The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-03-26

l
back. In 1907 they shipped over TO-
100000 pounds Of copper and the smell
ter near here is now turning out A.
100000 pounds Of copper matte every
month This matte goes to New York,
where. as l have said, the gold and sill
yer in it about pays the expenses Of
mining and reduction, leaving the cop
per as almost clear gain.
Wonderful Smelling Plant.
The extent of the operations of this
American syndicate is almost incon-
ceivable. They have come here to the
tops Of the Andes, at an altitude Of al
most three miles above the sea, and
have developed an industry which
would be enormous in any part of the
world. They have built smelter about
six miles from here which surpasses
anything on the South American con-
tinent and which in many respects Is
like nothing else ever known. They
have built up a town there and they
practically support this city Of Cerro
&c Pasco. They have thousands of
men in their employ, and there are
perhaps 5000 or 5000 Indians or native
Peruvians working in the mines and
the smelter. They have within about
25 miles from Cerro de Pasco great
mines Of btuminous coal, which they
have connected by railroad with this
town and the smelter, and they make
their own coke and furnish heir own
fuel. They have built standard
gauge railroad. which is by far the
! best in Peru from Cerro de Pasco to
Oroyo, and they have more than 100
miles of track, over which cars go as
smoothly as any in the states. and that
Notwithstanding the altitude Of the
road ranges from 10000 to $4,000 feet
above the sea. 1t is this road that
connects them with the Central rail-
ken down to the coast.
In it's purchase of the mines the
company included a great deal Of land.
It has here hacienda which covers
|
day and a half to ride all around IL.
This hacienda is highly mineraize1,
but the title to such lands in Peru
gives only surface rights, and any one
can prospect and claim any mine he
discovers. In addition to the mines the
syndicate owns, through one of its
branch companies, a great copper pre-
perty at Morococha, where, l am told,
the ore is even richer than that at
Cerro de Pasco. The mines there are
almost three miles above the sea level
and they are now being worked. The..'
are not far from the Central railway
and they will have down grade all
the way to the seacoast at Callao,
starting within few miles of the
mines.
Great Copper Values.
| Indeed, it is hard to realize the val
ues in 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 8 to 10 per cent
Of pure metal That means that there
are 200 pounds Of copper in each ton.
From a single ton of ore they are now
getting a product equal to 1872 worth
Of copper, $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
| ha VII rot nf
ing must 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 deposits are Of such
enormous extent. So far the Ameri-
cans know that they have a great
mass of ore right under this city with
veins running out in a dozen direc-
tions. How big this mass is they have
not discovered. They have been going
down deeper and the copper is richer
all the way Said one of the superin-
tendents to me:
you might compare the copper for
nations here to your hand. Let the
palm represent the great mass and
the fingers the veins. AS it is now we
are working on one of the veins and
we have enough ore in sight to keep
us busy for 10 years or more without
doing any further development, and it
| Is my personal opinion that we have
not yet scratched the surface of what
is to come. In the United States we
think 1t a good copper mine If the ore
will yield I or per cent to the ton.
Here If the ore does not assay more
than 3 per cent we throw it away. Our
average Is about s per cent or more,
and we have taken out some which
has yielded 40 per cent to the ton"
The machinery is Of the very latest
invention, and the drilling is done with
compressed air. The workmen are
Cholos or native Peruvians, who are
paid from 60 cents upward day. They
make excellent miners and some of
them do quite well as men of the same
class in the states They work in s.
hour shifts with two shifts a day. The
shifts are so arranged that the second
stops at o'clock in the morning. so
that all Of the men can sleep part
OF the night.