12 THECUBAREVIEW 



MINING MATTERS 



THE VAST ORE DEPOSITS OF CUBA 500,000,000 TONS AVAILABLE 



FURTHER AREAS RICH IN ORE 



The discovery that Eastern Cuba is over-laid with a deposit of iron, accessible for 

 mining w-ihout tunneling or shafting, which aggregates fully 500,000,000 tons or more, 

 means that a new source of supply is available for the American iron and steel industry 

 that is of the greatest importance. Less than ten years ago was this deposit investigated. 

 In 1904 samples of ore were taken from a small area that were found to contain over 

 50 per cent of iron. This was followed by a more exhaustive study of what is known 

 as the Mayari district, by pits 300 feet apart, with borings made with a 2-inch carpenter's 

 auger in the bottom of each pit. At hrst, each foot of pit the borings were analyzed 

 separately; but the ore proved of such uniform quality that samples were then taken of 

 each 6 feet, by borings only, and the distance between these was increased to 1,000, 

 1,500 and 1,750 feet. 



The only iron ranges in this country that can be contrasted with the Cuban deposits 

 m extent are the Superior, which in their earlier history supplied 75 per cent of the ore 

 consumed by American furnaces. 



The ore in its natural state contains a very large percentage of water, which increases 

 to some extent with the depth below the surface. Near the surface it is red in color, 

 with somewhat granular structure. The color gradually changes with depth, finally reach- 

 ing a bright yellow. The consistency also changes toward the bottom to a clay-like, 

 sticky mass. The relative proportion of red and yellow ore is quite variable; in some 

 places the yellow reaches close to the surface, while in o,thers the red extends almost 

 to the underlying serpentine. 



In the Mayari division of the Spanish-American Iron Company, the ore lies on an 

 irregular plateau, about 15 miles long and 5 miles wide at . the widest point, entirely 

 covered with pine trees and brush, which grow directly on the ore. The elevation at 

 the northern extremity, which is approached by the railroad, is about 1,700 feet above 

 sea-level. At the southern end the general elevation is about 2,000 feet. Ore is removed 

 by means of scraper-bucket excavators and steam-shovels, these machines loading into 

 special standard-gage, side-dump steel cars of 100,000 pounds capacity. 



The Spanish-American Iron Company is also operating hard-ore mines of the Daiquiri 

 group, on the south coast of Cuba, about fifteen miles east of Santiago. The main ore 

 property at Daiquiri, once considered as three separate mines, San Antonio, Lola and 

 Magdalena, has now developed into a practically continuous body of ore. The ore in 

 the Lola mine can easily be distinguished from the waste by its darker color. The 

 waste-banks are on the right and the ore-lowering inclines on the left. Both the ore and 

 the over-burden are removed from a series of benches. Fourteen steam-shovels are 

 employed for stripping, the largest of which is a 90-ton Marion carrying a 4-yard dipper. 

 All are served by locomotives and trains of side-dump cars for removing the rock to 

 waste-banks on the back side of the hill. 



On account of the rock being mixed more or less with the ore, it is necessary to load 

 all of the ore by hand into small cars, which are run to lowering-inclines. These inclines 

 carry the ore in skip-cars to the main-line railroad, which runs from the foot of Lola 

 hill to La Playa, the shipping-port at the coast, four miles from the mines. 



A hoisting-incline is provided for raising coal, machinery and general supplies from 

 the main-line railroad to any level of the mine. A modern air-compressor plant is lo- 

 cated along the railroad near the San Antonio mine, and a pipe-system is arranged to 

 furnish compressed air for tunnel-exploration and for general service to any part of the 

 mine. Steam-drills are used in the principal blasting-work. Ore is also brought from 

 the Berraco and Sigua groups of mines, located to the east of Daiquiri, over a narrow- 

 gage railroad joining the standard-gage main-line about two miles below Daiquiri 

 mines. All of the ore is crushed before shipment in a Gates crusher-plant to sizes suit- 

 able for use in the blast furnaces. 



The contour of the ground at the point where excavations were begun, in the Mayari 

 district, though appearing to be quite regular, is not ideal for steam-shovel operation. 

 The depth of ore is not uniform, in many places the underlying rock projecting far up 

 into the ore, even to the surface. The general slope of the ground, even in the most 

 nearly level places, is quite irregular. Therefore, it is difficult to find many places 

 where it is possible to operate a steam-shovel for an extended period in a cut of eco- 

 nomical depth without including a considerable portion of the rock with the ore ex- 



