GEOLOGY OF THE PROVINCES OF BARAHONA AND AZUA. 227 



Salines. — Chemical analyses of the water of Lake Enriquillo and of two 

 salt springs showed that the waters are of no economic value. The Cerros 

 de Sal was examined in the hope that the beds of rock salt might contain 

 potash. The results were disappointing, as no analysis showed potash in 

 commercial quantity. (See analyses on p. 217.) The salt beds consist al- 

 most entirely of sodium chloride, with small admixture of clayey material 

 or other salts. The deposits will probably continue to be the chief source 

 of salt for the inhabitants of the interior, although the salt is far from pure, 

 generally containing at least 10 per cent of impurities. If it is mined for 

 export it must be refined, and it could probably not compete in the export 

 market with the salt derived by evaporation in the many "salt pans" 

 along the coast of this country and other islands of the West Indies. 



Gypsum. — The Cerros de Sal contains enormous quantites of gypsum, 

 which varies from a coarsely crystalline substance to fine-textured snowy 

 white alabaster and can be obtained in layers of almost any thickness 

 desired. It may be used chiefly for making plaster of Paris and possibly 

 for statuary, so that the beds have little prospective value. 



Metalliferous deposits. — Little is known concerning the metalliferous 

 deposits in this part of the Republic, though gold, silver, nickel, copper, 

 pyrites, and iron are mentioned in the several mining concessions now in 

 force in the Province of Azua. Almost all the rivers that flow from areas of 

 crystalline rocks in the Cordillera Central contain gold-bearing gravels, 

 and some of these were mined by the Spanish in early Colonial days. Small 

 quantities of placer gold have been obtained in the beds of several rivers 

 from time to time. 



Copper stains are plentiful in the area of volcanic rock in the Bahoruco 

 Range south of Barahona, and they have attracted the attention of pros- 

 pectors, who have done a little work near Paradis and at the mouth of Rio 

 Bahoruco. The results do not encourage the hope of finding deposits of 

 any value in this area. Copper sulphides and their oxidation products 

 were noticed along the trail from Constanza to Tubano at a point about 

 10 kilometers northeast of Tubano. 



Iron deposits in the form of limonite are reported to occur near Paradis 

 and in the Bahoruco Range south of Duverge, where float siderite was 

 also noted. Reports concerning the deposit at Paradis indicate that it is 

 probably surficial and of slight extent. It is probably derived from the 

 decomposition of basic volcanic rock. 



