El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-03-13
Gold Mining in Mexico.

was only a hout ,! p r cent of that o1
the silver. In 1891 IL rose to about II
: per cent: in the next year it increased
from ii 500 pounds to Is 539 pounds Tine
gold. This year the figure Is X ly tt
be higher. The change is not TO be
attri buted to a diversion of mining
|, industry. For years NJ -XIcn has he'll
; n second position as a silver producer
, but last year il rose TO the first rank,
with report, output Of over j, 49,.
$50 pounds, exceeding that o. any uther
naJiO1 ia re world Nor Is II that the
country lacks other outlets for the em-
D Oymeut of miuing cap tai. Mexico
tpD~se-ses immense copper deposits, and
although the BoleO mines IN Lower
| California continue 10 be the chlei
source there are Elsewhere mum Der
of very pom ling copper lodes. Quick
silver mining is on the increase, aud
some new discoveries of 81 bar have
been repor ted: tin aud anLImony cyst.
Lead. however, is found chile fl, If not
enti, e Y, in connection with liver, and
mines of soft or non arg-ntlferou5 lead
are 81 far scarce. But the most i'm pOr-
ant miUiGg work now in progress at
several D 'ints is the exp rlOn OF the
60 i dep sits 1t is in this lndrstry, in
he develol ment OF road aud rail cuuA-
| muuicat.On in the improvement in the
mining code. with The reduction of
|
| or the increase IN the god output.
| Wi h cheaper fuel, the posi- blllJy #
| Transporting heavier machinery TO the
| mines and improved met mods of water
storage. many aurtfernus properties
| hat in the past d d OF pay a'e now
being worked at IA p~"fG and the indu--
try in general is becoming CONNER
cial su cess
From IA geological and IN neurological
| "a D6n N "a rr.s l.
| NC on fOunG alton of granite, seems to
| consist ma My Of N stamorphtc form n
| ions. partly upheav+d ami ovcrlaid by
| ingenious MASSES of al ayes, C iehy re
| p eseuted by snales. greywAcke, green-
-UoneS silicIouS scli-ts aud unfOssili-
| ferrous l,mestOnes. All these forma-
| ions are al Ike remarkable for the
abundance aud variety of their metal
| lferOuS O"eS, as silver, silver
glance. gold and copper. The mot
valuable rocks are the argeutlferOu-,
uorphyries and schists in the central
! plateau 10 Si1trot together with the
| turiferOuS det oSits in Sonora the eX
| IRENE northwestern state Some gold
| mines in this latter district b ave lately
come under the writer's no &c, aud
| The iuforma iOn that he is he e able to
| give may perhaps convey rough idea
| Of gold mining 10 this state, and serve
| is IL comparison for similar enterprises
| n other parts of Mexico The main
auriferOuS vein system of Sonora runs
,Orth northwest to south southeast
The OutcrOpS are often ScantV. The
odes, which occur as contact deposit is.
tlsO independent veins travers o q
the country rock, vary greatly in width
n places being as narrow as one foot,
aud again swelling to upw ards of ~
feet. AS usual. the Or )dieS that are
largest and most productive are often
found as shoots or chimueys near the
junction of a tributary with main
vein. But rich O~e is also encountered
IN bodies or bouanzas of regular snaps
and greater or ISIS size, Their orig q
Delng doubtless due to the number of
he feeders that cross or converge with
the main veins at vary ing angels the
gold, for the most part, Is not free m IL
ing, but i assoc ated with silver and
d ba ed by varying amounts of pyrites,
copper aud gale1a, tn PERCENTAGE of
sulphides berg ii per cent, OCCASION
ally rising TO II per cent. In gold
cOntentS the ore Is not Oh grade
AT present large proportion of the
fuel used in Sonora Is wood. Under
tue MeXi.-an laws the owner of a ranch
permitted to cut down on it all the
wood he requires To acquire an in
terest in ranch is therefore the cheap
-st way of oh ny fuel. Palp i-rro
iron wood weighing eighty pounds, |
nd mesquite weighing ftty-four
D unds to tn cub foot, a"e excellent !
irewood. and average with delivery |
within rea-piaHle i-tance, about ID Ca +,
IA PER co d NJ ming tin, r Is nrnugnG |
ny sea to Guaymas. in thu Gulf of Cal |
lorna. Ocean fire ghts f"om Euroue |
TO Guaymas vary slightly with the |
season. but are always low. From |
Guaymas a ra lway rrav-r-es Sonora to
los. h.app FREQ a
he1re communicates with the lines of !
the UnIted States S ,me OF the coun-
try is paS>able by carts drawn by mules
hut arrCyaS or dry water courses are
FIRE quently trou bIesOme obstacles for
carts. and a very large mum Der of the
trarks are open only 10 mules Carts
carrying say TWO tons cost ii bout 81 pr
Ton Ter mule: mule, taking 300 pounds |
per animal, cost about l. Per ton a
mile. Mach etc, is IN times
slung and carried by Indians. n .tive
la Dor is fairly cheap, miners earning
about b to As per dav. laborers from Is
to IS, engineers from IS to- los, carpen-
ters and blacksmi hs IS tn IS High
class mechanics, blackSmi his c4rp-n-
tiers, mil men etc, have 10 be brought
from TIL United States and paid &C
accordingly. There are as
mi ght be expected, copsid-
sidera bic water difficulties in SONORA,
n most cases to h. overcome only by
Dum ping. we'll sinking and storage In
he three months of the wet sc Ison the
'ainfall, never very heavy, is some
lines extre mely scanty The river
ystem, running roughly n 'rth and
Outh, comprises the Rio Ma gdalena,
lowing by Altar; the Rio S MIRA, pas
NC Hermosillo, the Rio S IN Miguel, a
RI butary o. the Sonora: the Rio Malta
'e, entering the sea slightly south of
iuaymas. and the Rios Yaqui, NJ tyO
md Fuerte. The law regarding water
ighls, a acquired by the purchase of
liver side property, are complicated.
md the amount of water that by these
means can be obtained are very limit
d. The present main groups of Sono
a N ines are situated in the vicinity of
santa Ana and Of Hermosillo, both of
which towns are on the line of rail The
7riter understands that within the last
5w months two French companies
ave acquired gold mining properties
q the San Pedro range of Sonora, and