TN 440 G78 1919 ,>v*c-i ^HQ^ ^ .\eB^> CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ENGINEERING LIBRARY Cornell University Library The original of tiiis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924004683474 IMPERIAL MINERAL RESOURCES BUREAU. THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES. WAR PERIOD. COPPER. (1913-1919.) LONDON ; FRINIED AljD PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OI'FICE. To be purchased through any Bookseller or directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C.E, and 28, Abingdon Street, London, S.W.l; ' 37, Peter Street, Manchester ; 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; 23, Forth Street, Edinburgh ; or from EASON & SON, Ltd., 40 & 41, Lower Sackville Street, Dublin. 1922. Price 4s. Od. Net. ^77 6f^lT, Xn^Peeif^L TkHir/rure^ loaj2:>oaJ. HO ''/ PREFACE The following digest of statistical and technical information relative to the production, consumption and value of copper will form a part of the volume or volumes on the Mineral Resources of the British Empire and Foreign Countries con- stituting the Mineral Conspectus of the Bureau. In this, the first year of publication, an effort has been made to fill in, as far as possible, the hiatus due to the war in the publications relating to mining and metallurgical statistics. Labour, health and safety statistics have been omitted owing to the difficulty involved in procuring reliable information for the war period, but in future issues these statistics will be included. Resort will also be had to graphical representation of statistics of production, consumption, €osts, and prices. The weights are expressed in long tons, that is to say, the British statute ton of 2,240 lb., and values in pounds, shillings and pence at par rates of exchange. Dr. F. H. Hatch, a Governor of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau, is Chairman of the Advisory Technical Committee which has revised this work. (Signed) R. A. S. Rbdmayne, Chairman of the Governors. 2, Queen Anne's Gate Buildings, London, S.W.I. January-, 1922. /6iSo^sf CONTENTS. GENERAL :— ■^*^' Ores ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 Uses g Grades ... ... ... ... ... ... 7 WORLD'S PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION 8 PRICES 10 BRITISH EMPIRE :— United KiDgdom I3 Rhodesia 28 UnioQ of South Africa : — Transvaal ... ... ... ... ... 30 Cape Province ... ... ... ... 32 Orange River Colony 34 Natal 34 South-West Africa Territory ~ 34 Canada 39 Nova Scotia 39 New Brunswick ... ... ... ... 40 Quebec ... ... ... 40 Ontario... ... ... ... ... 41 Manitoba 42 British Columbia ... ... 43 Yukon Territory 50 North- West Territories ... ... ... ... 50 Newfoundland ... ... ' ... ... 56 Cyprus ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 57 India 58 Australia ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61 New South Wales ... 61 Victoria ... 63 Queensland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 63 South Australia ... ... ... ... ... 66 Western Australia ... ... ... ... ... 68 Tasmania ... ... ... ... ... ... 69 Northern Territory ... ... 71 Papua ' 72 New Zealand 78 FOREIGN COUNTRIES :— Europe : — Austria-Hungary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 78 Bulgaria 79 ^Finland 80 Francs 80 Germany 82 Greece ... 84 Italy 84 Jugoslavia 86 FOREIGN COUNTRIES— co»^;«».erf. Europe — continued. Norway Portugal Russia (European) Spain Sweden... Switzerland Africa : — Algeria Belgian Congo French Equatorial Africa ... Portuguese East Africa Portuguese West Africa North and Central America : — Cuba Hayti and Santo Domingo ... Mexico ... Uiiited States South America : — Argentina Bolivia ... Chile Peru Venezuela Asia : — Turkey (Asiatic) China ... Formosa Japan .,. Korea ... Siberia and Turkestan Pacific Possessions : — Java Dutch Timor ... New Caledonia Page .. 87 ... '.'.'. !!! * .. 89 .. 90 .. 95 "" \ .. 99 .. 101 .. 102 • ; • t • • t • • • .. 102 ... ■■ • ■■ • ■ .. 105 .. 106 .. 106 .. 107 ... .. 109 .. 109 .. 114 .. 139 .. 140 ... ... ... . .. 141 ... .. 149 .. 153 . 154 .. • ••• ■■ • ■ .. 155 ... .. 157 .. 158 ... ••■ *.• . .. 167 .. 169 . 172 ... ••• *• . • . 172 • •* *• • ■! ■ . . 172 REFERENCES TO TECHNICAL LITERATURE 173 GENERAL Copper Orbs The minerals containing copper are very numerous, but only a few of them are sufficiently abundant to serve as ores of copper. The more important are as' follov^rs : — Composition. Copper Per- ^ centage. Native copper Cu 100 Chalcopyrite CuaS.FejSg 34-5 Bornite or erubescite ... SCusS.FesSg 55-5 Chalcocite or copper-glance ... CujS 79-8 Covellite CuS 66-4 Enargite SCujS.AssSj 48-3 Tennantite SCusS.AsgSg 52-5 Tetrahedrite SCu^S.SbsSa 52-1 Cuprite CuaO 88-8 Melaconite (teno^ite) ... CuO 79*8 Malachite ... Cu(OH)2,CuC03 57-5 , Azurite , Cu(OH)2.2CtiC03 55-3 ChrysocoUa CuSi03.2H20 36-0-40-0 Brochantite CuS04.3Cu(OH)2 56-2 Chalcanthite CuSOi.SHjO 25-4 Cupreous iron-pyrites ... — up to 5 Of these minerals chalcopyrite represents the chief primary ore from which, directly or indirectly, the others have mostly been derived. It occurs generally as a low-grade ore which usually requires considerable treatment before a marketable product is obtained. Some of the other minerals, notably chalcocite and copper carbonates,, occur in richer deposits which have been already concentrated by natural chemical changes. These second- ary deposits yield valuable ore, from which large supplies of. metal can be recovered cheaply, but the " zone of secondary enrichment " tends to give way to the leaner primary ores as mines get deeper. It is importaJit to realize that these enriched deposits have yielded in the past a large part of the world's production and that the maintenance of a supply of cheap copper will depend in large measure on the discovery of new areas of such enriched deposits, which are most likely to be found in regions of small rainfall, particularly in tropical' countries. Fortunately there are many parts of the globe that have not yet been prospected. Large tracts of Africa, northern and eastern Asia, and south and central America, have scarcely been explored, and it can hardly be doubted that a thorough examination of these regions would yield important discoveries of copper deposits. .S.W.tiS A 3 Uses. The use of copper dates from the Bronze Age, when, hardened by alloying with tin, it was the chosen material for weapons and cutting implements. The beauty of its colour gave it a place m Art, and the ease with which it can be worked has led to its employment for many domestic and industrial purposes. For household use it has been displaced to some extent by aluminium and enamelled steel, but large quantities of copper are shipped as rolled sheets to eastern countries, where copper or brass are still almost the only materials from which domestic utensils are made. Besides being very malleable and capable of taking a high polish, copper is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity and isi, therefore, of value for a great variety of purposes. The largest and most increasing demand is for electrical use. — such as for cables and wires for transmission of current and for telegraphs and telephones, parts of dynamos, motors and other apparatus — while among its other more important uses are steam and hydraulic pipes, sugar pans and coolers, locomotive boiler tubes, fire box plates and rods, brewing, and distilling appliances, plates for engraving and process printing, rollers for calico printing, tubes, sheets, wire, etc., for general coppersmiths' work. For sheathing wooden ships there was formerly a large demand, which has fallen away owing tO' steel having taken the place of wood in naval construction. One of the most important uses of copper is in alloy with zinc as brass, which either as castings or worked in sheets, tubes or wire, is seen in nearly every article of daily use, from a pin or a door handle to a motor car or an Atlantic liner. Among the best-known alloys of the brass type are the ductile brasses, such as cartridge metal (copper 70, zinc 30), the ordinary cast or rolled brasses (about 65 copper,. 35 zinc), Muntz metal (60 : 40), extruded metal (58 : 42), and brass solders (50 : 50). Delta metal and " manganese bronze " are examples of high tensile brasses with about 60 per cent, of copper and iron or manganese. The copper alloys of industrial importance may conveniently be divided into the following classes : — Copper and Zinc, forminig the brasses already alluded to and containing 50 tO' 70 per cent, of copper. Copper and Tin, forming a large class of alloys known gener- ally as the bronzes used in engineering practice and for coinage, ordnance, and many other purposes. The composition of indus- trial bronze is very variable, many of the alloys contairuing other metals in addition to copper and tin. As a general rule the copper content in bronzes varies from 75 to 92 per cent. Copper and Nickel. — Alloys of these two metals, which are known as cupro-nickel or cupro, usually contain 75 to 80 per cent of copper and are used for bullet cases, &c. The most important alloys of this class, however, are those consisting of copper, nickel and zinc, forming the so-called ' ' nickel-silver ' ' (sometimes called " German silver "). They are very variable in compo- aition, but the best qualities usually contain from 50 to 62 per cent, of copper. These alloys appear under a great varietyof special trade names, and are largely used as a basis metal for electroplate and for a variety of other purposes. Monel metal is an alloy made by the direct smelting of the copper-nickel ore found in the Sudbury district of Canada. Pure copper is not, therefore, utihzed in its preparation. Copper and Aluminium. — ^The alloy known as " duralumin," which contains from 3 to 5 per cent, of copper, has found exten- sive use for aeroplane aad motor-car construction on account of its strength and elasticity. Useful alloys of copper with aluminium up to 10 per cent, axe also produced. The sub-oxide is employed for the production of a red glaze on pottery, and for copper enamels im jewellery and on porcelain ; the silicon-copper alloy is used as a deoxidizer in bronzes. Locomotive tubes, fire-box plates and stay rods are made almost exclusively of copper containing a small percentage (from 0'2 to 0.6) of arsenic. The effect of the arsenic isto iiicrease the tensile strength and resistance to the erosive action of the products of combustion. Other metals, such as antimony and bismuth, are often present as impurities in copper to the detriment of its mechanical pro- perties. The effect of very small quantities can be neutralized by the amount of oxide left in the metal during the last stage of refining, an operation known as bringing to " tough pitch." Copper sulphate, " blue vitriol " or " bluestone," is used in the maniufacture of various pigments, such as " Brunswick green " and " Venetian red," but its principal use is for agricul- tural purposes as a fungicide. The " Salzburg vitriol " pre- pared at Buxweiler contains both iron and copper, and " Cyprian vitriol " prepared at Chessy is got from zinciferous copper-ores. Grades of Copper The commercial grades of copper may be summarized as follows : — Lake copper from the native copper of the mines in the Lake Superior district of the United States. This copper is excep- tionally pure and possesses a high degree of conductivity. Electrolytic copper refined by the electrolytic process and con- taining 99-9 per cent or more of the metal. It is made in cathodes, which are usually remelted and cast into ingots, ingot bars, cakes and wire bars. Best selected mgois containing 99'5 to 99'75 per cent., uied in the best brass trades. Casting ingots containing 99 per cent, or more, used for the making of commoner brasses. A 4 8 Tough copper contains about 99'25 to 99'5 per cent., and is mad© in ingots, cakes or other suitable shape, aad used for casting, rolling and draj'ing. Blister copper includes Chile bars and contains anything trom 94 to 99 per cent. , and in some cases carries bullion. Practically everything cast in bars within this range of copper contents, and' capable of being refined by the fire process, forms to a large extenit the basis of the dealings in Standard Copper on the London Metal Exchange. The above grades are made in the following forms : — Wire" Bars. —Ahont 3 to 4 inches square and 30 to 40 inches long, pointed or rounded at the ends. Average weight 135 to 140 lb. Zngofs.— Average weight about 18 to 24 lb. Notched. Used in casting. Ingot Bars. — Notched bars used in casting. Weight about 45 to 80 lb. Cafees.— Weight 112 lb. and upwards to 5,535 lb. Used for rolling in sheets and plates. . 'Anodes.— Ahout 24 by 36 by 1| inches, weighing 250 lb. Crude copper used by electrolytic refiners. Cathodes. — About 36 by 18 by i; to 1 inches. Eefined copper from the electrolytic tanks. Slab&. — Eough copper about 1 to 2 cwti. each, 28 by 19 by 2 inches. WOELD'S PEODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. The increase* in the production of copper may be realized from the fact that the average annual production at the beginning of the nineteenth century was only about 9,000 tons. By the middle of the peintury the production had grown to about 40,000 tons, and about the end of the century it was over half-a-million tons. In 1913 the production was about 979,000 tons, and in 1918 it reached 1,387,000 tons. During the war, the requirements of copper for munitions and other war purposes in the foirm of copper bands and brass fuses for shells, brass cartridges, cupro>-nickel bullets, tubes for warships, cables and electrical equipment, &c., were so large as to leave little available for normal purposes in spite of a considerable increase in production ; this increase was mainly from the United States, Canada,, Chile, Peru, Japan, Africa and Germany. The production of Mexico and Eussia showed a decrease as compared with their pre-war output. World's Production of Copper Ore {in terms of copper content) (long tons) — 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 United Kingdom 421 341 235 278 187 179 144 Northern Bhodesia ... t5,856 763 176 1,159 1,803 793 182 Southern Rhodesia ... — 903 3,140 3,144 3,493 2,905 2,689 Union of South Africa 8,262 11,288 10,881 10,197 8,028 5,065 3,674 Canada 34,365 33,811 44,993 52,299 48^762 53,022 33,506 Newfoundland* 180 210 75 — India* 143 200 333 100 751 136 1,228 Australia 46,493 38,426 39,978 38,807 39,429 38,358 19,183 France ... ',,, 31 11 10 40 54 23 2 Grermany* 25,950 24,400 28,250 35,300 31,750 27,850 17,050 G-reece ... 4 5 1 4 — — — Italy ... 2,917 2,473 2,731 2,843 2 822 2,470 713 Norway . . . 14,132 13,159 15,540 8,894 9,974 10,756 Portugal 5,387 4,250 3,231 2,331 1,848 1,101 ' 905 Russia*... 33,700 31,700 25,500 21,000 13,300 10 000 Spain ... *47,300 30,606 31,076 33,121 44,812 17,621 62,256 Sweden ... 1,157 1,306 2,535 3,153 4,255 4,621 3,168 Algeria* , 31 12 264 176 40 Belgian Congo 5,324 10,172 13,814 21,809 27.055 19,913 22,634 French Equatorial 502 639 244 291 75 Africa. Cuba 2,833 4,561 10,882 15,531 20,726 16,523 9,660 Mexico 51,747 ' 26,193 20,272 27,954 50,127 69,072 51,432 United States 551,594 512,693 664,318 895,479 846,175 852,689 541,221 Argentina (exports) ... 186 — 25 104 137 Bolivia (exports) 3,64i 3,897 8,006 8,623 10,.375 8,048 9,195 Chile 41,586 43,947 51,500 70,143 100,879 . 105,196 78,301 Peru ; 27,3ao 26,655 34,169 42,386 44,450 43,700 38,600 Venezuela — 358 588 1,156 2,911 2,046 185 China (exports of ingots ' 124 109 2,683 33,619 . 41,060 2,661 bib and slabs). Japan, Formosa and 66,835 71,049 75,524 - 99,969 109,.307 92,301 $77,042 Korea. Total 978,958 894,334 1,092,118 1,430,492 1,465,172 1,387,615 973,663 * Estimated. j j: im- t From the commencement of operations to the end ot 191o. Note— In aT^tion to the countries mentioned in the above table, copper ore has been produced in Austria and the Balkan States, but detailed statistics are not available. 10 Figures of consumption are not available for the war period, but the figures for 1918 are shown in the following table :^ Copper Consumed in 1913 (From : Metallgesellschaft, 1918) Quantity Europe : (long tons) Germany England • France -255,133 138,045 ;L01,935 Austria-Hungary Eussia. 38,570 39,554 Italy '. Belgium Netherlands 30,698 14,759 984 Other European Countries 3 ... 13,086 Total Europe 632,764 America : United States 342,506 Other parts of America ■ 2,952 Total America Asia, Australia and Africa World's Consumption ... 345,458 49,491 1,027,713 PRICES The most marked features in the course of prices of Standard Copper in London during the war period were the fall in value of copper from July, 1913, when the price was ^64" 166 per long ton, until November of the following year, when Standard Copper only realized £53'227 per ton ; its subsequent steady rise, up to Decem- ber, 1915, when it stood at ^80' 773 per ton ; the sensational jump from the previous figure to ^102"667 in February, 1916 ; a. big drop to £95"119 in July, from which it recovered to £110"283 in August ; a continued rise till February, 1917, and then gradual decrease in value till, at the end of 1917, it reached about the same level as in August, 1916, viz., £110-000. During 1918, the price remained fairly steady, averaging £115"576, but at the end of the year a decline set in and continued until March, 1919, when the average was £76 '879. Subsequently a rise took place, the average price for December, 1919, being £103'857, and for the whole year £90-945. 11 The average price per ton of " Best Selected " and " Foreign Copper " in the London Market from 1873 to 1919, at intervals of five years up to 1913 and each year subsequently, is shown in the following table : — ) Best Selected Foreign Copper ' Year & & . (Burra Burra) 1873 95-900 92-275 1878 68-575 70-075 1883 69-162 68-725 (Chile Bars) 1888 79-566 81-404 1893 48-195 43-816 1898 55-483 51-887 (Standard) 1903 63-041 58-000 1908 63-791 59-962 1913 74-000 68-058 1914 66-329* 61-578 1915 82-666 72-637 1916 135-949 116-062 1917 134-444 125-120 ' 1918 126-254 115-575 1919 98-444 90-966 * Average of nine months. No quotations August to October, 1914. The rise which took place during the war roughly represented the adjustment of prices to the demand and supply ; the increased cost of production and freight ; the rise of ' ' exchange ' ' in New York, as compared with London ; and the depreciation of currency. The markets of New York and London are the most important in the world : New York from the producer's, and London from the consumer's point of view. Official Monthly Average Prices of Copper (Furnished by the London Metal Exchange) Year and Month Standard Copper Electrolytic Copper 1913 January February March April May June ... July August September £ s. d. 71 18 HI 65 12 4* 65 8 9 68 4 .9H 68 18 9 65 4 54 64 5 10*? 69 6 73 5 Q 9 £ s. d. 78 1 8 71 16 70 16 74 5 75 71 3 69 14 r>i 74 3 lOf 78 16 U 3 3 9 £ s. 77 18 71 8 69 5 71 15 72 12 69 6 67 10 72 11 d. 3 6A H H 9 76 19 lOJj 12 Official Monthly Average Prices of Copper — (Continued) Standard Best Selected Electrolytic Year and Month Copper Copper Copper 1913 £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. October 73 9 5ii 78 18 4 77 8 bii November 68 8 9 73 12 6 72 6 December 65 5 7J 70 67 7 41 1914 January 64 7 llf 69 16 U 66 17 3.; February 65 8 5A 70 8 9 67 15 9 March 64 8 li 69 2 9^ 66 10 1/r April ■64 17 4i 69 9 4i 66 18 3 May 63 5 10 68 3 4 65 10 14 June 61 9 2f 66 2 2} 64 8f July 60 13 0J„ 64 17 2§ 62 10 2i| August no quotations no quotations no quotations September )) )) J) >j V )) October )j t) ')j )> n )) November 52 11 2| 57 1 3 54 18 9f December 56 18 ^q 61 18 6 60 8 2t\ 1915 January 60 17 7i 65 14 44 64 7 6 February 63 12 6 70 5 68 10 6 March 66 5 5Jj 73 12 2f 72 5 2ii April 75 3 5i 82 19 6i 81 12 9 May 77 14 3 ' 87 13 9 87 14 6 June 82 13 7t't 94 3 4 94 lOi? July 76 1 11V\ 89 6J 91 7 8^S August 68 15 1| 79 18 lOf 82 6 2a September 69 1 It't 79 3 9 85 6 4t-t October 72 13 6| 87 7 9i 88 November 77 16 9 A 93 13 4 93 8 2tV December 8l) -17 IOt't 99 7 9i 100 11 4v't 18.16 January 88 2 11 112 17 6 116 3 9f February 102 13 ] 125 12 3 133 5 9 March 106 19 lOil 129 13 4 136 April 124 4 0^ 133 17 6 137 10 6| May , 135 9 lOif 151 152 10|? June 112 17 8A 137 13 4 137 9 ItV July 95 81 122 18 9 125 8 ]i August 110 8 3 A 123 13 4 126 7 9U September 114 1 5| 130 15 6| 134 2 4f October 122 10 144 4 6i 142 10 lOi? November 134 18 2fV 156 7 6 154 11 9tV December 145 9 2 162 14 51 160 18 ll-rV 1917 January .131 16 8|f 138 18 lOf 141 1 3^1 February 138 5 9 144 6 3 146 8 6 March 137 1 ly'i 147 149 ^P"l 134 1 lOtV 143 10 145 3 m May 130' 5 138 140 June 130 5 138 140 July 128 13 2t\ 136 6 8 138 8 2A August 122 10 5t°t 133 135 September 117 15 131 5 133 5 ]3 Official Monthly Average Prices of Copper— (Continued) Year and Month. Standard Best Selected Electrolytic Copper Copper Copper 1917 £ s. d. £ 8. d. £ s. d. October 110 5 121 123 0" November 110 5 121 123 December 110 5 121 123 » 1918 January 110 5 121 123 February 110 5 121 123 March 110 5 121 1-23 April 110 5 121 123 May 110 5 121 1-23 June 110 5 121 123 July 120 3 3^% 131 13 4 132 18 3/3; August... 