COPPER, 100 



This mine is in a ravine 200 metres above the Yangtze river, 

 m , , - 3?> stages from Timg-ch'uan Fu. It is very 



inaccessible and the roads to it are dmicult 

 and dangerous for beasts of burden. It possesses a furnace in which 

 carbonates of copper and copper pyrites are treated. These 

 ores are found disseminated here and there in thin quartz veins 

 traversing sandstones and shales. The region is said to be too 

 crushed to contain extended fissures and the minerals form 

 scattered deposits without continuity. Production about 15 metric 

 tons per annum. 



Deprat's resum6 of the copper resources of Eastern Yunnan. 



The only interesting copper mines in Eastern Yunnan are 

 situated beyond the sphere of action of the French railway. From 

 the Lao-tchang mines of the Tung-ch'uan Fu prefecture to Yi- 

 liang Hsien, the minimum number of stages by horseback is eight, 

 over detestable roads only open for part of the year ; from Tung- 

 ch'uan Fu itself to Yi-liang Hsien is twelve or thirteen stages. The 

 mines close to the railway are not encouraging and geological condi- 

 tions are such as to confirm unfavourably the impressions furnished 

 by the deposits themselves. There is copper in the basic eruptives 

 of the Permian and Moscovian, especially at their contacts, but 

 always in the form of restricted deposits, immediately exhausted, 

 and incapable of giving an output of any importance or duration. 

 In the Permian basalts copper is found everywhere, but except 

 in rare cases it is in traces. 



Generally speaking between Yunnan Fu and Meng-tzu, condi- 

 tions offer little encouragement, the crushing and folding of the 

 strata in the orogenic Himalayan movements almost completely 

 dispel the hope of finding large mineralised fractures in them. (D., 

 p. 250). 



Personal Observations. 



Copper Mines of the Yung-pei T'ing district. 



Yung-pei T'ing (lat., 26° 45' ; long. 100° 45') lies seven days' 

 journey to the north- north- east of Ta-li Fu. After leaving the 

 latter city, the main northerly route leading to Li-chiang Fu, is 

 followed as far as Shang-kuan (stage I) at 16 miles. Up to this 

 point the road is paved, in good condition, and lies between the 



