LEAD AND SILVEH. \^j 



the vicinity of Myitkyina. The valley itself is not difficult of 



access though the Chinese roads are by no means good. I visited 

 it in December 1907. At that time the prospecting rights had 

 been secured from the Chinese Government by a Cantonese Chinese 

 Wan Kim. who with three or four other Cantonese and a number 

 of local Yunnanese was working in the valley. 



That the Ming-kuan has been the seat of a considerable copper 

 and lead smelting industry in the past is proved by the large 

 number of old adits which enter the hills at various places, by 

 the remains of ancient furnaces, and by the heaps of slag which bear 

 witness to the large quantities of ore smelted. I discovered slag 

 heaps at various places, the largest being located at Hsiao-hsin- 

 kai, Jlong-too-hai, Kan-tung-pa, and in the valley which forms 

 the pass leading from the latter place to Kai-tou. There is some 

 reason for supposing that these slags could be re-treated profitably 

 by modern processes, and the large quantities which exist alone 

 make the Ming-kuan worthy of attention. I was told that some 

 of the heaps were three hundred years old, and doubtless the 

 smelting of lead ores and the cupellation of the metal for its silver 

 content have been carried on more or less continuously up to the 

 present time. In 11J07 there seemed to be a revival taking place 

 as I noticed furnaces in the course of construction at four different 

 places. 



The ores from the various mines worked by Wan Kun were 

 brought to Hsiao-hsin-kai and mixed. After several roastings and 

 washings, they were reduced with charcoal in a small blast furnace 

 of brickwork, about ten feet high, said to be capable of dealing 

 with one ton of ore in twenty-four hours. The blast was produced 

 by the Chinese cylindrical blower worked by a water-wheel. The 

 crude lead alloy from this furnace was then cupelled for its 

 silver, this operation being carried out in a dome-shaped furnace 

 in which the fuel is supported on a hearth above the charge. 

 Attempts were being made to smelt the copper ores which are also 

 obtained locally, but the small type of furnace seemed incapable 

 of producing more than a very crude copper matte. I examined 

 mine workings at the following places : — - 



Hsing-ai-ch'ang ; 

 Tong-shan ; 

 llong-too-hai. 



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