VAST RICHES

Hokitika Guardian, 1 August 1931, Page 6

VAST RICHES

AUSTRALIA \S UNK X OAV N. WHAT INTERIOR AfAY HOLD. . SYDXKY, July 18. What part in the future prosperity of the Commonwealth will Central Australia , play through her mineral resources? Australia is already worldfamous for the extent of its valuable minerals, hut there are some scientists who claim that the surface has been merely scratched, as it were. There are vast areas of the continent as yet unexplored and unknown, ami their riches can only be guessed at. Mr T. Hodge (Smith, mineralogist to the Australian Museum, has just returned I com a tour of the interior, and lie* is very enthusiastic about the outlook. The time will come, he says, when there will be a great “find” that will .startle not only Australia, but also the world. “Although Central Australia appears to be only a useless waste,” lie said the other day, “I think it will, through its mineral resources, be of great value to (the Commonwealth when it is propel Iv developed.” He points out that picCambrian rocks (which are approximately 800,000,000/ years old) have been found in Queensland, .Western Australia and Broken Hill to be prolific mineral bearers. Such rocks were a prominent feature of tlx* Central Australia landscape. M was no matter fm surprise, therefore, tlial gold, silver, lead, copper and mica (the latter so valuable as an electrical insulator) occurred more or less abundantly in the unsettled interior. “The* occurrence of mica in Central Australia,” says Mr Smith, -is similar to that of India, which has been in the past the chief producer ot this mineral. Scattered about the ancient gneisses and schists are thousands of quart/, dykes, all of which carry mica of eoftimercial size and quajity. Ihe mica occurs in crystals (or ‘books as the miners term them) up to as much as three feet in diameter. More olten, however, it occurs in ‘books roughly six inches by six inches.’ Mr Smith goes on to point out that gold has not been found ill payable quantities in ‘Central Australia ; but its presence.there is beyond doubt. What more was needed to prove that point than the fact that the aborigines of the Arltunga district, north east ot Alice* Springs, frequently, brought in small nuggets to the settlements and traded them tor sticks of tobacco. Obviously where gold could he found in that fashion, on the surface, there was much more remaining to he* won. But it appeared to he equally obvious that the winning of gold there would always he difficult owing to the lack of water. Although silver-lead and copper were also known to occur in that region, Mr ’Smith was not able to speak definitely from (personal knowledge of the commercial possibilities. He has no doubt, however, as to the commercial value of the garnet occurring there. That mineral was present in enormous quail titles. Most ol it was adaptable for use a.s an abrasive, and a considerable quantity was of gem quality; this being of a beautiful rubv-red colour. Another mineral occurring frequently was wolfram, an alloy of steel.