of gold in the graves of the aborigines point to
the existence of productive mines in Chinqui,
the localities of which are not now known.
The gold is very generally alloyed with
copper; some of it indeed is only 8-carat gold
while in other samples the proportion is 23
carats. The gold of Mexico has been rather a
secondary product of its argentiferous veins;
but in Oajaca are true gold veins in the
micaceous slates and gneiss. The silver ores which
contain the gold are often argentiferous galena,
the lead being the prevailing metal. A small
quantity of gold is annually obtained from
Central America, and gold placers are known
to exist in Cuba and Santo Domingo.
Although gold has been found in many places in
Brazil, the most productive mines have been
worked in the province of Minas Geraes in the
vicinity of Ouro Preto, and in the district of
Turyassu, in the province of Maranhão. The
large production of Brazilian gold in the 18th
century was obtained almost exclusively from
the alluvial washings of Minas Geraes; but
these became exhausted, and the metal is now
obtained from the veins or beds worked by
English capital. The gold found in Brazil,
instead of being enclosed in regular veins, is
disseminated in metalliferous beds. The rock
formations are supposed to belong to the
palæozoic period.—The total production of gold
in the world has never been determined with
more than an approximate degree of accuracy.
There are no statistics showing the exact
annual yield of the different gold-producing
countries, and the amount produced has been
subject to computations by different authorities,
whose results have presented no little variance.
It is true that in each country an accurate
record is kept of the amount coined, and of the
exports and imports, but these results only
indicate approximately the extent of the production.
In 1830 it was estimated that for the
preceding 19 years the average annual production
of the precious metals had fallen off about
$31,000,000 from what it had been before that
time, the estimated product being as follows:
COUNTRIES.
Before 1810.
After 1810.
Europe and Asia
$4,000,000
$5,000,000
Indian archipelago
2,980,000
2,980,000
Africa
1,000,000
1,000,000
America
47,000,000
15,000,000
Total
$54,980,000
$23,980,000
By the estimate of M. Chevalier, in his work
on money, the total amount of gold and silver
existing in various forms in 1848 appears to
have been £1,727,000,000, or $8,500,000,000,
of which one third was supposed to be gold.
The annual product of this metal from 1800 to
1850 had been £3,258,000. By other authorities
the whole amount of gold coin and bullion
in Europe in 1847 was estimated to be about
£250,000,000, and in the world in 1850
£600,000,000. According to Phillips, the annual
production at the beginning of the century was
about 53,940 lbs. troy, of which New Granada
furnished 23 per cent., Brazil and southern
Asia 18 per cent. each, Chili 13, Mexico 8,
Austria 6, and Peru 4 per cent. In 1860 the
production had increased to 585,370 lbs. troy, of
which the chief countries contributed in the
following ratio per cent.: Australia, 37;
California and neighboring states and territories,
31.9; Russia, 11.3. In 1865 the yield amounted
to 559,587 lbs. troy, of which 37.5 per cent,
was the product of California and the
neighboring states and territories, 27.9 of Australia,
and 12.4 of Russia. The following approximate
statement of the value of the gold
produced in the principal gold-producing countries
in 1867 is given by Blake in his “Production
of the Precious Metals:”
COUNTRIES.
Production.
Ratio per cent.
California
$25,000,000
Nevada
6,000,000
Oregon and Washington
3,000,000
Idaho
5,000,000
Montana
12,000,000
Arizona
500,000
New Mexico
300,000
Colorado
2,000,000
Utah, Appalachians, and other sources
2,700,000
Total United States
$56,500,000
43.23
British Columbia
2,000,000
1.96
Canada and Nova Scotia.
560,000
Mexico
1,000,000
.76
Brazil
1,000,000
4.05
Chili
590,000
Bolivia
300,000
Peru
500,000
Venezuela, Colombia, Central America,
Cuba, and Santo Domingo
3,000,000
Australia
31,550,000
24.14
New Zealand
6,000,000
4.59
Russia
15,500,000
11.87
Austria
1,175,000
1.74
Spain
8,000
Italy
95,000
France
80,000
Great Britain
12,000
Africa
900,000
Borneo and East Indies
5,000,000
3.83
China, Japan, Central Asia, Roumania,
and other unenumerated sources
5,000,000
3.83
Total
$130,680,000
100.00
The production of Australia above given is
thus distributed by Blake: Victoria, $26,510,000;
New South Wales, $4,500,000; Queensland,
$400,000; South Australia, $140,000.
Since about 1850, by far the greater portion
of all the gold obtained in the world has been
the product of the Australian mines and those
on the Pacific coast of the United States. The
extent of the Australian production is indicated
by the following table, from the official
“Statistical Abstract of the several Colonial and
other Possessions of the United Kingdom,” giving
the value of the exports of bullion and coin
from New South Wales and Victoria, from the
opening of the mines. It should be observed,
however, that it docs not represent the exact
production of each colony. The coin was
issued from the branch of the royal mint at
Sydney, New South Wales. A branch mint was
established at Melbourne, Victoria, in 1872.
