1872.] Copper Mines of Chilt. 163 
insecure, the strain upon the timbering is tremendous, and at 
every yard you meet pieces bent or broken; and as the habit 
has been to repair the damage by simply adding others 
without removing the old ones, the passages have been under- 
going a gradual diminution in size. At present little is 
being done to improve the condition of the mine, as the 
Lecaros Adit is just completed, and henceforth it is intended 
to draw the metals out by it. This work was commenced as 
far back as 1840 by Don Ramon de Caros. It enters the 
hill on its southern flank, at a spot where the lode was 
supposed to crop out. It was driven but slowly and 
irregularly till 1864, when Urmeneta bought the work 
already done and continued it more vigorously. It conne¢ts 
with one of the levels of the Piké at about 180 fathoms from 
surface. This level has been run under the neighbouring 
mine, the Chalaca, so that the total length of the adit is 
about 1000 fathoms, nearly half the length of the hill at that 
level. It is intended to sink a perpendicular shaft from the 
level of the adit, as the cost of keeping the inclined shaft 
in repair is found to counterbalance any advantage it offers. 
As it is expected that the cost of tramming the metals to 
grass will be much less than the present cost of raising them, 
it is intended through it to empty the stopes, many of the 
older of which are filled with 7 per cent ore, and to break down 
from the walls large quantities of metal deemed formerly too 
poor to mine. By drawing on these vast reserves the Piké 
will be able to keep up its supply for many years to come, 
even if the percentage of the ore from the workings should 
fall off. There are now employed in the mine 50 miners, 
but a larger number of tributers find employment in the 
upper workings. 
Urmeneta is driving another adit from the same slope of the 
hill, but at a much lower level than the Lecaros. ‘This is, 
however, being done only to secure certain setts which he 
Owns to the west, on the dip of the lode, in obedience to the 
Spanish mining law, which requires a certain number of 
men to be employed on work tending to the development of 
the claim. 
In this mine another hardship of the Spanish mining 
law in force in Chili is illustrated, though in this instance 
it redounds to M. Urmeneta’s interest. His workings have 
undermined the neighbouring sett on the same lode. It is 
a small claim of only 200 varas in length by 100 varas in 
width. M. Urmeneta owns the claim to the west. Now 
as the lode dips W. at 60°, and the claims do not follow thé 
lode, but are measured perpendicularly downward, M. 
