Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-11-28
The GiI11i; mine, af mefisS.

thority Of gentleman who presided for
many years over one Of the principal mintS,
amounted, until recently, to about $780, OO'-
200, to which may be added 81. 600, 900 worth
Of the metal which was smuggled uncoined
out Of the country, the two sums combined
representing the net annual silver produc-
ton. A large proportion Of this came to
England, and enabled her to meet the de-
mands for the metal by India. Humboldt
has expressed hope that the MeXicans
would some day turn their attention to pro-
ducing articles of intrinsic value, and not
those which are merely sign to represent
1t. But silver and gold are as much articles
Of intrinsic value to the producer as coffee,
spices or sugar. The same great traveller
stated as fact, corroborated by the highest
authority, that two-thirds of all the silver cir
culating in the world was the produce OF the
Mexican mines. The mineral resources OF
Mexico, however, can scarcely be said to
have been yet even explored. There has
been no geological survey, and its richest
mining district, Sonora, is still almost a terra
meognlta. Humboldt may some day be
proved to have been fully justified IN the ex,
preston Of his apprehensions that, should
the mineral wealth of Mexico be ever tho
roughly developed, Europe would be again
inundated, as in the sixteenth century, with
silver. That the quantity which has hlther-
to been raised might be tripled with ease, no
person acquainted with the country can en-.
terrain doubt; for, since it has been found
profitable to work the poor ores, which occur
in inexhaustible masses, silver mining has
become q much more regular and steady pur-
suit. II was formerly carried on very clum-
silly. When water was reached the mine
was abandoned; but, notwithstanding the
unscienti6c method Of working which pre-
vailed, the yield was sometimes immense.
A single vein, only 100 feet in length, pro-
duced, in six months, l32, ga pounds troy OF
silver, valued at FL 100000. The great mine
Of La Luz, in the province OF Guanaxuato,
produced annually, for five years, net proht
Of Fl, 900, 900; it then suddenly fell on IN
productiveness, and was afterwards aoan-
doned. The veins are sometimes most CAPRI
cious, both in their continuance and IN their
yield. Deposits of enormous thickness often
contract in depth and dwindle to the form OF
a wedge. Others, which present every indi-
cation Of indefinite extension, suddenly d.
minish to a thread. Notwithstanding this
uncertainty, silver mining in Mexico is a
fayorite, and, on the whole profitable pur-
suit, and much native capital is embarked in
it. At the time Of Humboldt's visit there
were 500 mining establishments in the coun-
try, and from 5000 to 1000 veins or masses
Of rock were worked. One OF these veins, IN
the State Of GuanaXuato, from l3O to l4O
feet wide, was worked to the length OF eight
miles.
The geological character Of the districts in
which the silver ores occur varies consider
ably. In the great central plateau OF Ana
huac they are found in porphyry character
lied BY the constant presence OF hornblende,
and the almost entire absence Of quartz. In
other places the deposits occur in sienite.
In Guanaxuato, probably the richest mineral
district of Mexico, the ore lies in forma-
ton of clay-slate, while in some places it is
embedded in transition limestone. The only
auriferous veins worked as gold mines are in
Oaxaco, where they traverse formations OF
gneiSs and mica-slate but many Of the sill
yer veins contain proportion Of gold, which
is separated from the silver by the we'll
known process in metallurgy called parting.
"Of the excellence Of the mines of
Mexico" wrote Mr.. Ward, in 1927, "no
doubt can be entertained for if ever mining
was reduced to a certainty, it was so in
Mexico before the revolution. There might
be fluctuations, but they originated not in the
mines, but in causes totally unconnected
with them, which rendered the supply OF
quicksilver and other indispensable articles
more or less precarious." 1t is in the i'm
mense masses OF ore which they are capable
OF producing, and not in the proportion of
silver contained in it, that the riches OF the
chief mining districts consist; for the pro-
duce Of silver in proportion to the rock oper-
ated upon did not, previously to the revolu-
ton, according to the best Spanish author
tiles, exceed two and half ounces to the
hundred weight. The large capitals invested
by the old Spaniards in the mines were almost
entirely withdrawn after the revolution, and
we have the high authority Of Mr.. Ward for
the statement, that there never was greater
spirit Of enterprise, more liberality, or, In
general, better faith, displayed in any part OF
the world, than among the miners of Mexico
before the year 1910. Unexampled prosperity
was their reward but after the great con-
yulsions Of 1910, 1911 and 1872, little re-
manned to denote, amidst the general wreck,
the epoch of Splendor which Immediately
preceded it.
There is scarcely a town in Mexico that
does not owe its origin directly or indirectly
to the mines, and considerable cities have
survived the prosperity which gave them
birth. Almost the whole landed property in
the country was, before the revolution, in the
hands of mobiles or others, who had made
fortunes by successful mining, and agricul-
ture has followed the direction Of mining
adventure. There are few instances in which
a district Of known richness has disappointed
the hopes Of those who possessed the means
OF thoroughly exploring it. The chances Of
loss diminish in proportion to the extent OF
the operations for although poor miner
may lose his all, by working upon an i'll
chosen spot, few instances have occurred in
which district Of known richness has failed
to make profitable return. Some Of the
mines have proved singularly rich, as the
great mine Of La Luz, to which reference has
been made, to which may be added the mine
Of Zavala, which produced 100000 dollars
worth Of silver in two years; and the metal
liferous dust collected at the mouth Of the
mine was eagerly bought by proprietors of
works, who travelled from fifty
to sixty leagues for the purpose of obtaining
it, at the rate of one dollar for the pound OF
ore. Workings Of this high return are not,
however, the most enduring, and the greatest
losses in Mexican mining have been occa-
slOueu Ny hnS luJuuIClOus SebICn lOE IlCu
veins, while the comparatively poor were
neglected. The great Real del Monte mine,
to the operations Of which we shall presently
advert, raised annually $4,000 tons of ore,
from every ton Of which is extracted sixty
ounces Of silver; or six-feet cube of pure
metal was produced from cube of seventy
four feet Of rock.
This mine, orrather group Of mines, affords
one Of the most striking illustrations Of the
fluctuations OF prosperity on record. Prior
to the year l749 little was known of the Real
del Monte, except that it had yielded consid-
cradle quantities Of silver from irregular and
detached surface-workiugs, and it was tenn
porarily abandoned, as the difficulty Of keep
ing the water under increased; but having
been taken in hand by the celebrated Count
de Regla, he pursued the rich veins to the
depth Of two hundred yards from the surface,
employing for pumping FIVE thousand mules.
He thus extracted, at a comparatively small
cost, up to the time Of his death in 1881, sill
yer to the value Of 100000 dollars. In
1898 the mines were abandoned, from the
impossibility with the means at command Of
longer contending with the water. In 1924
they we're taken by an English company, ma