118 COCHIN BROWN : MINES & MINERAL RESOURCES OF YUNNAN. 



the eastern bank of t be river, while on I he opposii e bank, lime- 

 stones crop out . The lati er arc exceedingly broken up near 1 heir 

 faulted contact with the slates, and every variation from coarse 

 breccias wit h large angular fragments, down I o cracked and broken 

 fine-grained rocks can be found. The river Hows in a gorge at an 

 elevation of approximately 4,000 feet, but within four miles on 

 either bank, the hounding ranges attain heights of over 8. 000 Un^i . 

 There is a great limestone precipice rising up immediately behind 

 the village. It is noteworthy that rolled blocks oi a red granite 

 were seen in the stream-bed. 



The place was visited by Duclos in March 1807, (Dm. pp. 

 291-294), who gathered the information thai 



Mines. . . . . . . 



several copper mines were worked in this 

 region before the Mahomedan revolt. At three stages down the 

 river the mines of 1-tou. Ilo-la and Tze-mou were situated. The 

 mine of Ouahg-po seems to have been some twelve miles further 

 up the valley above San-chia-ch'ang. In addition to these there 

 were several prospects. All ore was sent in to San-chia-ch'ang, 

 and the supply was sufficient to keep four furnaces in continual 

 operation. Onlv one furnace was working in 1897, and this was 

 the state of affairs in L908 at the time of my visit, though a second 

 furnace was kept ready Eor blowing in it necessary. In L897 the 

 annual production of metallic copper was about 10 metric tons. 

 In 1908, as far as T could gather, it had fallen to half that amount. 

 An officer from the Bureau of Mines was stationed in the village 

 to buy all the metal obtainable and forward it to the capital. In 

 1807 only one mine was being worked to the south of the village. 

 This appears to be the mine 1 saw in 1008. The main entrance was 

 high up on the mountain side. \l miles south of the village. The 

 road to it was very bad and impassable for animals. Judging 

 from the extent of the workings it was of very considerable age. 

 It took me between l and | houi travelling underground to 

 reach the first working place, the roads twisting and turning in 

 everv direction. The country rock appeared to be an altered lime- 

 stone, and the ore chalcopyrite with small amounts of enriched 

 sulphides. According to Duclos. several well-marked lodes exist. 

 but T was unable to trace any definite veins and the minerals \ 

 saw occurred in badly defined and rather thin zones of impregna- 

 tion. However 1 was onlv able to examine a small portion of the 

 mine. The ventilation was fairly good and was produced by rising 



