Increased Export of Gold.

Better equipment for gold winning, with a corresponding reduction in cost of operation and the substantial increase in price have certainly stimulated this industry. The export figures for 1932 comprised 167,682oz. of new gold (valued at £925,552) and 49,817oz. of old gold (valued at £246,030), an aggregate of £1,171,582. For 1931 the export tally was: New gold, 139,975oz. (£577,617); old gold, 996oz. (£3,420), a total of £581,037. The export value in 1932 was the largest for many years.

The Dominion's best year was in 1866, with £2,800,000, when the fields of Otago and the West Coast were giving their best yields. That sum, too, would be represented by more than £5 millions in to-day's money.