Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/491

Rh DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.] MINING 471 the third rank, followed by France and Russia. The United States produce 33 per cent. 1 of the gold yield of the whole world, 50 per cent, of the silver, 22 per cent, of the pig iron, 2 29 per cent, of the steel, and .about 25 per cent, of the lead. Mexico has been renowned for its gold and silver mines ever since the Spaniards first took possession of it, and its production is still very considerable. Indeed, after the United States, it still produces far more silver than any other country in the world. The average annual output of silver during the twenty-five years 1851 to 1875 is estimated by Dr Adolf Soetbeer at 501,520 kilogrammes, or 16,124,235 oz. ; 3 whilst the average annual output of gold during the same period was 1785 kilogrammes, or 57,389 oz. Tin ore occurs in considerable quantities in Mexico, and is likely to be worked on a large scale as soon as the tin district is opened up by a railway. Central America possesses numerous gold mines. South America. Venezuela produces gold, copper, and a little lead. The copper is found at Aroa near the north coast, and the gold in the province of Guiana, which is now producing upwards of 100,000 oz. annually. It is highly probable that the existence of this gold was known to the Indians, who reported it to Sir Walter Raleigh, and so led him to undertake his unfortunate expedition in search of &quot; El Dorado.&quot; French Guiana contains workable deposits of gold, and yielded 72,168 oz. in 1880. The chain of the Andes forms a long belt of mineral-producing country. Beginning with the United States of Colombia we have a country rich in gold, the State of Antiquoia being especially favoured in this respect. The annual yield of all the states is about 200,000 oz. Colombia has mines of rock salt, yielding 19,000 tons a year, and the emerald mine at Muzo has long been famous. Peru is renowned for its silver mines ; the best-known are those of Cerro de Pasco, situated at an elevation of 14,000 feet above the sea-level. Passing into Bolivia, we must notice the silver mines of Potosi, the wealth of which is proverbial. Chili is best known as the principal copper-producing country of South America ; but its silver mines are not unimportant, and beds of nitrate of soda are largely wrought. The most remarkable gold mines of Brazil lie in the province of Minas Geraes, whilst diamonds are obtained in that of Matto Grosso. In the Argentine Republic gold, silver, and copper mines are worked, especially in the provinces on the eastern flanks of the Andes. The total annual output of the precious metal in South America is estimated to be upwards of 300,000 oz. of gold, and 2, 000,000 oz. of silver. In 1877 Chili exported 35,128 metric tons of metallic copper, in addition to ore and regulus. Australia. Australia is remarkably rich in minerals, especially gold (see GOLD, vol. x. p. 744), tin, and copper, and its coal deposits are likely to be largely utilized in the future. Queensland, though a young colony, has already made itself famous for gold and tin, and it also possesses vast resources of coal and copper, in addition to the ores of other metals. The quantity of gold sent by escort from the different gold fields was 204,388 oz. in 1880, in addition to what was carried by private hands. Tin ore was first worked in 1872 near the border of the colony with New South Wales, and large quantities of stream tin have been obtained from very shallow alluvial diggings near Stanthorpe. Like gold, LEAD, , about, 50 ft. deep, *. not rich. the tin ore is not confined to one district ; it occurs and is worked at the North Palmer diggings ; a little to the south is Great Western, rich in tin ore, and so is Herbertou to the north-east on the other side of the Dividing range. In 1881 New South Wales 4 produced minerals and metals worth 2,373,191, viz., 149,627 oz. of gold, 1,775,224 tons of coal, 8200 tons of tin, 5493 tons of copper, 6560 tons of iron, besides silver, oil-shale, and antimony. In addition to the facts concerning the occurrence of gold already mentioned (loc. cit.), it is interesting to note that auriferous conglomerates containing the precious metal in payable quantities have been discovered and worked in this colony in rocks of the age of the Coal Measures. 5 The most important tin district is that of Vegetable Creek in New England, which from 1872 to 1880 produced 20,988 tons of tin ore. The accompanying map (fig. 105 6 ) shows the recent alluvium which has hitherto been Mile. 1 J 1 2 Miles. FIG. 105. Sketch Map of Part of Vegetable Creek, New South Wales, showing recent and ancient tin deposits. The stippled part re presents tin-bearing alluvium. The shaded part AB denotes basalt which has covered the lower portions of the ancient tin- bearing alluvia (deep leads), as explained in fig. 106. The rest is granite. the main source of the supply, and the deep leads which, as far as explored at present, promise still greater riches. The section (fig. 106 6 ) shows that these deep leads, like those of the gold fields DKEP LEAD, LEAJ&amp;gt;&amp;gt; iwa li f -o iPft a bout G0 ft- deep, to 15 fr. thick. and vcy &amp;gt; rich - FIG. 106. Enlarged Section (on AB of fig. 105) across Deep Leads in Vegetable Creek, New South Wales. (GOLD, vol. x. p. 743), are old alluvia preserved under a capping of basaltic lava. There are also numerous tin lodes which are begin- ! ning to be worked. Victoria heads the list of gold-producing British colonies, having yielded in 1882 7 as much as 864,610 oz., of which 352,078 oz. were derived from alluvial deposits, and 512,532 oz. from quartz mines. 1077 tons of tin ore were raised and 375 tons of antimony ore. South Australia is the great copper-producing province, though the yield is not so great as it was ten years ago. The principal 1 Clarence King, op. cit., p. 93. 2 James M. Swank, Stati.itics of the Iron and Steel Productions of the United States, Washington, 1881, p. 179. 3 Dr Adolf Soetbeer, Edelmetall-Produktion, Gotha, 1879, p. CO. 4 Annual Report of the Department of Mines. Xetc South Wales, for the year 1881, Melbourne, 1882. p. 8. 5 Annual Report of the Department of Mines. Xew South Wales, for the vear 1876, Sydney, 1877, p. 173. 6 Furnished by Mr W. H. Wesley. ~ Mineral Statistics of Victoria for the year 1882, Melbourne, 1883, p. 7. mines now at work are on Yorke s Peninsula. In 1881 8 South Australia produced 3824 tons of copper, worth 263, 370, and 21,638 tons of copper ore, worth 154,926. In 1881 Western Australia exported 1400 tons of lead ore, valued at 11,204. Tasmania, like some parts of Australia, is rich in tin ore, which is now obtained principally from an alluvial deposit at Mount Bischoff. The ore is now almost entirely smelted in the colony, and in 1880 the exports were 3951 tons of metal and 3 tons of ore, worth altogether 341,736. New Zealand furnishes a considerable amount of gold from quartz reefs and alluvial diggings. The annual exports during the ten years 1862 to 1872 were often 600,000 and even 700,000 oz. Of late years the yield has gradually diminished, and in 1880 only 303,215 oz., valued at 1,220,263, were exported. Silver is exported to the Statistical Register of the Province of South Australia for the year 1881 Adelaide, 1882.