Political and commercial geology and the world's mineral resources

by Unknown

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

Commercially important mines are found in every continent, and there are few regions on the earth’s surface that do not contain deposits profitably worked now or formerly. The distribution of gold has played an important part in the settlement of new lands, notably California, western Canada, Alaska, Mexico, Australia, and South Africa, and will undoubtedly greatly influence the future movements of peoples. Yet although gold is distributed thus widely, $323,950,000, or over 75 per cent. of the total amount of gold produced in 1917, came from four countries, Transvaal, United States, Australia and Russia.

The outputs of the chief producing countries are given in [Table 67] and [Figure 19].

North America

United States.

—Although at present surpassed by the Transvaal, the United States formerly led the world as a producer of gold. It is estimated that this country since 1792 has contributed about $3,913,000,000 to the gold supply of the world, a little less than 25 per cent. of the total produced, and an output greater than that of any other nation.[160] The United States first became an important producer in 1850, following the discovery of gold in California. Previous to that time some gold was mined in the Appalachian states, the total probably reaching $50,000,000.

[160] Report of the committee appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to study the gold situation.

In 1915 the output of the United States was $101,035,000, the highest mark so far reached. Since that year there has been an annual drop of about $8,000,000 in output. The yield in 1918 was $68,646,700 and in 1919, $58,488,800.

During the past four years, eight states, California, Colorado, Alaska, South Dakota, Nevada, Arizona, Montana, and Utah, have produced more than 90 per cent. of the gold mined in the United States.

Table 67.—Gold Production of the Principal Producing Countries, 1880-1917[161]

