Year: 1867

A Lima correspondent thus des-
cribes visit to a silver mine in Chi
Ii:


The principal mine is called Gel
Pique," and belongs to Mr.. Urine
meta, who lives in Santiago. A des-
cription of this one will suffice for all
in general, and will give an approx
mate idea of how our copper is OBJ
tanned. After rambling about the
vicinity of the mines couple OF
days, put myself in the hands of
the manager, Mr. Charles Green, OF
Providence, Rhode Island, and went
down into the bowels of the earth
Before starting we arrayed oursel-
yes in miners costume, dress that
would create a sensation in Broad
way, and were provided with we'll
filled lamps, swinging ON the ends of
rods about three feet long. The en-
trance to the mine is on the parapet
formed by slicing down part of the
steep hill side, and on which are the
residence of the manager and the
machinery and shops OF the estab-
lishment. Entering tunnel about
seven feet high, and extending into
the heart Of the mountain, we soon
came to a large. arched chamber, in
which are the boilers and engines
for hosting ores. Following the
tunnel three hundred and fifty yards,
we came " the main shaft and de-
scended by means of ladders down
through the various galleries, or lev
els, at the extremity of which miners
were at work, until we reached the
bottom of the mine, over one thous-
and f-ct perpendicularly under
ground. Here we travelled through
various long passages, in some of
which it was necessary to creep on
hands and knees. The air was cool
and sweet, owing to the excellent
arrangements for ventilation, and
most of the passages were perfectly
dry. Water is found in some of the
shafts, but not in quantities sufficient
to interfere with the work. It was
hoped that more water would have
been discovered, as it would prove q
auxiliary in reducing the ores. As
we passed along the chambers we
met men and boys stripped to a
breech cloth, carrying rawhide bags
of ores to the hoisting shafts ,and oc-
casionally the dull report of the blast
would rumble through the mines like
distant heavy thunder. In some
places the ores were SO rich that they
glistened in the light of the lamps,
and seemed to realise the tales OF
the wonderful caverns filled with
gems. Over four hours were spent
in the mine, although we did not go
through one-third of the passages
there being over ten miles of CALLER
les already open in good working
| order. The ascent was very tire
some, the legs inclining to sgive out
after climbing two or three hundred
feet of ladders. Generally visitors
to the mine are lamed for few days,
and in some instances individuals
have been laid up for a week, suffer.
ing acute pain in the muscles of the
thighs. The ores upon being brought
to the mouth of the mine, are picked
over by women and boys, and passed
through powerful crushers that re-
duce them to fine particles In this
shape they are washed by machin-
cry. for the purpose of removing all
foreign substances, and transported
in carts and on pack mules to the
coast for shipment abroad. Very
few of the miners in Chilli undertake
the crushing and washing process,
but transport their ores to the near
est smelling furnaces. At the Tam
ay. mines the poorer ores and the
refuse after washing the metals are
all saved to be smelted when the
railroad is opened and coal can be
brought to the spot at a reasonable
expense.