The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-26
OPPORTUNITIES IN MALAGA.
an American Consul Discusses the
COuntry'S Mineral Resources.

An American Consul Discusses the
Country's Mineral Resources.
The State Department has received
from Benjamin ". Ridgely. the United
states Consul az Malaga. a most interest
ms communication relative To the miner
al resources of Malaga. Mr. Ridsely
says:
During The past year keen interest has
been awakened Ia the mineral deposits
Of the province Of Malaga. as well as En-
the adjacent provinces OF Aimgria and
GTanada, and it seems GO no worth while
10 call the attention Of American capital
lists 10 the situation. The most import
ant event Of the year has been the acuui-
Sitton by Schneider q Co. the Creusot
ordnance manufacturers. % large mining
concessions at Cape Catalonia. near the
town of Motril- in the Province Of Gran
ada The work of acquiring these con-
cCssions was very quietly accomplished.
and it * NOT yet generally known that
they have been acquired. This great firm
has at this Tim. "A large force Of crgin-
GERS at CslaH' nda, and the work of eX-
plorinE and operating the mines viii soon
he actively entered upon II is probably
the intention of the Schueidrr5 to ship the
ore direct 70 their new works at Ccttc. in
the south of France. There is small
natural port at Catalonia which the
company may or may not decide 10 en-
large, but In any event ships can easily
load from lighters
Another important mining event Of the
year was the sale BY the Andalusian
Railroad Company to q French company
Of certain coal mines in the province OF
Jaon for $l,5Go.0)0. But the purpose Of
this report is To deal with the mineral
eff in,
This provinC, has a superficial area Of
about 1000 square miles. with a coast line
Of about l0D miles on the Mediterrauean.
Tho principal seaport Is the city Of NaIa-
gu. which has "a large and fine now har-
Dor and is the terminus Of the AudaIus-
ian Railway.
The province with the exception of e
narrow strip along the scashorc. is made
up entirely Of mountains and deep valleys
Only one iron mine has been worked, the
one at Narbelia. on the coast. about half
way between Malaga and Gibraltar. which
has been operated for about thirty years.
and. according to recent reports. is now
almost exhausted. Nor has there been
any serious or woIl-organizcd effort at
exploration. In spite Of this fact how
ever. superficial deposits Of iron. coal,
and copper are found in many directions.
and there IS a widespread feeling thai
the work Of developing the mineral
wealth Of the province must soon begin.
7 MS feeling is naturally augmented by
tlr reported approaching exhaustion of
the Bilbao mines. and Is evidenced by the
numerous applications for concessions
that nave been made 90 the Government
SINCE the LIST OF January. 1890. Incident
any. IL may be stated that while the sI-
p'FHrlIl area Of land may belong 10 in
eiFlcuais, az that exists below the sur
= IE nov HHHHf "a.
crown Hence. for the purpose Of ex-
plpllHg or operating a mine. the owner Of
The land must first make application 10
the Cove rumeut. The Crown grants Easy
terms. however: for example. i'm mo case
az iron. il demands only per cent Der
dHnHn on the vHtUe Of tLf iron mined
and this at the mines
There must also De paid when tho CON
c'SsiI0 is demanded "A cash fee Of 90 % FOR
the Erst 800 acres Of superficial area and
aiL-rWlrd 1 peset1s per hectare. 2fI
acres. Tor each heCtare condemned Dur
ing The thirty years prior 20 January T.
l..a- --.tt concessions were applied for in
the Province Of Malaga. OF an average Of .
about % year. Since the lst Of January. .
CeSsiCus were applied for Of which 2i2
were duly registered. as follows
Iron. lI5. coal y, copper, 2G; lead, o;
soaTstone. 4, manganese. 3, autimouy. 3.
nickel. 2. graphite I. haryta. 4; sulphur l.
The numerous superficial deposits Of
iron ore indicate that the general charac- .
good quality with from 80 10 6i per cent /
OF metallic iron
I'm regard TO coal the superficial dcDos- /
its are or an excellent quality. The same f
may be said of copper. but neither coal .
nor copper has ever been mined or even p.
seriously explored for. I'm the Province .
Of Malaga, and little is known of what .
exists beneath the surface.
Nickel WAS mined for while by a
Belgian company. but very Care!essly. and .
IL Is said the results were by no means .
what they should have been
"Iu regard 70 the deposits Of antir00uy. .
it IS stated that this metal is found IT, the .
shape Of "A pare metallic crystal AT Vim +.
u.la- near NeleZ-halage. A Spanish en- /
l-iuse- tells ne that BE- knows OF no other /.
territory that produces pure metallic am .
tiUG1v- incidentally is should la noted .
not extensive although the surrounding F.
States are more or less impregnated with f.
OF have talked with several cIcar-helI- .
a men here who have "a wide acgUaiUt- F.
1una with an AnaalUz'a. and believe in .
q be- great mineral D.s-i hiliti-s Of the prov .
ince or Malaga. They complain that f.
there is lack both % enterprise and .
money in spain. as well as AN absence .
OF confidence I'm Spanish undertakings II .
foreign projectors viii come here and DEE .
ye.ap the country. and my inturuaHts say .
that company with sufficient capital 20 .
make serious and scientific explorations .
could command all the concessions ir de- F.
sired ON very easy conditions and would .
rich deposits of iron. coal and copper. .
They think that such a company DLghr %
be- orEa niysf I'm The United States. If tho .
idea should Interest anybody iu the .
United states. 70 would afford me pleas F.
Urs 90 put them II communication with .
raH q ID %