122 5 1.='3 1.35 September 122 5 133 135 October 122 5 133 135 November 122 5 133 135 December 116 5 125 7 6 128 11 6if 1919 January 93 9 9t\ 103 13 4 106 2 8 A February 78 10 3 89 6 3 91 11 March 76 17 7| 79 15 79 17 If April ... 77 7 81 18 lOf 82 3 May 77 16 7i} 81 13 10| 81 11 9/1- June 83 6 86 2 6 86 16 July 99 14 5U 102 14 5k 107 14 95»5 August 97 11 4i 108 16 8 113 4 September 100 17 4t:\ 109 5 61 113 5 101? October 103 10 im 113 10 117 3 5^ November 98 18 9 111 2 6 113 7 December 103 17 If 113 7 6 114 6 8 BEITISH EMPIEE United Kingdom The United Kingdom was a very important factor in copper production when the world's total output was but a fraction of what it is now. The maximum output was reached in 1860 with the production of 236,696 tons of copper ore, which yielded 1.5,968 tons of copper. The chief producing mines were situated in Anglesea, Cornwall and Devonshire ; but considerable quantities of ore were also obtained from County Wicklow, County Waterford, Bearhaven in the west of Ireland, and Alderley Edge in Cheshire. The Caradon group of mines in the eastern division of Cornwall , Gwennap and Eedruth in the western division, and Devon Great Consols in Devonshire, have all produced large quantities of copper ore, as also have the Levant mine (St. Just) and the mines of the Callington district. 14 In 1894, the Levajit mine produced 1,882 tons of copper ore, representing about three-quarters of the output of the whole country. There was little variation in production in Cornwall during the war period. Levant continued to be the chief producer, yielding 383 tons of copper-ore (containing 2,490 oz. of silver and 4 oz. of fine gold) in 1913. The Parys and Mona mines in Anglesea at one time produced large quantities of copper ore (averaging from five to six per cent, of copper) and practically controlled the world's copper market but, although still yielding a substantial quantity of " copper precipitate " from the mine water, the mines are now- closed. They are noteworthy as containing a deposit of complex ore (" blue-stone "), carrying about 2-13 per cent, copper, 28 per cent, zinc and 16 per cent, lead, which has never been utilized. The chief producing mines in Wales during the war period have been the Britannia mine, Llanberis, Carnarvonshire, and the (rlasdir mine, Dolgelly, Merionethshire. All the copper ore won in Scotland during the war was obtained from the Otter mine in Argyllshire, a recently opened deposit on the eastern side of Loch Fyne. The Sandlodge mine about 14 miles south of Lerwick in the Shetland Isles has been examined recently. The lode is a large one, but the copper content is low and the enriched portions near the surface, consisting of carbonates and silicates of copper associated with a spongy haematite, have been worked out. Below a depth of 100 feet the vein-filling consists of siderite, calcite, dolomite and quartz, through which cupreous pyrites is dis- seminated. The Cronebane mine .and the Tigroney and Baronets mines at Avoca, County Wicklow, in Ireland, produced 1,840 tons of cupreous pyrites, containing IJ per cent, copper, in 1913, and continued producing during the war. The exhaustion of several important deposits of copper in the west of England has not been due to the exhaustion of the lodes, but to an alteration in their metal contents, as at Dolcoath and Botallack, where copper was succeeded by tin in depth. The largest copper deposits in Cornwall have always been in veins near to, but not actually in, granite, and chiefly in killas. According to Hen wood, the copper lodes of Cornwall generally average about 3 feet in width ; those yielding both tin and copper being wider and averaging 4 J feet. In Devonshire and Anglesea, the copper lodes were of much greater average width. The veins at Devon Great Consols mine in the Tavistock dis- trict are found in a peculiar " spotted killas " and have been of comparatively low grade, rarely exceeding in recent times 4 per cent, on the average ; but the lodes were from 20 to 40 feet 15 wide and carried a large quantity of arsenic, which was reco'vered. This mine still produces arsenic, as "well as some copper precipitate. Chalcopyrite, .chalcocite, tetrahedrite and bornite are the most abundant copper minerals in Cornwall ; but in the Caradon district rich red and black oxides, blue and green car- -bonates, and, more rarely, arsenates, phosphates, uranates, and native copper occur. Some of the Welsh copper ores contain a httle silver (5 to 6 oz. per ton) and J dwt. or more of gold ; 900 oz. of fine gold and 10,526 oz. of silver were extracted from 2,373 tons of dressed copper ores produced in the United Kingdom in 1914, According to the Horne Office report for 1913, the copper content of Cornish ore ranged from 7 to 13|- per cent. In the Isie of Man it was 22'8 per cent., and in Scotland 14|- per cent. In Derbyshire, it amounted to only 4" 7 per cent., while the average for Merionethshire is given as 10"0 per cent. In Ireland (Meath) the average was 10' 7 per cent., but the iron-pyrites mined in the County of Wicklow carried only 1"2 per cent, of copper. During the war period Cornwall produced, on the average, about 25 tons of copper precipitate, Devonshire 54 tons, and Anglesea 118 tons per annum. The percentage of copper in this product varies considerably. In 1913 it averaged from 52'2 per cent, in Cornwall, to 69 per cent, in Devonshire, the percentage for Anglesea being calculated at 58 per cent. While the production of copper from dressed ore and copper precipitate produced in the United Kingdom is comparatively small, and showed a tendency to decrease during the war period, the production of cupreous pyrites has nearly doubled in quantity since 1913. Most of the metallic copper produced in the United Kingdom at the present time is obtained from imported cupreous iron pyrites and to a less extent from imported regulus and ores of copper. Many of the producing mines and works which supply these imports are largely owned <^ financed by British interests, being situated in Spain, South Africa and South America, where working conditions and rates of exchange have been favourable and less disturbed by the war than in other parts of the world. Prior to the war the United Kingdom exported considerable quantities of sulphate of copper to foreign countries and British Possessions, chiefly to wine-growing countries. 16 Production of Copper Ore and Copper Precipitate in the United Kingdom (Mines and Quarries, General Eeport, with Statistics, Part III, by the Chief Inspector of Mines) . Dressed Copper Ore. Copper Precipitate.- Year Quantity (long tons) Estimated amount oil copper obtainable (long tons) Quantity (long tons) Estimated amount of copper obtainable (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 2,569 2,373 , 579 787 970 1,013 144 321 229 87 135 76 67 14 163 225 243 241 190 201 228 100 112 148 143 111 112 130 Production and Imports of Iron-Pyrites in the United Kingdom (Mines and Quarries, General Eeport, with Statistics, Part III, by the Chief Inspector of Mines) Production Imports* Quantity Quantity Year (long tons) (long tons) ■ 1913 ... 11,427 781,711 1914 ... 11,654 803,149 1915 ... 10,535 903,467 1916 ... 10,481 949,996 1917 ... 8,515 . 854,241 1918 ... 22,195 836,703 1919 ... ... . 7,336 344,457 • ' Chiefly cupreous iron-pyrites. For details as to source of these imports, see p. 22. Statistics regarding the treatment of burnt cupreous iron- pyrites at the metal extraction works in Great Britain ^ since 1915 are not available. From 1913 to 1915, the details are as follows : — Estimated extraction Pyrites treated of metallic copper Year (long tons) (long tons) 1913 459,392 16,538 1914 441,024 15 877 1915 418,791 ^ 15^077 17 Imports of Copper Ore into the United Kingdom (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Rhodesia Union of South Africa India Australia Other British Possessions 1,021 5,841 351 13,284 1,035 1,104 12,735 465 13,998 117 673 12,063 1,105 8,895 3 120 13,746 2,526 242 1,009 7,981 7 300 1,721 1,795 508 2 Total from British Possessions 21,532 28,419 17,739 16,634 8,997 2,021 2,305 Belgium Prance Germany Netherlands . Norway Portugal Spain... Sweden Portuguese E United States Bolivia Chile... Peru ... Venezuela . Japan (incluc mosa and . leased terri China) Other Foreig] ast Africa ... ing For- Fapanese (ories in 1 ountries 1,135 2,443 1,017 133 160 1,761 3,569 1,479 11 80 388 39,028 6,451 12,949 539 1,590 1,805 1,138 1,245 6 2,125 3,060 812 1,925 102 25,327 2,814 1,7 676 419 584 1,292 1,791 682 914 12,776 608 491 897 601 96 1,888 1,693 1,694 3,836 5,110 984 188 1,585 158 72 1,523 370 2,049 2,292 . 117 976 90 1,240 43 215 10,866 491 102 251 880 1 627 22 7,907 927 477 441 Total from Foreign Countries 72,733 43,154 20,035 17,675 7,557 13,298 11,282 Total ... 94,265 71,573 37,774 3.4,309 16,554 15,319 13,587 18 Imports of Copper Regulus, Matte and Precipitate into the United Kingdom (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United KingdG m) From Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Rhodesia 1,506 541 9 88 _ _ Union of South Africa 9,656 12,532 8,550 10,573 5,372 433 1,359 Australia 5,307 3,874 2,058 50 — — — Canada 1,704 4,074 2,157 6,071 4,227 8,226 ■ 303 Other British 131 31 6 49 7 — 6 Possessions Total from British 18,304 21,052 12,780 16,831 9,606 8,659 1,668 Possessions Belgium 67 — — — — — — Germany 220 204 — — — — — Portugal 2,214 2,057 3,756 1,859 924 2,095 1,773 Spain 4,322 8,958 11,609 11,357 10,239 8,419 11,094 Portuguese East — 388 284 118 434 — 2,296 Africa Mexico 9,637 7,634 8,371 12,969 3,559 — — United States 164 102 799 495 2,606 1,470 — Bolivia — 67 35 42- 207 66 67 Chile 3,003 1,355 123 55 411 239 295 Peru 783 246 509 56 152 65 23 Other Foreign 396 480 20 , 57 100 — 111 Couniries' Total from Foreign 20,806 21,491 25,506 27,008 18,632 12,354 15,659 Countries - Total 39,110 42,543 38,286 43,«39 28,238 21,013 17,327 19 Imports of Copper, Rough and Refined, IJnwrought, in Bars, Blocks, Slabs, Cakes, Ingots and Cathodes into the United Kingdom (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) ,) • From Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Rhodesia Australia Other British Possessions 353 21,880 56 1,804 16,483 167 3,703 31,015 304' 1,763 19,855 267 1,302 10,853 7 3,008 21,579 129 17,040 1,497 Total from British Possessions 22,289 18,454 35,022 21,885 12,162 24,716 18,537 Belgium France Germany ... Norway Spain Belgian Congo Portuguese East Africa Mexico United States Chile Peru China (exclusive of Hong Kong,Macao and leased terri- tories) Japan (including Formosa and Japanese leased territories in China) Other Foreign Countries 1,787 1,825 1,314 307 5,950 157 16 2,977 52,183 6,90P 436 60 8,445 32 1,377 1,131 687 168 8,920 3,766 178 3,516 94,838 8,913 20 6 5,712 28 48 12,928 4,205 4,720 4,881 84,244 11,119 17,713 24 5 26 13,286 13,178 5,780 4,418 30,140 11,446 7,963 4 3 209 16,851 11,577 2,907 1,984 76,523 1,916 1.6,652 6 21 10,891 4,874 14,878 130,826 3,965 13,107 39 125 64 4,232 3,143 5,929 66,673 8,168 1,760 688 Total from Foreign Countries 82,389 129,260 139,882 86,246 128,678 178,601 90,782 Total 104,678 147,714 174,904 108,131 140,840 203,317 109,319 20 Imports of Old Copper (fit only to be re-manufactured) into the United Kingdom (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) Quantity (long tofts) From 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Egypt* 305 148 36 3 35 Uniou of South Africa . . . 432 284 292 613 420 23 83 India 11 4 — 565 227 — ^ Australia 95 47 32 8 47 — Canada 187 160 84 — 9 British West Indies 89 33 90 85 26 41 26 British Guiana 14 — — , — Other British 122 85 60 126 73 36 57 Possessions Total from British 950 613 ,863 1,545 838 103 201 Possessions Egypt 267 144 , — — Belgium ... 167 — — — — 558 Denmark (including 159 98 — 1 — 10 Faroe Islands) France 247 206 46 1 1 33 Germany 238 193 — — — 1 Italy 104 77 16 — Netherlands 61 — Norway ... 197 166 — 2 2 16 Sweden 106 — — — — Turkey 31 — — — — United States 1,294 1,347 368 81 — 105 Brazil 75 63 269 361 71 6 Chile 119 53 152 127 75 2 Other Foreign Countries 385 480 417 116 69 11 96 Total from Foreign 3,450 2,827 1,268 692 217 19 820 Countries Total 4,400 3,440 2,131 2,237 1,055 122 1,021 2i Imports of Copper, Part Wrought, into the United Kingdom (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Total from British Possessions — — — 10 — 1 247 Belgium France Germany United States Other Foreign Countries 8 390 184 1,683 5 23 351 160 2,163 75 5,391 91 1 3,195 75 2 1,820 116 529 96 530 4,906 Total from Foreign CouQtries 2,270 2,762 5,482 3,271 1,938 625 5,436 TOTAI. 2,270 2,762 5,482 3,281 1,938 626 5,688 Imports of Manufactures of Copper, Unenumerated, into the United Kingdom (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) From Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Total from British Possessions — 11 71 179 65 22 90 Belgium France Germany ... Netherlands "^ ... United States Other Foreign Countries 193 5,734 5,411 69 1,464 36 222 3,442 4,222 56 2,298 16 777 1 6 5,445 98 59 4 1,339 1 21 1,461 12 15 12 1,654 5 16- 994 47 1 1,005 2 Total from Foreign Countries 12,907 10,256 6,327 1,403 1,494 1,686 2,665 Total 12,907 10,267 6,398 1,582 1,559 1,708 2,755 22 o i I'' Ti t=i a M ? T3 tl m a HO P o si ■«^ ^4-1 »~ n «> fi- * 03 us IN O t- ■i 03 OS CO CI^ •^ ■^ cn 1 1 1 cn'oo' nTurrcTN- -^ -#" i-H 1-H en ■^ "<* CM CO CO Oi CO i-H CO S3 QO OOO rH o o 1-H 1 1 1 1 1 00 o oo__ 1 c- t- Ol 1 1 1 1 ' ' (N'oo'iirf 1 co" CO i-H rt 0 1— 1 c^ o coos 00 ^ -* 1— 1 1 J 1 1 C0050 O 1 (N (M a 1 1 1 1 oT— co >a c- 00 oo N m 03 CD lO i-H CO CO ?r> (N CO CO CO tH 1 1 1 I>^ 1 (M T-H^o^cq^ ^ ■^^ 03 1 1 ai ' cca^^co eo" t* lO lO o t^ OS 00 o 00 CO t-(N 05 C- O T— i OS •* ■Xl T-H t^ lO »0 t' T-l CO o t* ■«* T— 1 r-t OlOCO (N CO rt os__ T-H Oi 00 00 00 Sf? «? O O vO CO o t~ uo T— 1 23 Exports of Copper Regulus, Matte, Precipitate and Residues from the United Kingdom (Domestic Produce) (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) To Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Total to British Possessions — 2 — ^ — — — 1 Germany United States Other Foreign Countries ... 10 1,663 197 1,009 531 11 1,130 90 1,472 1,101 516 178 146 Total to Foreign Countries 1,870 1,551 1,220 1,472 1,101 516 324 Total 1,870 1,553 1,220 1,472 1,101 516 325 Exports of Copper, Unwrought, in Ingots, Cakes or Slabs, fronn the United Kingdom [Domestic Produce) (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) Quantity (long tons) To 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Union of South Africa ... 59 _ _ _ _ British East Indies 457 331 464 V)7 34 5 3,323 Other British Possessions 31 53 35 49 30 2 77 Total to British Possessions 547 384 499 146 64 7 3,400 Austria-Hungary 110 40 — — — — . — Belgium 682 471 — — — — 1,370 Denmark (including Faroe 147 93 238 191 50 — 127 Islands) « France 5,837 3,900 3,394 5,913 4,288 3,965 1,386 Germany 823 528 — — — — — Italy 953 340 824 1,623 225 — — Netherlands 1,495 479 171 — — 5 734 Russia 53 459 987 893 150 — 15 Spain 102 192 169 282 5 350 Sweden 272 159 36 77 30 11 214 United States 3,490 60 190 119 — — — Japan — — — ■ — — — 2,547 Other Foreign Countries ... 498 234 126 58 88 41 592 Total to Foreign Countries 14,360 6,866 6,158 9,043 5,113 4,027 7,335 Total 14,907 7,249 6,657 9,189 5,177 4,034 10,735 24 Exports of Wrought or Manufactured Copper mixed or yellow metal from the United Kingdom (Domestic Produce) (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingd om) To Quantity (long tons) \ 1 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Cabada 16 10 17 „ 2 HoDg Kong 727 532 53 114 27 25 270 ladia .. 10,451 10,151 2,247 557 195 13 6,188 Straits Settlements 165 178 133 103 53 24 110 Australia 766 547 302 160 39 12 150 Other British Possessioi is 333 267 182 199 42 52 , 177 Total to British Possessic )DS 12,458 11,685 2,917 1,140 356 126 6,897 Prance 71 71 162 53^ 20 15 Italy 137 115 69 4 — Netherlaods 227 130 101 15 2 2 78 Norway ... 76 57 26 1 1 39 Portugal .46 42 31 43 30 41 64 Spain 113 61 20 1 — 1 46 Argentina 102 117 4 — . — 1 10 Brazil 325 135 73 62 7 6 47 Chile 97 92 49 37 17 12 32 China .H3 50 24 16 1 86 Japan 42 37 — 2 . Philippine Islands an d 176 168 117 106 6 3 29 Guam Siam 79 38 47 36 . 14 Other Foreign Countrie >a 490 404 169 98 18 -31 158 Total to Foreign Oountri es 2,014 1,517 892 474 108 97 618 Total • . 14,472 13,202 3,809 1,614 464 223 7,515 25" Exports of other kinds of wrought or manufactured Copper from the United Kingdom {Domestic Produce) (Aniiua/1 Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) Quantity (long tons) To 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 5gypt* _ 263 174 46 72 1,340 Union of South Africa 1,226 625 464 400 202 92 621 Canada 96 36 7 27 12 21 India 7,391 5,230 3,718 691 371 658 5,413 Australia ■ 4,883 4,333 3,372 2,662 288 351 1,312 New Zealand 671 490 618 261 52 29 253 Other British Possessions 1,228 1,019 499 346 140 65 448 Total to British 15,495 11,733 8,941 4,561 1,111 1,267 9,408 Possessions Egypt 1,153 999 — . — Belgium ... 69 39 — — — — 848 France 261 497 935 1,840 1,531 969 332 Denmark (including 51 168 145 29 5 — 88 Faroe Islands) Germany 136 100 -r- — — — — Greece 56 91 178 2 •2 — 101 Italy 51 31 209 22 160 3 74 Netherlands 133 366 652 239 6 5 1,297 Norway 136 238 432 193 64 21 784 Portugal 98 101 100 139 29 71 142 Bussia 47 60 223 164. 360 — 45 Spain 190 161 241 295 33 13 515 Sweden 166 322 ■120 38 — -^ 82 Turkey 756 870 14+ — — — 319t United States 284 248 499 8 7 1 — Argentina 593 346 193 156 30 86 354 Brazil 861 320 219 73 3 3 141 Chile ... ... > ... 162 101 40 38 19 19 83 China (exclusive of Hong 71 103 134 33 14 2 109 Kong, ' Macao, and leased territories) Japan (including Foi- 315 250 49 2 — — 12 ^ mosa and Japanese ' leased territories in China) Persia 86 181 26 4 5 1 24 J'ava 298 204 171 21 3 — 94 Other Foreign Countries 491 559 339 157 35 24 471- Total to Foreign 6,464 6,355 4,919 3,453 2,30lj 1,218 5,915 Countries Total 21,959 18,088 13,860 8,014 3,417 2,485 15,323 * Egypt is shown under Foreign Countries prior to 1915. f Exported to ports or places in territory fortaerly Turkish but now occupied by other Powers. 26 Exports of Sulphate of Copper from the United Kingdom {Domestic Produce) (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) X Quantity (.long tons) To 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Egypt* 36 350 39 81 1.2 British South Africa 29 57 146 94 59 21 India 72 235 46 6 88 Canada 530 121 170 344 19 — 41 Australia . 992 1,035 642 434 386 62 38 Other British Pos- 529 456 176 209 110 35 62 sessions Total to British Possessions Austria-Huugary ... 2,051 1,641 1,153 1,718 694 243 262 2,540 2,125 _ _ _ Belgium 434 175 — — — — 49 France 21,767 23,704 34,494 21,776 39,402 41,073 16,506 Germany ... 963 459 — — — — — Greece 2,627 3,060 1,615 8 — 589 2,282 Italy 27,128 17,046 9,588 3,980 66 — 2,830 Netherlands 943 1,005 367 21 I — 181 Portugal 4,449 3,152 3,498 1,452 1,469 1,566 1,275 Roumauia... 2,368 2,680 1,488 1 — — 3,664 Russia 2,977 4,156 1,614 6,930 1,651 — 4,458 Spain 4,965 5,274 5,895 45 3 — 46 Switzerland — — 1,527 247 106 497 907 Algeria " 411 287 1,627 2,658 3,643 3,516 916 Other Foreign Coun- 2,020 3,134 2,345 83 95 112 1,693 tries 1 Total to Foreign 73,582 66,257 64,058 37,201 46,436 47,353 34,807 Countries Total 75,633 67,898 65,211 38,919 47,130 47,596 35,069 * Egypt is shown under Foreign Countries prior to 1915. Zl ExporU of Copper, Unwrought, in Bars, Blocks, Slabs, Cakes and Ingots from the United Kingdom {Colonial and Foreign Produce) (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) To Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 India 253 30 201 376 Other British Possessions 2 3 — — 1 Total to British Possessions 255 33 201 — — 1 376 Belgium — 97 1,488 France 101 150 701 57 124 1,946 Grermany 1,960 381 500 Italy 1,128 225 1,880 3,643 2,776 ■ 646 Netherlands 1,433 405 247 30 431 Russia 20 3,698 1,062 385 70 Sweden 51 206 1,407 1,853 23 5 United States 13,987 5,380 1,680 1,132 451 Japan (including Formosa — — — 2,200 and Japanese leased ter- , ritories in China) Other Foreign Countries... 343 45 122 230 60 2 210 Total to Foreign Countries 19,023 10,490 7,099 7,330 3,127 671 7,231 ~ Total 19,278 10,523 7,300 7,330 3,127 672 J,607 Exports of Copper, Part Wrought, from, the United Kingdom (Colonial and Foreign Produce) (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) To , Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Total to British Pos- 1 52 — 5 — — 311 Total to Foreign Countries Total 23 111 40 — — — — 24 163 40 5 — — 311 28 Exports of Manufactures of Copper, Unenumerated, from the United Kingdom (Colonial and Foreign Produce) (Annual Statements of the Trade of the United Kingdom) To Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Total to British Possessions 70 49 33 3 1 1 135 France Netherlands Russia Other Foreign Countries ... 