produce, for periods of five years to the end of 1899, and for the four years ended with 1903, with the relative fall per cent. :—

It will be seen that, assuming the index number of the five years 1870-74 to be 1,000, the fall in the succeeding five years was 8.5 per cent. for the imports, as compared with 6 per cent. for the exports. "The average value of the imports for the five years ending with 1884 was 5.9 per cent. less than in the preceding quinquennial period, whereas the difference in the value of the exports was 2.9 per cent. During the next five years the average value of the imports declined 8·5 per cent., while the fall in the value of the exports was no less than 13.8 per cent., so that the index number for 1885-89 for both imports and exports was practically the same figure. As already mentioned, the fall for the period 1890-94 was much heavier in regard to the exports than the imports, amounting to 18 as compared with 6.5 per cent.; but during the period 1895-99 the fall in the exports was not much greater than that in the imports, being 70 per cent. compared with 5.8 per cent. In the last four years the exports have risen by 16-2 per cent., and the imports by 7·8 per cent., so that the last two periods were the most favourable, as far as prices go, that have been experienced in Australia for many years. The Australian states and New Zealand are chiefly affected by the fall in prices because they are debtor countries. In the chapter on "Private Finance" will be found certain calculations showing that the annual charge payable by the states and municipalities on their indebtedness to British creditors is £12,852,000, while the earnings of investments made in Australasia by private persons, or drawn by absentees, amount to £5,250,000 per annum. As the whole of the interest on Government and municipal loans has to be paid by exports, irrespective of the fall in prices, and as a large portion also of the interest payable to private investors is in the same category, the fall is a matter of very serious importance to these states. Fortunately the increase of production, as compared with the population, has been large enough in normal seasons to counteract the fall in prices.

913

MINERAL RESOURCES.

ALMOST all the principal metals of economic value are found in

Australasia, and many are common to several of the states. In dealing with the occurrence and value of mineral deposits, a classification has been made into noble and other metals, carbon minerals, salts, stones and clays, and diamonds and other gem stones.

GOLD.

Gold, the most valuable of noble metals, is found throughout Australasia, and the important position at present occupied by these states is largely due to discoveries of this metal, the development of other industries being, in a country of varied resources, a natural sequence to the acquisition of mineral treasure. Settlement in Australia was still young when manytongued rumour spoke of the existence of the precious metal, but it was not until the 16th February, 1823, that the Government was officially apprised of a discovery destined to be the precursor of a prosperity seldom surpassed in the history of nations. On the date mentioned Mr. AssistantSurveyor M'Brien reported that at a spot on the Fish River, about 15 miles east of Bathurst, he had discovered gold. Mention is made in the early records of New South Wales of several other finds, but it remained for Count Strzelecki and the Rev. W. B. Clarke to demonstrate the existence of the precious metal in payable quantities, and to assert their belief in its abundance, an opinion strongly supported in England by several eminent authorities, and substantiated by Hargraves' discovery in the year 1851. The gold-fields of Lewis Ponds and Summer Hill Creek had hardly been opened up when, on the day that witnessed the severance of the Port Phillip district from the mother colony of New South Wales, Mr. J. M. Esmond discovered gold in Victoria. Shortly afterwards a rush set in for Ballarat, and the gold fever took possession of Australia. The following year (1852) saw gold found in South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, though it was not until 1861 that a large population was, by the prospect of rapidly obtaining wealth, attracted to the last-mentioned colony. The rush to Canoona, in what is now Queensland, took place in 1858. The last of the states in which extensive deposits of the precious metal were found was Western Australia, but the mines there are now the richest in

