16 THE CUBA REVIEW 



a hundred yards away from them another well at 845 feet penetrated a gas pocket; quantities of 

 serpentine rock with fragments of limestones and some oil blew out; after blowing for two hours 

 the gas stopped, and the hole fiUed 500 feet with oil. A 50-gallon bailer was run continuously 

 for an hour or so without lowering the level of the oU in the well, and in about seven hours the 

 wen producedabout 150 barrels of 28° Baume oil. The grit in the oil, as well as the gas, made it 

 very difficult to keep the pump going; however, aU available tankage was filled with oU, in- 

 cluding a 1,000 barrel tank which was built after the well came in. 



These occurrences and others of less consequence have attracted considerable attention 

 both at home and abroad and more careful attention is being given to the possibility of a boom 

 of "Cuba for OU." It is well to remember here the fact that geologists in general admit that 

 Cuba was once a part of Continental America, and in a general way the proximity of our western 

 San Antonio Point to Yucatan, and Florida to our Havana Province, as well as the general 

 direction of our most important moimtain-ranges, seem to sustain the belief. Besides, the 

 nature of the predominant formations of the Island is sedimentary, and therefore appropriate 

 for the accumulation of oil by saturation. 



Cuba is a country, very rich in asphalt and its compounds and derivatives; sulphur springs 

 are very common, and seepages and gas outflows are by no means scarce. From a stratigraph- 

 ical point of view, antichnes are as common as in any soft rolling or slightly hilly coimtry. 

 In a word, the usual conditions sought by the oil scout are very common on the Is'and. 



When we remember that in 1917 over 72% of the world's oil production came from the 

 countries surrounding Cuba on the big arch forming the Mexican Gulf, and the inverted arch 

 of northern South America, from Florida to INIexico, and from this prodigious petroleum 

 country to the volcanic. Island of Trinidad, north of Venezuela, we cannot but strengthen our 

 belief that our oil future is not an illusion but a founded hope. Besides, petrographical re- 

 searches have recently shown beyond any doubt that many of our serpentines are the result 

 of the metamorphoris of impure limestones. This dispels the fear, that our serpentines, if of 

 igneous origin might be a curse to our petroleum production, because it is more reasonable to 

 expect that in a coimtry where limestone is one of the great orders of sedimentary rocks, our 

 serpentmes, especially those nearest to them, are the result of their metamorphosis, than to 

 ascribe their origin to serpentinization of basic igneous rocks. 



Another interesting aspect of the mining industry in the Province of Havana is furnished 

 by a coal prospect near Santa Maria del Rosario, which for many years has been operated in 

 an irregular manner, but which is at present controlled by the "General Wood Mining Com- 

 pany," which intends to explore it by borings in a definite manner. The coal is a sort of a soft 

 bitvuninous coal which looks very much hke a soUd, duU asphalt, but -ndthout its characteristic 

 conchoidal fractm-e, but its behavior during combustion is entirely different, as it gives no 

 drippings nor changes its state, and is, therefore, very useful to mix with inert or low grade coals, 

 as it burns with a long, hot flame. An all-day test was recently given this bituminous product, 

 burning it continuously without any other coal, at the preserve factory of the Pedro Bros, at 

 Santa Maria del Rosario with the most flattering results. The coal expands a httle at the be- 

 ginning of the process of combustion with a violent evolution of volatile matter, and then burns 

 off steadily leaving little ash, hardly any cUnkers, and without sticking to the grate or clugging 

 its openings. If borings should reveal a large tonnage it would be the greatest contribution to 

 the local industries, especially in war times. 



A small chrome mine, called "Elena," was operated sometime ago at the northern corner 

 of the Province near its boimdary with Matanzas; some 600 tons of high grade chromite were 

 shipped from it in 1915, and it is now being prospected for copper along some very good surface 

 indications crossing the prospect longitudinally. 



THE ISLE OF PINES 



This beautiful Island is poUtically regarded as a part of the Province of Havana. 



Its principal harbor being some 80 kilometres to the south of Bataban6, the southern port 

 of that Province, directly south of the City of Havana, its mining wealth finds place here. 



Recent reports concerning a copper prospect have attracted considerable attention, while 

 its marble quarries, of great reno%vn smce Spanish days, are being actively worked and some 

 grades of marble are said to compare favorably with the best Carrara marble. 



