El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-03-21

years back In 1907 they shipped over 20
600 600 pounds Of copper and the sueIter near
| here is now turning out 4, 900 900 pounds Of
! copper matte every month This matte goes
/ to New york where the gold and silver in
! it about pays the expenses Of mining and
reduction, leaving the copper as almost clear
gain
cans is almost incOnceivabIe. They have
come here to the tops Of the Andes at an
altitude Of almost three miles above the
sea, and have developed an industry which
would be enormous IN any part Of the world.
They have built a sneIler ABOUT six miles
from here which surpasses any thing on the
South American continent and which in
many respects is like nothing else ever
known. They have built up town there
and they practically support this CITY of
Cerro de Pasco. They have thousands Of
men in their employ and there are perbaps
six or eight thousand indians or native
smeIter They have within about 81 r,i1as
from Cerro de Pasco great mines Of bffu-
minOus coal which they have connected bv
railroad within this town and the smeIter,
their own fuel They have built a standard
gage railroad. which IS by lar the best in
Peru from CerrO de PascO to Oroyo and
they have more than Zoe miles OF track
over which cars go as smoothly as any in
the states. and that notwithstanding the
attitude Of the road ranges from 1900 to
$4,000 above the sea 1t is this road thar
connects them with the Central railway of
Peru by which their ore is taken down to
Has 100000 Acre Hacienda.
In its purchase Of the mines the company
a 1
a hacienda which covers about 100000 acres.
1t would take day and a half to ride All
around it. This hacienda Is nightly mineral
lied but the title to such lands in Peru gives
only surface rights, and any one can pros
pect and claim any mine he discovers In
addition to the mines the syndicate owns
through one Of its branch companies, q great
copper property at MOrOcOchas where, I am
told the ore is even richer than that All
CerrO de Pacso. The mines there are almost
three miles above the sea level and theiy
are now being worked
Id 20, oil he ~-NT
the copper which is being found here at the
top Of the Andes The ore which is now
coming out Of CerrO de Pasco averages from
10 10 percent Of pure metal Ihat means
that there are 200 pounds of copper in each
ton. From a single ton OF ore they are now
getting product equal 10 SSz worth Of cop
per, $40 worth Of silver and 81 worth of
gold This represents the values in the rock
at the mines and, Of course, the expenses of !
getting it to the market and Of smelling and
reducing most be considered Nevertheless !
it is doubtful whether there is any Other
place in the world which has such valuable
copper deposits and but few where the de-
posts are Of such enormous extent
30 Tar the Americans know that they have
a great mass Of ore right under this city /
with veins running out in dozen directions /
How big the mass is they have not discov-
eIe9 Ihey nave been going down deeper z
and the copper is richer all the way.
Goes Down Into Mines.
During my stay here I have gone down I
into the mines They already comprise about /
40 miles OF underground workings. although 1
where they are now mining the operations /
are confined to a space Of about one mile I
by mile and a half The mines are worked /
from the zoe to the 500 foot level and tests [
have been made which show that the copper /
goes down far below.
Entering the shaft, we dropped to the 1900 i
foot level and then took the electric troll
ley which carries the ore through the mar
row tunnels to the shaft. The tunnels are so /
small that we could barely stand upright I
within them, and from the center of the /
track one could easily reach the sides Of the !
walls Some Of the tunnels are timbered with (
peruvian eucalyptus, or with Oregon pine
but everywhere the work is so scientifically
done that the rock in most cases uDholds !
the walls. Here and there we stopped in I
chamber where the miners were taking out 1
pre-.
The machinery is Of the very latest inven- (
Ion and the drilling is done with COM
pressed air. The wOrkmen are ChoIos or ma E
i've Peruvians who are paid from so cents I
ana upward a day. They make excellent ]
miners and some Of them do quite as well !
Vork IN eight hour shifts with two shifts 4
day The shifts are so arranged that the I
second stops at o'clock in the worning so /
that ali Of the men can sleep q part OF the /
night.
Everything is managed after the most i'm 4
proved mines Of the states and this same
plan Is preserved in all the operations of the /
Work About $50 samples Of ore are assayed (
every day, and the miners know exactly /
"har they are doing They have a curious /
way OF determining, without a scientific as /
say as to whether the ore is valuable or