280 



A VISIT TO THE PROVINCES 



thoroughly intermixed, a handful of these is taken indiscriminately, beaten into powder, and 

 divided into three parts. One is analyzed by the chemist of the establishment ; another is 

 given to the owner of the mine from which it came, that he may obtain an analysis elsewhere 

 should he doubt the impartiality of the company's officer; and the third is jointly sealed for 

 reference in case of dispute. The regular charge for analyzing a sample at La Serena is a 

 quarter of an ounce ($4.31); and several of the young men instructed by Prof. Domeyko have 

 determined to devote themselves entirely to this pursuit. Thrown into a reverberatory furnace, 

 its heat soon converts the ores into a liquid mass, from which the slag is raked with iron bars, 

 until there remains very little more than metallic copper and its combinations of sulphur, lead, 

 and antimony. This is drawn off in open moulds beside the furnace ; and, whilst still quite 

 hot, the "pigs" are thrown into vats containing water, the absorption of which crumbles 

 them, forming the powder called "regulus." The latter is afterwards passed to a second fur- 

 nace, in which the sulphurous acid is expelled ; and then to a third, where the copper is melted 

 and cast into bars of about 200 pounds each. At the Herradura furnaces it undergoes a final 

 process of refining, and in this condition contains as near an approximation to pure metal as is 

 attainable by man. The establishment is conducted in a manner to reflect great credit on Mr. 

 A., for whom the operatives and their families principally Europeans evince the strongest 

 regard and respect.* 



Since 1844, the amounts of copper, silver, gold, and cobalt produced in the province have 

 been as follows : 



The mineral wealth of Chile being almost entirely derived from these two provinces, before 

 taking leave of them it seems proper, to make known such general facts, relating to all the 

 mines of the country, as were derived from other sources than personal observation. 



Geologically speaking, Chile may be divided into two ranges of mountains the Andes and 

 cordilleras of the coast sub-divisible into three formations belonging to different epochs. 

 North of Chacabuco (latitude 33), as has been mentioned already, the entire country west of 

 the Andes consists of low, rounded mountains, expanded valleys, plateaus covered with granite 

 detritus, and occasional tertiary basins. To the south of it these multitudes of irregular hills 

 are collected into a tolerably uniform chain, extending parallel with the line of the Andes, and 

 separated from it by a long plain, which terminates only at the ocean in the province of Val- 

 divia. Professor Domeyko says that the cordilleras of the coast consist of non-stratified granite 

 or porphyritic masses, of which the principal rocks contain four elements, viz : quartz, felspar, 

 mica, and amphibole. As one of these predominates, and the others diminish or disappear, we 

 have dioritc, sienite, granite proper, greenstone, &c. Moreover, each of them sometimes passes 

 into its corresponding porphyry or homogenous mass, in which the constituting elements are 

 no longer distinguishable. Hence the group comprises an immense number of different rocks, 



* By a patent from government, this is the only establishment in Chile which can use lime as a flux. It is obtained here by 

 burning the chores gathered, in any quantity, on the beach. A recent analysis in England showed that its refined metal con- 

 tained 99.934 per cent, of pure copper. 



