Evening star., 1909-06-05

sion is twenty miles long and fourteen
miles wide. and the Seoul-Fusan rail.
way runs through II. The natives have
been mining gold there for years. and
which has Korean workings all over
IL. The engineers have also reported
valuable placers. and II is believed that
they can be dredged at profit"
-.
The Koreans have been producing cop
per for many generations. Nearly all
their kitchen furniture Is made OF this
material. They wash In brass basins
and eat from brass bowls. and their
finest furniture has hinges of brass.
There are scores of brass stores in the
city of Seoul. and copper has been more
or less exported for years. A large part
of the rative orc of this kind has como
from the mines of the emperor. and the
most from the Kapsan mines, which
arc situated in northern Korea. and
which have been fought over In the
courts for the past four years. and
title settled only last June. in favor
of the American claimants. These mines
now belong TO Collbran and Bostwick
and they promise to produce a great
amount OF valuable ore. talked with
Mr. Weigall about them. Said he:
There is copper in many parts OF
cred. however. with great fields OF lava.
which prevents mining under It. The
chief copper mines are now around the
edges, where the lava has eroded. and
this is the character OF the Kapsan
property. The mines are situated about
a mile above the sea and 120 miles from
the coast. They are in the northeastern
part of the peninsula. where the win
ter climate Is very severe. We have
to go over two ranges OF mountains to
reach them and We shall have to take
our machinery in on pack ponies. We
shall put up small smelter right away.
shall increase our plant right along"
Are these mines extensive?"
Hk
Yes. and the copper Is rich They
have been worked as far back as a
thousand years ago. and with rude native
methods have produced something like
S00.od0 tons Of smelted copper per an
mum. The ore runs, on the average.
about 10 per cent copper. which is far
higher than that of other copper mines.
The concession is twenty miles long and
thirteen miles wide. and there is copper
all over It,"
What other copper mines has Korea 90
mere are three great belts here in
which copper is found. The Japanese
have some mines In the southern part of
the country. and the Italians are develop
ing the Kang-ge mines. They have five
foot bands OF Z per cent copper In diortte
limestone, or about the same type of for
nation as the gold OF Suan. So far. how
ever, the only really great mine Of well
known value is the Kapsan."
What other important minerals has
korea?'
One which promises to be very yalu
able Is graphite. This is Of high grade,
and samples which have been sent to
London have assayed values OF 500 a
ton. An engineer sent here by one Of
the big lead pencil companies, which use
SO much Of that metal. speaks highly Of
the prospects. Already mines are being
opened. the largest Of those now in opera
tion being worked by Morris & Co. an
American syndicate. The Japanese have
a graphite mine near Fusan. from which
they are now exporting 800 tons a month
The most OF it goes to Nagasaki ana
thence to New York or London.
In addition to the minerals we have
talked Of" continued Mr.. weigalI, this
country has large bodies of iron to the
northeast OF Pyeng-yang, and consider
able coal. All Of these are in the hands
of the Japanese. and they will probably
be developed at an early date
FRANK G. CARPENTER.