Year	United States	Australasia	Transvaal [162]	Russia- Siberia		Rhodesia [162]	Mexico		Canada	British India	World [163]
1880	$36,000,000	$28,765,000	$1,993,800	$28,551,028		...	$989,160		$815,089	...	$106,436,800
1881	34,700,000	30,690,000	1,993,800	24,371,343		...	858,909		1,094,926	...	103,023,100
1882	32,500,000	31,955,017	1,993,800	23,867,935		...	936,223		1,094,926	...	101,996,600
1883	30,000,000	27,150,000	717,000	20,119,000		...	951,000		954,000	...	95,392,000
1884	30,800,000	28,284,000	830,000	21,874,000		...	1,183,000		954,000	...	101,729,000
1885	31,801,000	27,439,000	1,384,000	25.338,000		...	867,000		1,116,000	$135,000	108 435,000
1886	34,869,000	26,425,000	1,438,000	20,518,000		...	614,000		1,330,442	421,600	106,163,000
1887	33,136,000	27,327,600	1,919,600	20,092,000		...	824,000		1,178,637	320,000	105,774,900
1888	33,167,000	28,560,660	4,500,000	21,302,000		...	974,000		1,111,959	685,720	110,196,000
1889	32,967,000	33,086,700	7,788,372	23,905,600		...	700,000		1,295,000	1,502,600	123,489,200
1890	32,845,000	29,808,000	10,438,356	25,484,000		...	767,000		1,666,000	2,000,000	118,848,700
1891	33,175,000	31,399,000	14,885,639	24,162,500		...	1,000,000		930,666	2,495,000	130,650,000
1892	33,015,000	34,159,000	23,220,108	24,806,200		...	1,129,200		907,600	3,318,300	146,651,500
1893	35,955,000	35,688,600	28,293,831	27,808,200		...	1,305,300		927,200	3,813,600	157,494,800
1894	39,500,000	41,760,800	39,696,330	24,133,400		...	4,500,000	[164]	1,042,100	3,882,900	181,175,600
1895	46,610,000	44,798,300	43,893,300	28,894,400		...	6,000,000	[164]	1,910,900	4,656,200	198,763,600
1896	53,088,000	45,181,900	43,779,669	21,535,800		...	8,331,700	[164]	2,810,200	6,130,500	202,251,600
1897	57,363,000	52,665,700	57,633,861	23,245,700		...	7,500,000	[164]	6,089,500	7,247,200	236,083,700
1898	64,463,000	64,860,800	79,213,953	25,463,400		444,617	8,500,000	[164]	13,838,700	7,781,500	286,879,700
1899	71,053,400	79,321,600	71,384,561	22,167,100		1,129,773	8,500,000	[164]	21,324,300	8,658,800	306,724,100
1900	79,171,000	73,498,900	6,124,226	20,145,500		1,158,815	9,000,000	[164]	27,880,500	9,435,500	254,576,300
1901	78,666,700	76,880,200	5,333,994	22,850,900		2,974,943	10,284,800		24,128,500	9,395,900	260,992,900
1902	80,000,000	81,578,800	34,901,140	22,533,400		3,366,561	10,153,100		21,336,700	9,588,100	296,737,600
1903	73,591,700	89,210,100	61,454,439	24,632,200		4,065,489	10,677,500		18,834,500	11,428,900	327,702,700
1904	80,464,700	87,767,300	78,004,559	24,803,200		4,794,208	12,605,300		16,462,500	11,722,900	347,377,200
1905	88,180,700	85,926,500	101,489,199	22,291,600		7,337,211	16,107,100		14,610,400	11,950,200	380,288,700
1906	94,373,800	82,391,400	119,618,507	19,496,500		10,082,747	18,534,700		12,023,900	12,087,700	402,503,000
1907	90,435,700	75,677,700	133,361,943	26,684,300		11,199,181	18,681,100		8,382,800	10,383,600	412,966,600
1908	94,560,000	73,327,300	145,862,971	28,052,200		13,022,460	22,371,200		9,842,100	10,598,500	442,476,900
1909	99,673,400	71,007,900	150,799,880	32,381,300		13,223,955	23,842,900		9,382,200	10,358,600	454,059,100
1910	96,269,100	65,470,600	155,597,202	35,579,600		13,590,658	24,910,600		10,205,800	10,718,400	455,239,100
1911	96,890,000	60,184,200	170,566,159	32,151,600		13,823,733	24,880,100		9,762,100	11,054,100	461,939,700
1912	93,451,500	54,509,400	188,293,100	22,199,000		14,226,900	24,500,000		12,648,800	11,055,700	466,136,100
1913	88,884,400	53,113,200	181,885,300	26,508,700		14,274,700	19,308,800		16,598,900	12,178,000	459,941,100
1914	94,531,800	47,569,023	173,559,940	28,586,392		17 663,686	4,788,175		15,983,004	11,378,400	439,078,260
1915	101,035,700	49,397,797	188,033,156	26,322,745		18,915,324	6,559,275		18,977,901	11,522,457	468,724,918
1916	92,315,363	38,213,328	192,182,900	22,300,000		19,232,200	7,690,700		19,235,000	11,206,500	454,176,500
1917	84,456,600	35,275,000	186,254,256	18,000,000	[164]	14,988,600	9,000,000	[164]	15,449,426	10,756,800	423,590,200

[161] Compiled from reports of the Director of the Mint, 1880-1917.

[162] Previous to 1898 production of Rhodesia and Mozambique included in Transvaal returns.

[163] Total production of world, 1492-1917, $16,916,735,394.

[164] Estimated.

Fig 19.—Production of gold in chief producing countries, 1880-1917, based on reports of the Director of the Mint.

With the discovery of gold in a mill race at Coloma, Eldorado County, California, by J. A. Marshall in 1848, the history of modern gold production began. The great rush to California followed and the state became the leading gold-producing region of the world. The output for 1860 amounted to $45,320,000, as compared with a total output of only $1,000,000 for the remaining states. For many years the gold production of California has been declining, the total yield in 1917 amounting to only $20,000,000, a decrease of almost $2,000,000 from the output of 1916. About three-fifths of the output comes from lode mines and the remainder from placers.

For a number of years Colorado was the leading gold-producing state, principally because of the output from Cripple Creek, Teller County, which was from 1893 to 1908 the leading gold camp in the United States. Recently the output has fallen below that of California. Over half of the yield of the state in 1916 came from Teller County.