25 45 8 81 56 1 1 54 290 74 7 3 2 57 2 1 1 12 222 2 Total to Foreign Countries 159 112 371 62 3 1 236 Total 229 161 404 65 4 2 371 Bhodesia.^^ Most of the copper mines of Southern Ehodesia owe their development to the fact that their ores contain gold. The principal produQer in recent years has been the Falcon mine, at Umvuma, which has yielded considerable amounts of gold in addition to copper, the recovery in recent years averaging about 2 per cent, of copper and 4J dwt. of gold per ton of ore. The Falcon lode is similar in character to that of the Valley Mine at GrwajQda, but is richer in copper and of greater width, the width increasing from 17 feet at the 3rd level to 50 feet on the 9th level. The main shaft has -reached a depth of over 1,100 feet and at 31st March, 1919, the ore reserves were estimated at about 700,000 tons. The treatment plant, installed in 1915, consists of 36 Nissen stamps, with tube mills, vanners, etc., and a flotation- plant, and has a capacity of 500 tons of ore per day. Development work on a number of other properties is said to have proved the existence of large tonnages of ore.f These properties include the Umkondo mine, in south-east Mashona- land ; the Skipper mine at Sinanombi ; and the Alaska mine at Lomagundi. The industry suffered during 1918-1919 from the ravages of the influenza epidemic, which seriously affected the supply of native labour, while the output of the Falcon mine was reduced by shortage of coal. The pooling of supplies of stores and * Annual Reports of the Secretary for Mines, Southern Rhodesia. Annual Reports of the British South Africa Company. t The S. African Journ. Industries, Oct. 1918. The Mineral Resources of Rhodesia, by F. P. Mennell. 29 machinery, and the development of local resources assisted the mining industry in meeting some- of the difficulties with which it was faced during the war. ^In order to encourage the base-metal industry and especially to help the small worker to market, his output, the British South Africa Company* arranged in 1915-1916 that ores or metals delivered to the Company in Ehodesia should be sold by it on behalf of the producer, on the best terms possible, advances of cash being made in approved cases up to 50 per cent, of the estimated net proceeds. In addition, special rates were granted- by the railway companies. The most important copper property in Northern Ehodesia is the Bwana M'kuBwa mine, which is connected by railway with the port of Beira, 1,450 miles distant. The ore-body has been traced for a length of 1,800 feet along its strike, and is roughly 100 feet in width, t During 1913-14, 22,807 tons of ore were stoped, the copper output being declared at 904 tons having an estimated local value of £32,739.1 In 1918, the ore reserves down to the sixth level were estimated at 23,000 tons containing 10 per cent, of copper, 3,000,000 tons containing 4-5 per cent, and 1,200,000 tons of lower-grade material. For the year ended 30th June, 1918, the production was reported as 16,295 tons of ore yielding 1,419 tons of concentrates averaging 40 per cent, of copper. The output of the mine has been considerably restricted owing to the shortage of shipping. A concentrating plant has been erected at the mine capable of treating 100 tons of ore per day by the flotation method. The Kansanchi mine was re-started in August, 1913, and produced during eight months working 271 tons, valued at £15,234. In 1913-1914 about 2,200 tons of coppermatte, which had been lying for some years at the Sable .Antelope mine, in the Kafue district, was shipped to England. Prod/uction of Copper {including Concentrates' and Finished Copper) in Northern Rhodesia (Annual Reports of the Ehodesia Chamber of Mines, and information furnished by the British South Africa Company) Quaaitity Year (long tons) 1913§ 5,856 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 763 176 1,159 J, 803 793 182 * Report of the British S. Africa Co. for the year ended Slst March, 1916. f Report of the British S. Africa Co. for the year ended 31st March, 1914 p 36. ± Report of the Secretary of Mines, N. Rhodesia, 31st March, 1914. § From 1906 to Dec. 31st, 1913. 30 Production of Copper in Southern Rhodesia (Annual Eeports of the Secretary for Mines, Southern Rhode-sia) Quantity Year (long ton.9) ±v±o 1914 903 1915 3,140 1916 3,144 1917 3,493 1918 2,905 1919 2,689 Union of South Africa.* Transvaal. The principal deposit of copper ore developed in the Transvaal is that of the Messina mine in the Zoutpansberg district. This deposit occupies a fissure in the gneisses forming the basement rock of the country, is from 200 to 300 feet in width, and can be traced for some 20 miles. The bulk of the ore consists of bornite, with some chalcocite near the surface. It is found in massive lenses in the upper levels, while in the lower levels it is finely disseminated in the gangue, its somewhat irregular occurrence involving a large amount of unproductive work. The mine is developed to a depth of about 1,800 feet, where the ore-bodies, though poorer than at the surface, continue downwards. The Messina (Transvaal) Development Company started pro- duction in 1906, and by 1915-16 the production of copper had risen to 5,732 tons, obtained from 112,043 tons of ore, averaging 5'43 per cent, of copper. In 1918-19 the production was 2,703 tons of copper. On June 30, 1919, the reserves were estimated at 415,500 tons of 3'25 per cent, ore, with 325,000 tons of 1'4 per cent, jig- tailings. The mill has a capacity of 250 tons per day, and two reverberatory furnaces have been erected. The concentrates, which contain about 40 per cent, of copper, are exported, but the middlings are smelted on the spot to a 50 per cent, matte before shipment. A new smelting and refining plant is being erected. Costs increased considerably during the war, but were off-set by higher prices for copper and by better metallurgical recoveries. Development on the farm Vogelsang, on what appears to be the extension of the vein worked at Messina, has given encouraging results. In 1919, the Messina and Vogelsang shafts had reached depths of 1,033 feet and 1,742 feet respectively, and were con- nected by extensive underground workings. " Annual Reports of the Grovernment Mining Engineer for the Union of South Africa. 31 Between Messina and the Macoutsie River, in the vicinity of Motali and M'tamba, other copper deposits have been opened up to some extent. At the Willows mine, near Hatherley, which was worked for some time, the ore consists of chalcopyrite and copper carbonates, with iron-pyiites, tetrahedrite and a large amount of siderite. Copper is associated with zinc, lead and manganese ores in the auriferous quartz veins of Malmani, in dolomite ; and in asso- ciation with silver and lead in the Transvaal silver mine. In the Bushveld igneous rocks many lodes of copper and silver ore are met with. At the Albert mine, 29 miles north-east of Bronkhorst Spruit on the Middleburg railway, a dolerite intrusion, impregnated locally with copper and silver, penetrates a fissure in porphyritic red granite which carries copper or© in lenses. The vein-filling consists mainly of haematite associated with bornite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite and silver. At the Marks Drift mine, on the Orange Eiver, a lode containing copper ore has been worked in dolerite, which is intrusive into the Black Eeef Series. In the Murchison Eange there are numerous occurrences of copper ore, and many prehistoric workings have been found. Near D'Sjate, in the valley of the Mopetsi Eiver, in the Lyden- burg district, copper ore was quarried and smelted in ancient times. There was intensive production in the Union of South Africa in 1914-15, with increased shipments of copper concentrates, matte and copper. There has since been a persistent decline in produc- tion, but the increased price of the metal has to some extent com- pensated for the reduced output. Production of Copper in the Transvaal (Annual Eeports of the Government Mining Engineer) Crude Ore ■ treated* Marketable Productf Sales and Shipmentsf Year Quantity, (long tons) Quantity (long tons) Average percentage of pure Metal Quantity (long tons) Average percentage of pure metal 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 30,663 74,461 102,979 134,405 142,606t 110,579 86,634 5,1.37 13,631 12,952 10,782 8,126 5,870 4,039 44-14 40-39 42-79 47-34 52-34 55-12 63-08 4,721 13,354 13,390 10,931 8,577 4,648 4,115 43-76 39-84 43-38 47-40 51-44 53-28 60-70 * Including ore concentrated and ore smelted. f Including concentrates, matte, middlings and blister. J Including 214 tons of Cape ore. 32 Cape Province. Copper mining has been carried on in this province since 1852, the total recorded value of the copper output to 31st December, 1916, being ^18,820,353.* During the period 1913-15, the Cape and Namaqua Copper Companies produced picked ore assaying from 22 to 24 per cent, of copper, matte assaying 46 to 51^5 per cent., and precipitate assaying from 69 to 70' 6 per cent. In the years 1^13 to 1916 the Cape output of copper-matte averaged about 12,000 tons per annum, but a considerable decline in production followed, the copper sales and shipments in 1919 being valued at only ^617, 656. It is understood, however, that the Cape Copper Company had copper ore and metal in stock at the end of that year amounting in value to more than £275,000. Occurrences of copper ore have been noted in the Cradock and Cathcart districts, also at the Insizwa mine in the Mount Ayliff district, vyhere the copper is associated with nickel and platinum. The Insizwa mine was worked intermittently during 1911, and again in 1914, but is not now producing. Samples of the ore are stated to have assayed : copper 1 to 19 per cent, (averaging 4-1), nickel 0-6 to 7*3 per cent, (averaging 3"8), and platinum fi-om 12 grains to nearly 5 oz. per ton. Traces of cobalt, silver, gold and osmiridium were also present. The most important copper mines in Little Natnaqualand are those of the Cape Copper Company, Limited, and the Namaqua Copper Company, Limited. The former company is working the O'okiep, Nababeep South, Nababeep North and Narrap mines, the ores of which consist mainly of bomite and chalcopyrite, with some chalcoeite, and carbonates, &c. , at the surface. The country rock is gneiss, aaid the pay-ore is found in dykes and irregular masses of various igneous rocks, consisting of mica- diorite at O'okiep, hypersthenite at Nababeep, and norite at the Tweefontein mine of the Namaqua Copper Company. The O'okiep and Nababeep ore-bodies appear to cut out at a depth of about 600 feet, and the Tweefontein ore-body at about 980 feet. The Narrap mine, which lies about one mile east of O'okiep East and on the same eruptive dyke as Nababeep, yielded in 1916 about 4,000 tons of 5'37 per cent, copper ore. The Nababeep South deposit occurs in a mass of basic igneous rock, forming a hill, five to six miles west of O'okiep, and is now the principal pro- ducer. In April, 1916, the reserves were estimated at 120,000 tons, assaying 5"0 per cent, of copper. The O'okiep main deposit, which is about 1,000 feet in length and 200 feet in width, was formerly the chief producer, but its ore reserves were estimated in 1916 at only 6,000 tons of 20 per cent, copper ore. The output of ore for the year ending April 30th, 1916, amounted to about 13,000 tons, averaging 11*22 per cent, of copper, while 120,000 tons of 4 per cent, ore were estimated to be dumped at the surface. * The Base Metal Resources of the Union of South Africa, by W. Versfeld, Dept. of Mines and Industries, 1919. 33 Other properties owned by the Company in the neighbourhood of O'okiep include the Specktakel, Carolusberg Flat, and Kopper- berg mines, which are at present idle. There is a central electric-power station at O'okiep. The smelter at Nababeep was enlarged in 1913 after closing down the smelter at O'okiep. During the year enlded April 30th', 1916, about 80,000 tons of ore were treated at Nababeep, a 48 to 50 per cent, m^tte being produced and shipped to England. The poorer ores are concentrated, but those carrying more than 4 per cent, of copper are smelted direct. Some of the ores are leached, the copper being precipitated on scrap iron. In 1916 the pre- cipitate produced by the Cape Namaqualand companies contained about 75 per cent, of copper. A railway, 99 miles in length, connects O'okiep with Port Nolloth, which is suitably equipped for the shipment of ore and matte to the Cape Company's treat- ment works at Briton Ferry, in South Wales, where the richer ores are refined by the " Nichols direct method," without cal- cining, and the matte is re-treated and converted into fine" copper. The Namaqua Copper Company, Limited, own's the Tweefon- tein. Wheal Julia and Henderson mines at Concordia, Little Namaqualand. In December, 1918, the ore reserves were estimated at 37,655 tons, averaging 5"8 per cent of copper, with about 24,000 tons of accumulated slimes and tailings. The properties are equipped with mining, rnilling, flotation, briquet- ting, precipitation, and smelting plants. In 1916, 1,800 tons of fine copper were produced, but, owing to the suspension of copper shipments from South Africa, smelting ceased in May, 1918, in which year 7,356 tons of ore were treated for a yield of 450 tons of copper. The average cost of production at the Namaqualand mines was estimated at about £60 per ton of fine copper for 1916 and at over £80 per ton for the first six months of 1917, the cost of delivering the matte in England, including insurance, being about £35 per ton. In 1918 the Cape Copper and Namaqua Copper Companies experienced difficulties owing to shortage of coke and other sup- pHes, absence of shipping facilities, and a fall in the price of copper which adversely affected the realization of stocks. The coke difficulty was the. most serious, as the Natal product did not prove to be a satisfactory substitute for English coke. The Namaqua Company, met the difficulty by mixing Bnghsh with Natal coke in the proportion of 1 to 3, and was able to dispose rf its stock of metal to Japan at a satisfactory price. 35258 '6i Production of Copper in Cape Province (Annual Eeports of the Government Mining Engineer) Crude Ore treated Marketable Product* Sales and Shipments* Year Quantity (long tons) Quantity (long tons) Average percentage of pare Metal Quantity (long tons) Average percentage of pure Metal 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 96,911 112,604 1 117,856 114,022 67 868 18,571 17,645 12,509 12,187 11,829 11,358 8,105 3,849 1,937 47-32 47-66 44-61 46-47 45-9 39-3 50-18 11,692 12,829 12,476 9,463 9,398 1,490 247 48-06 47-76 44-48 44-52 47-66 48-51 74-62 * Including picked ore, matte, bottoms and precipitate. Orange River CoLONy Copper ore has been found in the Heilbron and Bethuhe districts. Natal Copper has been found in a variety of rocks in the Vryheid dis- trict and Zululand; in the former locahty in sheared granite zones and in the latter mostly in schists intersected by intrusive rocks. The Subeni and Dania mines in the Vryheid district are still at the prospecting stage.. South- West Africa Territory* In this Territory the chief deposits of copper ore are those of the Otavi district, the most important mine being that of Tsumeb. Other large deposits have been developed at Gross Otavi, Asis, Asis East, Guchab and Bobos, in the Grootfontein district. The ore occurs as lenses in dolomite, the copper being generally associated with lead. The Tsumeb mine, which is about 12 miles from Lake Otjikoto, contains the largest deposits. These occur in the grey dolomite of the Otavi Series as steeply dipping lenticular lenses, some of which are more than 75 feet in width. An intrusion of apUte lies on the fooli-wall side of the two principal ore-bodies and separates them. The ore-bodies and the aplite are intersected by narrow igneous dykes. The ore, which is generally separated from the dolomite by a clay selvage, is a massive coarsely-crystaUine aggregate, in which the valuable minerals are chiefly chalcocite, galena, zinc- blende and some sulphide-ores of copper containing arsenic and antimony, while an unusual number of oxidation products is * Copper Ores of Otavi, P. Krusch, Trans. Inst. Min. Eng., Vol XLII p. 617. Geology and Mineral Industry of South- West Africa, P. A Waener' Geol. Surv. Memoir No. 7, 1916. ' 35 found at the surface. The oxidized ores contained about 13 per cent, of copper ajid 4| per cent of lead. In the eastern lens the predominant mineral is galena, the average comQpsition of the ore, as reported in 1919, being 50 per cent, lead, 10 per cent, copper, O'OS per cent, silver, 1 to 2 per cent, arsenic, and O'S to 2 per cent, antimony. The bulk of the ore has probably averaged from 6 to 14 per cent, of copper. The western lens contains more copper, the ore averaging from 15 to 25 per cent, of that metal, 20 to 30 of lead, 0-5 of antimony, 1 to 2 of arsenic and 0-02 to O'OS per cent, of silver. The greater part of the ore in this lens has probably averaged 12 to 15 per cent, copper. The Tsumeb ores appear to have contained from 18 to 30 per cent, of lead. The output of copper and lead ores from the Otavi mines for the year ended March 31st, 1913, was 54,100 tons. Of this total, 44,500 tons, containing-- 13 per cent, copper, 25 per cent, lead, and over 7 oz. silver per ton, was shipped. During the same period the Otavi Company shipped 656 tons of matte, containing 48 per cent, of copper, 25 per cent, of lead, and over. 14 oz. of silver per ton, also 400 tons of pig-lead, containing 98 per cent, of lead and over 29 oz. of silver per .ton. In 1913-14 the Grootfontein district prodluced 50,070 tons of copper and lead ores and 1,179 tons of copper matte. In 1918 the Otavi Company exported 7,358 tons of ore, assay- ing from 12 tO' 33 per cent, of copper and 12 to 22 per cent, of lead, and at the end of -that year the company had in stock 139,322 tons of ore, assaying from 2 toi 41 per cent, of copper. Low-grade ores were formerly smelted locally, but most of the Otavi ores were shipped to America., the G-erman smelters having imposed a penalty on ore containing more than 6 per cent, of zinc, for which metal no payment was made. During 1919 and 1920, copper ore was won and exported as follows* : — 1919. 1920. Company. Ore won. Ore exported. Ore won. Ore exported. Tons. Value (£). Tons ^^^ Tons. Value (£). Tons. Value (£). Otavi Mints and Railway Com- pany. Otavi Exploring Syndicate, Ltd. 26,570 105 115,780 4,220 6,400 206 1,15,200 9,888 36,291 16 217,744 652 30,511 80 183,066 3,204 Total 26,675 120,000 6,606 125,088 36,307 218,396 30,591 186,270 At 1st January, 1921, 9,058 tons of copper ore were at Walvis Bay, awaiting export. * Report of the Administrator, South-West Africa Territory, Union of South Africa, for year 1920 : Cape Town 1921. " — " B 2 36 Numerous other deposits of copper ore occur in various parts of the Territory. Next to Tsumeb, the Khan mine is said to contain the most important occurrence of copper in South-West Africa. It is situated about seven miles S.S.E. of Arandis, in the Swakopmund district. The deposit consists of a vein of coarse- grained copper-bearing pegmatite in gneiss mineralized over a length of from 1,100 to 1,300 feet. It has been developed to a depth of 690 feet on the incHne, the width varying from 8 inches to 7 feet, and in its northern part carries about 7 J per cent, of copper, chiefly in the form of bomite ; some oopper-glance, chalco- pyrite and malachite being also present. Zinc-blende occurs in some parts of the ore-body. A considerable tonnage of ore has been blocked put, and a crushing and concentration plant of modem type, erected in 1913-14, was in operation before the outbreak of the war, a concentrate containing from 60 to 70 per cent, of copper being made and shipped to Europe. The plant has a capacity of 50 tons per day. -The Henderson and Ehler mines, situated south-west of Usakos, are of the same type. . The Otjizongati mine, north-west of the Onyati Mountains and north-east of Windhuk, has been worked for some years. The ore occurs in lenticular veins ofpegmatitic quartz up to 6 feet in width traversing mica-schist and gneiss. The primary ore is chaJcopyrite and pyrite, associated with rutile, molybdenite, tour- maline and apatite. Near the surface the veins carry cuprite, native copper and malachite, and in the cementation zone chal- oocite, bomite, and black oxide of copper. Veins of similar type and character occur at Behoboth, at Spitzkopjes, and at Gaidip, near Eamans Drift, on the Orange Eiver, containing free gold as well as copper, but the quantity of ore available, although fairly rich, is' small. The Sinclair mine, in the Liideritz Bay district, has been worked intermittently for 60 yeaxs. The deposit occurs in porphyry as a vein of white quartz, from 12 to 15 feet in width, which splits into several branches, one of which (3 to 4 feet in width) ■ contains chalcocite in thin bands and irregular patches, accompanied near the surface by carbonates and black oxide of copper. At the Gorap mine, south-east of Walvis Bay, an impregnation deposit has been worked, consisting of a series of lenticular masses of quartzite in mica-schist. The deposit outcrops over a distance of about 3 miles, and has an average width of about 6 feet. At the surface the ore is an intimate mixture of cuprite, malachite, chrysocoUa and limonite. At the Matchless mine, about 19 miles south-east of Windhuk, the primary ore is cupreous iron-pyrites, associated with arsenical pyrites. 