The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-03-22
70 de Copper Mines and Their Great Selter

it Is my personal opinion that we have
rot yet scratched the surface of what
lis To come. In the United States we
think ii good copper mine If the ore
Will yield or per cent IT, the ton.
Here. if the docs not assay more
than per cent. we throw il away
our average Is about per cent OF
more AMI we have taken out Some
which has yielded 40 per cent to the
tom"
During my stay here I have gone
lcown into the mines. They already
lcomprise about forty miles OF under
ground workings. although where they
hrc now mining the operations are con
lined TO Il space Of about one mile by
la mile and u half. The mines ar.
worked from the 2Go 20 the G00-foo:
level and tests have been made which
i.h"ws that the copper goes down far
below.
Entering tho shaft. we dropped to
the s0otoot level. and then took the
electric trolley. which carries the ore
through The narrow tunnels TO I'll.
shaft The tunnels are 40 small that
W" could barely stand upright Within
<.t~tr, and from tn" centre Of the track
one could easily reach the sides OF tho
walls. Some Of the tunnels are tim
icrcl with Peruvian eucalyptus. ar with
Oregon pine. but everywhere the work
in mos, cases upholds the walls. Here
and there "" stopped in chamber
whe"c the miners were taking out ore.
Til. machinery Is of the very latest
Invention. and the drilling IL done with
tcomprcsse,n :lil Til. workmen are
iCholos or native Pcruvians, who are
paid from GO ccnis and upward day.
They rake excellent miners. and som"
of them do quite a. we'll as men Of the
same class III the states. They work
m ei In -ho
day. The shifts are 80 arranged that
The second stop" n O'clock In th'
,aortinr, 50 ,nat ali or the men tai
sleep a part 81 tho night.
Tho have a curious way pf dct.r-
mining. without scientific assay. ~
to whether the ore ia valuable or not
This is b. means OF 4 tnllo" candle"
rh"y light the candle. and br busting
~ ith the ore. the copper I'm " gives
fortl, 4 green fa,n.. the color of whicl,
shows ius; about tn. pcrccntH.. -:
metal tho ere contains AS went
through the inin" with Mr.. Giiddcn
the assi8tau; manager. III made surn
u test aud told nae mat the ear OF ore
uvcrarcd probably about !. per cent.
During cur journey W" went from
chambcr ~ chamber. now walking
| through tile tunnels and now jumping
aside 70 L.; tho cars pass. III" who'll
LOT tho underground workings are 4 bee
I ,!ng out the copper goes sioaciiy on
! without friction. The u:neS arc 80
arranged tui,t III" cars are loaded ~
gravity ana the mining is most COO
uouically done
In going through the tunnels we used
acctylcu. tho carbide .or which comes
from the United states. and "very
miner wc met had IN acctyleno lamp
ar his cap rh" managers hna that
this Is much cheaper than candles IN"
mines ar" worked bN electricity whFa
is now geuerat"d LIS steam, bu; The
company is Installing a great electric
plant ut oroS;,, about seventy five miles
away where they own . stream with =
rail- which viii generate about l5o"o
horsepower Within a short time all
of their works mere, aud at tho r.eat
staelter and also At til" assoc'nt" mines
! 81 Morococha VIII he operated by III.
ian of this river. - present the steam
| is produced by coal from tho companys
coal mines. which are about twenty
| in" miles from cerro ii" pasco Thev
use this to make coke for the snelteg
md they have great Guarries OF al
most pure limestone. halfway be-
tween the mines and the smcltcr, which
is only six miles distant and 200 feet
lower down
During my stay ! nave spent some
time 1T the amcltcr. The place 10
known BY the Peruvian name OF La
FundlCion. The works arc situated
on tie side Of the mountain. So tEat
the OF. starts Ia al the top and goes
by gravity through the various pro-
ccsscs until Ii comes OF; IN copper
MATES as big around as = bread bowl
ready TO he sent down on the cars
The snclier Is the largest in south
America, II must cover several hun
drcd acres. II consists Of great build
'nes. coiorcd black with the smoke.
Thet are walled with glass windows
and have "oofs OF galvanized iron
Rising above them are three mighty
Z smo.e-stacks. each big around that
o YOU could run Z Pullman car through
II it without touching the walls. These
Ii stacks are about 300 feet high. and
V from them day and night pour out vast
r volumes of white and yellow smoke
into tho clouds Of the Andes.
The smeltcr has the finest OF modern
. machinery. and every pound of II came
= from the states. This is so also Of tho
:; great iron buildings and Of the wood
:, used for the structures and railroad
; The establishment has duplicates OF
', everything needed -or smelling. it
v runs three cisht-hour shifts and kcepa
:, busy sunday and week days all day ana
:. night. | am told that 1t is the largest
> copper smelter outside the United
states, and that Il is patterned after
the mighty works at Great Falls, Mon.
J, In building this smclter the engineers
n mao 10 contend "ith diucultles un-
= known before. No one had ever con-
= structed sinelicr 1T l4.ooo feet above
. the sea, and tie experts said that fur
naccs could not he run at that altitude.
They claimed that the air 50 rare
= that You would has. 70 blow through
the fire several times as much air pc,
minute as is usually done i'm order 10
. secure the oxygen sufficient for the
: reaction. Nevertheless tho syndicate
. determined to try IL. They got tho best
:, men they could End and put up tho
:, buildings. But the furnaces would not
II work and one engineer after another
- came here and left, throwing up his
:, hands III despair. a last there was
a man FROM Mexico who had passed
through Missouri and had 10 be shown.
lie said he did not believe that The fig
y urcs told the real story He was an
- old sncltcr man, anc he said the fur
- naces d!d not sound right. lie BEGAN
:. by takinG off all the gauges and nut