56 
HISTORY OF THE MINERAL RESOURCES. 
The history of mining in this Colony dates back as far as 1842, with the find- 
ing of lead and copper in the Victoria District. The discoverer of copper was a 
man named Thomas Mason, at that time following the humble occupation of shep-J 
herd in the employ of the late Mr. James Drummond. He was stationed at] 
Wanderenooka, and there found the deposits which were afterwards worked with 
success. Mr. Mason sold his find for =£100, and a promise of «£100 a year and., 
work for three teams, if the parties were successful in purchasing the land, which' 
in those days had to be put up to public auction. The annuity and work were to 
continue so long as the mine should be working. The company which was subse¬ 
quently formed did not ratify the =£100 a year part of the arrangement; but 
Mason worked a team on the road drawing copper ore during 18*58 and 1859, until 
he left this Colony for the gold diggings in Victoria. 
Several mines were started, and smelting works erected by English companies 
who worked them at a profit for many years. 
The first great check these mines received was caused by the exodus of 
miners for the Victorian goldfields, and as no other miners were to be obtained in 
the Colony, and very few would leave England for any other part of Australia but 
Victoria, the mines were practically closed down. A second attempt was made to 
work them some years later, but it was not altogether a success, owing to the great 
fall in the price of both lead and copper, iron having in a great measure replaced 
copper in ship-building and lead for pipes, tanks, and roofing; not to mention : 
the phenomenonally rich discoveries of copper in South Australia and Spain, 
which flooded the market. 
These mines are now at a stand-still, only sufficient ore being raised annually 
to ballast the wool ships which call in at Champion Bay, but there is little doubt 
that many of them would pay if re-opened. 
In the year 1846 Mr. Gregory reported the discovery of coal on the Irwin 
River, and shortly after Captain Roe also reported the discovery of this mineral in 
the beds of the Fitzgerald and Phillips Rivers, on the South coast, but, unfor¬ 
tunately, in both places the seams proved to he valueless. 
After these discoveries so long a period elapsed without any other mineral 
being found, that a general conclusion was arrived at, which was that this Colony 
would never be a great mineral producer, and this idea was supported by Mr. 
Hargreaves who, in 1860, was specially employed to report on the gold prospects 
of this Colony. 
This conclusion is easily accounted for when the geological features of the 
Colony are examined, as the great gold-bearing belt lays inland, about 200 to 250 i 
miles, and to the Eastward of large sand plains, which had not been crossed except ! 
by explorers till recently. 
Many small finds of gold were, however, made from time to time all along the ] 
Darling Range, and throughout the South-Western portion of the Colony, in 
which most of the reefs carrying iron pyrites are auriferous. 
These finds did more harm than good, as they caused so much excitement 
amongst the handful of colonists that by the time the reports reached the other ! 
colonies they had been considerably added to, which caused them to attract undue ! 
attention. 
About the year 1882, Mi*. Hardman, who was employed to report on the j 
Kimberley District, discovered gold there, which proved to be rich and to extend over 
a large area, but. situated as it is in such an out-of-the-way corner, it did very 
little good to the settled portion of the Colony. 
