24 T H E C U B A R E V I E W 



MINING THE IRON-ORE BODIES OF CUBA 



I'.y C. A. TupPEr< 

 (From the Mining and Engineering World) 



It is only within recent years that the vast extent of the mineral resources of Cuba has 

 met with appreciation on the part of American mining interests. Now, however, the 

 development of extensive iron ore properties is proceeding rapidly, and it is only a ques- 

 tion of a short time before copper, lead and zinc mines are opened up, the known deposits 

 of copper being particularly abundant. 



As far back, however, as 1SS3, while Cuba was still a possession of Spain, the insular 

 government issued a proclamation to the effect that for a period of 20 years mining 

 companies were to be exempt from all taxes on their land, that no export duty should be 

 imposed upon ores, that coal brought in by mining companies for their own use would 

 be duty free, that for a period of ^> years mining companies might import, without tariff 

 charges all machinery or material used in the recovery or transportation of ores, and 

 other provisions of a similar character. The laws relating to navigation, port charges, 

 clearances, etc., were amended in like manaer, so far as vessels in the service of mining 

 companies were concerned. 



Under the provisions of this and subsequent statutes or decrees of an almost equally 

 favorable character, several American companies, among wliich the principal are the 

 Spanish American Iron Co.. Bethlehem Iron Klines Co., Piloto ^Mining Co., Juragua Iron 

 Co., Ponupo ]\Ianganese Co., Buena Vista Iron Co., Eastern Steel Co., Guantanamo 

 Exploration Co., have acquired concessions. Their investments now amount .to many 

 millions of dollars, and the plants and equipment provided are in several instances as 

 modern and complete as any in the w^orld. 



Operations being entirely on the surface, stripping and loading is accomplished by 

 machinery, and the ore is handled and conveyed to steamers on the coast in the most 

 economical manner. 



Alining operations are confined, at present, to the eastern end of the island, being 

 distributed among the ^layari, Levisa Bay and Moa-Taco districts on the north, the San- 

 tiago de Cuba district in the extreme southeast and the Camaguc}^ district, lying west of 

 the others towards the north coast. Iron ores of good grade are also knowm to exist 

 elsewhere on the island, as near Trinidad and throughout Santa Clara Province, in the 

 Sierra Maestra mountains on the south coast and Pinar del Rio in the west, but explora- 

 tion work has only just begun. 



The ores in the south are mostly magnetite and hard hematite, with some that are 

 manganese or heavily manganiferous ; wdiile in the AIoa-Taco and ]\Iayari districts they 

 are mainly limonites, and usually soft and iine, so as to require noduhzing. The latter 

 occur in Jslanket formation, with little or no overburden, and rest on igneous or meta- 

 morphic rocks. In some cases the surface deposits are in nodular or spherical form, 

 interspersed with scraps and masses like broken furnace slag, indicating the action of 

 volcanic heat. The Cubans name these deposits tierra perigones, or "partridge shot" and 

 "^luco de herrero," blacksmith slag. Besides a high-iron content, this fine ore carries 

 a small percentage of nickel and chromium : and it is usually below the Bessemer limit 

 in sulphur and phosphorus. An average analysis covering 4 months' shipment during the 

 present year, as taken by the Spanish American Iron Co., was as follows : Iron, 55.57 

 per cent': silica, 4.41 per cent; alumina, 14.21 per cent: chromium, 2.13 per cent; nickel 

 and cobalt, 1.04 per cent, and phosphorus, 0.022 per cent. 



Reserves of ore at present staked out are estimated by Chas. F. Rand, president of the 

 Spanish American Iron Co., as 3,221,000,000 tons. C3f those only 6,000,000 tons are 

 credited to the hard ores of the south coast, where mining was commenced in 1889, wnth 

 shipments dating from 1895, while the remaining deposits lie in the north. 



The north coast holdings of the Spanish-American Iron Co., whose operations willbe 

 first described, w'ere acquired in 1903 ; in 1909 the first shipments were made, amounting 

 during that and the following year to 310,000 tons. Since then the output has been 

 steadily increased. 



The ore of the Mayari district lies along an irregular plateau, about 15 miles long and 

 5 wide, overlooking Nipe bay in the province of Oriente. This table land was originally 

 covered with pine trees and brush, growing directly over the ore. The elevation at the 

 northern extremitv, which is approached by the company's own railroad from the port 

 of Felton on the 'bay. is about 1,700 ft. above sea level. From this point the plateau 

 rises to an elevation of nearlv 2,000 ft. 



