122 rOC.GIN BROWN : MTXKS & MINERAL RESOURCES OF YUNNAN. 



Copper ores occur m the Wei-ning Fu district of the Kuei-chou 

 province but as this town is only 20 miles from the eastern frontier of 

 Yunnan, it is worth while reproducing here such information as exists 

 upon them. This is taken from Davies' account of his journey from 

 Yunnan to Kuei-chou by the Yunnan Fu, Chu-ch'ing Fu, Hsuan- 

 wei Chou route. On the second day out from Hsuan-wci Chou, the 

 large village of T'ang-t'ang is passed. This is in Yunnan and is 

 the headquarters of the lessee of the copper mines in the neighbour- 

 hood. In 1899 the mines, located in many places in the vicinity, 

 were not producing as much as they used to. Three stages from 

 Hsuan-wei Chou brings one to Yao-chou in TTuei-chou, where Davies 

 examined a mine in the hills two miles to the west of the village. 

 He has given the following account of it : — 



" This mine, they say, was formerly very productive and 2,000 

 men are said to have found employment here. At the time of 

 my visit there were not more than 100 miners at work. They 

 live in little huts scattered about the valley, and there are three 

 furnaces' constantly kept burning to smelt the ore they dig out. 

 The ore is mined out of the solid rock of which the. hill is formed. 

 There are no deep shafts ; they cut caves out of the hillside, and 

 the miners often live in the caves they are working in. They use 

 hammers and iron wedges, and they say a man can get out a mule 

 load of ore in two days. The ore varies a good deal in quality, 

 and is sold for from two to seven mace a mule load. Taking a 

 load as" 130 lbs., this comes to from sixpence to one and nincpencc 

 for 100 lbs. The best ore is of a purple colour and is s'aid to produce 

 10 per cent, of copper. The lessee of the mine pays 500 or 000 

 taels a year to the Government for the right of smelting, and the 

 miners are obliged to sell the ore to the lessee. The copper produced 

 is Sent to Kuei-yang Fu, the capital of Kuei-chou province, and 

 is there used for coining into cash." (D., p. 165). 



The only importance of the Wei-ning district is said to be in 

 its mines of copper, lead, silver, iron and zinc. In the town itself 

 Davies lived in the Government mining office and remarks, — ft They 

 have a lot of boilers and other mining machinery here, which are 

 the property of the Yunnan Province Government, who have never 

 used them and want to sell them, but are hardly likely to find a 

 purchaser here." (1)., p. 107). 



According to Davies the price paid by the Government for 

 copper in 1899 was equivalent to £28 per ton. 