Australasia, and have proved an enormous source of wealth to the state. From the date of its first discovery, gold to the value of over 494 million pounds sterling has been obtained in Australasia. Towards this total Victoria has contributed nearly 267 millions, and for many years that state was the largest gold producer of Australasia. In the year 1898, however, for the first time, the production was surpassed by that of Western Australia, and the latter state increased its advantage each year until in 1903 the output was valued at £8,770,720, as against £3,259,483 in Victoria. The yield of gold in Victoria has been well maintained for many years, and each successive year from 1893 to 1899 showed an increase. In the last-mentioned year the production was 854,500 oz., valued at £3,418,000, but during the last four years it has been somewhat smaller, although the value has exceeded £3,000,000 annually. The yield for 1903 was 822,424 oz., equal to 767,351 oz. fine, valued at £3,259,483. The Bendigo district was again the chief centre of production, with 224,747 oz., followed by Ballarat with 174,817 oz., and Beechworth with 116,886 oz. The richest fields in the state are at Bendigo and Ballarat which, after yielding uninterruptedly for half a century, still give no evidence of depletion. The output of the former field in 1903 was 219,820 oz., and of the latter 55,800 oz. Of the total yield of the state 42,066 oz. were obtained by means of dredging and hydraulic sluicing. There were 51 dredging plants in operation during the year, comprising 15 bucket dredges, 23 pump hydraulic sluices, 10 jet elevators, and 3 rotary hydraulic plants, while 14 others were engaged in hydraulic sluicing by gravitation. The men employed in this branch of the mining industry numbered upwards of 1,100. The total number of men engaged in gold-mining on the 31st December, 1903, was 25,208, of whom 11,058 were alluvial miners, and 14,150 quartz miners. The machinery and plant in use on the same date were valued at £2,040,690.

Queensland promised at one time to overtake Victoria in the annual production of gold, but so far the southern state has maintained its position, although the production of Queensland is steadily advancing. In 1889 the output was valued at £2,586,860 but thenceforward the yield declined, and this amount was not again reached until 1898, when the value was £2,750,349. During the next two years there was again an increase, the value of the gold won in 1900 being £2,871,709, the highest yet recorded, but a considerable quantity was made up of gold obtained from old tailings, and from creeks which had served as channels for the escape of residue from the mills. In 1901 the yield was valued at £2,541,892, and in 1902 at £2,720,639, but these totals were exceeded in 1903, when the production was 921,363 oz., or 668,546 oz. fine, valued at £2,839,813.

Arranged in order of productiveness, the principal goldfields in Queensland in 1903 were Charters Towers, Gympie, and Mount Morgan, while Ravenswood and Croydon also produced a considerable quantity of the precious metal. For many years Charters Towers has been the chief

gold-producing centre, and the last two years have been amongst the most prosperous experienced on the field since its discovery in 1872. The production in 1902 amounted to 265,244 oz. fine, valued at £1,126,735, and in 1903 to 285,771 oz. fine, valued at £1,213,879. There are three great ore shoots on this field, known as The Day Dawn, Brilliant, and Victoria Reefs, and the rich developments in the Queen Cross, one of the mines engaged in working the Victoria reef, have been mainly responsible for the increased activity in the mining operations. The gold obtained from this mine alone in 1903 amounted to 78,303 oz. Over 200 men were employed and dividends amounting to £215,000 were paid. Of the mines engaged on the Day Dawn reef, the most important in point of production has hitherto been the Day Dawn Block and Wyndham, which has returned dividends amounting to £761,460, but the output is gradually becoming smaller, and in 1903 was only 17,018 oz., being considerably below that of previous years. Scarcity of water has been the chief drawback to mining operations at Charters Towers, but this difficulty was overcome by the construction of a weir across the Burdekin River, thus ensuring a constant supply. The yield from the Mount Morgan field amounted to 124,975 oz., or 116,672 oz. fine gold, valued at £495,592, or £111,122 less than in the preceding year. The Mount Morgan mine was responsible for almost the whole of the production, and yielded 120,391 oz. of gold, obtained from 238,801 tons of stone. Up to the 30th November, 1903, no less than 2,678,922 oz. of gold, valued at £10,874,553, had been obtained from this mine. The machinery employed at the Mount Morgan mine on the 31st December, 1903, was valued at £452,800, and about 1,600 hands were engaged at the mine and works. The yield of the Gympie mining district, in 1903, surpassed that of the previous year, which had hitherto ranked as the highest, and amounted to 147,622 oz. fine gold, with a value of £627,056. The chief contributing mines were the No. 2 South Great Eastern, Scottish Gympie, and South Glanmire and Monkland, which produced 52,010 oz., 39,479 oz., and 27,290 oz. of gold, and paid dividends amounting to £115,200, £53,625, and £70,500 respectively. In September, 1903, a discovery of alluvial gold in the bed of the Dee River, about 7 miles above Mount Morgan, was reported, and up to the end of the year gold to the value of £7,658 had been obtained.

