New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-07-16
MEXICO.

TIE MINERAL WEALTH or THE REPCBLlO-
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE MlNEs-LoOAl,
tiles OF METAL-RELATlON OF OOLp AN |
SILVER TO THE sTATE-DIfFlCULIlEo Oh |
WORKING MINEs-COMPARATINE COSTS OF |
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. AND LEX
pos STATIsTICs-COAL, IRON, AND oALI-A
MINERAL SALVATION FOR MENlCo-INO-
POSED ABOLITION OF TANES on MINING
Prom Our own Correspondent PAcuucA. June II, 1863
ANY one who studies the mineral history and con
dtion of this country will agree with the Ju"a ne
Wine,ia as regards The folly Of those who consider
that agriculture, commerce, OF manufacture ought 10
be considered the primary source OF Mexican wealth.,
Mines the country has-commcrcc 1t has nOtj anu
the former 20 to make the only coin practicable TO
be staked for winning the latter The sole gIeaV III
dustry and riches Of the country are mineral
Neglect these, and what becomes OF lhe
other three dcpeDdent sources Of revenue Hence
tbc need for stimulating mineral industry IN every
way. and first by relieving it OF the clumsy
oyerplus of taxation Pachuca illustrates the case
Here and obout and in the Real del Monte, are some
thirty mines chiefly owned by one company. l am
greatly mistaken if more than one-ith OF TINS num-
her are working pTOftably now. The reasons are
various In some of the mines, which have been
dug for centuries back, the cost and toll OF pumping
ont is enormous Othors got to the end OF their
streak of luck; Others were experimental
shafts or little more; and OF late
years the company has concluded, aIter
strng into every report of metal that 1t does not
pay to 20 on prospecting at large against the natru
difficulties of the case, and taxation OF little less
than % per cont Mining has its notorious ylcSsi-
tudes and an equal prosperity is not to be Calculated
in every case. Some years ago the single Rosario
mine yielded almost twice the value OF metal now
produced by the whole of the companies working
which is doubtless not moro than S2OOOO per
,ot oh MOI
mines. and the mineral region round about
them both as to digging and reducing, Is de-
monstrable Ores which it does not now pay 10 re-
duce could be made to give saving profit IL only
the a per cent of fetteTs were taken OIL the MINER
Possibly it would profit to extract the 10 grams Oh
cold which go to the mark in an occasional yeld OF
these mines. Ninety-sx grains per carga, or 5VO
pounds Of metal is the highest yield known here but
in GuanajuatO rate less than this IS now
proftably extracted, it appears, account of the
clearness Of the metal The reduction of taxes is alb
sOuely necessary TO any fuller reduction OF metals
Humboldt IN 1893 said there were nearly 5OJ mineral
districts in Mexico wherein are about 1GUO MINES
With slight exceptions no new districts have been
worked since his time. The comparative products
of different districts have varied from time to time,
some having become rich and others poor so that the
inference IS fair that there are very many 1sco
metal which want nothing but workers. sonora,
Durango, chihuahua even said TO be superior 70
the rest of the Republic in mineral respects the rich
Cluded but miners and mining capital are wanting In
Chapas rich districts of gold and silver IRON ana
lead and il signifies much to add SAT- one OF the
most essential ingredients of the reduction process
NuevO Leon has silver, iTOn "copper" and lead. Gutr-
has a store of iron and copper and IT'S Lacatu'
region has been pronounced as good as the Ch cop,
per fields Ten years ago placers OF gOd were IOunu
there, and some were lately reported there put
snguarly enough. there are few or no INNING opera
lions in the State. JallScO has gold, silver copper,
and iron MichOacan boasts OF silver and copper,
iron lead, and sulphur but until lately, when an
a
mixed silver and copper mines, niue mas
been done to extract these natural treas
ures In the State of Mexico about score of
mining districts not all at present worked. OaNaca
has discovered gold and mlnts silver ana Is alto-
gether doing ten per cent better III these respects
than ten years ago, when her silver was handful
and her gold mere notion Puebla has silver; gold
and copper and in 1861 had five mining hacendas IN
operation. Lower California has g0ld ana SlNGI
Tamaupas and Puebla have coal beside. In the
Mineral del Rosario OF Mazatan, IN SnaI9a; arc
but silver is the only ore worked to any
extent. The entire coinage Of tn the So Republic IN
the rich year of 1886, was Sl994oOi; but that
of the past year ND to date fails to 30 beyond TINS
amount Notwithstanding that OaXaca has been
added to the list of mints and that additional Gls-
tricts have been worked No one at all believes That
the silver riches of Mexico are IN danger OF giving
out. War and taxation accumulated nave mao now
the mineral wealth of Mexico, but it Is a sum which
must be worked out.
described show result, of late dsprOportionate
But mining has some Obvious drawbacks, when
mine to work mine, IN many cases. The business
is more or less lottery for some reason or other.
under the best conditions. Hardness and sottness OF
rock, water bad air. are some OF the dIincuieS ana
risks of mining, and there Is chance beside OF ore
giving out after the miner has gone to depth.
miner seldom gets returns TIL he has sunk FAR ana
i'm opening up an old mine he fares little better on
account of the expenses OF draining new TIM
bering and cleaning out An enormous
quantity of worthless stones are taken out
Of the mines, as these at Pae s5.l ana ana
that the medium assay of ores from the rich Nalen-
ca mine in GuanajuatO in its best years was only
OF. of silver per quinta Of 100 b. That OF Pachuca
and Real del Monte was on. per quntal from 1919
to 1853 richer years than the present if mistake
not The fnihts iGddCe 25OJ,GO marks of silver an
nually. A mark is eight ounces. This amount says
Mr. Velasquez de Leon, Is extracted from at least
100000 quintals of clean ORE which In It's turn pro
Ceeds from 1O00OOOOO of stone. The general cost OF
transportation throughout the country isan important
count. Substances that enter into reduction cost
more than the silver itself l have heard that the
Real del Monte Company paid 600 year, OF late
for its salt and this Mexican product, too. True IT
is that silver and gold cost less than would any oil
the other metals, they being less wOrked-and even
less than such a common article as sugar. One
thousand ounces Of gold are worth 5000 arObes OF
sugar. but to Vera Cruz the carriage cost OF the for
mer about 81 and of the latter IN the best season
of the year from S2 TO $4,000 that the difference
of transport cost in favor of gold Is as TO 1000
This is great advantage for the metal compare
lively, but it is obvious that railroads would be an
immense benefit all round. In some of the richest
districts there no roads at ALL or only impractl
cable ones and hence there are no workings, Abol-
ish the tax on mining, and roads would be made.
Silver and gold constitute fOuT-tfths of the X
ports of Mexico. This is Mr. Lerdo de Tejadas est
innate but it does not include the business of snug
gleTs, which would make the traction seYen-elghths
or more. Relieve these products, and all others
prosper argue the JtHtd; keep the taxes, and so
turn of the miners and exclude new mines, and the
people will be as impoverished as ever We have
Humboldts table TO prove that from the year I'LL,
ever since the Government began 10 suspect that 1t