Colony of North Borneo annual report.

  • British North Borneo
Date:
[1959]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Colony of North Borneo annual report. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    agreement with the owners would have to be obtained before the phosphate could be worked. Fuller’s earth occurs as a weathering product of shale in many parts of the country. Peat, near Papar, covers an area of about 2,000 acres to a, depth of five or six feet and other deposits are known to occur elsewhere. Gold, antimony ore, black sand containing chromite, magnesite, monazite, and talc, are known in North Borneo but, at present, are thought not to be of economic importance. Water Supply The department continued to advise on the siting of boreholes for water in Sandakan, and this search for underground sources of supply has met with a moderate degree of success. During 1959, three wells were drilled by the Public Works Department, two at Tanah Merah and one alongside the Buli Sim Sim road. The first hole at Tanah Merah was sunk to a depth of 214 feet and, on test, was estimated to yield an average supply of 3,500 gallons per hour. The second hole at Tanah Merah was drilled to a depth of 404 feet and, on test, gave an average discharge of about 5,000 gallons per hour. The Buli Sim Sim bore hole was sunk to a depth of 151 feet and, on test, yielded an average discharge of 2,000 gallons per hour. The results of this drilling programme suggest that a series of low-yielding wells could be sunk in the Sandakan area. These would be capable of keeping pace with the domestic demand, but no large underground source of supply is likely to be found. Geological Survey Office and Administration The Geological Survey Office in Jesselton is part of the com¬ bined department for the British Territories in Borneo, the establishment of which includes eight geologists; of these the Director is stationed in Kuching, Sarawak, and the Deputy Director and two geologists in Jesselton. The remainder of the staff in Jesselton consists of an office assistant, one typist, eight technical assistants, and an office messenger. The office was built of permanent materials in 1952 and houses a museum, which is open to the public, for the display and storage of rock and mineral specimens. Displays include a relief model of the Colony showing the distribution of the various rock formations and a collection of North Borneo rocks illustrating the broad classification of rock types normally used by the geologist; these displays and the headquarters activities of the department, such as the use of the stereoscope in interpreting airphotographs and of the microscope in identifying rock.types, are demonstrated to visiting groups of senior school children and teacher trainees. The museum also contains a library of reference books and a
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