In commending this report to the earnest attention of prospectors, miners and investors at a time when Australia urgently needs every ounce of gold which can be produced, I wish to emphasize the immense amount of personal labour and sacrifice entailed upon the author in the accumulation of the data here published. For several years Mr. Owen has traversed the whole of the scattered field from end to end and has familiarised himself with the extraordinary problems presented by this most unusual goldfield.
It is this last factor, namely, the unorthodoxy of the field which, I think, is so little understood even by many of the miners themselves, and is certainly not appreciated byinvestors and critics who have not visited the area personally.
It is not intended to suggest that the "Laws of Nature" have been abrogated and that absolutely freak conditions have prevailed. It is a fact, however, that the combinations of geological conditions producing the gold deposits have been unusual, and the results are such that the "practical" miner, coming from a more "normal" area finds himself hopelessly lost.
In such a case it becomes necessary to abondon "experience" as a guide and to revert to consideration of fundamental principles. The unconscious confusion of superficial similar ties with "normal" conditions and failure to appreciate fundamental differences have been responsible for untold waste of labour and money on this field.
It should be realised that the geologist to whom the duty of preparing this report was allotted was faced with a task of more than ordinary difficulty. Routine methods and "normal" interpretations had to be abandoned and every observation had to be scrutinised and considered from all angles. It is fortunate that the work was in the hands of one who possesses an eminently judicial mind.
If the reader of the report will approach his task with a mind as open and receptive as that of the author he will certainly be rewarded. If prospectors and miners, applying old ideas with due caution, will avail themselves of the advice here given, it may be anticipated confidently that gold production at Tennant Creek will increase and will continue, naturally with fluctuations, for many years to come.