There were 1777 quartz miners and 29 alluvial miners on this field at the close of 1903, the total population being estimated at 15,550 persons. The Ravenswood gold-field, which had been comparatively neglected for some years, again attracted attention owing to rich discoveries made in 1902, and during that year the production amounted to 40,969 oz. fine gold, valued at £174,034, while in 1903 the yield was 38,273 oz. fine gold, with a value of £162,572. The New Ravenswood, Limited, owns the principal mines on the field, including the Sunset, from which 19,599 oz. of gold were obtained during the year. There were 912 quartz miners and 37 alluvial miners on the

field at 31st December, 1903, in addition to 39 engaged in mining for other minerals, the total population being estimated at 4,800.

The yield of the Croydon field amounted to 31,790 oz. fine gold, valued at £135,036. The number of men engaged in gold mining at this field on the 31st December, 1903, was 425, the total population being 2,708. The machinery in use was valued at £72,400. The men engaged in gold-mining in Queensland at the end of 1903 numbered 9,229, of whom 7,278 were quartz-miners and 1,951 alluvial miners, 494 of the latter being Chinese.

In New South Wales the greatest annual production of gold occurred in 1852, soon after the first discovery of the precious metal, when the output was valued at £2,660,946. The only other year which saw a production in excess of two millions sterling was 1862, when the return reached £2,467,780. In 1874 the yield had fallen to 271,166 oz., valued at £1,041,614, and thenceforth the industry declined considerably in importance, reaching its lowest point in 1888, when only 87,541 oz., valued at £317,241, were produced. From that date onward there was a steady improvement, and in 1894 the Government took the step of furnishing large numbers of the unemployed with miners' rights and free railway passes, and sending them to the abandoned alluvial fields as fossickers. This action, with the increased attention paid to quartz-mining, nearly doubled the production, the quantity obtained during the year being set down at 324,787 oz., valued at £1,156,717, being the first time since 1874 that it had exceeded one million sterling; while in 1895 the yield reached 360,165 oz., and the value £1,315,929. During the next three years there was a falling off, but in 1899 the output reached the value of £1,623,320, the highest since 1872. From that year onwards there was a diminished production due to the scarcity of water, but with the more favourable season of 1903 there was a revival of the industry, and the yield amounted to 254,260 oz. fine, valued at £1,080,029, making the total up to the end of that year £50,924,164. The uncertainty of the water supply has always been the chief drawback to mining in New South Wales, as well as in other states of the Commonwealth, and the effects of a good or bad season can be readily seen in the gold yield of the year. Of the gold produced in 1903, 27,237 oz., valued at £104,303, were obtained by dredging, the output from this branch of the industry showing an increase of £6,412 on that of the previous year. On the 31st December, 1903, there were 41 dredging plants in commission, valued at £253,480. The chief centre of gold-dredging is in the Araluen Division, where fourteen plants were in operation, and gold to the value of £54,990 was obtained. The area held and applied for under lease for gold dredging was 9,015 acres. The principal seats of alluvial mining in the state are the Bathurst, Mudgee, Tumut and Adelong, and Braidwood districts, together with the country watered by the various feeders of the Upper Lachlan; while the principal quartz-veins are situated near Adelong, Armidale, Bathurst, Cobar, Hill End, Orange, Parkes, and