The earliest discovery of gold in Alaska was probably about 1849 along the shores of Cook Inlet. In 1879 the gold-quartz veins near Sitka were discovered, and a year later the placers of Juneau. The discovery of the gold placers in the valley of the Yukon was made in 1886 and of those in the Klondike in 1896. Most of the Alaskan output is obtained from placer deposits, the richest being in the Seward Peninsula near Nome and in the Yukon basin. The largest producing lode mines have been those near Juneau; of these the Treadwell was for long the greatest gold mine in the world, but it is now inactive. During the past few years the working of large low-grade disseminated deposits of the Treadwell type near Juneau has been undertaken on a scale hitherto undreamed of, but thus far these ventures (Alaska Gold and Alaska Juneau mines) have not been financially successful.

The gold-producing area of South Dakota is confined to an area of less than 100 square miles, lying in the Black Hills. The gravels of Whitewood and Deadwood gulches were first washed in 1875, and in 1876 the famous Homestake lodes were discovered. At present about 94 per cent. of the total output of the state is controlled by one company, the Homestake Mining Co., the largest producing company in the United States.

Following the exhaustion of the famous Comstock lode, demarcated in 1851, Nevada was of little importance as a gold-producing state until the discovery of the rich deposits of Tonopah in 1900. At present practically all the gold obtained in the state comes from the vein deposits of Tonopah and Goldfield. Divide is a newly developed camp between these two.

There are three main auriferous areas in Arizona: the vicinity of Bisbee and Tombstone, Cochise County; the Oatman district, Mohave County; and the Verde district, Yavapai County. Arizona was one of the few states to show a larger output in 1917 than in 1916. The United Eastern mine, a new property opened in 1913 in the Oatman district of Mohave County, produced heavily and was responsible for the increase. The gold output of Cochise and Yavapai counties is obtained largely from copper ore.

During the sixties and seventies, Montana was second only to California in its yield of placer gold. The most famous placers were those of Bannack and Alder Gulch and later Helena. Much of the present output is obtained as a by-product from copper ores.

Few mines in Utah are worked exclusively for their gold content, the greater part of the yield of the state being derived from copper and lead ores.

Gold is also mined in Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. Small amounts were produced in 1917 in a number of the Appalachian states. Before the discovery of gold in California, practically all of the gold coined in the United States mint came from the mines of Virginia, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas, but since the Civil War their output has not been important. The gold production of the Philippine Islands in 1917 amounted to $1,404,000.

Canada.

—The total gold yield of Canada in 1900 amounted to $28,000,000, but with the exhaustion of the placer deposits it declined to $8,382,000 in 1907. With the development of vein deposits, production increased steadily from this low point, and reached $19,235,000 in 1916, and $15,272,992 in 1917, placing Canada sixth in the list of gold producers. Three provinces, Ontario, British Columbia, and the Yukon Territory, yield most of the gold, the remaining provinces producing less than 1 per cent. of the total.

More than one-half of the Canadian production comes from the Porcupine district in Temiskaming, Ontario, developed in 1912. Other producing districts, though of minor importance, are Kirkland Lake and Munro Township, also in Temiskaming, and Long Lake, near Naughton, Sudbury district.[165]

[165] “Production of Copper, Gold, Lead, Nickel, Silver, Zinc, and Other Metals in Canada, 1916.” Canadian Department of Mines, Mines Branch, 1917.

At one time most of the gold output of British Columbia was derived from placers, chiefly from those in the Atlin and Cariboo districts, but less than 5 per cent. came from that source in 1917. The main lode mining districts are West Kootenay and Yale, in the southern part of the province.[166] Gold production in 1917 amounted to about half of the total for 1916.

[166] “Production of Copper, Gold, Lead, Nickel, Silver, Zinc, and Other Metals in Canada, 1917.” Canadian Department of Mines, Mines Branch, 1919.

