1870.] 



Mining. 



129 



Metals obtained from the Ores enumerated 







Quantities. 



Value. 





Tons. 



£ 



Iron, Pig 



4,970,206 



12,381,280 



Tin 



9,300 



901,400 



Copper " .. 



9,817 



761,602 



Lead 



71,017 



1,378,404 



Zinc 



3,713 



Ounces. 



75,435 



Silver 



835,542 



229,773 



Gold 



1,012 



3 522 



Other Metals (estimated) 



.. .. 



5,000 



Total value of Metals produced 



£15,736,416 



Absolute Total Value of the Metal and Coal, with other Minerals (not 

 including Slates, Lime, Building Stones, or Common Clays), produced in 

 1868. 



£ 

 Value of the Metals produced from the Mines of the 



United Kingdom 15,736,416 



Value of Coal 25,785,289 



Other Minerals, not smelted, including Salt, Barytes, 



&c, &c 2,003,819 



£43,525,524 



For two years the sad depression of Cornish mining has been 

 the reiterated complaint. This happily has given place to great 

 activity. The tin mines of Cornwall were never producing more 

 tin than at present, and the prices are such as enable most of the 

 mines to give a good dividend, after paying all the working expenses. 

 The long celebrated Bearhaven mines, in Ireland, which produced 

 (in 1868) 3837 tons of copper ore, are about to change hands, and 

 will for the future be worked by the Mining Company of Ireland. 



A variety of experiments have of late years been made in our 

 mines and quarries with explosive compounds of various kinds, with 

 very varied degrees of success. Attention is now called to " Poudre 

 d'ammoniaque," which has created quite a sensation in some of the 

 Continental mines. The following extracts will convey nearly all 

 the information, of value, at present available. 



The ' Militai-Wochenr-Blatt,' of Berlin, says : — " Some time ago 

 the proprietors of the powder manufactory of Nora-G-yttorp took 

 out a patent in Sweden for the invention of the ' poudre d'ammo- 

 niaque,' a substance only employed hitherto in a few mining districts, 

 and which seems to be completely unknown elsewhere. Its ex- 

 plosive power may be compared to that of nitro-glycerine, and, 

 consequently, surpasses that of dynamite. It will not explode with 

 a flame or with sparks, but explodes by a powerful blow with a 

 hammer. Chambers charged with this powder have been burst by 

 means of a cartouche of ordinary powder. One of the useful and 



VOL. VII. K 



