236 GOLD, SILVER 



SUMMARY. Among British countries the Transvaal and 

 West Australia stand pre-eminent as gold- producing coun- 

 tries, the former producing about eight times as much as the 

 latter. 



Next in order of importance come Rhodesia, Canada, 

 British India, Victoria, Gold Coast Colony, New South Wales, 

 British Guiana, Tasmania. 



Smaller quantities of gold are also produced in the territory 

 of Papua, Swaziland, South Australia, Bechuanaland Protec- 

 torate, and Natal. 



Altogether the empire produces about 60 per cent, of the 

 world's total output of gold, so that we could be entirely self- 

 supporting with regard to this commodity. 



SILVER, though a soft metal, and exceedingly malleable 

 and ductile, is, nevertheless, harder, and less malleable and 

 ductile than gold. 



It occurs in nature either pure, or in ores wherein silver 

 is the only metal present, or in ores which contain other 

 metals as well as silver. Two of the commonest silver ores 

 are silver glance, or sulphide of silver, and horn silver, or 

 chloride of silver ; and of other metals which occur in silver- 

 bearing ores, lead, cobalt, copper, and gold are the com- 

 monest. 



The celebrated Broken Hill Mines, in New South Wales, 

 are silver-lead mines, and they are described as ' the richest 

 silver- fields of modern times '. Next in importance come the 

 silver-cobalt mines of the cobalt district of Ontario, and 

 others are the Rossland mines of British Columbia. These 

 last form part of the great silver region, which extends all 

 along the Western Cordilleras of North and South America, 

 and in which occur the rich mines of Nevada, Colorado, 

 Montana, &c. in the United States, and of Peru, Bolivia, and 

 Chile in South America. 



Japan also has important silver mines, and there are 

 mines, though of less importance, in Germany, Spain, and 

 Austria. 