Gold has been known in the Yukon Territory since 1869 and the deposits have been actively worked since 1881. The greater part of the placers of Forty-mile River and all of Sixty-mile River are within Canadian jurisdiction. In 1897 came the discovery of the Klondike. Gold production reached its height in Yukon Territory in 1900, when the output was 1,077,649 fine ounces, valued at $22,000,000. Practically all of the 1917 production was derived from placer deposits.

Gold was mined in Quebec as early as 1823, but Canada was of little importance as a gold-producing region prior to the discovery of the British Columbia placers in 1857. Gold deposits of little economic value are still worked in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Prospecting and development work in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta indicate that these provinces may become important producers of gold.

Mexico.

—For many years Mexico ranked fourth among the gold-producing countries of the world, being surpassed only by the Transvaal, the United States, and Australasia. Revolutions and bandit warfare have seriously interfered with mining operations since 1911, and the output of gold in 1917 was little more than one-third of the normal annual yield. With the establishment of a stable government, able to protect foreign investments, Mexico will no doubt regain its former position.

A large part of the gold output of Mexico is obtained as a by-product from lead, silver, zinc, and copper ores. The only true gold-mining district is the El Oro district of the states of Mexico and Michoacan. The chief producing mines are the Esperanza, El Oro, Mexico Mines of El Oro, and Dos Estrellas. In 1906 the Esperanza was considered, in respect to both actual output and profits earned, the most productive gold mine in the world. Since then it has been surpassed by mines of the United States and the Transvaal. Another famous gold mine of Mexico, the Dolores, situated in western Chihuahua, yields ore whose silver content is almost equal in value to the gold. Lower California, Sonora, Durango, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato, and Chiapas are all gold-producing states.

Central America.

—At the time of the discovery of America, the Spanish were attracted to the region now included in the states of Central America by reports of fabulously rich mines and of the wealth of the Indians. A number of expeditions were sent out in search of the gold and some rich mines were discovered and worked. Gold is still produced in Central America, but the total amount is small, being less than 1 per cent. of the world total in 1913. Honduras is the richest of the states in production and Nicaragua ranks second, the principal centers of the gold-mining industry being in the Departments of Matagalpa and Chontales, and in the district of Cabo Gracias and Prinzapolka.[167]

[167] U. S. Commerce Reports, Supplement 34a, 1915, p. 4.

South America

South America was also an important source of gold during the years following the discovery of America. The early conquerors obtained gold by plundering the temples, churches, and even the graves of the natives. Following the conquest, the Spaniards by means of their slaves systematically searched much of the continent for gold deposits. About 15 per cent. ($2,266,000,000) of all the gold produced between 1492 and 1917 came from South America.

Today South America is of little importance as a gold producer, the combined yield of all the countries for 1913 being about 2.5 per cent. of the world total. The great bulk of the South American production has so far been alluvial gold. With the establishment of more stable governments and the improvement of transportation facilities it is likely that the production of South America will increase.

According to Maclaren[168] the gold fields of South America are disposed in three somewhat sharply separated areas. The chief area is that extending the length of the Andes from the Isthmus of Panama to central Chile and including the deposits of Colombia. The second area is contained in a well-marked petrographic and metallographic province extending across the rearland of the Guianas and including also the mines of Venezuela and northern Brazil. The third area is contained in the province of Minas Geraes, Brazil. Some gold is obtained from Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Uruguay. The chief gold-bearing areas of Colombia are Choco, the Department of Antioquia, and the district lying between the Cauca and Magdalena rivers. Fairly rich deposits have also been found in Colombia near the Ecuadorian border.[169]

[168] Maclaren, J. Malcolm: “Gold: Its Geological Occurrence and Geographical Distribution, 1908,” p. 619.

[169] U. S. Commerce Reports, Supplement 42b, 1915, p. 12.

The principal mines of Brazil are the St. John del Rey mine, and the mines owned by the Ouro Preto Gold Mines of Brazil, Ltd., both in the State of Minas Geraes. The former mine is said to be the deepest in the world.

Europe

Although Europe in the past has played an important part in the production of gold, very little is mined at the present time. Previous to the discovery of America, much of the gold in use came from the Alps and from Hungary. Deposits were also worked in England, Ireland, Wales, Spain, and Germany.

