Record series
Assay Reports
VPRS 19143
1930 - 1983
Open
North Melbourne
Agencies
This record series was created by:
Geological Survey of Victoria ( VA4118 ): 1930 - 1983
Department of Minerals and Energy ( VA611 ): 1977 - 1983
Agencies responsible for this record series: Geological Survey of Victoria ( VA 4118 ): 2022 - present
Date Range
Series date range: 1930 - 1983
Series in custody:
1930 - 1983
Contents in custody:
1930 - 1983
Function / Content
This series contains the reports of assaying undertaken by the laboratories of Geological Survey Victoria (VA 4118) and the Mines Department (VA 612).An assay is a chemical analysis used to determine the proportion of metallic (gold, silver, copper, etc.) or non- metallic (sulphur, phosphorus, etc.) elements in a sample. It is also used to determine the quality and purity of the ore or precious metal and identify pollutants or impurities. Geological samples were collected by individuals, businesses, or government departments from sites across Victoria, and included brown and black coal, quartz, tailings, bore water, mine air, rock, silt, and clay.
Each report includes details of who submitted the sample for examination, the location where sample was obtained (e.g. Parish, mine or general locality) and a description of the sample. This was followed by the Laboratory Report containing the findings and results of the chemical testing, such as amount of gold, silver or other ores contained in the sample, and of which a copy was sent to the initial submitter of the sample.
Assay sample testing was the responsibility of the Geological Survey of Victoria (VA 4118) and was undertaken by different public bodies over the period of this series. Reports of 1930-1933 were completed by the Geological Survey Laboratory, Mines Department (VA 612) before changing to the State Laboratories from 1932-1967. Reports from 1968 were completed by the Mines Department Chemical Branch until 1977 when the department was amalgamated with the Ministry of Fuel and Power in 1977 to become the Department of Minerals and Energy (VA 611). In 1983, the Chemical Branch of the Department of Mineral and Energy then amalgamated with other state chemical branches to form the State Chemistry Laboratory (VA 2829) within the Department of Agriculture (VA 618).
How to use the records
Files and volumes can be browsed by year, where reports can be located using the index in each file or volume location of sample collection, sample type and/or sample collector.Individual reports can also be searched on using the assay number (in the format year/assay number), Geological Survey of Victoria Reference ID Number or year. Titles of items typically include the type of assay sample and the location where the sample was collected from.
Recordkeeping system
This series forms part of a larger departmental recordkeeping system, managing the receipt of samples in and dissemination of assay reports out.Prior to the commencement of this series in 1930, samples were initially sent to the Department (known as the Department of Mines and Water Supply and subsequently the Mines Department) and recorded in the Assay Register (VPRS 19302), where the next assay number was assigned in sequence, re-starting with each new year. The sample was then sent to the Department’s Laboratory where the assay treatment and results were recorded in the Laboratory Register of Assays (VPRS 19304). A copy of the results was sent back to the Department to be recorded in the Assay Register (VPRS 19302) and sent on the original sample sender. The Laboratory also recorded the assay results in the Classification of Assays (VPRS 19305), which was a control record for the Laboratory Register of Assays indexed by sample type. As of 1908, Assay Sample Books (VPRS 19303) were created by laboratories to record the receiving of samples as well as when the reports were sent back to the Department.
The assay reports in this series overlap with this system from 1930 but it appears that from 1944 the recordkeeping system changed and the bound volumes of assay reports in VPRS 19143 superseded and replaced both the Department Assay Registers (VPRS 19304) and the Laboratory Register of Assays (VPRS 19302).
Charges for assay samples was also recorded separately in the Register of Payment for Assays (VPRS 7041).
Assay reports from 1930-1943 and 1981-1983 are arranged in files by year, with some additional loose reports grouped by year period also in files. Reports from 1944 to 1980 are bound in volumes. Volumes from 1944 to 1968 are labelled Assay Reports with the year on the spine (e.g. Assay Reports 1944), while volumes from 1969 onwards are labelled Laboratory Reports plus the range of samples held in the volume (e.g. Laboratory Reports 1969 Sample Nos. 1-290).
An internal reference database was introduced to Geological Survey of Victoria in the mid-1980s, known both as GEDIS and BIB, as part of a digitisation program for physical assets, assay reports. As individual assay reports were registered in the system they were assigned a unique reference ID, listed against items as Geological Survey of Victoria Reference ID Number.
Before coming into the custody of Public Record Office Victoria, this series was held at the Geological Survey of Victoria (GSV) Drill Core Library at Werribee.