37 Production of Copper in the Union of South Africa (Annual Eeports of the G-ovemment Mining Engineer) Crude ore Marketable Sales and Shipmentsf treated* Productf Year Quantity Quantity Quantity Average per- centage of pure metal (long tons) (long tons) (long tons) 1913 127,574 17,646 16,413 46-82 1914 187,065 25,818 26,183 43-72 1915 "... 220,835 24,781 25,866 43-91 1916 248,427 22,140 20,394 46-06 1917 210,474 16,231 17,975 49-46 1918 129,150 9;719 6,138 52-12 1919 104,279 5,976 4,362 61-48 Including crude ore concentrated and crude ore smelted, f Including concentrates, picked ore, matte, bottoms, middlings an precipitate. Imports of Copper Plate and Sheet* into the Union of South Africa (Annual Statements of the Trade, and Shipping of the Union of South Africa and of Souithem and Northern Ehodesia) From Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 United Kingdom United States Other Countries 41 7 34 5 36 1 1 24 1 10 3 2 cwt. 1 25 2 19 47 9 cwt. Total 48 39 38 25 13 28 66 * Excluding G-overnment Stores. Imports of Copper Bar, Ingot and Rod* into the Union of South Africa. (Annual Statements of the Trade p,nd Shipping of the Union of South Africa and of Southern and Northern Ehodesia) From • Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 U^ited Kingdom ... United States Other Countries ... 68 3 3 45 1 cwt. 36 7 44 10 1 cwt. 15 8 1 cwt. 38 22 7 21 3 Total 74 45 43 54 23 60 29 * Excludinsf Government Stores. B.S 38 Imports of Copper* into the Union of South Africa (Government Stores) (Annual Statement of the Trade and Shipping of the Union of South Africa and of Southern and Northern Ehodesia) Quantity (long tons) Tear Bar, ingot, and rod Plate and sheet * ■ Pipes and piping 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 53 15 20 58 71 97 125 172 140 121 45 21 50 258 38 4 3 23 8 2 * Imported almost entirely from the United Kingdom. In addition to these mports, the Union imported 150 tons of copper wire per annum during the years 1916-1919. Exports of Copper Ore and Concentrates from the Union, of South Africa (Domestic Produce) (Annual Statement of the Trade and Shipping of the Union of South Africa and of Southern and , Northern Ehodesia) Quantity Year (long tons) 1913 1914 17,491 1915 14,342 1916 13,658 1917 8,678 1918 4,665 1919 5,803 With the exception of 10 tons to Australia and 1,566 tons to Japan in 19J 8, all exported to the United Kingdom. Exports of Copper (Regulus, Matte and Smelted) from the Union of South Africa (Domestic Produce) (Annual Statements of the Trade and Shipping of the Union of South Africa and of Southern and ISforthem Ehodesia) / ' Quantity Year (long tons) 1913 ... 9,500 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 10,924 11,477 7,585 7,648 1,509 45 With the exception of 1,408 tons to Japaji in 1918, all exported to the United Kingdom. 39 Canada. =<° Canada possesses very important and well-developed copper deposits and a great number of smaller mines and " prospects " widely scattered over the Dominion from the Yukon Territory to Nova Scotia. Eefined copper Xvas first produced in Canada m 1916, when the output amounted to 431 tons, while in 1918 3,401 tons were produced, and in 1919, 3,113 tons. British Columbia contributed 52-9 per cent, of the total production of Canada in 1918, Ontario 89-6 per cent., Quebec 5-0 per cent., Manitoba 2 per cent., and the Yukon 0-5 per cent. Canada is remarkable, among copper-producing countries, for its immense deposits of copper-nickel ore in Ontario. It is note- worthy that these occurrences were at first regarded as of value only for the copper they contained. Canadian copper-ore deposits are of the most varied description, some carrying copper alone, othears containing gold, some gold and silver, and others various base metals, particularly silver-lead and zinc. The consumption of copper in Canada has hitherto been about 20,000 tons per annum, or less than half the production of British Columbia alone, where the production is controlled to the extent of 90 per cent, by American capital. About half the production in the past has been exported as Bessemer copper containing 95 to 99 per cent, copper and some gold and silver, but much of this is now likely to be treated at Trail, where a refinery was erected in 1916, the power being furnished by a hydro-electric installation. The original capacity of this refinery was increased from 10 tons to 45 tons per day in 1918. Nova Scotia The priucipal copper deposits opened up in this province are the Cheticamp mines in Inverness County, which are stated to be situated on a mineraUzed zone in micaceous schist, 350 feet wide, traceable IJ miles, carrying several ore-bodies, three of which have been developed to a depth of 200 feet. The Company claims to have developed 250,000 tons of sulphide ore averaging from 2'5 to 3"5 per cent, copper and 18 per cent, lead, with 34 oz. of silver and from about 2 dwt. to nearly IJ oz. of gold per ton. The old Coxheath mine, Cape Breton County, ten miles from Sydney, contains several cupriferous veins. The principal veins, said to average 10 feet in width, traverse felsite and diorite and carry auriferous chalcopyrite in a siliceous gangue, averaging about 4' 5 per cent, copper. They were developed to 420 feet in depth, but have been idle for many years. * Annual Reports on the Mineral Production of Canada. Annual Reports of the Bureau of Mines, Ontario. Annual Reports of the Minister of Mines, British Columbia. Canada Tear Book. Summ. Repts. Geol. Surv. Canada. 10 At Poison's lake, Antigonish County, a vein, said to be 5 feet wide and tra-ceable for about a mile, is stated to carry argent- iferous and auriferous copper ore and to have been developed to a depth of about 100 feet. There are copper properties at Wentworth, Cumberland County, which are apparently idle -at present. Nkw Brunswick No large copper deposits have as yet been found in this province, but this may perhaps be partly attributed to the fact that the area is very heavily forested, rendering prospecting diffi- cult. At Dorchester, Westmoreland County, a vein has been developed and is said to contain from 3 to 4 per cent, of copper as sulphides and carbonates. Quebec The copper production of Quebec is derived from cupreous pyrites occurring mainly in' Sherbrooke and Wolff Counties. In the farmer County at the Albert mine, Capelton, there are lenticular deposits of chalcopyrite and pyrite assaying up to 5 per cent, copper, and 38 per cent, sulphur. This mine has six shafts, one 2,000 feet deep, connected with 5 miles of workings. The works include a 150-ton concentrator, a smelter and acid plant. The acid plant has a daily capacity of 150 tons of sul- phuric acid, and is equipped for the manufacture of sulphuric, nitric and hydrochloric acid, and Glauber salt. The cinder re- maining from the burning of cupreous pyrites is smelted in a small blast-furnace, producing 1 to 2 tons daily of matte, assaying up to 40 per cent, copper with a little silver, which is shipped to Laurel Hill, New York, for refining. The copper production is estimated at 156 tons per annum. On the property of the Eustis Mining Company, in' the 'town- ship of Ascot, there are four parallel interbediJed lenses of cupreous pyrites, in talcose schists that are traversed by diorite dykes, the cupriferous belt being traceable for some two miles. The ore-body has been worked to a depth of about 4,100 feet on the incline, with a dip of about 38°. The lenses are from 3 tO' 60 feet in width, and from 50 to 350 feet in length, averaging about 2"5 per cent, copper and containing up to 2s. 6d. per ton in gold and silver, with 40 per cent, sulphur. Selected ore and concentrates are shipped to acid works and roasted for sulphur, the cupriferous cinder being shipped to the Norfolk smelter. In the six years ending May 31, 1914, the mine produced 153,849 tons of shipping ore. In Wolff County, the Weedon Mining Company mines two lenses in schist for sulphur and copper. The main ore-body is said to be 570 feet long and 15 to 45 feet wide. It has been developed by two shafts 700 and 965 feet deep, and the average ore is said to contain 3'3 per cent, copper, 40'8 per cent, sulphur, a trace of lead, 0'77 per cent, zinc, 0'5 oz. silver and about 5 grains of gold per ton. The ore reserves at the end of 1916 were esti- mated at 200,000 tons, the production of copper in that year being 2,546 tons. 41 Ontario The nickel-copper ores of the Sudbury area are the source of nearly all the copper produced in Ontario. These ores contain from 1 to 2"5 per cent, of copper, the recovery averaging a little over 1'5 per cent. Copper ores free from nickel axe found in many pai'ts of the province, notably on the north shore of Lake Huron, at Bruce mines. This deposit yielded in all about £729,000 worth of copper. After remaining idle for many yeajrs, it passed into possession of the Mond Nickel Co. , to whom the ore is of value as a flux on account of its sihoeous character. The mines of the Sudbury district, being chiefly important for their production of nickel, will be more fully described in the Bureau's pubhoation on nickel, but it may be stated that the British- American Nickel Corporation is reported to have developed 18 million tons of cupriferous nickel-ore, of which 14 million tons were in the Murray mine, about four miles north-west of the town of Sudbury. The International Nickel Company, Ltd., owns the Creighton mine (formerly held by the Canadian Copper Company) which has been developed to 1,000 feet in depth and produced about 3,100 tons of ore per day in 1919. The Crean Hill mine, developed to 780 feet, produced about 400 tons of sorted ore per day. The No. 2 mine at Copper Cliff, developed to a depth of 860 feet, produced about 200 tons of sorted ore per day. The nickel-copper properties owned by this Company are reported to contain a reserve of 20 million tons. The Mond Nickel Company owns the Gar son, Levack, Worthington, Victoria and other mines in the Sudbury district. The Victoria mine is the deepest mine in Ontario,, being over 2,600 feet in depth. Unofficial estimates of the annual output of this Company's mines, made in 1916, placed it at about 1,780 tons of fine copper and 2,200 tons of nickel. The Mond Nickel Company erected a 1,500 ton smelter in 1912-13 at Coniston where a copper-nickel matte is made. This is exported to their refinery at Clydach, Swansea, where the metals are separated by the Mond Process. Three processes are employed for the refining of nickel-copper mattes, viz., the Orford, the Mond and the Hybinette. The International Nickel Company has erected a refinery* at Port Colbourne, near the Lake Erie entrance of the Welland Canal, with a capacity of 3,560 tons of copper annually; and also owns a large smelting plant at Copper Cliff, possessing a capacity of 3,125 tons of ore per day. In addition, the British- American Nickel Corporation has erected a smelter at Nickelton and an electrolytic refinery, using * Described in Bng. and Min. Journ., March 8, 1919. 42 the Hybinette process, with a capacity of 4,000 tons of copper per annum at Deschenes (Quebec), 8 miles from Ottawa City, for the separation of the copper, nickel and precious metals such as platinum, palladium, iridium, etc., from the matte. The Alexo mine, situated 150 miles north of Sudbury, in the Porcupine area, is remarkable as containing nickel although out- side the Sudbury district. The ore-body occurs at the contact of peridotite (now largely altered to serpentine) with a pillow-lava which usually has the composition of andesite. The ore is of two distinct types representing two periods of deposition. The disseminated type appears to be an original magmatic segregation of the peridotite, while the solid ^sulphide type appears to have been introduced later through shrinkage cracks formed on cooling. The minerals occurring are pyrrhotite with smaller amounts of pyrite, chalcopyrite and pentlandite. The average grade of the whole ore-body is about 4' 5 per cent, of nickel with less than 1 per cent, of copper. The ore is self- fluxing. The ore-body has been proved for a length of 700 feet and to a depth of 240 feet. The width varies from 3 feet to 40 feet, but the average is about 10 feet. In the, Massey district, the old Massey mine, discovered in 1900, was re-opened in 1917, and about 50,000 tons of ore, assaying 3 to 5 per cent, copper, were said to have been developed. Other mines in Western Ontario : the Tip Top near Kasha- boilbe, and the Port Arthur at Mine Centre shipped ore in 1913. In the Parry Soand district, on the eastern side of Georgian Bay, some surface development has been carried out. A ship- ment of 210 tons of selected ore from the McGowan mine is said to have returned 17 per cent, copper. In the neighbourhood of the Algoma Central Eailway, copper is stated to have been found' in fissure veins from 10 to 70 feet wide, in the form of chalcopyrite with a little, chalcocite. The ore is estimated to average 4 per cent, copper, 1 oz. silver and 0-4 dwt. gold per ton, and a large amount of development work has been done. Manitoba* Manitoba attracted much attention in 1916-17 by the discovery of large and rich copper deposits in the Flin Flon Lake district, 90 miles north-west of Pas on the Saskatchewan Eiver. . The country rocks of this district resemble the Keewatin of Ontario, but their age is as yet uncertain. They consist of a thick series of sedimentary rocks, largely conglomerate, arkose and greywacke, associated with greenstones, and gneiss. All these formations have been invaded by granite intrusions. * Mining Development in Northern Manitoba, by E. C. Wallace ; Trans. Can. Min. Inst. Vol. XXII. Amisk-Athapapuskow Lake District, by B. L. Bruce • Dept. of Mines, Canada, Geol. Surv. Memoir 105, 1918. ' ' 43 At Flin Flon the ore occurs in a foliated greenstoife and in lenses of pyrite, zinc-blende, chalcopyrite and magnetite, associated with quartz-porphyry dykes. The ore-body of the HaJumill mine is stated to consist of a mineralized shear-zone in massive greenstone, and to have been proved for 2,600 feet, with a width of 75 feet of sohd sulphides. The Flin Flon ore-body, including sohd sulphides and dis- seminated ore, is estimated to contain over 15 milUon tons, assaying 1"69 per cent, of copper, 3'49 per cent, zinc, with ■082 oz. gold and 1'16 oz. silver per ton. The Mandy mine at Schist Lake, 4 miles south-east of Flin Flon, has also been developed'. In June, 1919, a sulphide ore- body had been developed for a length of 225 feet and a maximum width of 40 feet at the surface. The ore-body is lenticular and consists of disseminated sulphides on the walls with massive sulphides in the centre. A central mass of high-grade chalcopy- rite which rested on the footwall has been mined. Between this and the pyritic ore on the hanging-wall there was a band of zinc-blende from 10 to 12 feet in width. The ore-body is in chloritic schists which alternate with greenstones, and the ore- deposition is connected with igneous intrusions which are found in the vicinity. The disseminated ores are considered to be re- placement deposits in shear- zones, and the high-grade ore is believed to have been deposited at a later date in a fault fissure cutting through the disseminated ore. About 25,000 tons of ore, containing 19 per cent, copper with 2 dwt. gold and 2 oz. silver per ton, have been shipped to the Trail smelter ; and a further 200,000 tons of ore have been developed, averaging 8 to 10 per cent, copper and 20 per cent, zinc with 2 dwt. gold and 2 J oz. silver per ton. Under present conditions of transport this ore is too poor to mine, but it is proposed to build a railway to the district and construct a smelter of 2,000 tons daily capacity. At present a year elapses between the time when the ore is mined and the time when it can be smelted at Trail. * About 20,000 h.p. can be obtained from Birch rapids on the Sturgeon-weir river for mining and smelting purposes, but in order to get a large supply it would be necessary to utihze the Bloodstone and Island falls on the Churchill river, rated at 27,300 and 49,000 h.p., which are 80 and 60 mifes distant respectively. British Columbia The Grranby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Com- pany is at presetit the most important copper-mining undertaking in Canada, owning the Hidden Creek mines in the Nass Eiver Division ; the Phoenix group of properties in the Greenwood Division ; and others in Washington Territory on the Granby Peninsula, on the Ecstall river and Prince of Wales Island, * The New Manitoba District, Dept. of the Interior, Canada, by P. H. Kitto, 1918, p. 24. 44 and at Hadley, Kasan Bay and Valdez in Alaska. The Com- pany's smelters are situated at Grand Forks and at Anyox. The Phoenix mines comprise a mineralized axea in which there are two distinct sets of ore-bodies, the Knob Hill Ironsides, and the Golden Drop. The geology is complicated, Palseozoic rocks, consisting of limestones and argillites, overlying beds of frag- mental volcanic rocks, intensely altered by contact metamorphism. The ore-bodies occur in basin-sha,ped troughs in the zone of mineralization, and may be regarded as replacement deposits in the limestone carrying finely disseminated copper pyrites. In 1917, the Phoenix ore yielded slightly less than 17 lb. of copper per ton. The mines were developed to a depth of about 485 feet in the Victoria Shaft, and the total production of the Phoenix and Golden Drop may be put at about llj million tons of ore. In 1918, 277,628 tons of ore from all sources yielded 2193 lb. of copper, 0'267 oz. silver, and 0'5 oz. gold per ton. Mining operations were stopped in June, 1919, partly on account of ex- haustion of the ore-bodies, and pairtly in consequence of local labour difficulties. These mines are, however, reported to contain over 2J million tons of low-grade ore, of which about 500,000 tons are still available, although the eastern section of the Camp may be regarded as being practically worked out. The Phoenix Camp has been in operation for some 20 years and has produced over 30,000 tons of copper and £700,000 in gold and silver. The principal mine of the group, the Golden Drop, produced 670,000 tons of ore before it was exhausted and yielded a profit up to 4s. a ton. The production of the whole group before the mines were abandoned is put at 1,575,624 tons of ore. The Grand Forks smelter,* 24 miles south of Phoenix, has a capacity of 3,900 tons daily ; it is the largest smelter in Canada and one of the largest in the world. The converter product is 98'5 per cent, blister copper containing an average of 20 oz. silver and 4' 5 oz. gold per ton, which is sent to the Laurel Hill Works of the Nichols Copper Company for electrolytic refining. The Hidden Creek or Anyox mines in the Nass Eiver Division, south of the Portland Canal, are owned by the Granby Company and are probably the largest copper mines in the province. The claims are situated on a hill some 920 feet in height. The ore occurs as a mass of solid sulphides, pyrite and chalcopyrite, or mixed with country rdck in " shear zones " up to 400 feet in width, in crushed and schistose rocks (schists, slates and lime- stones) lying upon granite, cut by dykes and highly metamor- phosed. There are two principal ore-bodies, one from 100 to 250 feet wide and traced for some 1,500 feet, the other being about 400 feet wide and about 700 feet long. In places the ore- bodies enclose siliceous zones containing disseminated sulphides. The ore as proved by diamond drilling extends 300 feet below sea level, a vertical depth of 1,250 feet below the outcrop. The principal developments are by adits, the main adit being 450 feet » Min. and 8ci. Press, Feb. 24, 1917. 