Arizona republican., 1898-11-25
MINERAL IN THE PHILIPPINES

] The Republican has received from the United States bursau Of geological, survey an interesting pamphlet en- titled Memorandum Of the MipeIal Resources Of the Philippine Islands" which has been prepared by MT. George F. Becker, representative Of the bur eau, at present ia the islands. This is the first authoritative and official state ment that has emanated from the gov ernment on this subject, and it con tains a mass of most useful and conser- vative information. From it are gleared the following fac,s:
 The coal supply of the Philippines is a very interesting question, since coal plays so important a part in ocean commerce and naval supplies. So far as is known, the. coal of the Philippines is not of the best quality. It belongs to the tertiary age and is characterized as a nlghly carbonized Ignite. It con- .tains a good deal of water, and is not adapted to bear transportation well. Specimens that have been examined, from the island of Botar, are found to have aDout three-fourths of the heating effect of Cardiff coal. Much of the coal in other localities is believed to be of substantially the same quality as that of Botan. There are extensive depos- it's in Luzon, the seams varying from two and a half to fourteen feet eigh- inches in thickness. In Cebu beds have been discovered of a maximum thickness of fifteen and One-Ealf feet, but the mining has net proved profit able, though this may be due to the lack of improved facilities for transpor- tation. The island of Mindanao is known to have eight coal deposits, but they have not been thoroughly investi- gated. The islands appear to have a gcod deal Of coal, but llttle if any of the best quality. Further investiga- tion is necessary to determine the value Of the coal supply:
 Petroleum and natural gas have been found on the islands Of Cebu and Pa nay. The extent of the supply is not known, but, of course, there is pos sibility that it may prove valuable. Forty years ago the oil riches of Penn sylvania were sarcely suspected, and .ne oil and gas regions of other states were practically unknown. It is quite within the range of possibility that large quantities of oil and gas may Oe found in the Philippines, put as yet we cannot assert that these resources are Of any grea- inpUr tancs.
 There are 9 great many localities in Lhe islands where gold is found It is found in wetercourses, i'll beds of streams now deserted by the current, and also associated with quartz h one case this quartz is said 10 have a. saved thirty-eigkt ounces to the ton, Out MT. Becker suspects that this was not an average sample. In general, it may be said that while Lhe gold mines of the Philippines are numerous and probably valuable, exact information is wanting as to nearly all of them
 Copper exists il 2 great many locali- ties in the Philippines. IL one part Of smelted before the islands were discov- cred by Magellan. The value Oi these copper mines is net doubted, bu, as to many others the same lack of precise information is experienced as prevails with reference to other minerals. SiHli- larly, lead, silver and iron are known to exist in some Of the islands, but their importance from an economic standpoint is yet to- be fully deter mined Rumors of ishe existence of