VPRS 19302 Assay Registers

This series comprises bound volumes recording assay analyses 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. Samples were then sent to the Mines Department, accompanied by the required correspondence detailing the sender’s name and address, the type of material to be assayed, the locality in which the material was collected, and the nature of treatment required – for example ‘assay for gold’, or ‘full analysis’. Once delivered to the Department, the correspondence received a number for recordkeeping purposes, and was forwarded on to the laboratory.  Once the analysis was complete, a copy of the results was recorded in the Assay Register. Often, they were transcribed directly, however in many instances they were handwritten or, later, a typed transfer copy of the original report, stuck to the page or as a loose-leaf insert. In later volumes, the copied reports match the originals within the series VPRS 19143 Assay Reports. The date the report was received and the date a copy was forwarded to whomever requested it was also captured in the Assay Register.

本系列合订本收录了维多利亚地质调查局（Geological Survey Victoria，档案编号VA 4118）与矿产部（Mines Department，档案编号VA 612）实验室开展的化验（assay）分析记录。化验是一种化学分析手段，用于测定样本中金属元素（金、银、铜等）或非金属元素（硫、磷等）的占比，同时可用于确定矿石或贵金属的品质与纯度，并识别污染物与杂质。地质样本由个人、企业或政府部门从维多利亚州各地采集，样本类型涵盖褐煤、黑煤、石英、尾矿、钻孔水、矿井空气、岩石、淤泥与黏土。样本将被送往矿产部，随附的正式函件需列明寄件人姓名与地址、待化验物料的类型、物料采集地点以及所需的检测类型——例如“黄金化验”或“全项分析”。函件送达矿产部后，将被分配专属编号以用于存档管理，随后转送至实验室。检测完成后，检测结果副本将被录入化验登记册（Assay Register）：通常情况下，结果会被直接誊录；但在诸多情形中，登记内容为手写记录，后续则改为将原始报告的打印副本粘贴至页面内，或作为活页插页纳入登记册。后续合订本中的副本报告，与VPRS 19143号序列《化验报告》（Assay Reports）中的原始文件完全一致。化验登记册中同时记录了报告接收日期与结果副本寄送给需求方的日期。