236 The Philippine Journal of Science im 



assured that there is more ore present than the few thousand tons 

 contained in the bowlders. 



The only estimate which can reasonably be made, therefore, 

 places the total reserves in the Bulacan ore deposits at 1,200,000 

 metric tons; even this figure involves an assumption as to the 

 depth to which the ore persists. Yet, if the dip dimension of 

 the Camaching ore body is at all comparable with its strike dimen- 

 sion, there is from five to ten times this quantity of ore present 

 in this deposit alone.^^ 



In view of the possible size of the ore bodies in Bulacan, there is 

 justification for sufficient exploration work to determine some- 

 thing of the extent of the ores beneath the surface. It should not 

 be particularly expensive nor difficult to carry out such explora- 

 tion in the vicinities of the larger outcrops. Hand-operated core 

 drills, it is believed, would afford the most convenient and satis- 

 factory means of obtaining the data required for preliminary 

 estimates. 



THE MINING AND SMELTING INDUSTRY 



HISTORY 



The first authentic mention of iron mining in the Philippines 

 is contained in a report -° dated July 16, 1664, from Governor- 

 General Salcedo to the Spanish crown. In this letter the gov- 

 ernor-general states that he had brought out from Spain at his 

 own expense an engineer to develop an iron mine, that 600 

 arrobas " (of iron) had already been obtained, and that he was 

 continuing the work. This statement refers to the iron ore near 

 Santa Inez or, possibly, near Bosoboso in Rizal Province. 



Viana, a former royal fiscal, spoke " of the same locality on 

 February 10, 1765, and stated that the iron mines were then in 

 charge of Juan Solana and Francisco Casaiias, that they had 

 established furnaces, coalpits (charcoal pits ?), and forges, and 

 had mined large quantities of iron ore. Soon after this date, one 



" Dr. James F. Kemp, quoting McCaskey, submitted to the 11th Interna- 

 tional Geological Congress a rough estimate of from 500,000 to 800,000 tons 

 for the ore reserves in the deposits near Angat, including, apparently, only 

 Montamorong and the Hison-Santa Lutgarda-Constancia deposits. Iron 

 Ore Resources of the World. Stockholm (1910), 983. 



-'MS. in Archivo general de Indios. Sevilla, folio II, 481-483. Title 

 quoted by Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. 

 Cleveland, Arthur H. Clark Company (1903-1908). 



" 1 arroba = 11.502 kilograms. 



" MS. copy in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago. Title quoted 

 by Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (1903-1908). 



