Chapter 105: The eastern section of the railway is open to traffic (please subscribe!)
The exploration of the gold mine lasted for more than half a month, and even alerted German experts.
Finally, after more than half a month of exploration, the approximate reserves and scope of the gold mine were finally determined, and it was designated as the latest gold mining area, with non-related personnel strictly prohibited from entering.
According to the latest report from Industry Minister Pierre, this large gold mine completely covers the canyon and even exceeds it in some places.
This also means that the scope of this gold mine is very huge. In addition, the exploration team has discovered the existence of gold mines deep underground, and it can be determined that the reserves of gold mines are very large.
Although only a rough number can be determined initially, the reserves of this gold mine are definitely not inferior to those of the super-large gold mines previously detected in Australia, with at least tens of millions of tons of reserves.
The gold content of the gold mine is also above the qualified line, reaching a content of 4.5 grams of gold per ton of gold mine.
This also means that after the gold mine is completed, it will be able to extract at least dozens of tons of gold, which is a big number.
For Arthur, who wanted to issue new currency, this gold was enough.
After all, even if new currency is issued, it will only circulate in Australia for a short period of time, and the number of prints will be very small.
The discovery of new large-scale gold mines in New South Wales quickly attracted the attention of those gold prospectors.
Although it only took the Ministry of Industry more than half a month to determine the specific size and scope of the gold mine, within this period of time, hundreds of gold prospectors had already arrived around the gold mine.
Although they did not dare to get too close to the gold mine due to the protection of nearby police and military. However, outside the scope of gold mines designated by the Ministry of Industry, a large number of gold prospectors can already be seen, carrying their belongings and tents and embarking on a crazy gold panning trip.
Before the news about Australia's gold mines spreads, it is also the most likely opportunity and opportunity for these Australian gold diggers to make a fortune.
As news of the gold mine spread, more and more gold diggers poured into the area, and no matter how much gold there was, it was not enough for these people.
The good news is that not many people joined the gold rush because many received relief from the relief committees or found well-paying jobs in industrial areas and elsewhere.
There are even fewer people who are willing to give up their hard-earned high-paying jobs for the dream of getting rich by gold mining.
If Arthur hadn't specifically ordered that the salary of new jobs in the industrial zone must be kept above the Australian per capita income level, I am afraid that the news of this gold mine would attract more people to go gold mining.
That's not good news for Australia's nascent industry and other construction industries.
If too many brains are lost, the industrial system that has been built with great difficulty will collapse.
February 17, 1902, Sydney.
Australia has received good news today, that is, the eastern section of the industrial railway, connecting Sydney and Melbourne, has officially opened to traffic.
This railway, with a total length of nearly 900 kilometers, connects Australia's two most developed states, New South Wales and Victoria, and is also a bridge between the capitals Sydney and Melbourne.
In fact, the construction of the railway is far from that fast. It started on September 1 last year, and only nearly half a year has passed.
Although the Australian government invested tens of thousands of indigenous people in this effort, the casualties among the indigenous people alone were as high as thousands.
But it has only completed less than 300 kilometers of railway between Sydney and Melbourne. This railway, with a total length of more than 900 kilometers, has a long section that was previously owned by New South Wales and Victoria.
Because they are the two most developed regions in Australia, railway construction in these two states was also the first in Australia.
New South Wales and Victoria are also two states rich in mineral resources in Australia. Although most of the minerals are gold mines and other metal mines, not coal mines and iron mines that are very important to industry, their value cannot be denied. In order to exploit these minerals, railway construction in New South Wales and Victoria started early and was well planned.
If it were not for the previous segregation policy between the colonies, the railway between Sydney and Melbourne would have been opened earlier.
But it is not too late, this railway is also crucial to improving cultural exchanges and economic exchanges between Australian cities.
Although a large part of this railway that is open to traffic is an old railway, it can still be put into use after being overhauled and replaced.
In order to celebrate the opening of Australia's first large-scale railway, Prime Minister Arthur and Evan personally came to the train station, first gave an inspiring speech, and then took Australia's first civilian train to Sydney.
In fact, in order to ensure Arthur's safety, this railway has been tested many times, and now it is just a formality.
But this does not prevent Australians from being happy about the opening of this railway, which means that the people of Southwest South Wales and Victoria can communicate with each other in a more convenient way of transportation.
Although people in other states can't enjoy all this for the time being, they are not in a hurry. After all, the construction of industrial railways is a plan responsible for five states in mainland Australia, and the vast majority of Australians can enjoy the benefits of this policy, right?
As for the people of Tasmania, due to their geographical location, they can only be wronged for the time being.
Today's trains are not very fast. Even though the length of the railway is only over 900 kilometers, it still takes nearly fifteen hours to travel.
However, many Australian officials have never experienced such speed. They sit by the train window and point at the scenery passing by with excitement.
Arthur didn't have such a feeling. After being used to the extremely fast speeds of various high-speed trains and subways in later generations, it was difficult to be surprised by this kind of train that only reached a speed of about 60 kilometers per hour.
In fact, the opening of railways has definitely brought more changes to Australia. From an economic perspective, it can significantly reduce the cost of material transportation, make communication among Australians more convenient, and at the same time promote economic development.
As for the military, if the industrial railway is fully opened to traffic, it will also greatly reduce Australia's defense pressure.
Although Australia is an island country, Australia is also a continent. The total area of Australia is even the same as that of Western Europe, but the number of troops is only 10,000. This is very severe pressure on national defense.
With the industrial railway fully open to traffic, the army could reach any state in Australia in just a few days.
This plays a vital role in maintaining Australia's stability and reducing Australia's defense pressure.
In fact, both Arthur and the Australian government underestimated the impact that the opening of this small section of railway would have on Australia.
On the day it was opened to traffic, people who got the news spontaneously organized celebrations on the streets of Sydney and Melbourne. If the police had not specifically told them that wanton parades would affect the security of the streets, they might have organized large-scale parades. celebrate.
Of course, from this aspect, Australians are still very law-abiding.
The impact of the opening of the railway continues. With the reports of the opening of the railway in Victoria Newspaper and Australian Daily, more and more Australians have learned about this good news and joined the celebrations.
Because both newspapers specifically reminded that celebrations must be cautious and try to avoid disrupting social order, there were no special celebrations in Australia.
Most of them are just a few or five friends getting together to think about the future, discuss the present, have some wine, and so on.
There are also a small number of merchants and self-employed households who take the opportunity to hold promotional activities to gain some customer traffic and profits.
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(End of chapter)