GENERAL

The Koettlitz - Blue Glacier and Taylor Valley region is characterised by a lack of sulphides and must be regarded as generally unfavourable to base metal sulphide mineralisation. Furthermore, all sulphides found had small gossanous caps and ochreous brown and yellowish iron staining associated with them so that any large body of sulphides reaching the surface would almost certainly have attracted attention during previous work in the area. Ochreous brown staining is common throughout the region, especially in aplite screes, and it is apparently derived from the weathering of biotite. However the characteristic yellow colour found with all sulphide occurrences serves to differentiate between sulphide-derived and biotite-derived iron staining.

No appreciable quantitities of industrial minerals were located during the survey, apart from marbles which are abundant and in most cases of apparently high purity.

During the examination of Taylor Valley several boulders of pink Irizar granite were examined in moraine, although none of the known outcrops were reached. This granite is macroscopically similar to tin bearing granites in North Queensland and deserves investigation for pneumatolytic mineralisation of tin, tungsten, molybdenum and rare earths, Molybdenite has already been recorded by Gunn and [gap — reason: illegible]arren from near Granite Harbour; the molybdenite was found in pegmatite associated with Irizar Granite.

Thirty soil samples were collected in the region, including a set down-slope from copper mineralisation. The samples will be analysed for copper and sine to test the effectiveness of geochemical prospecting in the region.