45 from the surface. The ore reserves at June 30th, 1917, were estimated at 16,196,146 tons, averaging 1'61 per cent, copper, 8,823,378 tons carrying 2' 31 per cent, copper and 7,372,768 tons carrying 0'647 per cent, of copper. In 1917 the Bonanza group, adjacent to Hidden Creek, was- estimated to contain 807,460 tons of 1"6 per cent, ore, including: 370,335 tons carrying 2 "66 per cent, copper and Is. 3d. in gold and silver per ton. The Anyox smelter, owned by the Granby Company, is situated on Observatory Inlet, and was blown-in during the month of March, 1914. The plant at the present time is the largest " pyritic smelter " in the world, having a daily capacity of from 2,000 to 2,500 tons. An interesting detailed description of this plant is given in the Eeport of the Minister of Mines, British Columbia, for 1917. A difficulty in (dealing with the smelter production of Canada, from a statistical standpoint, arises from the fact that the copper produced from their Alaskan mines is included in the Smelting Company's production records, whilst other lots of ore aire shipped by Canadian mineowners from Canada to the United States smelters at Taooma and elsewhere. Custom ore represented approximately IJ per cent, of th© amount of ore treated in 1916 by the Granby Company. In 1913, the production of the Granby group, chiefly from the Phoenix mines at Greenwood and the Hidden Creek mines at Anyox, was 1,142,740 tons of ore, which yielded 10,128 tons of copper, 324,336 oz. silver and 47,266 oz. gold. In 1919, the Hidd&n Creek mines supphed to the Anyox Smelter 647,466 tons of ore, which yielded 8,725 tons of copper, 4,864 oz. of gold and 348,408 oz. of. silver. In the year ended June 30th, 1919, the Granby Company is stated to have smelted (in addition to custom ore) 881,218 tons of ore, yielding 12,595 tons of copper, 567,425 oz. of silver and 23,303 oz. of gold at a cost of ll^d. per lb. of copper. The Canada Copper Corporation owns extensive properties located on the Mother Lode at Greenwood, and at Copper Moun- tain in the Princeton Section of the Similkameen Division, as welE as other mines and a smelter at Lightning Peak Camp in the Greenwood Division. In the Mother Lode group, four miles from Greenwood, the copper ore occurs in a contact deposit be- tween limestone and eruptive rocks, largely in altered limestones replaced by garnet, magnetite, silica, &c., together with iron and copper sulphides. The main ore-body measured about 160 by 1,200 feet, its maximum width being 260 feet. In 1916, 229,271 tons, averaging 0'945 per cent, of copper, and 0'038 oz. gold and 0'179 oz. silver per ton were produced, but th© property appears to be nearing exhaustion, and operations were suspended in 1918. The Mother Lode is stated to have produced 137,796 tons of low- grade copper ore in 1918. The construction of the West Kootenay power line from Green- wood to Copper Mountain, a distance of 100 miles, should give an 46 incentive to prospecting and reduce costs, fuel having hitherto been a serious item in working expenses in this district. The mines developed and worked by the Company on Copper Moun- tain are important and extensive. This mountain consists of a complex of various granitoid rocks, chiefly monzonite-porphyry and granodiorite, and, the ore-bodies are associated with a younger system of porphyry dykes. The ores consist of primary chalco- pyrite and bornite, filling numerous fractures and also dissemin- ated in the porphyry and granodiorite, associated with haematite, magnetite and iron-pyrites. Alo^ng certain zones seoondary action has taken place giving rise to chalcocite, native copper, malachite, azurite and cuprite. The rock-orushing mill is situated at Allenby, 9 miles from the mine, on the Similkameen river, where a pumping station is installed. The flow-sheet of the mill is given in detail in the Eeport of the Minister of Mines, B.C., for 1918, and its capacity is estimated at 1,800 tons per day. In 1918, the ore reserves were estimated at 10 million tons of developed ore and 2 million tons of probable ore, having an assay value of 1'74 per cent, copper and about Is. 5^d. per ton gold and silver. A 40-ton flotation test mill is said to have given satisfactory results. The Greenwood smelter of the Canada Copper Corporation in 1918 produced 1,256 tons of copper, 60,495 oz. of silver and 12,663 oz. of gold. It was closed down in November, 1918. In the Skeena Division there were a number of mines under- going development in 1918, but few of them appear to have reached the stage of developed mines. In the Coast Section the principal properties are the Belmont-Surf Inlet and Drum Lum- mon mines. The Belmont-Surf Inlet property, situated on Princess Royal Island, is a gold-silver-copper proposition which has been exten- sively developed, the ore-reserves in 1917 being 344,036 tons. In September, 1917, the property was equipped with hydro-electric plant, 5 "65 mile power-line, railway, 'compressor- plant, 300-tan concentrating mill and flotation machines. In 1919 , approximately 92,791 tons of ore were milled, which produced 8,495 tons of concentrates, containing 51,684 oz. gold, 80,319 oz. silver and 361 tons of copper. The Drum Lummon mine, also a goldTsilver-oopper proposi- tion, is situated on Miskatlah Bay on the north shore of Douglas Channel, about 25 miles east of Hartley Bay. The deposit is said to be a shear-zone in granite, carrying bornite and copper- glance in a quartz gangue, but it has not as yet been opened up to any large extent. In 1919, 18 tons of concentrates were pro- duced, yielding 8 tons of copper, 10 oz. gold and 353 oz. of silver. During the year ended December 31st, 1919, copper-mining was earned on in the -Queen Charlotte Division, at the Ikeda mmes, on Moresby Island, which produced 135 tons of high- grade copper ore which were treated at the Granby smelter at Anyox, yielding 51 oz.igold, 722 oz. silver and 17 tons of copper 47 In the Portland Canal Section of the Portland Canal Division, the old Brown-Alaska mine was operated for two years and shipped several thousand tons of copper ore to the Hadley smelter, averaging about 2"8 per cent, of copper. Developments in 1918 are reported to have exposed a quartz vein 14 to 19 feet wide, mineralized with pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite, carrying 2 feet of 5 per cent, copper ore on the hanging-wall, but the average is not thought likely to be more than 2 per cent, of copper. In the Atlin Mining Division, there is an immense area of country practically unprospected, except along the lake-shores, , from the Yukon boundary south to Taku Inlet and Eiver, lying along the eastern contact of the Coast granites, which is probably as favourable a section for exploration as any in British Columbia. This-division has produced but little copper in consequence of the high cost of treatment and transport, but one group of claims in the Rainy Hollow Section is reported to have shipped in 1918 22 tons assaying 39'83 oz. silver per ton and 22'32 per cent, copper. ' Bornite has been found on Mineral Mountain, in irregular veins up to 2 feet thick, in a zone of altered limestone intercalated with broad belts of slates and sandstone. The principal producing mine on Texada Island, in theNanaimo Division, is the Marble Bay, which has been developed to a vertical depth of 1,500 feet and from which regular shipments of copper-gold ore, approximating 9,000 tons, yielding about 280 tons of copper, were made in 1918. The Vancouver Division occupies an area on the mainland as well as several small islands near the city of Vancouver, and con- tains the Britannia mine, which is the most important in the Western Mineral Survey District. During 1918, the Britannia Mining and Smelting Co. oarrijed on work at the Fairview, Empress, Bluff, and Jane mines, Howe Sound. The properties which the Company controls have an average width of several hundred feet, and are situated along a mineralized belt extending for about 12 miles copsisting of bands of metamorphosed sedi- ments, with intrusions of granodiorite, and striking parallel with the axis of the Coast Range of mountains. The ore-bodies consist of a series of lenses of chalcopyrite and pyrite occupying fissOTes in schist. In 1919, 9 million tons of ore, averaging two per cent, copper, with low values in gold and silver, were reported as deve- loped, without taking into account ore exposed by diamond drilling. The Company's property is completely equipped with machinery, driven by Pelton-wheels and steam turbines. In 1918, 652,056 tons are stated to have been milled at a cost of 8s. 3d. for mining, development and crushing, and 3s. 2d. for milling. Shipment of concentrates resulting therefrom amounted to 56,299 tons, assay- ing 14'53 per cent, copper, 3"82 per cent, zinc, 1'74 oz. silver and 0'053 oz. goid per ton. The copper production of the mines in 1913 was 5,878 tons; rising, in 1918, to 8,180 tons, containing 98,131 oz. silver and 3,045 oz. gold. ^8 The Ladysmith Smelting Corporation, Limited, owns a smelter on Oyster Harbour, in the Vancouver Mining Division, which treated custom ore from as far north as Alaska and as far south as Mexico. In 1911, 37,527 tons of custom ore were treated. In 1918, the smelter was in operation for a few weeks, but closed down owing to shortage of ore supplies. The Eastern Minera,! Survey District is the oldest lode-mining district in British Columbia. In the Trail Creek Division, the most important copper-producing mines belong to the Consoli- dated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada. The Le Roi-Centre Star group is situated on the southern slope of Eed Mountain at Eossland. The country rock is considered to be a complex of Palaeozoic volcanic rocks intruded into which is an elongated mass of porphyry. This is traversed by a nearly vertical series of basaJtic dykes, from a few feet to 250 feet wide. The ore occurs in shoots from 3 to 50 feet in width, and 50 to 600 feet in length, widening where the veins and dykes intersect, but the larger dykes cut off the veins. The ore consists of highly auri- ferous and slightly argentiferous chalcopyrite, associated with pyrite and pyrrhotite, carrying 0'5 to 2 per cent, of copper and from about 8 to 20 dwt. gold per ton. The gangue is siliceous altered country rock. In some cases the pay shoots extend fron* ■wall to wall, in others they merge into the country rock. The Josie No. 1 and Annie mines are also situated on Red Mountain, and belong to the Le Eoi No. 2 Company. The Josie mine has five principal veins, the ore of which is mostly chalco- pyrite, associated with pyrite and pyrrhotite in a siliceous gangue, averaging 2-25 per cent, copper, 0"5 oz. gold and 1-12 oz. of silver per ton ; it has been opened up extensively from the main shaft, which is 1,300 feet in depth. In 1918, the Company produced 19,642 tons of ore, containing 300 tons of copper, 8,516 oz. of gold and 19,687 oz. silver. The mill has an estimated capacity of 50 tons a day. The Trail Creek smelter is located near the International Boundary and treats various classes of Company and custom ores. The works are supphed with electric power from Bonnington Falls on the Kootenay River. The total production of the smelter from 1907 to 1919 is given as follows : — Ore smelted Gold ^,yu»,j.u* ions. 1,831,838 oz. Silver 28,714,042 oz. Lead 221,952 tons. Copper 37,067 tons. Zinc , 20,026 tons The production in 1919 is given as S,096 tons of copper from 355,462 tons of ore. In the North-eastern Mineral Survey district, the Omineca Division is the only one that appears to have produced copper m any quantity in 1918. The most important copper mine in the Hazelton Section is the Eocher DebouM mine on Juniper Creek 4t) ,The ore occurs in parallel veins in sheared granite. The gangue is described as crushed and altered granodiorite", quartz, oalcite and siderite, and the minerals are chaloopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, galena, zinc-blende and tetrahedrite. The output in 1916 is given as 558 tons of copper from 9,000 tons of ore, and in 1918 it was estimated that 22,000 tons were blocked out, averaging 15 per cent, copper, 5'6 oz. of silver and 1'47 dwt. of gold per ton. The total prodlictioii of the mine up to the end of 1918 was 35,565 tons of ore containing 4,214 oz. of gold, 62,865 oz. of silver and 2,565 tons of copper. In October, 1918, the mine was shut down until operating conditions became more favourable. In the Central Mineral Survey District copper has been found in the Lillooet, Ashcroft, Nicola and Yale Divisions, but does not appear to have been developed to any large extent as yet, the Iron Mask mine, about 7 miles south-west of the City of Kam- loops, being the only mine operating a reduction plant of any size. The mine has been developed down to the 750-ft. level and further prospected by diamond drilling. The deposits occur as lenses in a shear-zone, mineralized from 20 to 50 feet in width, the segregations of better-grade ore forming a pay streak of variable width, carrying chalcopyrite and magnetite in a chloritic gangue. The' country rock is mainly diorite. The ore is difficult to concentrate by ordinary methods, and gravity- concentration plant has been discarded in favour of flotation. In the Southern Mineral Survey District the 'Franklin Camp Section of the Grand Forks Division' is notable on account of the presence of platinum in some of the ores, associated with copper minerals. In the Eholt Section of this Division, the Emma mine shipped 18,993 tons of low-grade copper ore in 1919, valuable as a flux and containing 524 oz. gold, 730 oz. silver and 211 tons of copper. The Smelting works of the Canada Copper Corporation are situated in the Lightning Peak Section of the Greenwood Mining Division, and have a smelting capacity of about 2,500 tons of ore per day. They also smelt custom ores. The Company's produc- tion of fine copper is stated to have been 2,320 tons in 1916 , and 1,896 tons in 1917. The plant was closed down in the middle of November, 1918, but when the Company's mines on Copper Mountain are in full operation, it is expected that it will be re-opened. The amounts of copper contained in the ores mined in the various mining Divisions of British Columbia in 1915 and 1918 are shown in the following table : — 1915 1918 (long (long Division tons) tons) 1. Skeena, Nass, Queen Charlotte and Port- land Canal 9,784 13,477 2. Grand Forks, Greenwood and Osoyoos... 7,769 4,438 3. Vancouver and New Westminster ... 4,044 7,834 4. Trail Creek - 2,077 739 50 1915 1918 (long (long tons) tons) 1,264 287 318 414 132 235 — - 5 — 1 14 13 10 5 ■1 Division '5. Omineca ... 6. Vancouver Island, Nanaimo, Alberni Clayoquot, Quatsino and Victoria 7. Yale, Ashcroft and Kamloops ... 8. Atlin, Liard and Stikine 9. Fort Steele (East Kootenay) ... 10. Nelson and Arrov? Lake 11. Similkameen, Nicola and Vernon 12. Slocan and Slocan City In 1917, the Windermere and Golden Division produced 6 tons of copper. The total copper production of British Columbia to the end of 1918 amounted to 374,106 tons, valued at £30,362,723. ' Yukon Territoby The chief copper mines in the Yukon Territory are the Pueblo and the Carlisle. The Pueblo deposit is an irregular mass enclosed in crystalline limestone near a granite contact ; 600 tons of ore shipped to the Crofton Smelter are stated to have contained 5 per cent, copper, 140 to 2'24 oz. of silver per ton and some gold. The Carlisle mine is reported to have a vein 15 feet wide, vs^ith high-grade ore up to 4 feet in vyidth, consisting of bornite and chalcopyrite. North- West Territories North of' Alberta, in the lovrer part of the Coppermine river, in the Bathurst Inlet area, an examination made by the Canadian Arctic Expedition showed that copper occurs native in the amygda- loidal form, running from 0' 01 to 1 per cent, or over in an enormous tonnage of rock ; and cutting through these rocks there are veins which contain thin sheets of native copper up to | inch in thick- ness, and others containing up to 4J per cent, of flake copper. Part of the country, however, is at present difficult of access. J. B. Tyrrell, reporting on the copper possibilities of the far north, reported that : " The copper-bearing rocks would seem to extend along the Arctic coast both east and west of the Copper- mine river for about 500 miles in all, and probably many of the smaller islands off the coast are also of the same rocks, and the total area of these rocks undoubtedly ajnounts to many thousands of square miles. Comparing the early accounts of the occurrence of native copper on Lake Superior with the accounts which we now possess of the copper on Coppermine river, and considering the enormous extent of the northern deposits, we have reasonable grounds for hope that before many years the Coppermine area will produce as much copper as is now mined in Northern Michigan." 51 Copper content of ore mined in Canada (Annual Reports of the Mineral Production of Canada) Quantity (long tons) Year. British Columbia Ontario Quebec* Yukon Dominion 1913 20,443 11,556 1,543 823 34,365 1914 18,402 12,923 1,876 610 33,811 1915 25,309 17,572 1,874 238 44,993 1916 28,412 20,088 2,646 1,253 52,299 1917 25,773 19,137 2,239 1,098 48,762t 1918 28,065 21,015 2,620 ■ 277 53,022J 1919 19,867 10,869 1,202 74 33,506§ * Including the production from pyritic ores where the copper content is paid for. f Including 515 tons produced chiefly in Manitoba, j Including 1,045 tons produced chiefly in Manitoba. § Including 1,494 tons produced chiefly in Manitoba. Imports of Copper into Canada* (Annual Eeports of the Mineral Production of Canada) Quantity (long tons) Year Pigs, Ingots, or in Blocks Old and Scrap Bars, Rods, Sheets, Tube and Wire Crude Precipitate Copper Sulphate 1913 2,372 266 15,670 2 910 1914 1,667 57 10,009 1 510 1915 2,130 31 6,877 1 828 1916 1,539 43 9,840 4 805 1917 2,642 52 10,663 10 1,409 1918 2,118 275 7,573 t 1,228 1919 1,358 451 4,865 t 837 * Excluding imports of nails, tacks, rivets, &c., wire cloth, &c. and other manufactures which are reported by value only, t 1,000 lb. + 50 lb. 52 Imports of Copper in Blocks, Pigs or Ingots into Canada (For Consumption) Fiscal years ending March 31 *. (Annual Eeports on the Trade of Canada) Quantity (long tons) Year From United Kingdom From Foreign Countries* Total 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 22 18 2,264 2,257 1,974 1,662 2,225 2,357 1,603 2,286 ' 2,275 1,974 1,662 2,225 2,357 1,603 * All from United States, with the exception of 25 tons imported from Germany in 1914. Imports of Part-manufactured Copper {in bars and rods, in coil or otherwise, in lengths of not less than 6 feet) into Canada {For Consumption) Fiscal years endUng March 31 (Annual Eeports of the Trade of Canada) Quantity (long tons) ^ Year From United Kingdom From Foreign Countries* Total 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 316 9 13,333 12,057 6,463 5,957 8,446 8,512 7,407 13,649 12,066 6,463 5,957 8,446 8,512 7,407 * All from the United States, with the exception of 1 ton imported from Germany in 1914. 53 Imports of Copper {in strips, sheets or plates, not polished, planished or coated) into Canada (For Consumption) Fiscal yewrs ending March 31 (Annual Eeports of the Trade of Canada) Quantity (long tons) Year From Uoited Kingdom From Foreign Countries* Total 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 " \ 46 15 4 15 10 1,954 1,766 1,495 1,140 1,151 913 592 2,000 1,781 1,499 1,140 1,166 923 592 * All from the United States, except 1 ton imported from Germany in 1914. Imports of Crude Precipitate of Copper into Canada {For Consumption) Fiscal years enddng March 31 (Annual Eeports of the Trade of Canada) Quantity* Year (long tons) 1913 3 1914 2 1915 — 1916 — 1917 4 1918 ... 10 1919 0-4 * All from the United States. 54 Imports of Sulphate of Copper (Blue Vitriol) into Canada Fiscal years ending March 31 (Annual Eeports of the Trade of Canada) Quantity (long tons) From 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 United Kingdom 568 363 120 273 211 — — Belgium Germany United States Japan 5 562 243 2 582 575 690 5 1,247 1,128 Total from Foreign Countries 567 243 584 575 695 1,24T 1,128 Total 1,135 596 704 848 906 1,247 1,128 Exports of Copper from Canada (Annual Eeports of the Mineral Production of Canada) Year Pine in Ore, Matte, Regulus, etc. (long tons) Black or Coarse Pigs, Bars, Sheets, etc. (long tons) Old and Scrap (long tons) Total (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 36,553 30,728 36,356 65,778 38,641 32,766 18,237 344 2,938 9,506 1,086 7,844 20,884 8,121 . 