Mines about Pasco. 



PERU. 



Mines about Pasco. 



57 



marcs to three thousand ; the former being the 

 lowest which, under the most favourable circum- 

 stances, will pay the cost of working. The poorest 

 is of course the most abundant. 



The miner who can raise ores in considerable 

 quantities, which will give ten to twelve marcs per 

 box, does well. 



The produce of the mines since the close of the 

 revolutionary war, has amounted to the following, 

 viz. : 



In 1825, 

 1826, 

 1827, 

 1828, 

 1829, 

 1830, 

 1831, 

 1832, 

 1833, 

 1834, 

 1835, 

 18S6, 

 1837, 

 1838, 

 1839, 



228 ban 



818 

 1068 



922 



359 



457 



635 



994 

 1133 

 1142 

 1148 



991 

 1172 

 1172 

 1210 



MARCS. OZ. 



weighing 56,971 6 

 163,852 



221,707 7 

 201,338 

 82,031 

 96,265 



135,139 3 



219,380 5 



256,333 2 



267,363 4 



276,813 2 



244,404 1 



234,785 3 



248,022 6 



279,260 3 



To this may be added one-fifth for silver that 

 has not paid duties. 



The first adit of importance driven into the 

 mines, was that of San Judas, which passed the 

 wall of the vein of Zauricocha, in the year 1794. 

 By means of this adit, very rich ores were raised, 

 especially from the king's mine. In the year 1808, 

 the present deep adit, from which so much was 

 expected, was begun ; for covering the expenses of 

 constructing it, the body of miners imposed a duty 

 of one real per marc on all silver melted in the 

 government assay-office. This adit reached in 

 1830 the south-west edge of the metalliferous 

 ground of Santa Rosa, up to which time the whole 

 of its course had been in a hard rock. An auxiliary 

 adit was then commenced, fifty-four feet above 

 the level of the main one, and both of these works 

 have been carried on until the present time. The 

 ground above being better adapted for driving in, 

 the upper adit is in advance of the lower one 

 thousand five hundred feet, and has arrived at the 

 district of Cayac. The lower adit has reached the 

 mines situated upon the vein of Zauricocha, with- 

 out having cut a single vein or deposit of ore in 

 its transit. There are several rich mines a little in 

 advance of this adit, some of which have been 

 hitherto drained by hand-pumps, and which must 

 be shortly vei'y much benefited by it; for, although 

 they extend below the level of the adit, yet they will 

 have some fifty feet of pump-lift less. It will ex- 

 cite some wonder that steam is not now employed 

 in the draining of such valuable mines. It has, 

 however, been tried ; a few years previous to the 

 revolution, four steam-engines, of thirty - horse 

 power each, were brought out from England, and 

 three of them put up in the districts of Santa 

 Rosa, Cayac, and Zauracancha. That of Zauri- 

 cocha was not set up, but the other three were 

 worked with some success. 



A level was driven from the engine-shaft of 

 Santa Rosa into the mines of Zauricocha, and 

 rich ores were raised. The engine of Cayac did 

 little more than assist that of Zauricocha, which, 

 on account of the greater quantity of water, was 

 barely able to do the work required of it. The ex- 

 pense incurred by the house of Abodia in this 



undertaking was upwards of six hundred thousand 

 dollars, and at the moment when they had begun 

 to receive a good return for their capital, the revo- 

 lution broke out, and the troubles incident to it 

 put a stop to their work, and left them with that 

 amount of loss. Subsequently, at the close of the 

 war, the engine of Santa Rosa was again put in 

 operation ; and in parts of the years 1826 and 

 1827, a considerable quantity of silver was pro- 

 duced by means of the drainage effected by it. 



Some abortive attempts were made to use the 

 engine of Zauricocha, from 1829 to 1833 ; but 

 since the latter period they have all been aban- 

 doned, as unserviceable. 



The establishments for grinding and amalga- 

 mating the ores are situated at from one mile to 

 three leagues from the mines : those nearest the 

 town are deficient in water for several months in 

 the year. The construction of all these mills is 

 rude, and much power is lost. A mill will grind 

 two hundred boxes of the hardest ore, if it have 

 a constant stream of water. The amalgamation of 

 the ore with mercury is effected by its being trod- 

 den by horses in circular enclosures, containing 

 from five to ten boxes. The consumption of mer- 

 cury, including mechanical and chemical loss, is 

 about one pound for each marc of silver produced. 



No attempts have yet been made at roasting any 

 of the ores. 



Coal-mines are met with in various parts of the 

 country, at the distance of from two to seven 

 leagues ; the price is one real for an arroba, but 

 might be much reduced if the business were pro- 

 perly attended to. 



Various plans have been formed at Luna, and in 

 England, to purchase and work these mines, but 

 with what success is very uncertain ; the attempts 

 have generally been supposed to have resulted in a 

 loss. Speculation is always rife in search of these 

 valuable ores, and prospects of great gain are in- 

 variably held out to those who engage in them ; 

 but there is much difficulty in getting the business 

 into successful operation. The great error com- 

 mitted by all the English companies established in 

 1825, for working mines in Spanish America, was 

 in saddling themselves with great numbers of 

 people, engaged at high salaries, and workmen at 

 extravagant wages ; the expenses attending this 

 force swallowed up much of the funds before any 

 work was begun. These included not only inspec- 

 tors and mining-captains, but artisans, all of whom 

 were sent from England. From a total change of 

 life and circumstances, the mining-captains and 

 artisans almost invariably turned out in a short 

 time drunkards, and became good for nothing. In 

 some cases miners were brought out, and these 

 turned out still more worthless than either of the 

 two former classes. They, indeed, did more work 

 than the Indians, but their wages were higher, and 

 the expenses for their importation in addition, 

 made them cost much more. 



According to the laws of Peru, the silver pro- 

 duced in this department must be sent to the 

 government assay-office, to be melted into bars, 

 and thence to the mint at Lima to be coined. The 

 usual price of silver as it comes from the mine, is 

 from seven dollars six reals, to seven dollars 

 seven reals per marc. If remitted to Lima on 

 account of the miner, it yields him about eight 

 dollars one real per marc. 



