discovered in a well, a second states that it was met with in sinking post-holes. When gold was being obtained in so many parts of the north-west, the news of this nugget naturally caused a commotion at Roebourne. The local doctor and Mr. Cue hurried to the place and pegged out protection areas. Several men worked eagerly, and by 23rd August 150 ozs. had been raised. The alluvial at high tide was covered by sea water. The new area was called Nickol Field.
Additional quartz-crushing batteries were erected at Kimberley in 1889, such as for the Golden Crown, Mount Dockrell, Lady Broome, and Ruby Queen claims. The Mount Dockrell Company obtained 311 ozs. of gold from 20 tons of stone, and the Golden Crown secured an average of 10 ozs. per ton. The alluvial where followed yielded fair returns. The export of gold from the whole of the colony in 1889 was 15,492 ozs., valued at £58,871. Of this amount 11,170 ozs. came from Pilbarra and surrounding districts, 2,464 from the Kimberley district, while the remaining 1,858 ozs. were obtained at Yilgarn.
Notwithstanding that the crushings on the Fraser's and Central mines in December, 1889, were good, the public took a dismal view of the situation in 1890. This was largely due to the stoppage of the Fraser machinery. The breakage was mended, a new manager (Captain Oates) was appointed on the 1st June, and by the 24th June the battery was again in operation. Work progressed satisfactorily, the crushings were favourable, and in November the first dividend paid by a mining company at Yilgarn was declared by the Fraser Company—6d. a share on 50,000 shares. This claim was thus the pioneer of crushing operations and the pioneer of dividend-paying mines on the eastern goldfields. Except for the Central mine, work progressed very slowly on the other properties, and the owners of them, under various pretexts, applied for an extension of exemption after the general period expired in May. Shareholders in the companies were under the disagreeable necessity of paying calls. The Rookoordine tank was enlarged to hold 125,000 gallons of water, and other tanks were also improved. In June and July the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Mr. John Forrest, visited Southern Cross and Parker's Range. A deputation waited upon him at the former place and asked the Government to build a telegraph line, establish a local court, improve the postal arrangements, appoint a qualified medical officer, revise the goldfields regulations, build a first-class condenser, grant a lot for a public hall and library, and to furnish an escort for the protection of gold in transit from Southern Cross. In his report on the eastern goldfields, Mr. Forrest recommended the construction of main and branch roads to Yilgarn, estimating the total cost of 162 miles of road at £3,105. He also advised that a telegraph line should at once be proceeded with, and that £2,000 be expended on additional water conservation; in brief, he supported nearly all the requests preferred by the deputation. As this was the transition period in the constitutional history of the colony, the works were not at once proceeded with. Mr. Forrest did not think the field had been fairly tried. He said that mines had been placed on the market before any substantial work had been done to prove the reefs, or even to prospect the ground. The natural result had been that many persons had invested in mines which had scarcely any reef, while others had been tired of paying calls when no return was probable at an early date. In addition, mining investors were few in number, and he thought that the embarrassment of gold mining at Yilgarn could be readily understood. He believed that the industry would in the end surmount all difficulties, but the Government must render substantial aid; if not, the progress would be slow and unnecessarily delayed.
Southern Cross now formed a cluster of weatherboard and iron buildings, fringed with hessian tents. That the residents had faith in the permanence of the field was demonstrated by their deciding to erect a public hall at a cost of about £300, and by the requests preferred to the Government. Upon the Fraser Company declaring a dividend, the price of shares in all properties advanced, and more public interest and assistance was forthcoming. The returns for the Yilgarn district in 1890 were 2,277 ounces of gold, valued at £8,652 12s.
What was termed the Pilbarra Goldfield, embracing neighbouring areas, supplied the chief proportion of the yearly output. At Nullagine some good alluvial finds were made. From the Forty-Mile patch some 700 ounces were got out in a few days, and in June between five and six hundred ounces were conveyed to Roebourne at one time. Rich alluvial was found in other places, and machinery was erected on the Broken Reef claim at Pilbarra, and on the Alfred Argles Company's property at Mullins, where, in April, 20 tons of stone yielded 65 ounces of gold. Gold was discovered at Ashburton early in the year, and 250 men congregated on the field. Although the returns were good at first, they did not continue, and in June the place was nearly deserted. The Ashburton Goldfield was proclaimed on the 25th December, 1890, but its yields were only moderate. The returns for the Pilbarra district in 1890 were 16,055 ozs. 6 dwts. 6 grs. of gold, valued at £61,010 3s. 9d.
While the returns from Kimberley were much larger in 1890 than in 1889, several claims on which some amount of capital had been expended were abandoned. The quartz mining companies were not flourishing. The Lady Broome and Jackson mines were closed down, and the Golden Crown was the only claim at this time paying expenses. It was estimated that it cost struggling miners at the rate of £7 to raise and treat a ton of stone, and the yield would need to be very high to make a mine which did not possess machinery pay. The yield from quartz and alluvial amounted to 4,074 ozs., valued at £17,001 4s., making a total output for the colony in 1890 of 22,806 ozs. 6 dwts. 6 grs., valued at £86,663 19s. 9d.
The mining industry at Yilgarn seemed to take new life when responsible Ministers were appointed. The proposal of the Forrest Government to build a railway to Southern Cross suggested to Western Australians, as well as to people in other colonies, that the fields must be exceedingly promising to warrant the expenditure of so much public money. Investors became more numerous, calls were paid with less delay, and, best of all, experienced prospectors and miners came to the colony from other countries, and gave an impulse to development and discovery. The returns from the Yilgarn mines—principally Fraser's, Fraser's South, Central, Central Extended No. 1, and Hope's Hill—improved, and new mining areas were exploited. The population increased, sometimes at the rate of hundreds every month, and people brought a little capital with them. The modest few persons so opprobriously referred to in London during the constitutional agitation jumped from 46,290, in 1890, to 53,285, in 1891—an increase of 6,995. This was due both to the expectation that with Responsible Government the colony would become prosperous, and to the new discoveries on the goldfields; principally to the latter. The changed aspect of affairs filled Western Australians with hope.
