The National tribune., 1900-12-27
GOLD in THE PHILIPPINES.
Rich Deposits of the Precious Metals, but
Present Methods OF Mining are Crude.
BY IL. I'll. HlLDER.

| During the present year L have again
visited the Philippines, and although exist
| ing conditions were such that | could not
personally visit the gold-bearing districts,
| was enabled to obtain considerable in
| formation with respect to them from
sources which | consider TO be thoroughly
reliable, and have inspected a number OF
samples of gold obtained from different
| localities. In the Island of LuZon there are
| few provinces in which gold does not exist
i'll greater or less quantity, i'll veins aud
lodges in the mountains or in the river
sands and alluvial deposits.
One of the best known auriferouS dis
| tricts is that of Paracale, in the province
| of Camarines Norte, on the eastern coast
of LuZon, where in the spurs of the noun
tains many veins and outcroppings of gold
| bearing rock have been uncovered, particu-
larry ut Pinagalatinan, Imbongimbong and
| Lugos, near Labo. In the former places
! the gold is in combination with iron pyriteS,
with trace of copper, blendc, galena and
chromate of lead in orange-colored crystals.
| In Labo the strcaks or veins are gray i'll
color, containing gold, blende. iron pyrites,
and sometimes, although seldom, natiye
copper. The general direction of these
strata is from north to south, except in
| Gumihan and Lugos Mountains, in which
| the trend is to the northwest. The width
Of the veins is from one to five inches up
to 20 to Sc inches. Foreman 1.-The Philip
pine Island, by John Foreman, New York,
1899, p. :}S0 mentions this district as fol-
| lows:
In the time of Pedro Manuel Aranllia
| 07541TJ9D. a certain Francisco Estorgo
obtained license to work these Paracale
mines, and FIVE veins are said to have been
| struck. The first was iD the Lipa Noun
tain, where the mine was called San
Nicolas de Tolentino;' the second, in the
DOboJan Mountain, was called 'Nuestra
Sonora de la Soledad de Puerta Vaga; the
third, in Lipara, was named Nina de las
Aninias; the fourth, in the territory of San
Antonio, took the name of San Francisco
and the fifth, in the Minapa Mountains,
was named 'Nuestra Sonora de los Dolores,
all in the district of Paracale, near the vii
lage of Mambulao."
He also says:
'Estorgo's neighbors instigated by ma
tive legal pettifOggers in Manila, raised
endless lawsuits against him; his means
were exhausted and apparatus was wanted
to work the mines, so he abandoned them"
These mines are at present operated by
the natives, but in such rudimentary
and desultOry manner that only a small
portion of the gold is saved. The workings
are seldom carried to a greater depth than
three or four meters, but it is fact which
promises better results, whenever more
scientific and practical methods may be
brought to bear on them, that the ore al
ways us the utpIn Is III
creased; but in all the hundreds of years
during which these deposits have been
known, it is safe to say that their true
value has never been tested.
The natives carry the ore to the surface
in baskets, and when water is struck they
bale it out with buckets, either pulling
them up with a rope or carrying them up a
bamboo ladder. The gold-bearing 60 ok is
emptied from the baskets into concavity
in Il rock or large stone, which serves as a
mortar. The pestle or stamp consists of a
stone about % pounds in weight, which is
tied with a strip of bejuco to the end Of a
slender pole, which is rested obliquely
against the fork of a tree. The laborer,
taking advantage of the elasticity of the
pole, uses it like a trip hammer, and
brushes the rock. The broken rock is then
pulverized in rude mill, consisting of
rough stone roller, which is revolved in
circular base by means of buffaloes. The
pulyerized material is then washed, gener-
ally by women, until there remains only Il
dark sediment, which is afterward smelted
by placing it in a shell, covering it with
charcoal, and using a small piece of bam
boo as a blOwpipe.
A sample of the metal obtained by this
imperfect process gave the following anal