Omaha daily bee., 1914-08-23
EllshI

L OF inOnlnS b0 wa mas Hten
collecting specimens to show its mineral
resources and it will undoubtedly have
the finest mineral collection abroad at the
fair. Exhibits already prepared FIN a room
seventy feet long and twenty feet vide,
and Or. Manuel Nmccute Bolivian. who
is to take the collection 90 san Francisco,
tells me that when complete 1t viii be
three times this size. | examined the
specimens already collected hey en-
brace every sort Of metal, from btsmuth
and tungsten to gold, silver. copper and
tin. Bolivia mas the richest tin mines
Of the world and II now supplies about
one-fourth Of the worlds production
One block OF tin ore to be sent to the
fair weighs 500 pounds, and Of that 20
per cent is pure tin. This is in striking
contrast TO the less than 5 per cent ores
Of other parts of the world. Another
sample weighs 1000 pounds, and It con-
tains more than 200 pounds Of pure tin.
It comes from the mines Of Simon Patino,
who is now the tin King of the world. He
has an income Of about 100000 a month
from his tin mines at Nue., which seem
inexhaustble.
Exhibit of Copper.
Another large exhibit consists ~ specl-
mems of copper. These come from
various parts of the country, and espe-
cially from the mines Of Coracora and
Carangas, where the ore lies In layers OF
sandstone, nine or ten feet in thickness
The copper runs through the 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
and shipped off to Europe Other, copper
specimens are ingots or charqui, some
OF %hich 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 dlnlhs
table. The exhibit will also have cop
per water bottles, basins and utensils
made by the Indians.
Another mineral that will be shown IN
great variety is tungsten, used so largely
in our modern electric lighting Inc
tungsten comes from the department OF
Potosi, which now supplies the most Oh
this metal used in the world. The own
ers of the mines are known as the tung-
stem kings. They control the worlds out
put and fix the prices.
The exhibit will contain also many sam
pies of silver and gold lead mixed win
silver, and copper and tin. The gold is
in coarse grains and nuggets washed out
by the Indians Just outside La Paz the
Spaniards picked up a nugget that
weighed thirty-three pounds and was
worth $4,000 Last year a nugget as big
as the palm of mans hand was found
near the same place
Big Blocks of Ore.
To these specimens will be added some
of blocks of ore, weighing three or more
tons, which Bolivia has been showing at
Client, and the whole collection viii form
one of the finest mineral exhibits ever
seen at any exposition. 1t Will give
fair idea of the wonderful possibilities OF
the Andes. These mountains are highly
lnineralized throughout their whole le.-gth
from the Gulf Of Darien to the strait OF
Magellan. The republic of Colombia at
the north has added hundreds of millions
of dollars worth of silver and gold to the
wealth OF the. world. Ecuador and Peru
have produced 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 wonderful
copper mines of CerTo de Pasco, that
produced many millions in silver before
the silver ore ran into copper Between
the years of 1880 and 1924 thocc mines
yielded more than 100000 pounds OF pure
silver and for many years they turned
out 1000 600 ounces of silver per annum
Indeed 1t is said that $60,0OO00O worth Of
silver has been taken from under the
very ground on which the town Of Cerro
de Pasco now stands. l doubt not that
an equal value in copper win be rro-
duced from the mines now being worked
below where the silver lay
The greatest of the silver mines OF
Bolivia have been those OF Potosi. There
is a mountain there that has produced
more of that metal than any other
place in the whole world. The mines
were found about fifty-two years after
Columbus discovered this hemisphere.
and from then on until the nineteenth
century the average product was more
than $120OO,OOO a yeav, or $1,000 600 u
month. for 294 years The total sum
amounted to over three billions of dollars
and il is estimated that almost four bill
lions have been taken out TO this day,
The mountain of Potosi is now honey
combea with mines, and the silver ore
is largely exhausted; but the silver seems
to have run into tin, and a British com
pany Is working the mines for tin, with
the silver as a byproduct. In Cerro de
Pasco, the silver and gold mixed with
the copper pay ali the expenses of the
mining, and the copper is pure gain.
IL will probably be SO with the tin OF
Potosi, The mines have always shown
great value in tin, but the ignorant min
ers threw the tin away They separated
it from the silver. allowing vast guam
titles Of the cheaper metal 10 be washed
off by the streams. Potosl mountain
has now something like 1000 aband 3nel
silver mines scattered over It, and there
are hundreds OF these that will soon be
worked for silver and tin. l am told
that the mountsin also contains copper.
Nineteenth Century Discovery.
The HuanchaCa silver mine has pro,
duced more than 100000 pounds Of pure
silver. and the mileage Of its under
ground workings is said to be longer
than that of any Othcr silver mine In
the world. The mines have recently
been equipped with modern machinery.
and long railroad has been Quilt to