Another series contained specimens of the products of the smelting establishment of Nantoco, a few leagues distant from Copiapo. At this place silver ores, and copper ores containing silver, are concentrated into matts, which are then exported, chiefly to England, for further treatment and the separation of the metals. Following is a list of the specimens of the series, with their percentages of copper and of silver:

Percentage value of the matts in copper and silver.

It is customary to add to these ores the poor residues from the amalgamation works. The mixture gives matts, which contain 56 per cent. of copper, and 0.0241 of silver. The scorias usually retain 0.002 of copper, and 0.0005 of silver.

TOTAL SILVER PRODUCTION OF CHILI.

Humboldt estimated that the annual yield of silver in Chili at the beginning of this century was only 18,300 pounds troy. The total yield up to 1810 was estimated by Chevalier at 804,000 pounds troy; and from 1804 to 1845 at 1,803,636 pounds. The product in Copiapo from 1830 to 1853 amounted to 3,362,184 marks, or about $30,000,000. The following tabular statements of the metals and ores exported from Chili, and of the money coined from 1841 to 1858, with the exception of the years 1850 and 1853, for which there are no returns, show a total production of silver for 16 years of $46,826,998, or an average of nearly $3,000,000 per annum.

The statistics presented at the Exposition show that the exports silver for five years (probably from 1860 to 1865) were 165,432 kilograms, about 5,321,396 ounces troy, or a mean of 33,086 kilograms a year. (1,064,266 ounces.) This does not show the total production of the country, for there should be added to these figures the value of the silver contained in the matts and in the rough ores exported, valued, in 1865, at $626,629; also the silver coinage at the Santiago mint, which, in 1865, amounted to $450,644, and in 1866 to $973,428, making the total value of the production for 1866 about $3,000,000.

1 Mining Magazine, first series, iii, 38.

* Obtained from official sources in 1860, through Lieutenant J. M. Gillis, for the writer.

Exported.

Coined.

Exported.

Coined.

Quantity.

Amount.

Quantity.

Amount.

Quantity.

Amount.

Quantity.

Amount.

124, 800

$2,290

1,750, 520

15, 432

154, 320

PERU.

The most celebrated mines in Peru are those of Cerro de Pasco, at an elevation of 13,673 feet above the sea. There are two very remarkable veins which intersect directly under the market place of the city. The first vein, Veta Colquirirca, trends north and south, has been traced 9,600 feet, and is 412 feet wide in some places. The second vein, Veta Pariarirca, has a southeasterly and northwesterly course, has been traced for 6,400 feet, and is 380 feet wide in some places. The production of silver from these veins has been enormous, but has fluctuated greatly. In 1784, 68,208 marks of silver were produced, and in 1785, 73,455 marks. From 1784 to 1820, 1826 and 1827, the amount of silver produced was 8,051,409 marks, or nearly 59,000,000 ounces. During 17 years the production was under 200,000 marks, and above 300,000 only during three years.1

Besides the Cerro de Pasco mines, which are not inferior to those of Potosi, there are other rich mining districts in Peru. Von Tschudi enumerates the provinces of Pataz, Huamanchuco, Caxamarca and Hualgayoc. The celebrated silver veins of San Fernando, which were discovered in 1771, are situated in Hualgayoc. Rich' mines were formerly worked at Huantaxaya, near Iquique, but they were soon exhausted. The silver mines of Castro Virreyna, in the Cordillera south of Huancavelica, have been explored to a considerable extent. Of 30 mines only seven were worked in 1851. One steam engine was employed.

The following description of the Cerro Pasco mines is condensed from the report of Lieutenant Herndon. After the discovery by the Indians in 1630, these mines were worked without drainage, and with but little success until 1780, when the socabon or drain, or adit of San Judas was commenced. This adit is 5 feet wide and 6 feet 10 inches high, and delivers the water from the mines into the lake of San Judas. It is about 3,500 feet long; was finished in 1800, and cost $100,000.

In 1806 another adit was commenced 88 feet lower than the San Judas, and it was not completed at the time of Herndon's visit. It is 6 feet 10 inches wide, and 8 feet 3 inches high. A part is in solid masonry, well arched, and a large quantity of water flows through it. This socabon is known as the Quiulacocha. In 1816 a contract was made by the gremio for the drainage of the mines by steam machinery. Three steam engines and pumps were erected and worked successfully until the war of independence stopped operations.

In 1825 the drainage of these mines was undertaken by an English company called the "Pasco Peruvian." The compensation to this com pany was to be in ores from the mine. After driving 110 feet in the adit, at a cost of $40,000, (between September 1825 and January 1827,) this company failed, and the government of Peru undertook the work by paying $2,000 a month towards the expenses. The mines also contrib.

1 Condensed from Travels of Von Tschudi.

'Herndon and Gibbons's Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon, Part I, p. 108.

uted 123 cents upon each mark of silver. The work was placed under the charge of Rivero, and he extended the adit 122 feet. The miners furnished the powder and candles, and the superintendent supplied the tools. It was stated officially that it cost $86 dollars to excavate one vara. It was at that time 8,250 feet long, about 350 feet below the surface, and cost abont $1,000,000. Steam pumping engines were again resorted to, and in 1851 two were in operation, a third was erecting, and a fourth had just arrived from England. The contract required the erection of four sets of engines, each to consist of two engines of 15 horse-power each, and to drive three pumps in such a manner that if any accident should happen to one engine the other would drive two of the pumps. These pumps were worked by chains and long copper rods. All the metal work was of copper. The acid water of the mine attacked and rusted iron very rapidly. It is said by Phillips that steam-power was first introduced into these mines in 1814 by Richard Trevithick, but the acid waters quickly destroyed the pumps, and in 1832 only one remained at work.

The ores are soft and were obtained in large quantities near the sur face; the hill of Santa Catalina was completely honey-combed by the pits and galleries. These ores are known among the mines as cascajos; they do not require roasting, and they are worked in patio, or the “circo," requiring from 40 to 50 days. The general yield of these ores is six marks to the cajon and their cost at the surface is from $6 to $16, according to their hardness and distance from the mouth of the mine. Following are statements of the expenses of raising and working. Patio of 6 cajones at, $16 per caxon.....

$96.00

Grinding, at $10 per ca on....

Transportation of 150 mule loads to the hacienda, at 25 cents... 37 50

60.00

This is a very small return, but it is observed that the ore rarely costs $16, and often gives seven or eight marks to the cajon instead of six, as calculated above.

The pina, or retorted amalgam, is put into bars of 125 pounds each at the government smelting house at the mines. All the produce of the mines must be melted there and stamped. The bars are marked with

1 The mark=0.507090 pound of 7,000 grains, and is worth about $8.60.