Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-11
OF
CONDITIONS ON
MEXICAN COAST
RETURNS FROM A LONG TRIP
OF EXPLORATION
LITTLE VALUE IN THE OLD MEX
IcAN MINES
Finds Splendid Openings in the
Tepic and Sinclair Sections
Mexico ls Awak-
enlng

enlng
Through the courtesy of the Los An
geles Mining Review, The Herald Is en-
abled to publish the following Interest,"
ing article which was written for the
Review by Robert Lanka, capable
mining engineer, who is chief OF the
staff of E. A. Montgomery.
Mr., Lanka recently returned from q
two months journey through the coun-
try of which he writes, and which Is
attracting the attention Of mining men
because of the fact that the extension
of the railroads through the west coun-
try is opening up mineral sections thaI
hitherto have been inaccessible.
The description of the west coast
of Mexico, though full of human and
commercial interest, is by no means
new. TIL histories of a score of great
mines in this section carry with them
a tale whose pathos is blended with
the grim humor through which the
ever patient, sturdy Aztec and path
finder in his simple philosophy con-
uuered unsurmountable difficulties,
reaping the joys of the vanguard for a
very brief period. To state that the
wonderful resources and possibilities
of the west coast have lain dormant
for the past years, during which this
section has suffered from lac'5 of rail-
road facilities, would hardly be true;
but with the arrival of the Southern
Pacific railroad an epoch OF un-
dreamed-of prosperity will be intro
duced, as a regiment of intelligent
and farsighted men have been busy
for a long time preparing with capital,
brains and unfiagging energy the way
for the enthusiastic army OF wealth
seekers that are soon to follow.
Sonora, Sinaloa and Topic, contain
ing the Sierra Madre Occidental range,
are one continuation of successful min
ing camps. These camps contain gold,
silver, copper lead and zinc deposits,
and are mostly situated in the ter
tiary eruptives, among which the An
desite Rhyolite, Dacite and their
breccias are most common. While
most of these camps have lain dormant
for a long period after the revolution,
they are now receiving the well di-
rected attention of foreign capital,
mainly on account of the improved
transportation facilities and the eco
nomic strides made in the progress of
metallurgy.
Plundered the outorops
The problematical old mines or IAN
tigua,' az they are commonly termed
in Mexico, are to be found in most
all camps. These mines, with their
old, shallow, irregular workings, show
where surface deposits have been fol-
lowed as long as they could be worked
profitably, and present an excellent ex-
ample of plundering of outcrops and
shallow deposits, with no effort to de-
velop mines. Frequently a few speci-
men are gathered from these antigua"
and taken to foreign countries, to be-
guile the public into investing in what
would appear to be an excellent prop
erty, but in reality is an inaccessible,
worked-out prospect filled with water.
Some antigua" situated in good dis
tricts, which possess an authentic his
tory as to past production, have fire.
quently proven, upon careful investi-
cation and development, to be among
the best producers in Mexico. In most
cases the investigator must be pre-
pared to establish pumping plant and
clean out the old workings before he
can be positive that there was any ore
of value left by the ancients.
Chances in Tepic
The mining history of Topic territory
dates back as far as 1543, that time
dating from the discovery Of the "Es-
was the direct cause of the establish
ment of the town of Compostella. The
district consists chiefly of brecciated
andecite, values running in gold and
silver. While this section has phe-
nomenal past record as a producer,
the mining of today is carried on in
a desultory manner by the local
Mexicans. With the advent of the rail-
road this condition will change, for at
present the excellent opportunities Of
fered in agricultural land are sought
after with greater zeal than the devel-
opment of antigua" mines.
Need of Modern Mills
Sinaloa, which consists of ten i'm
portant districts, is now awakening to
its future possibilities, and the general
resources present a very enticing field
for American capital. Cosala, one of
the principal districts, is about forty
miles from La Cruz, the nearest rail-
road point on the Southern Pacific hne,
This section has many mines in op.
Grafton, but most all are operating
on a small scale. The district con-
sists principally of andesite and dacite
breccia, with occasional granitis and
dioritic intrusions. The veins are
rather narrow, but persist to a great
depth, their value being mostly in sill
yer, carrying a small percentage of
gold. Especially are these conditions
true in the San Jose de las Bocas,"
ROSARIO ana La Dura" mines, all
owned by Mexican companies, the ore
in these cases being reduced by dry
crushing with stamps, a practice that
Is anything but commendable, as there
are no features in it's favor. This
crushing is followed by salt roast and
ordinary lexiviation process with
hypo-sulphite solution. The San An
tonic" an English company, is using
the LA Dura' mill for experimental
purposes, but the present management
is satisfied that the entire process will
have to be changed in order to be
within the limits of reasonable econ
omy.
Waste of Energy
The "Guadaloupe de los Reyes" the
old reliable producer, which is owned
by a Mexican company, employs sew
eral hundred men to operate a thirty
stamp mill. This is largely due to the
general disarrangement of handling the
ore at the mine and mill Ten more
stamps are now being constructed near
the cyanide plant. The "Tominil," an
English company, has machinery at La
Cruz. the railroad point, consisting ofI
everything necessary for a successful
netallurgical plant. Here 1t would be
we'll to say that many failures in
Mexico are due to the indiscriminate
buying of machinery in large sections.
while the mines are so situated that it
q impossible to reach them with any