Recording the results of heavy mineral analyses

Two diagrammatic methods of expressing the results of heavy mineral analyses are illustrated by data obtained from the examination of a series of soils from the Western Australian gold fields. A brief description is given of the preparation of soils for the microscopic identification of mineral grains. The writer has lately been engaged in a mineralogical examination of soils from the Southern Cross and Kalgoorlie centers of the West Australian gold fields ( Geol. Mag. , vol. 73, no. 869, 1936) and during the course of the investigation the matter of presenting the results of the heavy mineral analyses has necessarily been considered rather fully, for the value of any such investigation depends upon the "availability" of the data. The results of studies of sedimentary material published in many papers are only too often obscured by columns of figures which few readers feel willing to peruse or to try to interpret. This paper describes the technique adopted for the mineralogical examination of soils, and discusses and illustrates methods for the presentation of the data.