Map of Western Australia Shewing the Geological Maps Issued since 1896

Early and important geological map showing the areas surveyed in Western Australia after 1896 up to 1904, from the geological surveys conducted by the pioneering government geologist for Western Australia, Andrew Gibb Maitland (1864-1951). Maitland was an acknowledged authority on underground water and had early successes in the West locating bores between Geraldton and North West Cape that still supply water. Water and gold were then crucial to prosperity in the West and Maitland and his staff inevitably devoted much attention to the goldfields. He spent several long and arduous seasons from 1903 in the Pilbara region, mapping a vast area and seeking geological order among its ancient rocks. In 1901 he had worked in unknown parts of the Kimberley division as geologist to an expedition led by F. S. Drake-Brockman.