THE 1894 GOLD YIELD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9720, 16 January 1895, Page 5

THE 1894 GOLD YIELD.

THE LARGEST AUSTRALIAN YIELD FOR TWENTY YEARS. The deputy- of the Victorian mint has furnished a return of the gold yield of Australasia, which shows that it is the largest that has been recorded tor 20 years. The Age says : —As far as Victoria is concorned the figures are gratifying beyond all expectations. Victorian gold actually coined in 1894 amounted to 739,2440z, an increase of 45,0000z. over the 1893 amount, or say a gain of £180,000. The great bulk of the West Australian gold finds its way bo Melbourne for coinage. In fact, ib is understood that most of the purchases made by the banks on the fields are ab the wish of the miners, subjecb bo the final decision ol the Melbourne mint certificate. The consequence of the activity in the Golden West was for 1894 an addition ot 200,0000z to the Melbourne coinage. That it was not greater will come as a surprise to most people, bub Wesb Australia has nob yeb reached third place for gold production in the group. In fact ib is possible that) the yields of New Zealand and New South Wales will relegate Wesb Australia to fifth place. The first nine months in New Zealand yielded 173,9030z, and the product In Queensland for the same period was 471,108 oz. These two colonies do not mint their entire production, as may be said of Victoria and New South Wales. We have now, however, sufficient data to construct an estimate of the Australasian gold yield for 1894, and such an estimate is now given:— i 1894. Oz. Victoria 739,496 Queensland 624.000 New Zealand 230,000 West Australia 224,000 New.South Wales 223,293 Tasmania 48,803 South Australia ... ... 35,844 Total ... .'.. ... 2,125,441 To find an Australasian yield greater than this ib is necessary to go back to 1874, when the output was 2,133,4410z. For 1894 Australasia probably ranks in gold production below the United States, bob above Africa. It is ascertained beyond conjecture that the world's gold yield for 1894 will eclipse every previous yield on record, and it is satisfactory thab Australasia is contributing so considerably to the increase. /