The Department of Mines Tasmania employs a Drilling Section for specialised drilling re- quired by government and semi-government bodies._x000D_
The section has a complement of nine crews oper- ating auger, cable tool, rotary and diamond drilling plants. For some years the Department has been involved in site investigation drilling of the Derwent River. The experience gained indicated that drilling methods should be altered. In 1976 an urgent programme was requested and the opportunity was taken to solve many problems associated with previous investigations._x000D_
Equipment and methods are discussed in detail._x000D_
The improved technique contributed to the suc- cessful completion of the Phase 1 site investi- Gation.