Project Six- Australian Mining

                                   AUSTRALIAN   MINING

Fact one: up to 95% of the world’s opals come from Australia, opal’s are soft rocks that shimmer’s in light, and is used to make jewelry the Colber Pedy mine is famous for its light colored opal’s and the lightning Ridge mine is famous for its black opal’s.

Fact two: in Australian mine’s you can find nickel to make stainless steel, opals to make jewelry,   And also diamonds to make jewelry.

Fact three: Australia was the second biggest gold producer next to china.

Fact four: Australia was the biggest aluminum producer in the world (2011)

Fact five: Australia is responsible for 11% rocks metals and minerals of the world's production and was the world's third largest producer in 2010 after Kazakhstan and Canada.

Fact six: Australia produces 10% of the world’s Gold.

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Gold, the only yellow metal, has the chemical symbol Au, which is derived from the Latin word for gold - aurum. It has a density nearly twice that of lead is a good conductor of electricity and heat and is so malleable that it can be rolled thin enough to allow light to pass through.






Facts of The First Australian Gold Rush


 In January 1851, before Hargraves' find of gold in February 1851 at Summerhill near Bathurst in New South Wales which started the first Australian gold rush



            Because the miners worked for long hours their clothes got really worn out.

v  the miners really only wore White shirts, straw hats, frock coats, gloves, underpants, hard wearing pants, rain protection. Some wore boots some wore shoes but most of them could not afford shoes or boots so they had to go barefoot.

v  The Chinese miners wore baggy pants and large coolie hats.

v  There was little medical help on the goldfields so the health of the diggers wasn’t very good.

v  Diggers didn’t shower or bathe very often especially in summer because the water was very dirty and in short use.

v  People became alcoholics very easily and spent a lot of money on rum, bourbon and whisky. The miners, diggers and planners   got the alcoholics from a sly grog dealer. Alcohol was a big problem on the goldfields.

v  Some of the people on the goldfields had biscuits. Cakes, scones and puddings were popular desserts.

v  The diggers ate any type of meat that they could find on the goldfields.

v  The bread back then was 50 cents and a meal was 40 cents The diggers kept their food fresh by either salting the food in short time of killing. 

WHAT – opal mining and gold mining

WHEN – when did the two types of mining begin in Australia?

WHERE – locations of mines

WHY – how much are the two industries worth?? Every year

HOW – how is the opal brought out of the ground?? How do opals grow? How is gold mined out of the earth? T