124 COOfiTN BROWN : MINER X MINERAL Kl'st Hi i;< T.s OF YUNNAN. 



LEAD AND SILVER. 



Although it seems probable thai in the pasl Yunnan 1ms Eur- 

 nished largo quantities of silver, obtained in mos1 cases by the 

 cupellatiom of argentiferous lead, to meet the demand in other 



parts of China, t lie available information regarding the deposits 

 themselves is lint meagre. The Chinese exploitation ol the Bawdwin 

 mines in the Northern Shan Stales of Burma, for silver, and the 

 interesting records of their oast history which extend over a lone 

 period of time, prove how far afield the Imperial Governmenl was 

 once prepared to extend its operations in search ol silver. 



Some idea of the importance of lead and silver in Yunnan about 

 the middle of the L8th century can he gleaned Erom [tocher's revi- 

 sion of the Tien-nan knan ch'ang lists. The following details 

 are taken from that source. (1C. pp. 'J.Vi-^o*)). 



Tin* Tung-ch'uan Fu prefecture possesses numerous deposits of 

 argentiferous galena. The mine ot Mi en dm a- 

 Tung-ch'uan Fa pre- ■' fc fch ' , , f ( ' 1 ,' i : i < .- c 1 • i n . on the 



fectiire, 



borders of Ssu-ch'uan. was very productive. 



The following mines art 1 also mentioned :- 



Ch'in-riu north-wesl of Ch'iao-chia ; 



Ch'iao-lien. east of Ilui-i ; 

 Kuan-slum. 



The last mine was only Opened a few years before tin Chinese list 



was prepared. 



The mine of Lo-ma. in the Yung-shan Ilsien sub-division, was 



situated at Lung-t 'ou-shan and was famous Foi 

 Chao-t'uns Fu pre- ,1 1 c *i L ■ 1 



r ecture t he large amount ol silver contained in its 



copper ores. It was pract icnllv ruined in t be 



rebellion. Three other mines produced argentiferous galena. Thev 



were situated at Niu-kai-tien, Lan-shih-liang and at Hsin-kai-tzu ; 



the two latter produced an ore very rich in lead, but containing 



little silver. 



In the south of this prefecture two deposits of galena were 



Oh'eng-Chiang Fu known, but the disturbed state of the country 



P refecture - interfered with their working in the seventies. 



Several deposits of galena were known in this prefecture. The 



mine ol Kuei-i produced a very rich galena, 



Ch' it -chine Fu pre- i fl j , ,,• ,' . . 



f ec t; ur e 1,lir :i '' ,T T n(1 rebellion its production became 



very small. 



