The Express.
London, England, 1852-03-17 00:00:00

THE AUSTRALIAN GOLD MINES.

By way of Adelaide and Batavia, we have re-
ceived accounts from Sydney and Victoria to tho
10th and 12th December. At the former Otos a
preliminary meeting had been held at the itar
Hotel, for the formation of a New South Wale. gold
Mining Company, and nearly 800 shares of 5/. each
were !subscribed, fur before the chairman quitti .1 his
seat. Nothing can show the effect of the gait. dis-
coveries at Victoria than the fluctuation in the price
of flour. So much fear is entertained for the s•and-
ing crops, on account of the want of heeds In, tho
harvest, that the price of flour had again risen. The
Melbourne eireeg quotes flour at 18f. pct ton
for tine, and I 71. for so conds. At Mount ;lex-
ander gold is fuund in great abundance, and
all the diggers were doing n good trade. The ietan-
tity which they gather borders on fiction—" ' ruth
is stranger than fiction." The following not: c is
extracted from a private letter dated Melle.erne,
Dec. 3th :—" The mines at Mount Alexander have
caused the greatest excitement, and numerous
crowds abandon their homes, directing their :tem
the gold is beet generally spread, moro
abundant, and easier gathered, than at Ballarat. At
Mount Alexander, as elsewhere, some are very 'ortu-
nate, others less so, and Willie again truly pit.db!e.
The correspondent of the Geelong ints.lliyenee. an-
nounces that the gold is embedded in iron ore. and
that it is found 32 feet below the surface. Thi dis-
covery was recently made by 1)r. Johnson. The
Argas estimates that the amount of gold rat ivcd
at Melbourne and Geelong since the commence anent
of the licensing, about two months, at 201,0001 , rec-
koning the gold at 3/. per ounce. The Ballard; cor-
respondent of the Melbourne Daily News mettione
that the rains had in some measure subsided, and
mining operations were renewed with great e igour
at Mount Alexander. Several of the old holes wero
exhausted, and new ones were being opened, hich
circumstance had scattered the miners over a wider
space. The miners were suffering much from their
toilsome labour. Blacksmiths were making rapid
fortunes at their trade, and they were charger; 10s.
per week for keeping hoes in repair. Oa th-• sth
December the amount of gold brought into Mel-
bourne during the week, under escort, was 1.1,000
ounces, in addition to which many parcels were con-
veyed by priv ate han ds.T he MelbourneMorningi.nerald
says, that new mines have been discovered
halt way between Melbourne and Mount Alexander,
namely, at Mount Blackwood, near the Cnddco,
which aro reported to yield uncommon quantities of
gold. On Dec. 4th the editor says he saw a party
of eight diggers, belonging to Messrs. Dagcty and
Co., arrive in town, one of whom carried a bag on
his shoulder containing fifty pounds seven ounces of
gold. They stated that they had not been occupied
digging more than fourteen days. Melbourne
agricultural labourers refuse to engage at a yearly
salary of 651. They will not hire themselves for a
longer period than olio week, and at 355. per week.
The government commissioners had made the report
on the extent and capabilities of the mines, and they
record their unanimous opinion that the mine, offer
highly remunerative employment to, at least, 100,000
persons, or nearly four times the number at present
engaged in the work.
The following are extracts from a Sydney letter:
Dec. 8, 114.51.
When you hear that by escort from west and south
10,000 ounces came into Sydney and 2,000 ounces by pri-
vate hands yesterday, and that into Melbourne thc last
escort, of the 28th November, brought in from Ballarat and
Mount Alexander 13,000 ounces, and left 6,000 ounces
behind, and that f r one week's pork, you will b. gin tone,
if yeti had not already believed my confident predictions,
what an astounding thing these discoveries are.
It is my opinion that Austreia will send to England in
1852 at least 3,000,0001. sterling in gold.
This day a nugget of quartz has been sold by auction
(having been found one morning at Louisa Creek by a Gam-
mon man named Ilarbottle) fur the sum of 1,154 f.
Dec. 13, 1851.
40,000 ounces gold, value upwards of 120,000 f., go home
in the Alert. At Melbourne the receipts have been for the
last two weeks 13,000 and 16,000 ounces, or 29,600 ounces
in 14 days.