AUSTRALIA'S GOLD

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4951, 4 February 1937, Page 6

AUSTRALIA'S GOLD

LAST YEAR'S FIGURES. On present indications Australia's gold yield for 1936 should reach 1,150,0000 z, valued at £10,0000,000. This will be the best return from the gold-mining industry since 1919, and it will represent an improvement of 235,0000 z, valued at £2,000,000, compared with production in 1935. The Australian gold production fell from its highest level of 3,836,OOOoz in 1903 to its lowest point of 427,0000 zin 1929, and has since made a steady recovery. For 1935 it was 915,0000 z. The decline in the gold industry in the period preceding 1929 was due to increasing costs of production for a commodity which could be sold only at a fixed price in the world market. The recovery since 1929 has been due partly to lower costs and principally to increasing prices for the metal resulting from the smaller quantity of gold, which is now represented by the coinage Although the yield of 1,150,0C00z for 1936 will be only a little more than the yield of 1,066,0000 z for 1019, the value will be nearly double at £10,000,000. The reason is that gold was worth about £5 an ounce in 1919, compared with the present figure of £8 15s an ounce in Australia.

The contribution which gold has made to the national income of Australia has been an important factor in the recovery made since the years of depression. Direct employment provided has been very considerable, and the indirect work given to the machinery, fuel and other industries has helped greatly to relieve the unemployment problem.