The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1917-03-29
Total Imports of Metal Into
United States Were More
Than $500, 900, 900 Greater.
$1,000, 100000 DURING war
WorId's Yearly Production Increased
Moro Than slxty-Fold In q contury
-Witwatersrand Most impor.
tant Source Of Supply.

duction OF gold last year, though near
ly equal to the record output for any
year, was less than the amount i'm
ported into the United States in that
period. Most Of the imports came from
Great Britain, which controls two
thirds Of the production.
The total imports of gold into this
country In 1915 amounted to SGS5. 600 :
wv, and the worlds production to
$41S,625,OOO. In 1915 the imports were
$452,OOO,OOO and the worlds produc-
tion $4SS,OOO,OOO, the highest on rec.
ord. Since the outbreak of the war.
August 1, 1914, the United States bos
imported total of $1,3OO,OOO 900 in
gold, and has retained approximately
$1,000, 100000 Of 1t.
Inc decrease in production of nearly
Slo,ooo,oOO Is accounted for by the
Statist, which supplies the estimate Of
production, on the ground of lessened
production in Australasia and tbe
United States, partly offset by an In
crease of about $5,OOO,OOO In the Afri-
can output.
Source Of Gold Supply.
Ihe most important source of the
gold supply Is the Witwatersrand. With
the small output Of outside districts of
the Transvaal this section produced
last year gold to the value of S197, ,OOO,-
oOO, u record annual output. Rhodesia
produced $40 9,4S0OOO; Australasia, S44,-
/ 10000; Canada, $2O,25O,OOO; India,
S1l,oOO,OOO, and the United States.
$95, ,435, 900.
The worlds yearly value of gold out
put about century ago averaged ST.
boOOOO, the bulk Of which was derived
from Russian gold workings In the
Ural mountains. Gradually other
sources Of supply came to be added to
RusSias production, and large in
creases occurred. Such gains were
very considerably added to In the late
forties and early fifties Of last century
California and Australia.
The discoveries in the two widely
separated regions stimulated search in
all parts Of the world, and especially
intermittently during the second half
or the nineteenth century there were
new finds of Importance. Those I'm
India, about 1869, at the Collar field,
were Suspect" for considerable
while, and but for pluck and persever-
ance, might have been overlooked.
However, in the end they proved sue
cessful. The policy Of sinking a single
shaft few feet further saved the stu
alton, and though quite ten years were
taken to enter the stage Of production,
india since 1880 has, to 1915, inclusive,
obtained from modern working about
25O,COOOO0 value.
The greatest discovery so far has
been that Of the Witwastersrand. Prior
to ascertainment Of existence Of gold
bearing Blankets In the Transvaal there
had been finds Of quartz deposits I'm
other parts of the Transvaal republic
also at the Gold Coast Quickly 1t was
ascertained that the region where now
is johannesburg was highly payable
In September, 1886, the Rand was pro-
claimed goldfield, production COM
menced. and the output Of the Trans
vaal from some $4,000 worth Of gold
in 1884, five years later attained ST.
100000. and the output In 1S99-the
year Of the commencement Of the Boer
war-was at the rate Of about $780,
600, 900 year.
Record Production.
For 1916 the value of production was
the record one Of about $197 500, 900,
and at the present time the Rand pro-
duction alone equals about AK per
cent of the total gold output of the
world, while the whole Of Africa shows
proportion Of over AZ per cent. There
were discoveries in Rhodesia, which In
1916 also attained a record production.
and West Africa, from which came ma
tive-prOduced gold dust-hence the
names of Guinea Coast and Gold Coast
and which In modern time has, with
some slight success, added to the
worlds supply.
For many years Victoria, OF the Aus
tralian continent, was the premier pro-
ducer OF gold, but 1t now yields COM
paratively small output. In the mid
ninetles important discoveries were
made In West Australia, and the Cool
gnrdie and other fields quickly put on
the pace. The maximum output of the
colony Of any year was that of 1909
$43,S5O, ,OOO-but gradually since its pro-
ductiOn has fallen off. In New Zealand
and Queensland finds were reported
early In the sixties.
TIL quite recent years the output of
Canada was nearly all a by-product I'm
connection with copper smelling, aver
aging till the mid-nineties only about
$1,OOO,OOO worth Of gold per annum !;
but late in the ninetles the Yukon field
became fairly important one, and
discoveries Of out-and-out gold regions
in Ontario have recently commenced to
show some good figures. Yukon Mt.
tained Its highest in 10O0-some $751;
600; but In 1916 fell to $5,0OO,OOO.
Bruises should be JUDGED solelv hu