The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-08-23

des For months Bolivia has been col
lectinC specimens to show her mineral
resources. and She will undoubtedly
have the finest mineral collection shown
M the fair. The exhibits already pre-
pared fill room seventy feet long and
twenty feet wide. ana br. Manuel Vim
centc Bolivian. who - TO lake the col
lection TO San francisco. tells me that
when completed II Will be three titlcs
this size. examined the specimens
already collected. They embrace every
sort OF metal. from bsmuth and tung-
stem TO gold, silver, copper and tin.
Bolivia has the richest tin miues of the
world. and il now supplies about one
fourth OF the worlds production. one
block Of tin ore to be sent TO the faii
weighs 300 pounds, and of that 40 pei
cent is pure tin. This is in striking
contrast to the less than per cent
ores of other parts of the world. An
othcr sample weighs 1000 pounds. ind
It contains more than 200 pounds Of
pure tin. II comes from the mines of
Simon Patino. who is now the tin king
of the world, lie has an income of
about 100000 n month from his tin
mines at Nucia, which seem mex
haustiblc
Another large exhibit consists OF
spcciniens OF copper These come from
various parts OF the country. and es-
pec!ally from the mines OF Coracora
and CaranEas. where the ore lies in
layers Of sandstone. nine or ten feet
IN thickness The copper runs through
tho sandstone in grains. and all that is
necessary is to pulverize the stone and
wash out the sand. You have then the
pure grains of copper. ready to be put
up In barrels ami shipped off TO Eu-
rope Other copper specimens are in
Eots or charQui, some of which weigh
several pounds. and others are pure
copper In the shape OF seamoss. or In
great sheets or plates covering many
square feet. | saw one such plate that
would cover 4 dining table. The OK
hibit will also have copper water bot
ties. basins and utensils made Ivy the
Indians.
Another mineral that will be shown
in great variety is tungsten, used 50
largely in our modern electric light
ing. The tungsten comes from the de-
partmcnt of potosi. which now sup
plies tho most of this metal used in tho
world. The owners Of the mines arc
known as the tungsten kings. They
control the worlds output and fiN the
prices
The exhibit will contain also many
samples OF silver and gold, lead mixed
with silver. and copper and silver and
tin The gold is in coarse grains and
nuggets, washed out by the Indians.
Just outside La Paz the Spaniards
picked up nugget that weighed
$4,000. Last year nugget as big as
the palm of a mans hand WAS found
near the same place
To these specimens will he added
some of blocks OF orc, weighing three
or more tons, which Bolivia has been
showing at Client. and the whole col
lection will form one OF the finest min
eral exhibits ever seen at any eXposi
tion 1t will give fair idea of the
wonderful possibilities of the Andes.
These mountains are highly mineral
lied throughout their whole length.
from the Gulf Of Darien to the strait
of Magellan. The republic OF Colombia
mt the north has added hundreds of
millions of dollars worth of silver and
gold to the wealth of the world
Ecuador and Peru have produceI vast
sums, and also Bolivia and chile
They are now washing gold from the
sands at the Strait OF Magellan.
have already written OF the won
derful copper mines OF Cerro de
Pasco. that produced many millions In
silver before the silver ore ran into
copper Between the years of 1880
and 1924 those mines yielded more
than 64,ooo.oo0 pounds of pure silver,
and for many years they turned out Il
million ounces of silver per annum.
Indeed. IL is said that sec 900 worth
OF silver has been taken from under
the very ground OH which the town of
Cerro de Pasco now stands I doubt
not that an equal value in copper VIII
be produced from the mines now being
worked below where that silver lay.
The greatest of the silver mines OF
Bolivia have been those Of Potosi
There is a mountain there that has pro-
duced more of that metal than any
other place in the whole world Tho
mines were found about hfty-two years
after Columbus discovered this hcuis-
phere. and from then on until the nine
teenth century the average product was
more than 10000, 900 a wear or 81 900 =
sum amounted to over $4,000 900 600
and II is estimated that almost 50 900 =
100000 have been taken out TO thfs
day. The mountain OF Potosi IS now
honeycombed with mines, and the silver
ore is largely exhausted. but the silver
seems 10 have run into tin, and Brit
Ism company is working the mines for
TIN, With the silver rs a by-product In
Cer!o de Pasco the silver and gold
mixed with the copper pay all the ex-
pcnses OF the mining. and the copper IS
pure gain. II will probably he so with
the tin of Potosi. The mines have al
ways shown great values In tin but
the ignorant miners threw the tin
away. They separated II from the sill
yer, allowing vast quantities Of the
cheaper metal 20 be washed of by the
streams. Potosi Mountain has now
something Ike 100 abandoned silver
mines scattered over 1t, and there are
hundreds OF these that will soon he
worked for silver and tin am told
that the mountain also contains COPPER.
The Huanchaca silver mine has p-o-
&uced more than 100000 pounds OF
pure silver, and the mileage of its uD-
-derground workings is said TO bs longer
than that OF any other silver mine In
the world. The mines have recently
been equipped with modern machinery
and n long railroad has been Built 10
connect them with the smelter at An
tofa gasta. Those mines were discov-
cred in the nineteenth century by A
poor Spantard. who for twenty wears
had hunted for silver and gold and had
found none AS the story goes. he was
considered especially lucky. and was