1,116 887 1,858 2,610 7,051 400 1,392 38,012 34,553 47,720 59,473 63,536 54,050 36,659* * Including 8,909 tons of Blister Copper Exports of Fine Copper {contained in Ore, Matte, Regultis, etc. from Canada {Domestic Produce) F'iscal years ending March 31 (Annual Eeports of the Trade of Canada) Quantity (long tons). Year To United Kingdom To Foreign* Countries Total 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 2,404 3,038 4,939 6,140 6,456 6,044 4,734 33,733 34,127 23,042 34,397 50,013 28,570 24,557 36,137 37,165 27,981 40,537 56,469 34,614 29,291 * All to the United States with the exception of 1 ton exported to Germany in 1914. 55 Exports of Black or Coars.e Copper, Cement Copper and Copper in Pigs from Canada {Domestic Produce) Fiscal years ending March 31 (Annual Reports on the Trade of Canada) Year 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Quantity* (long tons) 1,213 4,403 9,037 All to the United States. Exports of old and scrap Copper from Canada (Domestic Produce) Fiscal years ending March 31 (Annual Eeports of the Trade of Canada) To Quantity (long tons) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 '1919 United Kingdom — 285 163 37 19 — — Germany Italy United States — 12 9 988 23 757 2,527 3,719 5,000 1,428 Total to Foreign Countries, — 1,009 780 2,527 3,719 5,000 1,428 Total — 1,294 943 2,564 3,738 5,000 1,428 56 Exports of Copper, Pigs, Bars, Sheets, etc., from Canada (Domestic Produce*) Fiscal years ending March 31 (Annual Eeports of the Trade of Canada) To Quantity (long tons) 1917 1918 1919 United Kingdom Africa, South and West Trinidad and Tobago Hong Kong India Australia 19 7 10 12 1 6 23 Total to British Possessions 19 17 42 France Italy Portugal United States Brazil 70 139 13,205 3 1 21,642 4 Total to Foreign Countries 70 13,344 21,650 Total 89 13,361 21,692 Not separately recorded prior to 1917. Newfoundland Deposits of copper ore have been worked for a number of years in different parts of Newfoundland. The Cape Copper Company formerly operated the Terra Nova mine, near Millertown, which is stated to have produced 5,600 tons of ore, assaying 2'41 per cent, copper and 37"23 per cent, sulphur. In the Buchan's Eiver mine, 5 miles from Eed Indian Lake, in the central part of Newfoundlaaid, copper ore is found in schists. The mine has been developed to a depth of about 370 feet. The ore-body varies from 5 to 10 feet in thickness and is about 360 feet long. The ore is a complex sulphide carrying about 2^ per, cent, copper, 8 per cent, lead, 20 per cent, zinc, with 7J oz. silver and about 3 dwti. gold per ton. A property has been worked near Twillingate, in the vicinity of the Tilt Cove mine. The vein is claimed to be 160 feet wide, exposed for about half a mile in length, and tested to a depth of 200 feet, carrying chalcopyrite associated with zinc-blende, and averagmg ,2 to 2-9 per cent, of copper, 50 per cent, of sulphur and IJ dwt. gold per ton. 57 The Tilt Cove, or Union mine, is on the north side of the Bay of Notre Dame. The ore occurs in bunches of varying size, or permeating the softer and more slaty rocks. The country rock appears to be a chloritic schist, very ferruginous, vs^ith seams of serpentine, and having large intercalated masses of a hard, com- pact rock which is probably a volcanic ash. The total shipments from this mine are stated to have been 1,491,136 tons of ore, 78,015 tons of regulus and 5,418 tons of ingots.* The Betts Cove mine v^as opened in 1875 and produced in ten years 130,682 tons of ore and regulus, in addition to 2,450 tons of iron pyrites. The Little Bay mine produced 10,000 tons of ore in 1878 and between 1885 and 1891 produced over 40,000 tons of regulus and ingots. This mine, like many others, closed down on account of the low price of copper. It has recently been re-opened. Native copper occurs on the shores of Conception and Placentia Bays in small quantity, and on the island of Oderin, off the west coast of Placentia Bay, where much of the greenstone and amygdaloidal trap is impregnated with disseminated scales and particles of copper. The Government finanbed an electrolytic refining plant at St. John's, which had an initial capacity of 125 tons a day in 1916, and made practically all the copper used locally for cartridges and shells. This assistance encouraged the owners of various small copper prospects to open up their properties, with such suc- cess that two new smelters were planned for Notre Dame Bay. Exports of Copper Ore from 'Newfoundland {Domestic Produce) Fiscal years ending June 30 (Newfoundland Customs Eeturns) Quantity t (long tons) 13,797 3,250 Year 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 9,405 16,066 5,087 56 t Exported chiefly to the United States, Cyprus The island of Cyprus has been prospected for pyrites during the past few years. An important deposit has been found at Poucassa Hill, near Skouriotissa, in the district of Nicosia. * Dominion of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1921. 58 The Skouriotissa ore-body has been proved by systematic drill- ing and is estimated to contain not less than 5 milliori tons of cupreous pyrites of good quality. An average analysis gives 47-5 per cen,t. sulphur, about 2'5 per cent, copper, 41-85 per cent, iron, and '01 per cent, arsenic. The deposit is near the seashore and a mineral railway connect- ing the mine and the coast has been constructed and equipped. A jetty has been built for loading the ore into barges by which it is to be transferred to vessels standing out in deeper water. Indications of other deposits of the same kind are numerous in the south-western and , southern parts of the island, but no other large body of high-grade ore has as yet been discovered. According to the Colonial Eeport on Cyprus for 1920 (No. 1093), some 2,000 tons of cupreous pyrites were extracted during that year. Copper ores are known to occur in several localities in India, but the production of metalhc copper on a large scale only com- menced in August, 1918. The Cape Copper Company, Ltd., has for some years been engaged in opening up the Eakah mine, in the Singhbhum district of Bihar and Orissa. This mine reached the producing stage in 1911, when an output of 2,079 tons of ore was obtained. In December, 1920, there were two shafts, 1,183 feet and 423'f6et deep, respectively, and the driving and sinking oni the deposit aggregated about 25,750 feet. The reduction plant is designed to produce 3,000 tons of refined copper per aomum. The ores, which are stated to contain from 2 to 6 per cent, of copper, are either disseminated through the schists or form indefinite lodes coin- ciding in direction with the bedding-planes of the schists. At depth they consist of copper pyrites, the sulphide being changed near the surface into carbonates and oxides. The mines lie along a belt of country in which ancient copper mines have been traced at frequent intervals for over 80 miles. Large bodies of argentiferous oopper-ore occur at the Bawdwin mines, in the Northern Shan States, Burma. The ore depoisit is a replacement of rhyolite by a « s-s '^ If o 8 1 1 00 CO ^H 1 1 1 CO -d< 1 -K3 ■S S ■■S a cS 9 00 CO ^ 1 1 00 o 1 1 1 l-H rH 1 'i-^ # * a o o- -»a a' -t^ a •o O o O S- 1 1 i UO ^ -* o >) s T— 1 T-l l-H -F fk 1 J 13 O" 1 = 1 CO (M l-H ^ -fa 1 1 1 [~ lO CO 9 1 1 1 o_ T— 1 t-^ lO ^ o 8 *"• *"• T-T -f- 6 • ■g- o o o i-H o 1 1 1 o. co' 00 l-H uo" l-H CO C •h- -♦a 00 CO ta >o o O 00 CO t- CO CO 00 S t- lO t- o (N 00 PL| T-( T-1 (M o~ 03" a> c6" oo" S CO nsiderably poorer than the low-grade " porphyries " mined by steam-shovel at the surface. The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company is said to be the premier dividend-paying mine of the world, having paid ^31,000,000 on a capital of £240,000. The company started operations on the conglomerate beds of the Calumet and Hecla claims, but has now secured control of a number of other companies operating in the region, and has further 126 larg» interests in others without actually having full con- trol. Although the conglomerate bed has proved so productive in this company's ground, it has not been so in other properties adjoining, both to the north and to the south along the strike. The bed is opened up for about two miles on the strike and to a vertical depth of 4,900 feet at the Eed Jacket shaft, followed by a further 1,588 feet by an incline shaft. Several shafts on the property are over a mile deep. The thickness of the conglomerate bed averages about 13 feet and varies between 5 and 26 feet. The average tonriage per acre is about 38,500 tons. The ore has steadily declined in value in depth, and the recovery is now about 12 lb. of copper per ton of ore mined as against about 104 lb. in the early part of the company's career, actual production having started in 1866. In' addition to the Calumet conglomerate bed, the company is also producing from the Osceola amygdaloid bed, which underlies the conglomerate and averages about 35 feet in thickness,' containing fa;ir values in the Tamarack property at a vertical depth of nearly a mile. The Kearsage amygdaloid bed underlies the Osceola lode and has been opened up for about 2,000 feet from surface, but is not at present being worked. The values are erratic, but the bed is said to be payable by selective mining. The total production in 1918 was 30,343 tons of copper, costing 21.05 cents per pound, obtained from 2,568,207 tons of ore, yielding 22-87 lb. of copper per ton. There has been a considerable decline in production since 1906, when the record output of 44,653 ton's of copper was reached. The Ahmeek Mining Company is working on the Eearsage lode. The production in 1918 was 11,094 tons, being a yield of 23'29 lb. per ton of ore treated. Ore reserves amounted to 4 J million tons. The Champion Copper Company owns one of the richest mines of Lake Superior, the beds developed being payable throughout the property. Pour amygdaloidal beds are being -worked, the principal one being known as the Baltic. This dips steeply, i.e., at about 70°, and averages 24 feet in thickness. It contains comparatively rich ore, the copper occurring mostly massive of " barrel " size, but also in solid pieces up to 10 ton's in weight. In 1918, 530,567 tons of or© mined yielded 9,709 tons of copper, being an average yield of 40"99 lb. per tofl of ore treated. The Osceola Consolidated Mining Company owns several distinct areas and obtains its production' from the Osceola amygda- loid lode and the Kearsage. In 1918, the total production was 7,107 tons of copper from 1,066,935 tons of ore, representing a yield of 14'89 lb. of copper per ton of ore treated. The average cost per pound of copper was 17.67 cents. The Quincy Mining Companiy has a continuous dividend-paying record from 1868. The Company owns very extensive properties and is estimated to have a further life of nearly 60 years and a further production of 535,000 tons of copper. The principal workings are in the Pewabic amygdaloid bed, which has been worked down for 8,000 feet from surface on the incline. The values are very uniformly distributed, and practically the 127 whole thickness of the bed is mined. In 1918, the production was 8,905 tons of copper, an average yield of about 19 lb. per ton of ore. The cost was 18.7 cents per pound of copper. A consider- able quantity of silver is recovered as a silver-copper alloy in the Company's smelter. One shaft has been equipped with hoisting gear capable of raising a 10-ton load of ore from a vertical depth of 10,000 feet. The Isle Royals Copper Company's mine is low-grade but pro- fitable. Three amygdaloid beds are worked, the principal ones being the Baltic and Portage, but other .beds and veins contain- ing copper are known to exist on the properties. The production in 1918 was 6,894 tons of copper from 870,096 tons of ore, being a yield of 17'8 lb. of copper per ton of ore. The cost was 16.5 cents per pound of copper. The Mohawk Mining Company's property contains the Kear- sage lode, which averages 15 to 18 feet in thickness. This is crossed by a number of almost vertical fissure veins, containing much barrel copper and a number of minerals of thei copper arsenide group. In 1^18, the production was 4,813 tons of copper from 405,619 tons of ore, an average yield of 26"58 lb. of copper per ton. The Baltic mine, owried by the Copper Eange Company, pro- duced, in 1918, 4,645 tons of copper from 262,144 tons of ore, being a yield of 38"57 lb. of copper per ton. This is the highest yield shown by any mine in the district except the Champion mine. The cost was about 15 cents per pound of copper. Montana. — Practically the whole production of Montana comes from the Butte district, which has yielded over 28 per cent, of the total output of the United States, and was the premier district both in total output and also for the year 1918, when the production was 121,840 tons of copper, 64,318 oz. gold and 10,076,748 oz. silver. The district first attracted attention in 1864, when gold was discovered, silver subsequently becoming the chief product. Copper only became of real importance with the advent of a railway in 1881. The copper ores occur as replacement veins in fractures and fault fissures in a quartz-monzonite. The veins form complex systems, varying in strike and of shghtly different age. The copper minerals, in order of importance, in the sulphide zone are chalcocite, enargite, bomite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite, tennantite and covellite. In the oxidized zone chrysocoUa, malachite, cuprite and native copper are common, but they have not contributed materially to the total output. About 60 per cent, of the output of the district has come from chalcocite ores, but, as ^the mines have reached greater depth, an increasmg proportion has been derived from enargite and bornite the amount derived from the two last-named minerals being now about equal to that from chalcocite. The latter mineral is both primary and secondary, and is abundant in both forms The mines have now reached a depth of 3,000 feet, at which point the chalcocite is nearly all primary. From this it is inferred that no sudden impoverishment need be apprehended as greater depth is attained. The grade of ore mined is to some 128. extent determined by current costs and selling prices, but there has been a steady fall in the yield per ton during the past decade. The following table shows the record of the district during the period under review : — Yield per ton of ore Total production of ' Copper (long tons) Tear Copper (per cent.) Gold (oz.) Silver (oz.) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 2^70 2-66 2-66 2-81 2^81 2^17 2^16 •0065 •0066 •0074 ■0066 •0063 ■0066 ■0080 215 2^05 2^04 2^00 2-06 2-27 3-01 126,607 ' 105,223 119,196 156,027 120,759 143,350 75,469 The ore mined falls into two classes, viz., direct-smelting ore and concentrating ore. The latter is crushed and concentrated on jigs and tables and by the flotation process. The Anaconda Copper Miriiilng Company is an amalgamation of nearly all the important mines in the Butte district, and is the largest copper company in the world. Its interests in the metal cover the mining, smeli^ing and refining, and follow on to the manufacture of copper wire, rods and brass. In addition, the company produces important quantities of electrolytic zinc and by-products of various kinds. The deepest shaft on the property, on the High Ore mine, is down 3,600 feet, and ore is being extracted from a depth of 3,400 feet, where large ore-bodies exist in fault veihs. The equipment of the Leonard mine is the most complete at Butte. Much trouble has been] experienced from underground fires, the St. Lawrence mine having been on fire since 1889. Very complete fire protection and ventiilation has been organized for all mines. In 1918, 4,391,489 tons of ore were mined, and 5,851 tons of copper precipitate were obtained from the mine waters. The reduction plant treated a consider- able quantity of custom ore in addition to 3,884,827 tons of company ore, which yielded 121,840 tons of copper, 64,318 oz. gold and 10,076,748 oz. silver. The leaching plant at Anaconda treated 447,042 tons of tail- ings and 68,016 tons of ore for a production of 5,948 tons of copper precipitate. The ore is conceiitrated at Washoe, two miles from Anaconda and 26 riailes from Butte, where also it is nearly all smelted. Concentration is effected by a combination of gravity and flotation machines. The Washoe smelter has a capacity of 14,000 tons of ore per day, and was re-modelled in 1915 at a cost of £1,200,000. This amount is said to have been entirely repaid during the first six months' operation from increased saving of copper, i.e., from 75 tt> 96 per cent, recovery. Eeverberatory furnaces, fired by cdal dust, deal with most of the ore. 129 _ At Great Fails, 130 miles from Butte, most of the power for the Butte mines and Washoe smelter is generated, and trans- mitted at a pressure of 50,000 volts. Here also the electrolytic refinery is situated, having a capacity of about 90,000 tons per annum, and the copper rod and wire factory. There is also a large electrolytic zinc refinery, and it is suggested that the manu- facture of brass wiil'l be undertaken also. Ore-reserves and costs are not published by the company, but it would appear that the normal cost is about 9 cents per pound of copper produced. The East Butte Copper Mining Company owns the Pittsmont group of mines and a smelting plant at Butte. Custom ore is smelted in addition to the products of their own mines. In 1918, the total output was 10,982 tons of copper, 1,419 oz. gold and 776,818 oz. silver. ^ The North Butte Mining Company, in 1918, produced 9,232 tons of copper, 1,375 oz. gold and 891,157 oz. silver. The Granite Mountain shaft is down to 3,700 feet and is equipped for a depth of 5,000 feet. The electrically driven winding engine is capable of raising a load of seven tons of ore and making a round trip from this depth in two minutes. 'The ore is smelted by the Anaconda Copper Company at the Washoe works. Nevada. — The jimportance of Nevada as a copper-producing area is of comparatively recent date, beginning from 1908, when production from the Ely district commenced. In. 1918 the pro- duction of the State was 47,440 tons of copper. The Ely district* contains the Nevada Consolidated mine, which is responsible for the greater part of the output. The deposits are of the disseminated type in greatly altered and shattered quartz-monzonite-porphyry. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are the chief primary ore minerals, but the profitable ore has been enriched by secondary ehalcocite, which is found enclosing and replacing grains of the primary minerals. The leached capping varies in thickness, upon which depends, the method of mining. Less important deposits of copper ore occur as replace- ments of limestone which has been intruded by the monzonite, and are usualliy closely connected with the intrusive. The Nevada Consohdated Copper Company, controlled by the Utah Copper Company, has developed a number of ore-bodi,6s at Ely, the most important being known as the " Copper Fla;t," " Euth " and "Veteran." The "Copper Flat" is worked opencast by steam shovels. The ore-bearing porphyry occurs as a blanket-like body, about 3,000 feet long, from 400 to 1,200 feet wide and from 200 to 500 feet thick. In outlme it resembles a dumb-bell, and is worked in three sections, known as the Liberty, Hecla and Eureka pits. The leached and oxidized capping -varies in thickness from an average of 87 feet at the Eureka pit to 154 feet at the Liberty end of the ore-body. The corresponding thickness of ore is 190 and 193 feet, respectively. It is anticipated that about one ton of overburden will require to be removed for every ton of ore recovered. The dividing lines between capping and ore and between ore and unenriched 130 porphyry are very, irregular, owing to unequal penetration of leaching and depositing solutions down fissures and joint plajies. About 9,000 tons of ore and 12,500 tons of overburden are mined daily. The Euth ore-body, about IJ mile east of the Copper Flat, has a capping, from 110 to 540 feet in thickness, which is too much for opencast mining. It is, therefore, worked by ' a special caving system* through two main shafts. The daily out- put of ore is about 4,500 tons. The Veteran ore-body is not at present being worked. The ore developed in the mine amounts to 139,107 tons, containing 3-89 per cent, copper. The ore from all the mines of this company is transported to McGill, in the Steptoe Valley, north-east of Ely, and about 22 miles from the mines. The ore-reserves on December 81st, 1918, were given as 61,205,089 tons, averaging 1-57 per cent, copper. The production for the year was stated to be 3,571,000 tons of ore, assaying 1-5 per cent, copper and yielding 34,200 tons of copper at a cost of 17.98 cents per pound. The Consohdated Copper Mines Company is working dis- seminated ore-bodies at the Morris-Brooks and Ova mines and contact replacement deposits at the Alpha mine. The company holds very extensive properties, which have not yet been thoroughly explored. In 1918, the production was 7,039 tons of, copper, 4,338 oz. gbld, and 17,415 oz. silver from 443,565 tons of ore. Ore-reserves at the end of the year were about 17 J million tons of disseminated ores, averaging 1'33 per cent, copper, in addition to small quantities of heavy sulphide ore and oxidized ore containing from 3 to 8 per cent, copper. The Mason Valley mine, at the south-east comer of the State, is on a contact metamorphic zone between limestone and andesite, and /contains an ore-body averaging about 30 feet in v?idth, which has been developed to a depth of 550 feet. Most of the ore is primary,, containing chalcopyrite and pyrite, but for about 100 feet from surface oxidized minerals and secondary sulphides also occur. The limestone, which has been replaced, is very highly aJtered to a garnet rock. The ore is delivered from the mine to the railway by an aerial ropeway and is sent to the Company's smelter near Wabuska, 16 miles distant. The ulti- mate product is blister copper. In 1918 the Company smelted 300,842 tons of ore and 10,437 tons of metal-bearing fluxes, 195,450 tons being custom ore. The production was 6,908 tons of blister copper, 809 oz. gold, and 91,824 oz. silver. In June, 1918, it was reported that drilling had proved 830,000 tons of ore, averaging J dwt. gold per ton and 3"04 per cent, copper, and 446,000 tons of ore, averaging 0'2 dwt. gold per ton and 1 per cent, copper. New Mexico. — Copper was produced in New Mexico in the 18th century, when native copper was seiit to Mexico for coinage purposes. Important production, however, only began in 1912. The output of the State for 1918 was 43,107 tons of copper. The most important districts are Santa Eita, Burro Mountain and Lordsburg, of Mhich the first is by far the chief producer, owing to the operations of the Chino Copper Company. * Trans. Amer. Inst. Min. Bng., Feb., 1918. 