El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-14

more than a dozen ulneIdl 1OASST -
tanning silver, gold, copper ana ledu'
and two Of the mines there have IN
creased their production TO ABOUT e.
100000. There is also work gong On
in sonora. where in the past was Iouh1
the biggest lump Of silver on EeCOLu-
Its weight was 2I50 pounds, ana 49,, ]" -
discovered by poor indian a5L!nOtS Il
by q dispute as TO the ownership the
whole went to the crown
Gold Of Mexico Abundant
Mexico is now annually turning out
about SZ5,OuOO0O worth OF 6otu- ~ ~
country has never been as lmpor lanL IN
gold mining as in silver mining, ana
today the bulk Of its gold comes from
silver veins which also carry more or
less OF the yellow metal me BoId IS
a by-prOduct Of the silver:
The chief gOld-prOduclnS camp IS
about FL orc, IN the STATE OF 2heAiCur
where both French and English caplIal
are invested. This region IS one OF the
largest gold camps Of America, ana II
has some valua bic mines me DOS
Estrellas has been paying over Sl.O00,-
600 q year on a capital Of 100000,
and the PenOles has paid nearly So
100000 on q capitalization of Sl25,OOO-
One Of the mines has a VEN OF So4u
which. in places. is 80 feet wide.
There are also gold bearing veins IN
Sonora. SinalOa. chihuahua OaXaca
and lower California In the last state
are many placer mines, some OF which
are doing well The most or Monte
Zuma's gold must have come from the
placer mines, for one Of his presents
10 COrteZ was q Spanish helmet filled
to the brim with grains Of gold. He
also sent the Spanish general many
ornaments, shields and helmets Of pure
gold, and two circular plates OF gold, as
large as carriage wheels. The amount
Of gold taken from MOntezuma and
sent to Spain is estimated to have been
worth at least 100000.
In the future, however the meaner
metals are liable to surpass gold in the
mineral production Of Mexico. The
copper mined in 1910 and 1911 was
worth more than all the gold produced
that year, and the iron possibilities are
such from the great iron mountain az
DURANGO that that gross metal viii
some day yield millions Today the
three most important copper mining
enterprises are the Greene Cananea and
the MOctezuma and the Boleo, IN BaJa,
California
The BoIeo mine has had a uniform
output for nearly 10 years, and the
Greene Cananea produced in 1911 more
than 100000 pounds Of copper. The
amount of copper in sight in western
Mexico is beyond conception, and the
country is sure 10 be one OF the great
est Of the copper producers for genera
tons to come
As to iron, new deposits OF that metal
have been recently found in OaXaca
and Vera Cruz, and these deposits are
said to amount TO many millions OF
tons.
The most famous iron mass OF the
country. however, is the great iron
mountain. which rises almost out OF
the city of Durango. This is perhaps
the greatest mass Of iron on earth It
is a mighty hill of solid iron a mile
long and almost a quarter Of a mile
wide, rising to height over three
fifthS that Of the Washington mOnu-
ment The ore is hematite, and it is
from so TO 20 percent pure
The hill is said TO contain 500 mil
lions tons of ore above the surface,
with no notion Of what may be below,
and it has been estimated to contain
several billion dollars worth Of iron
There are similar deposits IN Lower
California and Sweden, but nothing of
this size. The mountain contains
enough iron TO supply the whole re-
public Of Mexico for all time to come,
and with the possibilities OF its IN
known depth ii has enough probably TO
last the world for a thousand years.
Was II a MeteOrt
It is claimed by some Of the local
scientists that this huge metallic lump
is a meteor which was dropped upOn
the earth from some disintegrating
planet years ago. but the geOloglSts say
that this is absurd. and that it must
be volcanic. There is no other iron in
the immediate neighbOrhOOd, and Mex
leo has here in its School OF Mines
collection Of meteOrites found in the
neigh boring state of Chihuahua one
Of which weighs over 10000 pounds
and another in the nelghborhoOd OF a
ton. Humboldt thought the Durango
mine might be the worlds greatest
aerolite, and he rode more than 1000
miles on a mule TO study It, Some OF
this iron now goes TO the Dig subsl-
died steel plant at Monterey. where
saw II cast into 1ngOIS Tor making
steel rails
American Money in Mexican Mines.
But let me tell YOU how Uncle sam IS
interested in these Mexican mines Our
people own more mineral properties
than the MeXicans themselves and all
other foreigners
According TO the estimates OF VIII
liam H. SeamOn. a mining engineer
who has had a long experience here,
the United States owns more than two
thirds of all the mineral properties in
Mexico. The investments are worth
1929. 000. 600. while those Of the MeXi-
cans themselves are only seven and
one-half millions and those Of the Eng
fish. who stand next TO US. are only
S43. 600. 600. or about One-fifth as large
In addition to this we have more than
twice the amount invested in smelters,
having put more than S26.OOO,Oo0 into
all other nations together have smell
ters worth only little over 10000, 900.
There are scores of American com
Danies which have mineral properties
here and there is hardly a city or town
in the United States which does not
own more or less Mexican mining
stock There are some very large com
panieS- Take, for instance. the Ameri-
can Smelling and Refining syndicate
II has shelters and mines scattered
all over the country and some of its
organizations pay big dividends The
present value of the COmpany's prop
erty is estimated at ST5,000,000 and in
u years it has paid dividends amount