The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-02-22

ogy in Lehigh university, South Beth
associate of economic geology il
Johns Hopkins university, Baltimore
The history of old mining districts
is fascinating and instructive yet dis
appointing as seldom can one obtain
enough information to form an ade-
quate conception of the various stages
through which the region has passed
Throughout Latin America are thous-
ands of abandoned mines, antiques
concerning which little information
can be obtained, yet often credited, by
shrewd promoters, with practically
unlimited hidden riches.
While many of these antiques have
been revived and have paid handsome
dividends, in some cases 1t has been
found after rehabilitation that the old
Spaniards with slave labor had re-
moved all the rich ore and at times,
even low grade ore that could not now
be worked with profit, in spite of i'm
proved methods of ore extraction and
concentration, because of the present
higher cost of labor. In comparison
with other old mining camps of South
America, Potosi forms a striking eX-
ception. From the discovery of silver
in Potosi mountain Cerro Rico de PO-
tosi, in 1914 to the present, mining
seems to have been carried on con-
,t.I1 LA al
sufficient wealth each year to make
the continuation of mining in the re-
gion most profitable. After 372 years
of work the end is not yet in sight,
and it may well be. predicted that these
mines will equal the longevity record
of the recently closed mines of Fret
berg, Saxony
History Of the Potosi Region.
There are several versions of the
story Of the discovery of the ore bod
les of Potosi, but the one most gener-
ally accepted is to the effect that an
Indian miner, delayed by a llama
strayng far up the side of Potosi
mountain, camped out on it over night.
The following morning he discovered
that some of the rocks had been melted
by the heat of his camp fire and ap-
peared spotted with bright metallic
globnles later pronounced silver by
his Spanish master.
Active mining began, and the fol-
lowing year the present town of Po-
tosi was founded. From the first the
ores encountered were unusually rich,
and in few years the city of Potosi
increased in population to 100000, ac-
cOrding to the records, although the
present city numbers only about TO-
600 inhabitants. For more than
century this Andean city was the me-
tropolis of the western hemisphere
and many stories still survive Of the
lavish display of easily acquired
wealth during this period.
After the South American countries
had gained their independence Eng
lish capital was attracted, and in 1925
numerous companies were formed in
London to operate mines in Potosi.
The days Of the mississippi Bubble"
and the rubber speculation Of few
years ago were ANTICIPATED, and Wild
cat companies profited as usual. Legit-
innate mining survived, however, and
during the nineteenth century the
mines of Potosi produced a few hum
bred thousand ounces of silver annu-
ally.
Between 1890 and 1900 the tin ores
first received serious attention, al
though known to exist long before,
and the declining mining industry
was revived. Since then miring has
been active and large profits have
been made by the leading companies
which mine and treat both the silver
and tin ores. Although the tin con-
tents have proved to be more valu-
able than the silver, the silver produce
ton is considerable, while some cop
per is also obtained.
Silver Production Exceeds 1000 000,-
900 Ounces.
Various figures have been given Of
The total production of silver from
the Potos mines, but so widely do
they vary that one can not place much
reliance upon them. While the record
of production during the days of the
Spanish rule was supposed to be kept
accurately because of the taxes levied
by the crown, it is fairly certain that
even then much of it was never re-
ported. BY some the total value of
the silver produced is estimated at
over $3,000,00O,0 900; by others much
more than that. The total production
of silver probably considerably ex-
ceeds 1,OO0,OOO0O0 ounces and may
even be more than twice that amount,
as other investigators claim. At any
rate the mountain holds the worlds
record for it's silver production, and
probably no other mining region OF
equal area has ever produced an
equal amount of wealth.
Potosi mountain has an elevation OF
1881 feet above sea level and is one
of the peaks of the eastern range of
the Andes, known as the Cordillera
Real, that bounds on the east the
great interior plateau of Bolivia. 1t
Il, ,na Of tho most heautiful and most