The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-06-08
ore. I talked with Mr.. Weigau Al

AACiC 40 Sopp~A III IiIdIN parts --
northern Korea. The country is Gov
cred, however, with great fields
lava, which prevents mining under
The chief copper mines are ~.
around the edges, where the ava hi.
eroded, and this is the charactar
the Kapsan property. The mines a..
situated about a mile above the
and 30 miles from the coast. Tn
are in the northeastern part Of H..
peninsula, where the winter clima--
very severe. We a to go over --.
ranges of mountains to reach the..
and we shall AVE to take our macI--
cry in on pack ponies. We shall q-.
up a small smelter right away, begin
ming our work in the spring, and shau
Increase our plant right along"
Are these mines extensive? ?"
eyes. and the copper is rich. Thu
have been worked as far back as &
thousand years ago, and with rude ma
tive methods have produced sometime
like 800, 900 tons of smelted cOpped
per annum The ore runs, on the
average. about 10 per cent copper,
which is far higher than that of other
| copper mines. The concession is TWEEN
ty miles long n thirteen miles wide,
and there is copper all over it"
How did the Americans get this
mine, Mr.. Weigall?"
ut originally belonged to the king.
| and it was one Of his principal prop
critics. Mr.. Collbran secured a con
cession from his majesty to take UP 4
mining property anywhere in the
| country of the dimensions I haVe
mentioned, and this concession was -
include any mines belonging to the
king. Mr.. Collbran investigated tha
Kapsan region and selected this prop
erty. He realized that he would haEe
difficulty holding it, and when the pa
pers were drawn UP he had them
signed by the emperor in the presence
of his ministers at the palace. H.
then had them certified to before tn
United States minister to Seoul, d..
Allen. They We're then taken to Lon
don and certified to by the Korean
minister there, and then to Washing
ton, where the Korean minister -
America affixed his Endorsement. Then
the war with Russia came on and the
Japanese, having prospected that reg
ion, declared that the property was.
theirs. and tried to set Mr.. COIIbran'S
concession aside. The matter was
fought over in the courts, and, .
make a long story short, it las 10"
been settled in Mr.. Collbran's favor
What other copper mines has
Korea p"
There are three great belts her
in which copper is found. The jap
anese have some mines in the south
ern part Of the country, and the Ital-
ians are developing the Kan@--a
mines. They have fvefoOt bands Of
per cent copper in diorite limestoN.
or about the same type Of ~fOr1natL".
as the gold Of Suan. SO far, hOWeT@r.
the only really great mine OF We
known value is the kapsan.'
Graphite and Iron.
"What other important minera
Korea?"
"One which promises to be v.r~
valuable is graphite. This is Of
high grade. and samples which EaE
been sent to London have assay
values Of 500 q ton. An engineer se~-
here by one Of the big lead penc1.
companies, which use so much Of that
metal. speaks highly Of the prospects
Already mines are being opened, the
largest of those now in operation b.
ing worked by Morris & Co, an
American syndicate. The Japare@a
have q graphite mine neal FusaI.
from which they are now eXpOrrr-
500 tons a month. The most Of +
goes to Nagasaki and thence to Ne"
York or London.
In addition to the minerals "
have talked Of" continued Mr.. Wei
all. this country has large bodies o.
iron to the northeast OF ~Pyeng-yah-
and considerable cCal. All Of thes
are in the hands of the japanese, am
they will probably be developed al I'll
early date"