Victoria will be sliced in half during the next two years by earth scientists who expect to reveal hidden mineral wealth and better understand land degradation caused by salinity. By using instruments that send vibrations into the earth, geologists will peel back the surface layers to expose a hidden landscape of buried hills, valleys and fossil streams, undiscovered gold and mineral wealth, and giant extinct volcanos. The $3 million project, called the Victorian Geotraverse, will attempt to expose the processes that shaped the state and helped form its mineral wealth. The project will be discussed at a conference, Victoria Undercover, in Benalla this week. Project leader Neil Phillips, chief of CSIRO Exploration and Mining, said the project would attempt to discover where the rest of Victoria's gold deposits might be found and where the next salinity disaster might strike. Using this process they will cut a 500-kilometre swathe through the Grampians, Bendigo, Benalla and Wodonga, curving down to Mallacoota on the far east coast. The project will involve 12 earth science agencies including the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Geoscience Australia, the Cooperative Research Centre for Landscape, Environments and Mineral Exploration and the CSIRO. ('Age' newspaper, 28th April, 2002. https://www.theage.com.au/national/going-to-ground-for-state-secrets-20020428-gdu5tz.html Scientists will send shocks through the Victorian earth which will be reflected back and recorded on instruments that will reveal the density of the rocks below.'Australian' newspaper article, 25/26th May, 2002, 'Geologists point to gold bonanza'. Article describes the $5 million Geotraverse research in Victoria, undertaken by CSIRO geologists, that 'estimate the northern plains of Victoria conceal up to 5000 tonnes of gold'. Image on bottom of article, possibly S.T. Gill watercolour, titled 'Victorian miners pan for gold in the mid-1800's'.bendigo mining n.l., bendigo, mining, gold, csiro, geologist, geology, victorian geotraverse project