The only gold mines in Europe of any present economic importance are in the former empire of Austria-Hungary, France, and the Urals of Russia. In the south of France gold has been produced along the streams flowing from the Pyrenees, and also in the eastern provinces. At present only three mines are in operation, which in 1911 produced 2,554 kilograms of gold. The Hungarian deposits are very old, as they were worked by the Romans 2,000 years ago. Most of the producing mines of today are in Transylvania. Russia is credited with producing 5.8 per cent. of the world total in 1913. A small part of this production came from the Urals of European Russia, chiefly as a by-product from other ores, but the greater part was obtained in Siberia. The Siberian deposits are discussed below, under Asia.

Asia

Since the decline in the Mexican production, Russia ranks fourth among the gold-producing countries. Most of the output comes from Siberia, which has long been a source of gold, the mines of the Altai Mountains being considered among the oldest in the world. The production of gold in Siberia from 1830 to date has been estimated by Russian authorities at approximately $1,000,000,000.

Maclaren[170] has divided the auriferous areas of the country into two distinct regions, the eastern and western. About four-fifths of the country’s production is derived from the former region, which extends in one fairly narrow auriferous belt from Lake Baikal to the southwestern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk.

[170] Maclaren, J. Malcolm: “Gold: Its Geological Occurrence and Geographical Distribution,” p. 210.

A number of dredges have been operated in the Ural district. The most promising property is the Riderlinsky, east of Omsk. In the southern Urals, most of the mines produce copper, pyrite, or zinc, the gold by-product making the profits. The Ridder mine, in the Altai Mountains, is the best-known lode mine in Siberia.

Placers are located along the Manchurian frontier on the Onon and Amur rivers. They are among the most important in Siberia and have produced over $100,000,000 in gold. The deposits of Irkutsk along the Lena River are the most important deposits so far exploited in Siberia and are probably the richest placers ever discovered. The district produces about one-third of the Siberian output. The placers are at present about worked out as drift mines, but will continue to produce with the installation of dredges.

Many engineers believe that Siberia is the richest remaining potential source of gold in the world. It has been estimated that the country will produce in the future, say in the next 30 or 40 years, about $6,000,000,000. The unsettled political conditions have greatly interfered with mining. Many of the mines were taken over by the Bolshevists, and although it is unlikely that any attempt at systematic mining will be made, they will probably be robbed of the richer exposed ore before they can be recovered by the owners.

India has long been regarded as a land of riches. Philologists have proved, to their own satisfaction, that Ophir, the source of the stores of gold of Solomon, was located there. In the deserts of northern India lived the gold-digging ants, described by the Greek historians and later writers and as yet unexplained. Present facts do not bear out legend and tradition. In 1913 India contributed only 2.6 per cent. of the world’s total production of gold, an amount hardly proportionate to the extent of the country. The land offers to the prospector an extremely uninviting field. It has been carefully prospected and its deposits have been worked assiduously for at least twenty-five centuries by a people possessing great patience and considerable mining skill.[171] The principal modern producing gold mines of India are in the Kolar field, where the main reef carries five large mines along its strike.

[171] Maclaren, J. Malcolm: “Gold: Its Geological Occurrence and Geographical Distribution,” p. 238-240.

Japan was one of the chief contributors to the stream of gold that poured into Europe during the sixteenth century. Portuguese and Dutch traders came to the islands to exchange European products for the gold mined by thousands of natives. The Japanese finally revolted against this domination of their trade and expelled the last of the Portuguese in 1624. A few Dutch were permitted to remain and to trade through certain ports, but under most humiliating conditions. Between the years 1601 and 1764, it is estimated that about 3,763,572 ounces of gold was exported from Japan. At the present the annual gold production of Japan, including Formosa, is about $6,000,000.

Most of the gold-quartz veins of Japan have been worked for many generations and only the poorer sulphide zones remain.

