The opal-bearing country extends over a much wider area than sapphires. The width of this country is, roughly, about 250 miles, while in length it extends right from the New South Wales border half-way up the State in a curve bending towards the South Australian border. The chief centres of production have been Kynuna (near Winton), Opalton and Fermoy (in the Longreach district), Eromanga, and Yowah (near Thargomindah). The Queensland opal is recognised as being unsurpassed for its brilliance and iridescence, and there is reason to believe that much more will be found than has yet been unearthed; but the quest for it is difficult owing to the arid nature and vast extent of the western plains where it occurs. In good seasons men in those regions find ready employment on the pastoral stations; in very dry ones, they cannot prospect for the precious stone, and the result has been that the industry has fluctuated even more than that of sapphire mining. The highest point was attained in 1895, when the value of the opal product reached nearly L33,000. Of late years Queensland has been blessed with good seasons, and the uncertain occupation of opal mining has, with many men, given place to the more regular and more comfortable station life. While the opal, the sapphire, and other precious stones have been dug from Queensland's earth, her Northern waters have for years yielded the lustrous pearl, and in 1908 pearl-shell to the value of L71,000 was exported. Sir William Ramsay, speaking as a scientific authority, lately stated that the day will come when Great Britain, if she continue to be dependent on her own coal supplies, will find it difficult not only to carry on her manufactures but to provide fuel for household purposes. Well, when that day does come, she can send to Queensland for what coal she wants. Here there are coal measures in abundance--in the South, Central, and Northern divisions of the State, and on the Darling Downs. True, we have not yet done much in the way of production, but all that is wanted is a market, and coal, both bituminous and anthracitic, can be dug out of the earth and sent away in practically unlimited quantities. Of ironstone, also, there is an abundance, and that, too, in such close proximity to the coal supplies that when the time arrives for Australia to enter earnestly into the enterprise of iron and steel manufacture Queensland should play an important part both in producing the raw material and in preparing the product for the market. With only one or two exceptions, all the important mining centres of Queensland are now connected with the eastern coast by rail, and those that are not are being rapidly linked up. During the year 1908 thirteen new railways were authorised by Parliament, five of them to serve mineral districts. Four of these lines are now under construction; and in addition the railway to the Etheridge field is completed for two-thirds of its length.