IRON. 87 



valley itself runs almost due east and west, the mines being from 

 3£ to 4 miles from the village and over 800 feet above it. Ying- 

 pan-kai itself is nearly 6,000 feet above sea-level. The main road 

 from Teng-yiieh to Ying-pan-kai is not in bad condition as far as 

 Yunnan roads go, but between the latter place and the mines there 

 is only a mule-track of the roughest description, the route following 

 bunds between the paddy fields in the valley, and traversing the 

 slopes of the mountain sides higher up. Pack animals can be 

 taken either way if loaded lightly. 



The mines themselves are located in a small hollow, which seems 

 to have been brought into existence partly by the numerous quarries 

 and open-cast workings of the past. Owing to a thick soil-cap and 

 the vegetation which covers the surface, beyond the fact that the 

 mines are merely drives made into a large ore-body, practically 

 nothing could be learned of the geology of the vicinity during the 

 short time at my disposal. A fine-grained pinkish granite crops 

 out in a few places between the village and the mines, which, in 

 general appearance greatly resembles the Ming-kuang granite. 



There were six drives but only one was being worked at the 

 time of my visit. It descended steeply into the ground for about 

 30 feet when it turned in a southerly direction w r ith only a slight- 

 slope. The inclined part of the working had been made with steps 

 to facilitate ascent and descent. The first 25 feet were of neces- 

 sity well timbered, for the ground was very bad, beyond this the 

 timbering was not good and the whole place was in a very unsafe 

 condition. The roof was a very bad one and small stones kept 

 coming down during my inspection. The working was dry and 

 there was no lack of ventilation. The working w r as entirely in ore, 

 the material of which was easily brought down with the pick, a 

 form of mining much appreciated by the Chinese. I traced the 

 outcrop of the ore-body on the surface for CO feet and it 

 could probably have been found much further had I been given 

 time to have a few trenches made. It strikes a few degrees east 

 of north and is from 10 to 15 feet wade. It consists almost entirely 

 of a hard, massive, brown hematite. The exposed portions are 

 somewhat oxidised and weathered on the outside. Amongst my 

 specimens I recognised specular iron ore and small quantities of 

 magnetite, both massive and crystalline. The hard specimens of 

 the ore are of good appearance. It is impossible to compute the 

 limits of the amount of ore available here without some preliminary 