The Island of Formosa, which was acquired by Japan in 1895, had been represented by early European travelers as a storehouse of untold riches. Not until 1890 were the sites of the old workings rediscovered, the discovery of flakes of gold during the construction of a railway precipitating a rush of Chinese miners to the island.[172]

[172] “Mining in Japan, Past and Present,” the Bureau of Mines, Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Japan, 1909, pp. 17 and 64.

The total output of gold in Chosen (Korea) in 1914 approximated $5,000,000, but at present the output is declining because of the abnormal rise in the price of chemicals and materials necessary for mining. The yield for 1918 will probably not exceed $3,500,000, 60 per cent. of which will be obtained from three mines operated by foreign capital. The chief gold-quartz mines of Chosen are included in the American concession at Unsan in North Pyong-an Province, northwestern Korea. From these mines is derived about half of the annual gold production of Chosen. Korea also contains a large number of placer deposits, mostly small, that have been extensively mined by Koreans. The placer deposits of the Unsan district have not yet been worked, but those of the Chiksan district are being exploited by the Japanese.[173]

[173] U. S. Commerce Reports, February 26, 1914.

The small, scattered gold deposits of China, both vein and placer, are worked almost exclusively by the Chinese, as none has been discovered of sufficient richness to attract foreign capital. On the Island of Hainan, southeast of the mainland, the Chinese government is operating mines.

Exploration work carried on in China up to the present does not indicate that the country will ever become an important producer of gold. Even in the provinces contributing most of the present output—Manchuria, Yunnan, and Szechuen—the gold industry gives little promise of growth. During the years 1911, 1912, and 1913, 700 streams were examined in the last two provinces and gold was found in 430, but in no case in sufficient quantity to pay for working.

There have been many rumors concerning the gold deposits of the vast and unexplored territory of Tibet since the very earliest expeditions to that country but the field is still closed to modern enterprise and even to careful scientific examination. Despite previous reports, it has been stated by the geologist accompanying a British expedition about 10 years ago that the mineral value of Tibet was not easily apparent. Near the frontier of the State of Bhutan there are many colonies of gold washers. The Tibetan gold is found in nuggets as well as in spangles and dust, but the Tibetans are said to be careful to leave the nuggets intact, or to replace them if disturbed, under the belief that they are living and are the parents of the spangles and dust, or the roots from which new gold grows, which latter would disappear were the lumps removed.[174]

[174] U. S. Commerce Reports, February 26, 1914.

Siam, Burma, Indo-China, and the Federated Malay States at present contribute only a small part of the gold production of Asia. Exploration and prospecting are proceeding actively and the results to date are favorable. Future developments may substantiate the statements of the ancient writers and cartographers that there was much gold in this region. Gold and other minerals are known to exist in Afghanistan, but with the exception of a gold mine near Kandahar, in charge of a European, the mineral resources are almost entirely undeveloped.

Africa

Since 1905 South Africa, including Transvaal, Cape Colony, and Natal, has been the leading gold producer of the world, a position that would have been attained several years earlier had not the Boer War interfered. In 1917, gold valued at $186,255,000, or nearly half of the world’s output, was produced, the greater part being derived from the Witwatersrand, or Rand, near Johannesburg, Transvaal. Production in 1918 fell to $174,068,000.

Gold was first discovered in the Transvaal in 1870, but production was not important previous to the discovery of gold on the farm Langlaagte, Witwatersrand, in 1885. The mines are spread along a belt extending some 62 miles from Randfontein on the west to Holfontein on the east. This belt contains the largest deposit of gold that has ever been found in one place, and its gold content probably equals that of all the other known gold fields of the world combined. The ore is not exceptionally high grade, but can be economically treated in large quantities. The deposit, it has been estimated, may represent $3,000,000,000 to $4,000,000,000 from about 40 square miles, of which about half had been extracted by 1916.

Gold occurs both in vein and placer deposits in Natal and Cape Colony, but the output is small.

