he profits of the Burra
Burra mine. A general notice will convey every necessary information on
that head, and enable the public to judge as well of its value and
importance as if I entered into minuter details. It will give the reader
some idea of the scene of bustle and activity the Burra mine and road
must present, and the very great amount of labour it requires.

The quantity of ore sent weekly from the mine to the port is from 430 to
450 tons, employing from 150 to 160 drays, and more than double that
number of men. The total quantity of ore received at the port in December
last was 10,000 tons, the average value of which at 20 pounds per ton,
amounts to 200,000 pounds, and the price of shares, originally of
5 pounds, had, by last advices, reached 160 pounds.

Considering the gigantic scale of the Burra Burra mine, it was supposed
that few other mines would be found in the colony that would at all
approach it, that indeed, it had been the principal deposit, and that
whatever indications other mines might give, they would soon cease in
working, or produce so little as to be valueless. I confess that such was
my own opinion--surprised at the immense size of this magnificent mine, I
hardly thought it possible that in mountains, after all of limited range,
mines of great value would still be found, and that discoveries of new
mines were frequently taking place, and that too in situations where no
such feature would be supposed to exist. On York's Peninsula for
instance, immediately across St. Vincent's Gulf, opposite to Port
Adelaide, and directly on the sea shore, there are two sections, on which
copper ore is abundant. The position of this mine can at once be
determined by the reader, on a reference to the map. The land is very
low, and the rock formation, tertiary fossil, but the various and
anomalous positions in which copper is found in South Australia, baffles
all ordinary calculations--as likely to exist in the valley, as on the
hill--at the sea side as well as inland: there is not a locality in which
it may not be looked for and found.

The whole of the mountain chain indeed, is a mass of ore from one end to
the other, and it is impossible to say what quantity, or how many of the
richer metals will ultimately be found in a country through which the
baser metals are, without doubt, so abundantly diffused. The quantity of
gold hitherto discovered has not been important, but it is reasonable to
suppose, that whe