118 ASBESTOS. 



makmg the total since the mines were opened in 1879 of 25,047 

 tons. The industry is highly profitable notwithstanding the 

 fact that it can only be prosecuted for half the year on account 

 of the rigorous climate, and it has turned a previously sparsely 

 populated district into a thriving community. 



These few particulars will suffice to prove that if asbestos 

 of the right sort can be found in quantity in Australia, a profit- 

 able industry is assured and one which can be started and 

 developed under Australian conditions, as it requires no capital 

 but labour. 



Asbestos, as we remarked at the beginning, is found in 

 many places in this country, widely apart, and reports are 

 constantly coming to hand of the discovery of " big reefs " of 

 it, of excellent quality {vide last issue of The Australian Mining 

 Standard). It is found in South Australia and Tasmania, 

 at Broken Hill, Gundagai, Bingera and Gordonbrook in New 

 South Wales, and near Eockhampton, Gladstone, Kilkivan 

 and other places in Queensland, and appears to exist, as might be 

 expected, wherever serpentine rocks are found ; but in spite of 

 the big reefs of excellent quality, of the newspaper accounts, 

 and the high price of the article, we believe it has never been 

 worked at any place except at Gundagai in New South Wales. 

 The deposits at this place were worked a few years ago and 

 yielded material of first-class quality, and on the strength of this 

 a company was formed in Melbourne to carry on the manufac- 

 ture of asbestos goods. About 25 tons were raised (valued at 

 £20 per ton) when the quantity ran out, and the mine is now 

 shut up. So far as the writers can learn there is nothing 

 abnormal about the asbestos deposits of Gundagai. At Gordon- 

 brook on the Clarence in New South Wales a mass of serpentine 

 about 3 miles wide extends for a distance of 20 miles and 

 contains veins of asbestos of excellent quality. A sample of 

 this is on the table to-night. The asbestos veins are very 

 numerous, and can be found in the road metal of the district ; 

 but all we have seen are too narrow to be profitably worked 

 without some mechanical appliances for separating the mineral 

 from the rock. We are told that no intrusive rocks accompany 

 this serpentine, and if that is so, it seems unlikely that larger 



