28 THECUBAREVIEW 



CUBAN MINING PROPERTIES 



D wight E. Woodbridge in the Mining and Engineering World 



Soft limonitic iron ores, formed from serpentine rock by atmospheric action in eliminating 

 a part of the gangue minerals, which are mainly silica and alumina, and so concentrating 

 the iron, chromium and nickel are the only ores of iron present on the island in quantities 

 known to be highly important. 



The soft limonites cover many thousands of hectares and attain a combined tonnage of 

 more than 3,000,000,000 tons. 



By far the greater portion of these soft ores lie in the province of Oriente on the north 

 coast between Nipe Bay and Baracoa. 



To the present time mining on these limonites has been confined to the immediate vicinity 

 of Nipe Bay, to the ore bed known as Mayari, so-called from the river and village at its base. 

 Mr. Tupper has fully described the method of mining in his article already referred to. The 

 bulk of the ore in this, the Santiago district, is owned by the Spanish-American Iron Co., 

 subsidiary to the Pennsylvania Steel Co., its holdings at Mayari covering all the known ore, 

 say 600,000,000 tons, and its holdings at Moa probably exceed 800,000,000 tons. Some 

 three years ago an option was given on the latter portion of its land to an American syndicate 

 under a guaranty of 750,000,000 tons of ore averaging not less than 43%, dried, but though 

 examination proved the reasonableness of the guaranty, the option was not exercised. Today 

 it would probably be impossible to secure an option on any of the holdings of the Spanish- 

 American Iron Co. at prices that would appear reasonable and would not incur a tremendous 

 investment. Holdings in the Oriente district, aside from those of the Spanish-American 

 Iron Co., include some 300,000,000 tons in the name of the Buena Vista Iron Co., which is a 

 concern whose stock is held by four individuals in Cuba and the United States, and some 

 500,000,000 tons in the names of the Juragua Iron Co., a Bethlehem Steel Co. subsidiary; 

 the Guantamo Exploration Co., a New York syndicate, and the Eastern Steel Co., also of 

 New York. Further from the coast, but within the Moa district, are some 200,000,000 tons 

 held for the U. S. Steel Corporation. The bulk of the better ore of the Camaguey district 

 is held for the Bethlehem Steel Co., while various parties retain the rest. In Pinar a well- 

 known New York bank, not otherwise interested in iron, holds say 200,000,000 tons, while 

 various Cubans and some New Yorkers have the rest. Outside the above, the ores of the 

 north coast are still in original hands, the repubhc, the church, old estates and local parties. 



To the late Jennings S. Cox, who until his lamentable death last year, was manager of 

 the Spanish-American Iron Co., and to Chas. F. Rand, president of the same company, was 

 due the discovery of these ores. The surface of these ore beds carries small quantities of hard- 

 ened nodules of iron, in the form of shot or pellets, and called by the Spaniards "tierras de 

 perdigones," or "shot ore grounds." Years before Messrs. Cox and Rand had come upon the 

 scene. Spanish and other engineers conceived the idea of washing the "red soil" in which 

 these nodules occurred, so as to separate the latter, which they considered the only valuable 

 portion of the material. But the quantity of recoverable ore was so small that these experi- 

 ments failed. These men did not appreciate the fact that the red soil in which these scattering 

 nodules were found was as good ore, as high in iron content, as the hard shot. This fact, 

 which Messrs. Cox and Rand did discover, led to the investigation of the whole question, 

 and to the shipment of a cargo of the red soil to Pennsylvania furnaces about 10 years ago. 

 The successful result of this experiment led to the denouncement of large tracts, and to the 

 commanding ]X)sition now held by the Spanish-American Iron Co. 



Port of Casilda, Santa Clara Province and macadam road connecting it with Trinidad. 



