The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-05 00:00:00

ASTURIAN MINING COMPANY.

The first annual general meeting of the proprietors in th•
Asturian Mining Company was held on Monday. the 30th
ult., at the Company's offices, 9, Austin-friars, Gideon Col-
quhoun. Esq., in the chair, when the following report was
read by the Secretary :
"FIRST ANNUAL REPORT BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE ASTURIAN MINING COMPANY, READ AT THE
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE PROPRIETORS,

HELD JUNE 30, D 45.
" The Directors have much pleasure in meeting the Proprietors
at their first anniversary, and submitting a statement of their pro.
ceedings during the past year. They have, in the first place, to eon.
gratulate the Proprietors upon the establishment of the Royal North
of Spain Railway, which has given an increased value to the exten.
sive mineral property possessed by the Company, by creating a cheap
outlet for its produce to the port of Aviles, in the Bay of Biscay,
and thence to nearly the whole line of coast bordering on the At-
lantic, whilst it opens, at the same time, a considerable extent of
inland inter-communication. The line is now underg-ing a minute
survey, with a view to the early commencement of the works ; and
it is believed that in the course of next year. it will he constructed
for a distance of nine mites from Aviles on the one side, and from
Mires collieries to the c•ty of Oviedo (the capital of the Asturias),
on the other. The large mineral traffic which the railway company
anticipate from the Asturian portion of the line, affords the strongest
possible inducement to hasten its execution.

"But in order to accomplish this important object, the Directors
would re emmend that they should be authorised by the Proprietors
to enter into a negotiation with the Royal North of Spain Corn.
pany, for a lease of this portion of the line, for a term of not less
than tee years.
" The Directors have devoted their unceasing attention to carry
out the two main odjects contemplated by the Company, the opening
of the most easily worked; and most productive of their coal and
iron ore concessions, and the erection of works for smelting the
iron ere, and manufacturing bar, bolt, and nail, rod, and sheet
iron. Two collieries have already been t.peneel on the north and
south sides of the river Mieres ; and although the workings have
necessarily been limited, yet these have enabled a correct opinion
to be formed of the direction and the thickness of the seams, the
quantity of the coal, and the cost of its extraction. The colliery
on the north side has been found to contain t.eventeen veins o
coal, of which the second is seven feet in thickness. On the south
side the first vein is eight feet thick, and the second five feet. In
order to supply the local demand, and to open an export trade
through the port of Gijon, the colliery on the southern side will
soon be in active work; and as the coal can be raised at the level's
mouth at 9 reals, or less than 2s. an Engish ton, a fair re.
munerative price may be expected, notwithstanding the cost of
transit to the sell.

" And here the Directors think it their duty to bring under the
notice of the Proprietors a proposal which haq been made to them
for the purchase of a colliery upon advantageous terms on the line
of the North of Spain Railway, and within a limited distance of the
coast; by means of which the shipments of coals may be proeeeded
with whilst the resources of the larger and more valuable collieries
are developing themselves. The coal, although not equal in
quality to that of the Mitres mines, is well adapted for inland
sale, as well as for a general coast trade, and also for being
converted into coke.

"The adaptation of the coal for steam purposes has been recently
proved by a successful trial in the steamer Attwood, in which, ac-
cording to a certificate of the engineer of that vessel, its evaporative
power was superior to the Welsh coal, and Equal to to the West
Hartley. No evidence was necessary to establish its fitness for
household purposes.

" The great demand for, and the high price of coke, for manu.
turing and other purposes, combined with the large importation of
this article, induced your Directors to commence the erection of
coke ovens, which, they have no doubt, will yield a liberal return
upon the comparatively small amount of capital expended upon
them. A contract has already been entered into by the Com-
pany's agent for supplying 100,000 quintals of this article to the
Government foundry at Trubia.
" The proprietors are already familiar with the magnitude of th•
home and foreign markets which will be opened to the produce of
the coal mines ; but your Directors are convinced that, whatever
may be the extent of that demand, it can form no relative propor-
tion with the capacity of supply, of which the Company's coal Lon-
cessions are capable. The concessions, situated in the districts of
MiZ,rea, Tudela, and Le Foz, contain upwards of one hundred:work
able seams, and constitute, in fact, the richest and most available
atoms in the great coal basin of the Asturias.

" The proprietors were informed by a circular.report, which
your Directors distributed in December last, that they had con.
traded with Messrs. Graham and Sons, of the Melton Works, for
supplying the requisite machinery for making pig iron and cast-
ings, arid the manufacturing of iron ; and also for the erection of
the necessary works in Mieres, which %are to be completed in three
months atter the delivery of the last cargo of machinery. The
shipment of the machinery was delayed in consequence of an appli.
cation made by your Directors to the Spanish Government for
permission to import it free from the very her,y duty imposed by
the tariff, and they have now the satisfaction of announcing that
this permission is on the eve of being granted, and that a member
of the board is now in Madrid, to carry this liberal privilege into
effect. The works will then be proceeilea with, with the utmot vigour,
and it is confidently anticipated that in the month of March next
year the furnaces will be in blast.

•' The site selected for the works, in the valley of the Mitres, is
within a short distance of the iron mines, and in the very midst of
the northern and most important collieries.

