mines. 



Ill COUCILN BROWN : MINES & MINERAL RESOURCES OF YUNNAN. 



There are very numerous old workings b the valley, but the 

 deposits which were being worked at the time 



Pao-p mg-ch ang | \\&\t were entered from both sides of 



j 



a spur which cuts into and narrows the valley 

 near the point where it turns north-east ; (further towards its head, 

 the valley has a north and south direction). The mines are from 

 1 to \\ miles from the camp to which they are joined by a good 

 mule track. I inspected the workings entered from the south side ; 

 time did not permit of my visiting the others on the opposite side. 

 The underground workings that I went through were of great 

 extent, and 1 was in them for some hours. It is quite impossible 

 to describe thorn in detail, without the preparation of a plan. They 

 turned and twisted in every direction and formed a perfect labyrinth 

 of underground galleries. Suffice it to say that the actual workings 

 were amongst the best that I have seen in Yunnan. The timbering 

 especially deserved much praise for it was done, with a practical 

 knowledge and care which betokened considerable experience. The 

 main roads were high and well driven. The ventilation in the 

 main ways was good and obtained by means of rises through to 

 the surface and upper workings. In the remoter parts of the mine 

 the air was very foul. There was not much water in the mine 

 except in the lowest workings whence it was raised into the drainage 

 adits by means of the usual bamboo pumps. The general impres- 

 sion I received was that the mine was about exhausted as far as 

 it was possible for the Chinese to go down. There was no proper 

 system of working and thin quartz stringers were being followed 

 in all directions. These carried sulphide ore in the form of erubes- 

 cite with smaller quantities of chalcopyrite. Chalcocite, malachite 

 and azurite were also identified. In one part of the mine I came 

 across an old stope, which seemed to indicate the original presence 

 of a large lode, 5 or 6 feet thick. The miners confirmed this and 

 said that it ran out 10 or 15 years before. Decomposition and 

 metamorphism of the country rocks had been very great and it 

 was impossible to arrive at any conclusions regarding the forma- 

 tion of the ores during the short time I was permitted to stay in 

 the mine. I am inclined to think that the lodes were in very 

 irregular fissures of great variation in size, traversing shales, sand- 

 stones and limestones. They also appear to have entered the 

 eruptive rocks in contact with them. 



The ores are carried to the surface in baskets by boys, and after 



