15G COGGIN BROWN : MINES & MINERAL RESOURCES OF YUNNAN. 



of the Yang-pi Ho which, in its turn, joins the Mekong. I visited 

 the workings which lie at an elevation of about 5,100 feet above 

 sea-level or 1,200 feet below the town. There was a raised terrace 

 deposit about 20 feet above stream-level, covered with terraced 

 rice-fields and backed by the steep hill-side rising 800 or 900 feet 

 above it. About 50 men were employed in digging out the pay- 

 dirt from a number of holes in the terrace and washing it in sluice- 

 boxes by 1 lie side of the sf ream. The gold obtained was coarse 

 and did not appear to have travelled far. It probably comes from 

 veins traversing the old slates in the vicinity. The deposit was 

 not a large one, but it is interesting as showing another type of 

 alluvial deposit distinct from the bigger ones in the rivers of northern 

 Yunnan. 



Regarding the future possibilities of alluvial or lode gold-mining 



in Yunnan or about its borders, all that can 



Summary. . ' 



be said is that deposits exist which deserve 

 careful testing. The Yang-tze, Mekong, Salween, Shwe-li and their 

 tributaries all carry gold. In this they do not differ from the 

 Irrawaddy and its branches, which may be regarded as members 

 of the same great group of rivers as far as their upper reaches go. 

 The Irrawaddy is the only one of the group in which long and 

 careful tests have been made. Three gold- dredgers have worked for 

 years on the Irrawaddy above Myitkyina and have recently (1918) 

 ceased operations, which apparently cannot be carried on profitably. 

 Whether the alluvial deposits of the other rivers are richer is un- 

 known. The Chinese are the most frugal race in the world and too 

 many earlier writers have been led to dream of El Dorados because 

 they have seen a group of men eking out a miserable existence on 

 lean gold deposits which no one else would touch. However, richer 

 deposits may occur but they will have to be sought for and investi- 

 gated. 



The most promising region for the occurrence of lode gold 

 appears to me to be in the basins of the Ya-lung and its tributary 

 the Li-tang in Ssu-ch ? uan. 



SALT. 



The salt-producing beds of Yunnan occur towards the base 

 of the Red Beds series of Permo-Triassic age. This series covers 

 a great expanse of country and the chief salt-manufacturing centres 

 Are situated in places where the lower horizons have been favour- 