131 The Chino Copper Company's property is situated in the south- east part of the State and is about 100 miles east of the Morenci mines in Arizona. The ore-body is of the disseminated type and of considerable extent. Unlike most of the disseminated ores, there is an appreciable amount of native copper present. The geology is somewhat complicated. Sedimentary rocks consisting of quartzites, shales and hmestone have been intruded by rocks of the quartz-monzonite-porphyry type. Extensive faulting has taken place with consequent shattering of the rocks, the principal ore-body occurring in a roughly circular shear zone . about three-quarters of a mile in diameter, at the intersections of numerous faults. The ore consists of chalcocite, cuprite and native copper with lesser amounts of bornite, chalcopyrite and pyrite and oxidized minerals, such as malachite and azurite, in restricted areas. The mine is worked by steam shovels, about 1 ton of overburden being removed for every ton of ore. The ore is concentrated at Hurley, 9 miles from the mine, in a mill of about 10,000 tons daily capacity. The recovery varies con- siderably according to the coinposition of the ore. Concentrates are shipped to El Paso, Texas. ' In 1918 the production was 33,775 tons of copper, costing 17'17 cents per pound. This was obtained from 3,425,357 tons of ore treated, containing 1'63 ' per cent, copper and 1'22 cent value in gold and silver per ton. The copper represented a mill recovery of 63"27 per cent. A large quantity of tailings is available for the retreatment plant. Ore- reserves, at the end of 1918, were estimated at 86,207,166 tons averaging 1"63 per cent, copper. The Burro Mountain mines,* in the Burro Mountain district,, owned by the Phelps Dodge Corporation, increased their produc- tion considerably during the period under review. Several ore- bodies are being developed in fracture zones near the contact of Cambrian granite intruded by quartz-monzonite-porphyry, in both of which rocks disseminated ores occur, consisting of primary cupreous pyrites enriched by secondary chalcocite. Ore-bodies containing the same materials also occur in veins neao c> CO to to o lO CD TS rH lO to T-H T-l 00 (M T-H 1 3 no 00 CO CO en ^*co' t~ to -=*< o I>- O G^ O «£> (N oa tH 00 9£ t— o ^ CO uO^tH^OO^O^ AO t->o CO__ 00 00 I>_ ^ crTco^fiD"-^ o" oTwo" icf lO" ^^ o ed OS 1— I OS O CO s 00 CO • ID CD O CO O ■* ++ 00 00 in^co^CN^i:- ■* t- t- 1-H^ CO ■•* s (4 T— 1 ocroTi-rco o" I>~ t-^ '*' 5f to" ti Cs -^i< r-H eo CO CO m ■* 9S -si< (M T— 1 CD tH 00 (N (N o_ CO •^ fl OD 1— t T-T c3. .3 § oT -f3 +3 -*5 O Co £5 bQ CO '«t^ CD iO CO (N IN >n o lO ed A o o iO "S § 50 OS icTcTurrT-r I-H co" to US to to oo" 1—1 (m" i-H T-H t-h" IN g O CO < •43 1—1 t> rl 00 rH I-H CO CC_ T-T 1 «> ■ i 1 IB a s so •i— to c3 lO lO CO CO t— ( >!(< ■^ VO tv IN s -f-> iO i> OS CN ^ T-H -* -# >o CO •_ fl 13 -% oso . ^H (N t^ '5fl s "+0 ^^ 5D '^ r-i l> '"' Oi 't-^ fd .s -f3 O ^ Qi p .£? ■(3 Si. o It- O T-H O 00 to to ■* ■* i o UO (N o o ^ OS CD lO CO »0 (N'o'os't-r CO CO CO_ 05 otT g -^ I> r-l Td ■* -* 00 I-H 03 O 'tt o ^ lO TH rH to r-t o 1 ^ 03 s "I- o S '-f3 -73 05 g CM CD (N CO CO OS G5 t-(c:s c^ lO o >o 1— I t^ 00 o tH ■«#iCiOO^ 00 00 o CO 00 •^ to OS i-H ccTos'o'cd" N QO" oo" ,_r T-T 0^ o ■o □Q O CO rH tH lO to to > I CI £ "2 H Pi \ H 1 o '13 H •n Ph a o 1 1 o n O § H .S3 II 1 ail ^1 al.S 1 a o g II 3++ gQ b i4 S ;i( 137 to Co Si, '■ St, o CO o a. o to c^ Oi i> CO oa OS lO O O 00 00 IC T-H^Crf"od" CO (M 4-t 50 CO 00 CO o uri 03 000 SXN l>Oi o^o^co^t--^ trft-^oroc^ lO 4-1 10 •* 00 (M T-, 00 C5 0_l35,r-l eo''i>^ O (N 03 t- u^ 0_ 0_ i-H 00__CO^O_ t- o ' CO CO COt~CO 050000IHt-0 o» OJCOOO CO •^ t- -"J" -* O IN c»i^co »o ^*^ "^ ^^^-i.*— ' '^ of I o" CO tH rt ' O CQ 02 § o d a i-H ^eo 00 ■>* T-i t- lO CO ":5 T-H CO as t* i-t -^ T-J^ Oi^ CO o -^ (n" oo" oT I I j-TcT CO 05 kC O^ rM OS CO o CO.-I >o o CO OS I W rH OS CO CO (N 1-1 OOOS in" I I co"ei'so_ oTco'i-T (N <-! OS 00 ia_ eo" h IS I § &• o : : g "H o : : : : . : ■ 's l-l 9 O o ■St) o-l M t; : a S"" 2 E : : : : : •sssp-s: • • • : = ^ S,.S o^^- 4S g"XI '2 on -3 : : on ; ag'o a.s-B Sr^-a :^ 22^,Sb°'SS£* agJ^-'Sis.&^iSa Argentina* The principal oopper-mining undertaking in Argentina is the Famatina, in the Mejicana district, province of Eioja, which includes the Upulungos, San Pedro, Mellizas, and Compania groups. These mines lie at an elevation of about 15,000 feet in two ridges separated by Mejicana gulch. The copper deposits occur in veins, usually in slate, connected with intrusions of granite, pegmatite, diorite i and quartz-andesite, intersecting the highly metamorphosed slate. They contain enargite, famatinite, tetrahedrite, bjid chalcopyrite, with some pyrite, galena, and blende, in a quartz gangue, with a little calcite and baarytes. The San Pedro vein has a width of from 12 to 25 inches. The ore shoot is about 600 feet in length, and averages 11" 5 per cent, copper, 2'6 oz. silver, and 03 oz. gold per ton. The Upulungos vein, which runs parallel to the San Pedro, is said to be from 24 to 44 inches wide and has been developed for 650 feet in depth ; the ore shoot is 1,200 feet long and carries from 2"9 to 3" 3 per cent, copper, with 6 to 14"5 oz. silver, and 0'2 to 1"2 oz. gold per ton. There is a second group of copper deposits in the north-east part of Cerro de Famatina, known as the Santa Eosa, Bncrucijada and Pararrayo. The country is slate, cut by igneous intrusives. The minerals of the Encrucijada veins consist of chalcopyrite, bomite, covellite and chalcocite, containing silver. The Los Bayos deposits are at a lower elevation (14,000 feet) and carry copper ore in pockets and cavities, in fractures in dacite. The hand-sorted ore is stated to contain up to 7 per cent, copper, but the average is given as 2"75 per cent., 'with 10 oz. silver per ton. In other parts of Argentina, copper is worked in the Provinces of Catamarca, Los Andes, Salta, and other places. In Los Andes, at San Antonio de Los Cobres, veins, ranging from a few inches up to 6 feet in width, occur in conglomerates ; "the country rock being trachytic and rhyolitic tuffs and agglomerates. The ore of the Concordia mine consists of -tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite, galena, zinc-blende, and pyrite; and carries 2 to 4 per cent, of copper, 6 to 7 per cent, of lead,, and -30 to 70 oz. of silver per ton. This is sorted up to 4 to 12 per cent, of copper, 20 to 45 per cent, of lead and 100 to 300 oz. •of silver per ton. The Eestauradora mine, in the northern part of Capillitas, 'Catamarca, has over three miles of workings on a vein IJ to '6 feet in width, in porphyry, the ore consisting of pyrite and chalcopyrite with conpiderable amounts of chalcocite and bomite. The ores of the district .contain a little gold and silver and, usually, galena. Quartz" is the principal gangue mineral. According to smelter returns the ores average 7 per cent, of •copper with 7 oz. of gold and 8 oz. of silver per ton. * Mineral Deposits of South America, Miller and Singewald. Mines Hand- 'book, Weed. 140 Export J of Copper Ore from Argentina, (Estadistita/ Minera de la EepublicaO Copper Concentrates Year ' (long, tons) 1913 ... ;. 305 1914 1915 f. .. 66 1916 1 m '7 ■■■ii~.- 228 1917 1918 1919 • t 152 Bolivia* Copper ores, in which copper occurs chiefly as metal, are found on the Bolivian plateau,, between the. eastern and western Cordilleras. They occur m a thick belt of porous shales, sand- stones and conglomerates, extending from a few miles north of of Corocoro (south-east of Lake Titicaca) to San Bartolo, in the desert of Atacama, in Chile. The deposits of Corocoro are the best' known. The principal ones are situated on a broken anticline, in two series of beds, one series dipping west and the other dipping east, separated by a large fault fissure known as the Dorado vein. Some of the beds carry from 28 to 26 feet of homogeneous ore, averaging about 3 J per cent, copper over 33 feet of workable thickness. The general average of the beds is from 2 to 3 per cent, of copper. The Dorado vein, which extends for over a mile in length and nearly \ mile in width, and contained ore-bodies yielding sul- phides and arsenides of copper, at one time yielded a large quantity of ore but is now practically worked, out. The deposit, in depth, contains native copper in leaves, plates, threads, and arborescent and flat masses (often weighing several hundred pounds), as in the Lake Superior district, with a Httle native silver, malachite, cuprite and azurite. In the beds dipping east the ore is entirely native copper ; but in those dipping west the ore near the surface is chiefly chalcocite, associated with arsenides and sulphides of copper. The Corocoro United Company has three mills each with a daily capacity of from 70 to 100 tons of ore. The native-copper concentrate, or " barilla," containing about 85 per cent, of copper, is shipped to Europe for refining. The chalcocite ore assays about 10 per cent, of copper and is sorted to 18 per cent, to 20 per cent, for export; The ore rejected, in sorting, assaying 7, per cent, copper, is treated by the flotation process, yielding , a concentrate containing 50 per cent, of copper, which is shipped either to New York or Liverpool. * Comeroio Esp6oia/l de Bolivia, ^nd Singewald. Mineral Deposits of South America, Milter I'll The ;production of the company in 1913 was equivaleui tO; 1,689 tons of fine. copper. During 1917-18, 109,561 tons of ore averaging 3-83 per cent, copper were .mined, from which 118,209 tons^ of sorted ore, ooptaining 5"49 per cent, of copper, were obtained. The total output was 6,389 tons of copper, the. increase being due, to the advent of the railway. The CompaSia Corocoro de Bolivia is the owner of the largest copper mine ini:Boli:via, which is developed by shafts and has reached a deptl^^.of about 1,740 feet. The ore is native copper, and, rarely, silver with some cuprite and chaloocite. It is so soft that it disintegrates in the hand. The mill capacity is 200 to 250 tons of ore per day, assaying 2 to 3 per cent, copper. Hand-sorted chaloocite, containing 18 per cent, copper, is exported at the rate of 1,500 tons monthly. Copper-bearing sandstones are worked at Chacarilla, 50 miles south of Corocoro, and in the Galvarino mine at Cobrizos. The Aramayo Francke mines yield tin, bismuth, wolfram, copper and silver, and comprise several distinct groups at Choro- Ique, Santa Barbara and Churquini. During the period 1913-17 the company produced 590 tons of copper matte. Exports of Copper from Bolivia {long tons) (Comercio Especial de Bolivia, Annual) 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Copper concentrates... Ingot and matte Sulphide Precipitate Ore (hand-picked) .... 3,812 4,717 5,774 17,657 5,068 23,477 4,854 303 67 31,619 3,872 131 1,869 132 19,577 . 2,798 86 ' ■ 9,913 83 9,717 Chile Between 1870 and 1882 Chile supphed the bulk of the copper produced in the world. Afterwards the production dechned con- siderably until about 1900 when a revival set in. The develop- ment of copper properties, near Eancagua and Chuquicamata, has shown the possibihty of working the country's low-grade copper deposits profitably, with a consequent enormous increase in output. Copper ores are found throughout the greater part of Chile, but most mining has been done in the western range, which is separated longitudinally from the high .indes by the central valley of Chile! The country is built up of an immense variety of sedi- mentary and igneous rocks and presents great variations in climate, from a rainless belt to one of excessive rainfall, and from tropical' heat to arctic cold. The chief copper-producing provinces 142 are north of lat. 35° south, i.e., Antofagasta, Atacama, Co- quimbo, Aconcagua, Santiago and O'Higgins, but copper ores have also been reported in the southern provinces. The distinguishing characteristics of the copper deposits of Chile are the depth of the oxidized zone, and the variety of minerals found in large quantities, including brochantite, ata.camite, chalcanthite, malachite, azurite, chrysocolla, cuprite and native copper. In the Duldnea mine, 45 miles north-east of Copiapo, oxidized ores are found 1,500 feet from surface. The enriched sulphide zone, containing mixed oxidized and sulphide ores, is likewise unrfsually deep, extending in places for several hundred feet and carrying veins or disseminations of chalcocite and bomite, etc. The primary sulphides are reached in northern Chile at an average depth of 1,200 feet or more, and are chiefly •chalcopyrite and enargite. The payability of the primary ores is not yet established. Province of Antofagasta. — The most important mines in Chile at the present time are situated in the Department of El Loa in this province, and other important deposits of copper occur in the depajrtments of Tocopilla, Antofagasta and Taltal. The Chuquicamata deposits, belonging to the Chile Copper Company, are the most extensive of any so far proved in any part of the world. They are situated about 14 miles north-east of Calama and about 6J miles from th© Antofagasta and Bolivia JRailway, and are found on a hill some 2 J miles long and one- third of a mile in width, which rises to a height of 9,890 feet above sea level. The country is arid and desolate. On the east aide of this hill, wide fracture zones, 30 feet in width and con- taining rich copper-ore, are found traversing the country rock. The remainder of the hill consists of rock which has been greatly shattered, and is so thoroughly mineralized that the entire mass as regarded as ore. The ore obtained from the vein mines is sorted or roughly concentrated with hand jigs and sent to the smelter at Calama. The hill is honeycombed with old workings, but the Indians only worked upon rich streaks of the veins which are much richer than th© shattered or©. The outcrop of these latter •deposits is 8,000 feet long with an average width of 554 feet. As a result of- drilling it is estimated that th© Chuquicamata ■deposit contains about 700 million tons of copper ore averaging 2' 12 per cent., copper. The mines are worked open-cast, in Isenches, after removal of the overburden. The oxidized ores contajn brochantite with a little atacamite ■and cuprite, whilst the, sulphide ores chiefly consist of chal- copyrite with smaller quantities of enargite and chalcocite. The oxidized and sulphide ores are often found together. The ore, after crushing to f-inch size, is leached with an 8 to ■9 per cent, solution of sulphuric acid in mastic-lined concrete tanks 110 feet by 150 feet by 17^ feet deep, each of 10,000 tons of ore capacity. The copper is precipitated electrolytically from th© solution. The capacity of the works was increased in 1919 J-'acu to about 13,500 tons of ore per day, equivalent to an annual pro- duction of about 67,000 tons of refined copper. The reserves of Chuquicamata at the end of 1919 were esti- mated as follows : — • Copper Tons. per cent. Oxidized ore 297,813,272 averaging 1-91 Mixed ore 134,821,428 „ 2-98 Sulphide ore .> 187,500,000 „ r84 2-12 620,134,700 The extraction in the leaching plant, largely owing to finer grinding of the ore, has improved from 82"2 per cent, in 1916 to 86 per cent, in 1919. The total cost of copper for the year 1919 amounted to 18"35 cents per Jb., the cost at the plant being 9 "29 cants per lb. The following table shows the progress of this mine since it began productito : — Chile Copper Company Production 1915* 1916 1917 1918 1919 Ore treated (tons) 558,387 1,556,025 2,593,027 3,343,824 2,644,165. Copper in ore treated (per 1-71 1-74 1-76 1-64 1-62 cent.). Befined copper produced 4,886 18,440 39,451 45,596 34,249 (tons). Recovery of copper (per 66-87 77-15 81-80 82-20 86-0 cent.). Costs in cents per lb. of copper — Mining and treatment 11-75 11-56 10-22 9-29 (costs at plant). ^ Depreciation 3-48 1-75 1-75 2-94 Amortization 2-94 2-53 2-51 2-40 Other charges, including 3-71 5-41 3-08 3-72 freights and selling. Total costs 21-88 21-23 17-56 18-35. * 7i months. West of Chuquicamata, there are various copper mines in ancient crystalline rocks, extending along the coast between Tooopilla and Antofagasta. The best known are the Toldo mine at Gatioo, 30 miles south of Tooopilla, where there is also a smelting and converting plant. The ore occurs in q;uartz veins, about 4" feet wide, in granite' and consists principally of brochantite and chaloopyrite. The annual production of this mine varied from 1,384 tons to 3,571 tons of copper between 1907 and 1916. Other copper mines are found in Central Chile near Conchi and San Pedro, both north of Chuquicamata. At San Pedro native copper is found impregnating sandstones as at Coroooro, Bolivia. Copper deposits are also known to exist in other parts 144 of the province farther south and elsewhere, extending along a line between the ports of Talcal and El Cobre.. Province of Tarapaca. — Tarapaca lies between Tacna, and Antofagasta, and there aa-e a number of copper deposits in the mountains along the coast and in the high Cordillera. The principal mines so far developed ajre in the Collahuasi district. They lie in a minerahzed area consisting of volcanic rocks, lavas and tuffs of andesite, diorite and dacite, with intru- sions of dolerite and gabbro; and the ore deposits occur in lenticular masses in the andesite. The lenses reach 100 feet in length and 50 feet in thickness, and contain oxidized ores to a depth of 250 feet followed by a thick zone- of secondary sulphide ores. Chrysocolla, bornite, chalcopyrite and cuprite are the most commoni copper minerals, chaJcopyrite, brochantite, melaconite, atacamito, tetrahedrite, carbonates and native copper also occur. * The Poderosa gToup of mines lies at an elevation of some 15,400 feet. The main vein does not appear at the surface' but lies under and along a diorite dyke. It has numerous branches and parallel fissures, and is faulted and thrown horizontally in three places from 50 to 100 feet. - The ore-shoots in the vein carry from 8 to 60 per cent, copper, and 6 to 8 oz. silver. The mine has been developed to over 720 feet in depth, and the ore- reserves, in 1918, were estimated af 8,000 tons averaging 22 per cent, copper, and 5,000 tons of milling ore' averaging 5 per cent. In 1916, 3,948 tons of ore and concentrates averaging 28' 7 per cent, of copper with 94 oz. silver per ton were shipped ; in 1917, 6,980 tons averaging 31'55 per cent, copper and 13"09 oz. silver per ton ; and in 1918, 3,309 tons averaging 30'7 per cent, copper and 12'45 oz. silver. At the Oollahuasi Grande mine the ores and mode of occur- rence axe similar to the Poderosa but, In addition to copper, the ore contains an avei:age of over 5 dwt. of gold per ton. An interesting deposit occurs at Huinquintipa some six miles south of Collahuasi and some 2,000 feet lower in altitude. The Copper mineral is chrysocolla and occurs as the cementing mater-ial in a bed-©f ©onglomerat© that outcrops oi\ -boifch- sides of a low hill. It is reported that 3 million tons con- taining 3 per cent, copper have been proved by shafts sunk throi;igb the bed at numerous points. The Copaquire copper deposits lie some 130 miles south-east of Iquique in a rainless desert plateau on the western slope of the Andes, 11,000 feet above sea-level. The mineral occurs cl^iefly in the form of hydrated copper sulphate disseminated in thin irregular veins in a decomposed porphyry. . Province of Atacama. — This province is particularly rich in copper mines, but the remoteness of many of them has caused only the richest ores to be worked, and thousands of tons of ore containing from 8 to 12 per cent, copper axe said to have beeO: left in the mines or in , dumps as unprofitable, whilst in some cases even 15 per cent, ore is unpayable on account of difficulties of transport. 