the prospecting for reserves of open-cut coal in the Tomago Stage of the Upper Coal Measures near Buchanan. These 22 holes involved 3640 ft. of drilling and indicated possible reserves of 4,200,000 tons of coal suitable for mining by underground and open cut methods. The geology of the area, and the operations carried out, including mining, logging, sampling, analysis, and surveying, are discussed. The results of the drilling programme are shown in the accompanying maps, and graphic and bore logs.

A total of thirteen rotary cored bores were sunk by the Bureau approximately one mile south of the village of Teralba in the Parishes of Teralba and Awaba, Northumberland County. The Great Northern Seam in places is sufficiently thick for open cut mining but the coal is generally of very poor quality and the overburden to coal ratio much too high to warrant further drilling. Continued prospecting of the Fassifern Seam in this area is not warranted, because of the very poor quality of the coal in this seam. This report contains an account of the operations, and describes the results of the geological investigations. The results of drilling are detailed in the accompanying plates and bore logs.

In Portion 11, Ph. of Stockrington Diamond Drilling near an unnamed creek tributary to Surveyor Creek has disclosed coal continuously for a distance of 7,600 feet south from the northern boundary of the Portion. The seam is split and banded and the coal is inherently high in ash. Proximate analyses of the coal were carried out by the New South Wales Mines Department laboratory in Sydney. All coal ores were forwarded from the field and shale etc. bands of greater thickness than half an inch were discarded by the analysts. Stony coal or carbonaceous shale with S.G. greater than 1.6 was also rejected from the assay samples. Consequently the analyses quoted indicate a composition roughly equivalent to that which might be expected for cleaned or hand-picked coal from this area.

URL: https://geoscience.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/cr041079 GSQ RECORD 1993/25: COAL FACIES ANALYSIS IN THE EASTERN TAROOM TROUGH, BOWEN BASIN, QUEENSLAND

Eleven scout drill holes entailing 1290 feet of drilling were sunk to find suitable open-cut prospecting areas for the Young Wallsend Seam of the "Upper" Coal Measures within an area of one square mile in Portion 10, Parish of Hexham, Newcastle Region, N.S.W. Several drill holes intersected the Dudley (?) and Yard Seams overlying the Young Wallsend Seam. The scout drilling defined the following inferred reserves of coal: [see record for table data]. These figures do not take into account weathering and possible worked-out areas which may reduce the reserves by as much as 30%. The seams are banded and the quality of the coal could probably be improved considerably by washing. The scout drilling did not define accurately the overburden ratios; however, it is likely that overburden to coal ratio for the Dudley (?) Seam will average very roughly 5:1 and for Young Wallsend about 9:1 if the Dudley is mined beforehand where it overlies the Young Wallsend. These results did not justify commencing a "testing and defining" drilling programme. The Yard Seam was not investigated in detail; its thinness precludes it from having any importance for open-cut mining.

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