GOLD AND TIN if peed, " Phi): f. G. WARNFORD-LOCK M.LM.M., F.G.S. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES ITHACA, N. Y. 14853 fi ¢ ~ John M. Echols Collection on Southeast Asta JOHN M. OLIN LIBRARY HD 9536.M3W28 ana MINING IN MALAYA FOR GOLD AND TIN. BY €. G. WARNFORD-LOCK, M.LMM., F.G.S. With Spseciunr Map anp Frontisprece anD 104 In.ustrRations FROM THE . AvutHor’s PHotocrapus and Drawines. LONDON: CROWTHER AND GOODMAN, PRINTERS . . * 124, FencnurcH STREET, H.C. . October, 1907. MINING IN MALAYA. THe Passinc Man in Mataya. Phe Chinese coolie is the embodiment of the present mining industry of Malaya. He, and he only, has made it. His cownterfeit presentment on the Malay postage stamp would be much more appropriate than the tiger which now does duty as a badge. But he is destined to pass away and give place to machinery. Dedicated to Tue HonouraBstE JOHN ANDERSON, MERCHANT PRINCE OF SINGAPORE; Whose enterprise, money and influence have done more for the development of Gold and Tin Mining in Malaya than the combined efforts of the whole White community besides. FOREWORD. Tue primary object of the following pages is to convey, as closely as may be, an idea of the present condition and possible future development of the gold and tin mining industries of the Malay Peninsula—more especially of that portion of the Peninsula which, under the name of the Federated Malay States, is subject to the ‘control of the British Colonial Office. In the accompanying sketch map of the Malay Peninsula, an attempt has been made to show the principal gold and tin mining ‘centres in each of the four Federated States—Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang—as well as those in the adjoining Independent States of Johore and Tringganu. In a land where the Government is an absolute Bureaucracy, unrestrained by Parliament, Press, or Public Opinion, it is, perhaps, not extraordinary that the interests of British capital are lost sight ot. To the British official, ‘‘the stranger within our gates” is always dearer than are his own countrymen. No picture of the mining industry of British Malaya which ignored the heavy shadows introduced by official ignorance and mischievous legislation could serve any useful purpose. Therefore, no apology is needed for the use of strong colours in bringing out the disabilities under which the British capitalist and the British mining engineer are laid in this newest of British dominions. The great fetish of this very young and very incompetent Govern- ment is the Chinaman. The Chinaman can do no wrong. To the Chinaman are given enormous areas of rich alluvial land, while from the British Company is taken away, at the first opportunity, even that which it hath, viz., the lode-mining ground which was leased to it before the British official came into being. To the Chinaman only is granted the right to pander to the vices of his viii FOREWORD. countrymen—the supply of opium and liquor, and the control of the gambling dens—whereby, in very many cases, the coolie becomes a veritable chattel of the wealthy Towkay. In a word, the Chinaman brings nothing into the country and takes everything out. of it. The Chinaman embarks only on those enterprises where his sole outlay is on coolie labour—which can be dismissed at short. notice, should the undertaking be rendered unprofitable through falling markets or otherwise, and out of which, in any event, he looks to recover the major part of his money through the medium of his opium and gambling hells. The Chinaman, whether Towkay. or coolie, finally goes back to China with his earnings. The China-. man has no fancy for the risks of lode mining and the sinking of large sums in plant and machinery. Now the best, the richest and the most accessible mineral deposits of British Malaya—the tin-bearing gravels with a plentiful water supply—have already been monopolised by the Chinaman. The still undeveloped territory, whether lode or alluvial, demands heavy outlay in machinery, with greater risks and poorer returns. This. is left to the British capitalist and the British mining engineer, because the Chinaman wants none of it. The question for the Britisher to decide is whether the prospects warrant the investment, whether the Independent Malay, Malay-Siamese and truly Siamese territories near at hand do not offer far superior inducements. I have written of practically nothing which I have not myself seen, but I have to acknowledge with gratitude my indebtedness. for assistance in various ways, specially to Mr. J. B. Scrivenor, Government Geologist to the Federated Malay States, and to. Mr. W. H. Martin, now General Manager of the Raub Australian Gold Mining Co.; and generally to the Consulting Engineers and Managers of practically every mine in the country under European direction. CONTENTS. TasLE I. Sterling and Straits Money Equivalents II. Straits Weights and Measures ... III. Equivalent Prices per kati and per lb.... IV. Equivalent Prices per pikul and per cwt. Climate and Health Laws and Regulations ... Timber and Firewood ... Taxation... Labour ... Transport, Travel, and Communication Gold Mining: Generalities ae sib Gold Mining [continued]: The Raub Mine ... Gold Mining [continued]: Other Mines Tin Mining: Generalities ai vias sie Tin Mining [continued]: Alluvial Mining Methods Tin Mining [continued]: Alluvial Mining Methods [contd.] Tin Mining [continued]: Lode Mining Tin Mining [continued]: Milling, Dressing and Smelting ... Tin Mining [continued]: Secondary Products Tin Mining [continued]: Its Future... Index Pace. xi X1v XV Xvl 17 21 31 46 50: 62 88 96 109 128 140: 157 164 170: 189. ILLUSTRATIONS. ‘The Passing Man in Malaya .. a os ai ei FRonTISPIECE. FIG. : PLATE 1.