274 MINES 



dipping towards the N.W., and traverse a granite, which on tlio outskirts of the 

 district is overlaid by clay-slates and sandstone, also penetrated by the veins. The 

 galena is accompanied by barytes in large quantity, and, in greater depth, by calc- 

 spar. A single mine, that of Pozo Ancho, raises 500 tons of lead ore per month. 



At Kio Tinto, near Seville, a massive deposit of iron pyrites, 50 varas in width, has 

 been worked, chiefly for the copper pyrites which is mingled with it. The cupriferous 

 iron pyrites, which occurs in large deposits in the south-west of Spain and in Portugal, 

 is now very largely worked ; the pyrites being first burnt for its sulphur, and then 

 treated by the wet way for extraction of copper. See PYRITES. 



Abundant mines of zinc ores occur near Alcaraz, 15 leagues N.E. of Linares ; which 

 supply materials to a brass manufactory established in that town. There are also 

 lead mines in the provinces of Murcia and Grenada. Very productive ores have been 

 worked for some time in the Sierra de Gador near Almeria, a harbour situated some 

 leagues to the W. of the Cape de Gata, and also near Cartagena. A fine silver lode 

 has been worked to a depth of 110 fathoms, at Almagrera. 



In Murcia, Grenada, and Cordova, there are also several iron mines, and near Mar- 

 bclla and Ronda, in Grenada, mines of plumbago are explored. 



Among the most remarkable mines of Spain are those of silver at Hiendelencina, 

 in the district of Guadalaxara, discovered only a few years since, and worked on 

 regular lodes in gneiss, and stated 1o have yielded enormous profits. 



Lastly, near Ferrol in Galicia, and Zamora in Leon, tin ores occur in granite, and 

 at the latter place are worked in several mines, not far distant from others, which 

 produce argentiferous lead and antimony ores. The Carthaginians appear to have 

 worked tin mines in this part of the Peninsula. 



Within the Portuguese frontier very similar tin ores occur near the river Douro ; 

 and other localities in that kingdom are indicated as exhibiting ores of copper, anti- 

 mony, and lead. Among the latter, the Palhal, and Carvalhal mines are working by 

 an English (the ' Lusitanian ') mining company. 



Ores of iron occur at very numerous places in the Peninsula, but have hitherto 

 been worked on a comparatively small scale. Those of Sommorostro near Bilbao, and 

 of Marbella, are among the best known. The impulse given to iron-mining in Spain 

 a few years ago has been checked by the present disturbed state of the country (1874). 



Two ancient iron-works exist in Portuguese Estremadura, the one in the district of 

 Thomar, and the other in that of Figueiro dos Vinhoss : they are supplied by mines 

 of red oxide of iron, situated on the frontiers of this province and of Beira. Ono 

 deposit of quicksilver ore occurs at Couna, in Portugal. 



MIXES OF THE NORTH OF ETJEOPE. 



These mines are situated for the most part in the south of Norway, towards the 

 middle of Sweden, and in the south of Finland, a little way from the shortest line 

 drawn from the Lake Onega to the south-west angle of Norway. A few mines occur 

 in the northern districts of Norway and Sweden. The main products of these several 

 mines are iron, copper, and silver. 



The iron mines of Norway lie on the coasts of the Gulf of Christiania, and on 

 the side facing Jutland, principally at Arendal, at Krageroe, and the neighbourhood. 

 The ores consist almost solely of black oxide of iron, which forms beds or veins of 

 from 4 to 60 feet thick, incased in gneiss, which is accompanied with pj-roxene 

 (augite), epidote, garnets, &c. These iron ores are reduced in a great many 

 ^melting-furnaces situated on the same coast, and particularly in the county of 

 Laurwig. Their annual product is about 16,500,000 Ibs. avoird. of iron, in the form 

 of cast iron, bar iron, sheet iron, nails, &c. ; of which one-half is exported. 



Norway possesses rich copper mines, some of which lie towards the south and the 

 centre of the country; but the most considerable occur in the north, at Quikkne, 

 Jdeken, Selboe, and Rceraas, near Dronthoim. The mine of Rceraas, 16 miles from 

 Drontheim, to the S.E. of the city, is opened on a very considerable mass of copper 

 pyrites, and has been worked as an open-cast since 1664. It has poured into the 

 market, from that time till 1701, 77, 000,000 Ibs. avoird. of copper. In 1805 its 

 annual production was 864,600 Ibs. Not far from the North Cape, copper mines have 

 been for some years past actively worked by an English (the Altcn) mining company, 

 on irregular veins at Kaafiord and Baipas. 



Norway comprehends also some celebrated silver mines. They are situated from 

 15 to 20 leagues S.W. of Christiania, in a mountainous country near the city of 

 Kongsberg, which owes to them its population. Their discovery goes back to the 

 year 1623, and their objects are veins of carbonate of lime, accompanied with asbestos 

 and other substances in which native silver occurs, usually in small threads or net- 

 work, and sometimes in considerable masses, along with sulphuret of silver. These 





