capital £20,000, in 1845; the Port Lincoln, capital £4,000, in 1848; the Princess Royal, capital £20,000, in 1845: this was the unlucky half of the Burra.
There were two gold companies established in 1846, the workings of one of which were suspended in 1850, "pending an anticipated sale of the sett in England."
Two conclusions may be drawn from an examination of the reports of these mines first, that South Australia is extremely rich in minerals; and secondly, that parties who do not understand mining should be cautious in taking the advice of South Australian friends as to mining investments.
In Cornwall there are always a number of mines manufactured for the benefit of green strangers. It was the same in South Australia. For this reason the gold crisis, which destroyed the fictitious credit and bubble mining adventures of South Australia, will in the end do good, by directing the attention of the South Australians to labor instead of puffery for the development of the true wealth of their noble province.
THE BURRA BURRA.
The following statement of the results of the Burra Burra mine will show that the South Australians have some reasonable excuse for the gambling mining spirit with which they are afflicted, and which succeeded to the town-lot roulette of 1839-40:—
The Burra proprietary divided their purchase into 2,464 shares of £5 each, with liberty to increase their capital to £20,000, which they have since done.
In the first year, from 29th September, 1845, to 29th September, 1846, at a cost of £16,624, they raised 7,200 tons of ore. As the depth of the workings increased a great improvement in the quality of the ore took place; instead of the blue carbonate, the red oxide, malachite, and the richest description of ore became predominant. The highest price realised for the first 800 tons was £31 9s., and the lowest £10 16s. per ten. At a considerable distance from the principal workings eighty tons of blue and green carbonate of copper were raised in the month of March, 1847.
In the months of June and July, 1847> the first and second dividends of fifty shillings each per share were paid to the shareholders. These dividends were paid out of the net proceeds of 2,959 tons of ore, amounting to £35,678, out of which also were paid the expenses of the association, including the cost of producing the 2,959 tons of ore, amounting to £15,926, leaving an undivided balance of £7,584. During