Rhodesia, in seventh place in 1913, has developed rapidly in recent years as a producer of gold and now outranks Mexico. According to Portuguese records, gold was mined in Rhodesia as early as 1788. The discovery in 1866 of ancient ruins and of ancient gold mines at Zimbabwe gave rise to the hypothesis that Rhodesia was the Ophir of the Scriptures. Although numerous attempts were made to open the gold fields, no measure of success was obtained until 1891, and only during the present century has the true character of the Rhodesian gold-quartz veins been recognized. The settlement of the country and the development of the mines is the result of the efforts of Cecil Rhodes and the Charter Company.

The gold is widely distributed and most of the mines are small. The future of the country as a gold producer would seem to depend upon the operation of the lower-grade ore bodies by large companies. The Shamva mine is a conspicuous example.

West Africa, especially the Gold Coast, is the only region of Africa, other than the Transvaal and Rhodesia, producing gold in important quantities. The output of the British West Africa colonies in 1917 amounted to about $7,500,000. The unhealthful climate of the region will probably prevent for some years any extensive mining operations by white men.

Gold mines are also worked in Abyssinia, Belgian Congo, Egypt, French East Africa, the former German East Africa, Madagascar, and the Sudan, but the total annual production from all these countries is little more than $2,000,000. The rock carvings and the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt indicate that northern Africa and the region along the Nile River were important sources of the gold of the ancient world.

Australasia

For many years Australasia was a close rival of the United States as a gold producer, frequently outranking this country. Since 1903 there has been a rapid decline, and Australasian production in 1917 was less than one-half the production of the United States. However, Australasia still ranks third and produced 11.3 per cent. of the world’s output in 1913 and about 8.3 per cent. in 1917.

Australia.

—Gold was discovered in Australia in 1839 and perhaps even as early as 1823. Fearing the unsettling effect of gold-seeking on the progress of the colony, the government authorities kept these early discoveries a secret for a number of years. In 1851, however, a miner recently returned from California, discovered gold near Bathurst, in New South Wales, and a rush similar to the Californian rush began. Discoveries in other parts of the country followed. The vein deposits of Australia occur in two distinct areas, well separated both geographically and geologically. The first includes the gold fields of the west and northwest and the other lies along the great Eastern Cordillera of Australia and stretches northward from Tasmania through Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland.

For many years Victoria, the smallest of the states, was the largest producer of gold, and up to 1908 had produced about half of the total output of the commonwealth. Among the earlier returns were some of the largest nuggets known. With the discovery in 1892 of the sensational field of Coolgardie, in Western Australia, a state previously believed to be without mineral wealth, Victoria dropped to second place. Kalgoorlie is the chief town and center of the gold-mining area in Western Australia.

Queensland ranks next to Victoria. A disastrous rush occurred in 1858, and 15,000 to 20,000 men were left starving on the banks of the Fitzroy River. The men were rescued by steamers sent by the governments of New South Wales and Victoria. A few years later alluvial gold was found near Peak Down, Clermont, to the present day the principal placer region of Queensland. Charters Towers, the present leading field of the state, was discovered in 1872. The Mount Morgan mine is an isolated mine lying not far from the scene of the ill-fated rush of 1858. It is by far the most productive mine of Queensland, both in gold and copper. New South Wales, although the first Australian state to yield gold in any important quantity, now ranks fourth. Tasmania and South Australia produce only a small amount of gold.

New Zealand.

—In 1852, the year following the rich discoveries in Australia, gold dust and gold enclosed in quartz were found in New Zealand, about 40 miles from Auckland, but this discovery proved to be of little importance. Ten years later the rich placers of Gabriel’s Gully were discovered, a discovery which attracted a rush from the Australian fields. The gold fields of New Zealand may be divided into three well-defined and well-separated areas: the Huaraki gold field, which contains valuable vein deposits but no placers; the West Coast area, in which the vein and alluvial occurrences are of equal importance; and the Otago area, in which the auriferous alluvial gravels are important and the few known quartz veins have little economic value.

Some gold is produced in other parts of Australasia, notably in the British and Dutch East Indies, and in British New Guinea. Deposits of little importance are reported in New Caledonia, the Fiji Islands, and in the former German New Guinea.