VALUABLE INDUSTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 309, 30 December 1940, Page 2

VALUABLE INDUSTRY.

MERCURY IN AUSTRALIA,

COMPANY TO PROSPECT.

A company called the Silver Creek Quicksilver Mining Company has been formed in Melbourne and stjecetefullv floated. The company owns an area erf 40 acres, half a chain from the Jaraieson River and 15 miles from the Jamieson township.

A shaft has been sunk to a depth of 140 ft on a lode formation, and the plans at present i.i hand will be accelerared •witfi the object of produeinc mercury in At»tralia in larger hitherto, and in view of tiie repor* submitted the company has excellent prospects. Mercury is indispensable in the manufacturing of percussion caps, detonators, bombs, shells and dynamite. Italy. Spain and Soviet Russia are the irorU's main sources of mercury supply, and Russia not export. Spaniards claim for the rich Almaden mines an unbroken history of SOOO years. The Phoenicians were its discoverers, yet in spite ol the huge quantities extracted from the mine over that period its Invisible bed is still estimated to contain millions of tons of cinnabar. which is the red -jxide or ore from wfcicfc the valuable metal is obtained. There is enough mercury at Almaden to ensure the world's supply lor many centuries yet. The Spanish mines are hot the property of the Spanish Government, ?nd are controlled bv Rothschilds of London. All the great Poweri realised when the Spanish War broke out la 1936 that the Almaden mine* were a prize ol immeasurable value to a conquering amy. Thij began the great mercury hoarding contests » ensure war supplies in case the mines were by a potential enemy. Great Britain laid in huge stocks ol mercurr and it Is on these stocks thai Australia muit depend if the war continues to restrict export* from Europe. Australia uses mercury for munition manufacturing. recovery of gold, fur felt hat manufacturing and in making «- f ointments, medicines, vapour for Neon signs, tieutal amalgams and thermometers. It is believed that the cinnabar at the Silver Creek mine extends a considerable distance and it is the initial object of the new company to prove the value of the mine from this angle.