16 T H E C U B A K E V I E W 



tities of chrome float, apparently of high grade, and the occurrence of tabular bodies 

 of ore from 1 to 5 feet wide is indicated. On the Cid claim boulders of ore are dis- 

 tributed over a belt about 1,700 feet long, and on the Yunque the ore fragments are 

 found in an area 150 by 250 feet. On the Teyde five separate deposits lie within an 

 area measuring 1,200 by 3,000 feet. These deposits, one of which seems to be con- 

 tinuous for 900 feet, strike N. 10°— 30° E. 



ORIEXTE PROVINCE 



Small deposits of chrome ore occur on the Maria del Carmen claim, seven to 

 eight miles northeast of Holguin, on the northwest slope of a low ridge of serpentine 

 that lies between two higher ridges of steeply inclined limestone which stand about 

 half a mile distant to the northwest and the southeast. Several prospects have been 

 dug and one pocket has yielded about 150 tons of ore, which, with 25 tons of float 

 that has been gathered, was ready for shipment in March. 1918. Analyses showed that 

 some of the ore contained an average of 34.37 per cent, of chromic oxide, and that one 

 sample, analyzed by the Bureau of Mines, contained 21 per cent, of metallic chromium, 

 which corresponds to 30.6 per cent, of chromic oxide. The maximum content of 

 chromium in pure chromite (FeO.Cr 2 3 ) is 46.66 per cent., and the content of chromic 

 oxide is 68 per cent. Late in July the company's consulting engineer reported that a 

 large body of 40 per cent, ore had been developed, and that in all about 500 tons ot 

 ore was ready for shipment. 



One of the larger deposits of chrome ore, the one that gives greatest promise of 

 producing a considerable output in 1918 and 1919, is on the Caledonia claim, which 

 is on the south slope of the Sierra de Nipe, about seven miles southeast of Wood- 

 fred, the headquarters of the Spanish American Iron Company's Mayari iron mines. 

 The upper part of the ore body crops out on a steep hillside southeast of and about 

 300 feet above a mountain stream that flows into the Pinos, a small tributary of 

 Mayari River. The ore body is roughly tabular in form, and, as shown by prospect 

 trenches dug on the outcrop, is 10 to 30 feet thick. It dips toward the northwest at 

 about the slope of the hillside (40° to 45°), and where it does not crop out it lies 

 30 to 50 feet from the surface. Two tunnels cut the ore at levels 100 feet and 200 

 feet below the top outcrop, and though the body has not been fully explored along the 

 strike or in depth it may average 20 feet in thickness and may extend 200 feet along 

 the strike and to a depth of 200 feet. The ore varies in quality, the better grade being 

 in the western part of the deposit, where it carries as high as 4S per cent, of chromic 

 oxide. Analyses furnished by the Spanish American Iron Company show a range of 

 35 to 48 per cent, of chromic oxide, 7 to 15 per cent, of silica, and 7.7 to 10 per cent, 

 of iron for the whole body. By cobbing or by simple water concentration it may be 

 possible to maintain a shipping grade of ore containing 44.5 per cent, of chromic 

 oxide. The deposit contains about 50,000 tons of chrome ore, 25,000 tons of which 

 should carry more than 40 per cent, chromic oxide and the remaining 25,000 tons 

 between 34 and 40 per cent, of chromic oxide. By rough concentration, for which 

 abundant water is available in the creek, this low grade ore should yield 15.000 tons 

 of concentrates carrying about 40 per cent, of chromic oxide, so that about 40,000 

 tons of ore of this grade should be available. 



This ore body lies close to the surface of the hillside and probably may be 

 mined by an open cut. A zigzag trail of easy grade, descending 1,000 feet in 3% 

 miles, has been cut from the plateau down to the deposit. In March, 191S, the owners 

 expected to begin at once packing the ore out on mules to the top of the trail, from 

 which it could be carried 4% miles by auto truck to the railroad at the Mayari iron 

 mines. Routes had been surveyed and cleared for an aerial tramway 6,000 feet long, 

 which would make it possible to increase greatly the rate of production. In eight 