" Your Directors need not dwell upon the large returns which
this important branch of the Company's operations must realise in
a country in which there hi a constant demand for wrought iron,
with the most inadequate means of supply, and in which its impor-
tation is subjected to a duty of 15/. per ton. In the detailed esti.
mates, of which the substance was embodied in the circular report
already referred to, it was stated that the sum required for Messrs.
Graham and Sons' contract for opening the mines, making roads,
purchasing land, and carrying on the works for three months,
would amount to 23,0001; and upon the assumption that the
quarterly produce would be only 1,000 tons of pig iron, the net
profit on three months' working was estimated at 4,5201., or an
annual profit of 18.080/.
" The above estimate of profits,' says the Company's engineer,
will not be deemed excessive, when it is considered that the
minerals in the Company's concessions are worked as cheaply as in
the most favoured mining districts of Great Britain ; that the pre.
sent selling prices of castings add wrought iron are fully 40 per
cent above the estimated rates; and that large fortunes have been
recently realised in Spain by manufacturing Iron under the serious
disadvantage of using charcoal as fuel.'
" The Directors are un ble to report upon all their experimental
mining operations beyond the fav,urable indications which con.
tinue to encourage their operations, except a. respects the Cinnabar
mine, lately discovered, and now at work at Pole de Lena, which
adjoins the great coal field of Mi4res, and is a short distance from
the mines now working by the Spanish Mercury Companies, the
shares of which are now at between 2.000 and 3,000 per cent., pre-
mium. The Directors have the gratification to state that the ore
of this valuable metal, already exposed in the Company's mine, is
estimated to be worth upwards of 3,600/. ; and the latest reports
from the captain miner show that the further workings indicate
still more cheering prospects. In his report of the 7th of June last,
he writes—' We have now found a vein of four feet wide, with
good asr,ciates. which contains cinnabar throughout. We have
cut a very good lode in the "slopes," cast of the wince, the leading
branches from three to seven inches in extent. If the lode hold as
good as it is now, we shall be able to break from 3001bs. to 4001bs.
of ore a day.' On the 16th inst, he writes—' I hasten to inform
you that I have this day inspected " La Eugenia" mine; and that
its appearances are even of a more promising character than any-
thing we have yet met with. The lode in many places carries beau-
tiful veins of cinnabar.'

" The Directors congratulate the proprietors upon this valuable
acquisition, which, when fully developed, they have every reason to
believe, will form a very large item in the Company's revenue. The
demand for quicksilver is steady, and the price equally so, by the
right of pre-emption enjoyed by the Spanish Government; and it
is almost unnecessary to add, that every quicksilver company in
Spain returns to its associates a larger revenue than any other com-
mercial enterprise.
" The other experiments which the Directors are making are
upon a limited scale, and guided by a spirit of economy. They
refer you to a report from their milling correspondent at Intiesto
(dated the 14th instant), for a detailed account of the trial work-
ings in this district.
" The Directors are enabled to speak with more confidence upon
the prospects of their mining operations in consequence of one of
their number, whose geological knowledge and experience in min-
ing are as fully appreciated by the public as by themselves, having
just returned from a visit to the Asturias, during which he person-
ally inspected the whole of the Company's mines. The informa.
tion which he collected in the course of his tour was communicated
by him in a paper read at the recent meeting at Cambridge of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science, and which at.
tracted, as it merited, much attention amongst the most eminent
geologists and mineralogists in the University.
"The Directors, theretbre, consider themselves justified in ar-
riving at the conclusion that the field of mineral enterprise opened
up to the Company—from the riches and variety of the mineral's
it contains, from the facility of working them, and from the
number of remunerative markets at which their produce can be
sold, has no parallel in this country, or in any other district of
similar extent in the continent of Europe.
"' The Directors deem it an at of justice to the Political Chief
of the province to state that every facility has been afforded by him
in carrying on the operations of the Company. The local authori.
ties have also forwarded the views of the Company's agents, aid
the excellent conduct of the native miners has added another tes.
timony
to the peaceable and industrious character of the Asturian
population.

" The Directors have to report that, in conformity with the
provision of the Spanish Commercial Code, ' Regulations for con.
stituting the Company as an anonymous Society,' have been duly
registered in the archives of the province of Oviedo. This regis-
tration limits the responsib.lity of the Proprietors to the extent of
their interest in the capital stock, and confers upon them privileges
equal to those of a royal charter of incorporation in this country
" In conformity with the ' Regulations,' your Directors submit
the annual balance sheet, verified by the auditors, showing the
liabilities and assets of the Company. for the financial year ending
on the 30th of April last.
" One of the auditors, Mr. William Campbell Gillen, retires by
rotation, but being eNible for re-election, he offers himself ac.
cordingly.
(Signed) " G. COLQUHOUN, Chairman.
" Asturian Mining Company's Office, June 30, 1815."

Resolutions approving the report (which was considered as
highly tatistactory ) and for carrying the recommendations of the
Directors into effect, were unanimously agreed to ; atter which the
meeting separated.

_
M Mr I) 11 y
Ch.,ira,ar:. a,: C.
interviews wit:LA the (inalieelwr uf Lae I,..Aenequer yes-
terday.