616.    ---------------.  [COLLIERY GUARDIAN.]  Oil From Australian Brown Coal.  Vol. 158, 1939, pp. 88-89; British Coal Utilisation and Research Assoc., Monthly Bull., vol. 3, No. 1, Abs. 3042.

      In a report to the Victorian Government regarding the production of oil from brown-coal deposits, it is stated that the cost would be about 1 s. per gal.  The cost of the plant would be about pounds 4,000,000 based on a 60,000-ton unit.  It is thought that the costs could be reduced considerably if the oil is produced in conjunction with the existing electricity and briquet works.  The scheme, which has been prepared by German experts, embodies many improvements enabling the proposition to be placed on a commercial basis to suit Victorian conditions, and the cost of production is much lower than any previously published figures.  The report covers both the Fischer process, which is highly mechanized and involves low labor costs, and coal hydrogenation, which is at present producing greater quantities of oil.