MINERAL RESOURCES. No other single factor has played so important a part in the industrial upbuilding of Australia as her gold mines. Gold drew immigrants to the country; led to a more extensive exploration; established a home market, and led to civilization. Gold was offi cially reported as early as 1823, yet the gold fever struck the country only in 1851. New South Wales was the scene of the first activity, hut within a year there was a rush to the Bal larat district of Victoria, and seven years later to the Canoona district of Queensland. Western Australia was thought to be destitute of the precious metal, and it was not until the nineties that the rush to the Coolgardie districts (300 miles east of Perth) set in. Mining of any consequence in Tasmania began in 1870. South Australia, alone, bas failed to contribute largely It will be seen that Victoria has produced over two-thirds of the total product, while New South Wales and Queensland follow with 12 per cent. each. Victoria had led constantly until 1897, when she was outstripped by Western Australia, and the output of the latter State in 1899 was nearly double that of the former, al though Victoria's output in that year was the greatest since 1882. In this State, as in the others, improved processes (see GOLD) and ap pliances for obtaining both the alluvial and quartz deposits are resulting in a revival of the mining industry. The yield in Queensland for 1899 was the highest on record. The yield in New South Wales exceeded $10,000,000 in 1852 and again in 1862, but after the latter date it greatly decreased until 1888. From 1888 it has constantly increased. The Government, particu larly in Victoria, has been very active in further ing the industry. At many points throughout the gold-mining region, and in Western Aus tralia especially, the scarcity of water has been a serious obstacle. It has sometimes been neces sary to conduct water great distances; but, of late, means are being devised for storing and utilizing the abundant fall of the short rainy season, and often an adequate subterranean sup ply is found. The number of Chinese among the mining laborers is rapidly decreasing. The total gold product of the dur ing the last decade of the Nineteenth Century, and was almost as great as that of either the United States or the Transvaal, her only rivals.
The rich deposits of iron ore which are gen erously distributed over the continent have as yet been little worked ; but an effort is being made to stimulate both iron manufactures and iron mining. The greatest advance has been
in New South Wales, where rich ores are found in clOse proximity to coal and limestone. Other metals mined in small quantities are antimony, bismuth, manganese, platinum, and lead, the last-named being produced only in connection with silver mining. Building stone and commer cial clays are abundant, and are drawn upon as local needs require. Diamonds and numerous other precious stones are found, but not exten sively. The mineral fuels of Australia consist principally of bituminous coal. Over 90 per cent. of the total has been produced by New South Wales. Only in the United States is a larger amount of coal mined per capita. The value of the annual production of the Common wealth is close to $10.000,000. The accompany ing table shows the total mineral production by States in successive decades.
Although gold still constitutes the chief min ing product, its relative importance in the min ing industry is declining. Silver and silver-lead mining first became important in 1882. Its pro duction has been almost wholly confined to New South Wales, the maximum output ($18,000,000) being attained in 1891, when it exceeded the value of gold produced. But it has since fallen off almost one-half. For a few years past silver mining has rapidly developed in Tasmania. Cop per ranks almost on a par with silver, and has been extensively mined for a much longer period. Seventy per cent. of the total copper product of the country is produced in South Australia, where it is the only mineral extensively mined. New South Wales has produced about 16 per cent. of the total output. Owing to the deprecia tion in price, the production in both of these colonies greatly decreased after 1884; but there has recently been a revival in the industry, and the figures recorded above for 1899 are the high est reached in 15 years. Still, South Australia is no longer preOrninent in the copper-mining industry, Tasmania having had a remarkable development in the last five years, surpassing the former State in 1897, and in 1899 exceed ing her three to one. Tin is the only other metal mined in large quantities, the most important producers being Tasmania, New South Wales, and Queensland, in the order named. The min ing of this metal varies greatly from period to period, in consequence of the great fluctuations in prices. Thus far the mining has been con fined almost wholly to the alluvial deposits, al though there are lodes of unusual richness.