145 The chief centre of activity has been iii the department of ■Chafiaral, in the Coastal Eange, owing to its comparative acces- sibility to the smelters at Carrizal and Caldera. The chief mining camps of the Coast Range are Salado, Pueblo, Hundido, Las Animas and Los Pozos. The Potrerillos mine, owned by the , Andes Copper Mining Company, and the group of Los Pozos, Las Animas, Cerro Negro and others belonging to the Societe des Mines et Usines de Cuivre de Chanaral, are located in this district. In some of the mines at Las Animas, which are in diorite and have reached a depth of 1,800 feet, the oxidized zone extends to 500 feet in depth, below which poorer sulphide ores, mainly chalcopyrite, occur. The ore shipped averages about 7 per cent, of copper. The copper mines of the Copiapo district were amongst the earliest worked with foreign capital, the Copiapo railway, built in 1852, being the first railway constructed in South America. Many mines have been worked in this belt, some to a great depth. *The Potrerillos mine, in the main range of the Andes, lies at an altitude of 10,500 feet, 90 miles from the Port of Chanaral, and is one of the most important in Chile at present. The ore- body occurs in quartz-porphyry, intrusive in limestone, and has been proved by churn-drilling to be about 1,800 feet long, 900 feet wide and 850 feet dgep. Oyer 110 million tons of ore had been proved up to^ 1918, averaging about 1'4 per cent., copper. The ore-bodies are in fault-zones, which have been extensively brecciated. The Company is erecting a 22,000 kw. steam turbine electric plant at Port Chanaral, whence' the current will be transported at 100,000 volts potential, and a 15,000-ton per day concentrator at the mines. It is understood that a com- bination of leaching and flotation will be adopted as the method of treatment. The Los Pozos district contains numerous lodes in porphyrite, some of which can be traced for several miles. The Mante Mon- struo ore-body is stated to reach 300 feet in thickn Aguirre, contains a number of veins of high-grade ore assaying from 4J to 9 per cent, of copper. Owing io the sulphur content, these ores can be used for the manu- facture of sulphuric acid required for leaching the oxidized ores at Lo Aguirre. 148 Protince of O'Higgins., — This province contains the Tehiente mines of the Braden , Copper Company, in the main range of the Andes at an elevation of 8,000 feet, east of Rancagua, and con- nected with the longitudinal .railway by a narrow-gauge Ime 43 miles. long. These deposits, which are second in importance only to those of Chuquicamata, occur in andesite breccia of Tertiary age, surroimding a plug of tuff which fills the crater of an old volcano. They consist of a series of irregular lenses around the. circumference of the volcanic neck, where the andesite has been thoroughly broken up and the openings and seams filled^ by mineral sulphides. Fumaroles are found, around which oxida- tion has taken place to a considerable depth. The pre in the brecciated andesite varies from a mere film to 3 to 4 inches in thickness and consists chiefly of chalcopyrite, with sm'aller amounts of bornite and numerous other minerals of copper, zinc, iron and lead. • Occasionally native copper is found in the- vicinity of the fumaroles. Five distinct ore^bodies are known, of which four are worked ;. all being characterized by strong outcrops stained with copper. The Teniente ore-body is the largest, having a length at No. ,1 level of 4,800 feet, an average width of 300 feet, and a proved depth of 840 feet. It. is also the richest ore-body of any size. The reserves of the mine were estimated, in 1918, at 173^ million tons of positive ore', containing 2'45 per cent, copper, and 90' million tons of probable ore containing 1'88 per cent, copper. Electric power is generated at Coya, on the Cachapoal river. It is intended to duplicate the power plant by a second instaJIation- on the Pangal river. Ropeways connect the mine with the mill at Sewell, which is coim.ected by a ropeway with the smelter at Catelones. The mill is designed to handle 10,000 tons of gre per day, and is equipped with crushing, concentration, flotation and acid plants. The production during the period under review was a&. follows. — Year Ore milled Bhster copper producec Quantity Quantity (long tons) (long tons) 1913 — 8,080 1914 803,838 12,636 1915 987,875 14,613 1916 1,216,633 18,818 1917 1,606,869 28,470 1918 1,752,638 34,443 19.19 — 20,982 14,9 '• ■ Production of Copper in Chile ' ■ ' ' '' (Btatistical Abstract of the Eepublic of Chile), "• ■ Copper (Pig) Copper Matte Copper Ores. , Totalpro- ductioh of Pine Copper (long tons) V Qtiantity • (long tons) Copper Content (per.,' cent.) Quantity (long tons) Copper Content (per cent.) Quantity (long tons); Copper Content f (per , ppnt.) 1913 .;. 1914 :.. 1915'... 1916 ... 1917 ... 1918 ... 1919 ... 19,826 24,831 34,234 56,660 84,071 101,282 98;'94 98-99 99-14 99-49 99-53 99-55 ; 18,213 '' 15,730 •16,767 8,496 21,070 6,898 47-20 47-14 47-54 50-10 48-83 46-03 71,371 70,724 63,699 , 55,979 32,905 5,902 18 16 15 16 20 21 73 89 05 98 99 78 41,!586 43,947 51,500^ 70,143 100,879 105,196 78,301 Peru* The principal copper deposits of Peru, are essentially silver- copper or copper-silver ores, about nine-tenths of the production being obtained from the Cerro de Pasco and Morococha districts, but in a few localities copper has been won from ores carrying little or no silver. On the border of the department of lea, bounding the desert pampas on the east, mines have been opened up at San Jose de Los Molinds, Canza, Tingue and Nazca, in a belt parallel to a range of hills, formed mainly of diorites, with segre- gations of basalt and younger qiiartz-diorite, merging into granite. The veins occur parallel to the line of basalt eruptions and are probably related to the basalt. The ore occurs in shoots a/aA contains most of the oxidized minerals of copper in the upper portions of the veins which only have been worked. The ores contain up to 12 per cent, copper. In the Toquepala Valley, department of Moquegua, the Vesuvius vein, in granite, is said to be 26 feet wide, and carries a ferruginous quartz gangue, containing chrysocolla, malachite, azurite, cuprite and melaconite. The copper-content is stated to average 11 per cent. . j. e The Cerro de Pasco mine is situated m the department ot Junin in a group of low hills on the pampa between the central and v^^estern ranges of the Andes, at an altitude of about 14,000 feet The rocks in the vicinity are hmestones and conglomerates, associated with shales and sandstones of Cretaceous and Mesozoic age penetrated by numerous igneous intrusions. An mtrusion of rhyolite agglomerates and tuffs, about If miles m diameter, west and north-west of the town of Cerro de Pasco, is surrounded bv limestone, and the ore deposits are chiefly found m the ag- glomerates and tuff, which in places have been intensely sheared. * Mineral Deposits of South America^ by Miller & Singewald, p. 460. Revista. Minera. 150 The silver-content of the great mass of oxidized argentiferous ore, now nearly worked out, varied gpatly, running occasionally up tp thousands of ounces per ton, but the copper in the zone of oxidation was almost completely leached out. In the oxidized zone a considerable amount of gold occurred in rich but erratic shoots, yielding as high as 1 to 2 ounces per ton. Below this, there is an enormous mass of low-grade pyritic ore, and at the north end of the deposit, there is a layer of rich copper ore, between the oxidized zone and the pyrite below. Farther south, the principal ore shoot, known as the Pina Blanca, carries a mixture of pyrite, with enargite and famatinite, and consists in places almost entirely of copper minerals. Several distinct veins of similar high-grade ore cut the mass of low-grade pyrite. The sulphide ore bodies of Cerro de Pasco are considered to be replacement stocks in a country rock of rhyolite agglomerate and tuff. On the west side of the sulphide stocks, the country is traversed by a series of cross veins, the principal ones, lying west of the south end of the Pina Blanca shoot, being known as the Cleopatra, Docena, Bolognesi and San Ancelmo. The vein-filing is quartz with pyrite, enargite and famatinite, a, considerable amount of tetrahedrite and some chalcopyrite. These veins average 5 feet in width and contain rich pockets and shoots of ore, but the copper minerals are sufficiently well dis- tributed to render them workable through practically their entire extent. In the early days, the copper sulphide ores were only worked to supply the coppef sulphate needed for the patio process; but matiie-smelting was commenced in 1897. Ores above 30 per cent, copper were exported to Europe, or sold to the Yauli and Casapalca smelters, and those of lower grade were reduced to matte for exportation, until the properties were taken over by the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation, which commenced smelting to blister copper in 1906. The monthly output of the Cerro de Pasco mines is over 30,000 tons of ore, the first-grade ore containing 8 to 10 per cent, of copper with appreciable amounts of gold and silver. The average grade of the ore from the district is about 11 ounces silver per ton and 7 per cent, copper, and the blister copper produced is stated to carry 140 ounces silver and 1 ounce of gold per ton. All the ores are refractory owing to the presence of bismuth and contain from 14 to 30 per cent, iron, • and 35 per cent, of silica. The smelter at La Fundicion is provided with a sampling mill, and does a small amount of custom work. The Works are terraced and comprise five blast- furnaces of about 300 tons daily capacity each, and basic-lined converters, which produce 99 per cent, blister copper which is refined at Baltimore, U.S.A. It is proposed to erect a new smelter near Oroya Junction, at 2,000 feet lower altitude, and nearer to the Mbrococha mines belonging to the same Company. The Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation also owns extensive coal mines and other interests in Peru. The cost of production may be estimated at 8 cents per, lb. of copper and the annual output is about 31,000 tons. Ore reserves are stated to be 4 years ahead of smelter consumption 151 Morococha, like Cerro de Pasco, is one of the old mining dis- tricts of Peru and in the early days furnished rich silver-lead ores with some gold. It hes on the east side of the western Cor- dillera in the department of Junin, in a valley running approxi- mately east and west. The monthly production of the district has now reached 20,000 tons of ore averaging about 12 ounces silver per ton and about 10 per cent, copper. Under favourable conditions 5 to 6 per cent, copper ores can be worked at a profit. The roftks of the district consist of a thick series of limestones and quartzites, of Mesozoic and Cretaceous age, intruded by porphyry and peridotite. The most important veins are in the por- phyry which, at the contact of the porphyry and peridotite, forms flat-lying masses of considerable extent. The filling of the veins consists of quartz, pyrite, enargite and tetrahedrite, with zinc- blende occasionally. The San Francisco mine is the most impor- tant producer in the district and belongs to this type of deposit. Eeplacement veins also occur in certain beds, in the limestone, with local enlargements that may be repeated at several horizons. The ore in such cases, as in the Ombla mine, is characterized by the predominance of chalcopyrite with some bornite. The principal vein-filling material consists of quartz and pyrite, with some zinc-blende and galena. Sulphantimonides, which are found abundantly in the veins in porphyry, are almost completely absent. The principal mines, which belong to the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation and the Sociedad Minera Backus y Johnston, lie between Huacracocha and Morococha lakes. The San Francisco mine, belonging to the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation, has a production of 9,800 tons of copper annually. In the Mina Gertrudis, belonging to the same Cor- poration, three limestone beds, with ore impregpations following the bedding planes, are being worked. A rich streak, from 24 to 40 inches wide, contains grey copper and chalcopyrite and averages about 14 per cent, copper and 35 oz. silver per ton ; the remainder of the vein, from 40. to 55 inches, contains 5 per cent, copper and 10 J oz. of silver per ton. Another important group of mines in this district comprises the Natividad, Churruca, Ombla, La Vieja, Santa Clara and others. The Natividad is the deepest shaft in the district being over 1,000 feet deep. The ore produced by this group amounts to about 4,000 tons a month, averaging about 2 per cent, copper and 40 oz. silver per ton, and is carried over the Peruvian Central Eailway to the smelter at Casapalca, 19 miles distant from the mines. The mines of the Casapalca district are situated on the Cerro Casapalca, at altitudes ranging from 13,600 to over 17,000 feet. The Carlos Francisco mine has a monthly production of 6,000 tons of ore averaging 25 to 30 oz. silver per ton and IJ to IJ per cent, copper. The crude ore is concentrated in a mill of 200 tons daily capacity, adjoining the Casapalca smelter, and pro- ducing 2,500 to 3,000 tons of selected ore and concentrates averag- ing 2 per cent, of oopper, 5 per cent, lead, 13 per cent, zinc 152 and 40 oz. of silver per ton. The principal vein averages about % feet in vpidth and can be followed for over a mile in andesite, passing into limestone at each end. The workings extend along a length of 7,500 feet and the vein has been proved to a depth of over 2,500 feet below outcrop. The vein-filling consists of ■quartz and pyrite, with tetrahedrite and some chalcopyrite as the^ valuable constituent. Galena and zinc-blende are sometimes found. The ratio of silver to copper decreases with depth, from 1 : 20 in the upper levels to 1 : 30 in the lower workings. ' In the Cerro Verde mine (a subsidiary of the 'Anaconda Copper Company), 20 miles south-east of Arequipa, copper occurs dis- seminated in rhy elite near the contact with porphyritic diorite. The rhyolite is divided by two irregular masses of granodiorite. The oxidized zone extends for about 220 feet in depth, and carries silicates a,nd carbonates, passing into secondary sulphides which at a lower depth give place to primary sulphides. It is estimated that the deposit contains more than 10 million tons of ore averag- ing from 2 to 2 J per cent, copper. The Perrobamba group of mines is situated about 45 miles west of Cuzco, at an elevation of some 13,000 feet above sea-level. The deposit is of the contact metamorphic type in a garnet rock at the junction of limestone and granite. In Ferrobamba No. 1 an area of 84 acres is estimated to contain approximately 12 million tons of payable ore, to a depth of 200 feet ; and up to 1912 ■6 million tons of ore, averaging 3'7 per cent, copper and 1'3 per cent, sulphur, are stated to have been proved by churn-drilling and underground workings. The Charcas group in the same district is reported to contain an ore-body 328 feet- wide and 2,625 feet .long,' containing chal- copyrite and pyrite, a surface exposure assaying 3 per cent, copper, 3 oz. silver and 5f dwt. gold per ton. At Yauricocha, in the district of Yauyos, on the western slope of the Andes, 50 miles south-west of Pathacayo on the Peruvian Central Eailway, a deposit of copper ore occurs at a contact between limestone and diorite. The ore consists of carbonates down to water-level, which is from 400 to 500 feet below the surface. The ore is reported to average 12 per cent, copper, 3 oz. silver and 2 dwt. gold per ton, and the vein is said to, be proved for 2,500 feet in length and some 400 feet in depth. In northern Peru copper ore has been mined and smelted at Sayapullo and Conchucos. At Sayapullo, in the province of Cajabamba, and about 40 miles east of Huabal on the Trujillo railway, numerous veins occur in limestones, sandstones and shales in the vicinity of trachyte intrusions. The minerals ar6 argentite, tetrahedrite, enargite, chalcopyrite and pyrite in a quartz gangue, the veins varying in width from 15 inches to over 20 feet. At the Magistral mine, Conchucos, in the province of Pallasca, important quantities of silver were originally produced. It is now worked for copper values which occur as chalcopyrite in pyrite, in mineralized zones, up to 100 feet wide, in limestones intruded by andesite. 153 Production of Copper in Peru (long torn) (Esfcadistica Minera del Peru, Annual) Year Copper contained in Total Bars Matte Ore Precipi- tate Silver Sulphides 1 Other, Products Copper ; Content 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 20,041 24,372 32,070 39,780 42,421 43,136 37,547 4,360 651 759 864 460 137 295 2,902 1,605 1,266 . 1,693 1,556 380 531 16 17 60 39 4 30 1 10 10 14 10 9 10 6 1 7 220 27,330 26,655 34,169 42,386 44,450 43,700 38,600 Exports of Copper Bars from Peru ( Statistical Abstract of Peru, 1919) Quantity Year (long tons) 1914 19,760 1915 32,474 1916 41,130 1917 41,658 1918 43,540 1919 40,246 Venezuela The northern mountain ranges, which form spurs of the Colombian Andes, are reported to contain copper" in many places, but the only district in which copper mines have been actively worked in recent years is in the Aroa region in the State of Yaracuy, about 67 miles west of Puerto Caballo, at an elevation of 1,165 feet above sea-level. The region consists of slates and limestones, intersected by dykes of igneous rock, and the ore is found in irregular lenticular bodies in the slates. The upper levels carried rich oxidized ores, consisting of malachite, azurite, melacenite and cuprite, but these have been mostly exhausted, and gave place to chalcopyrite and pyrite in depth. The vein at the Aroa mine was from 50 to 75 feet in width at surface, and was exposed for over 2,000 feet. The best-grade sulphide ore, containing 9 per cent, of copper, is shipped to Great Britain ; the low-grade ores, mixed with oxides, are smelted at the mine to copper matte. In 1916, the South American Copper Syndicate, Ltd., which also owns the San Antonio and Titiara mines, shipped 5,000 tons of crude ore, in addition to a quantity of matte. 154 Production of Copper Ore in Venezuela (Bulletin of tlie Pan-American Union) Quantity Copper Content* Year (long tons) (long tons) 19141 5,116 358 1915+ 8,401 588 1916+ 16,510 1,156 1917 41,591 2,911 1918 29,231 2,046 1919 2,647, 185 Turkey (Asiatic) The copper ore resources of Asia Minor have been described by G. M. Edwards. t Copper ore can be found ahnost anywhere in the northern provinces. The country inland for the whole dis- tance from the Bosphorus to Batum is copper-bearing. The num- ber of old workings is very large. In general, the veins are narrow and rich, containing 20 per cent, or more of copper, but there are many exceptions to this rule, these including the Aghana mine and the so-called copper " basin " of Hendek. The Aghana mine (Aghana Maaden) is situated in the centre of Asia Minor, about 250 miles to the north-east of Alexandretta, and about 40 miles north-west of Diarbekr, on the Tigris. The mine is owned and Worked by the State, and has for many years been the chief copper producer in the' Ottoman Empire. Its situation is unfavourable for economic exploitation, but in 1912 the Government derived a revenue of dG66,000 from the mine, of which ^626, 000 was profit. During the period 1897-1912 the lowest production was 454 tons of " black copper " (i.e., impure metallic copper produced by stnelting oxide ores or roasted sul- phide ores in the blast-furnace) in 1897, and the highest produc- tion 1,800 tons in 1912. The deposit is found on the top of a low plateau several hundred feet above the surrounding country. The region consists of basic igneous rocks, and the mine itself is in a broad belt of serpentine (peridotite) which traverses them. The actual deposit is oval in shape, nearly 700 feet in proved length, and 400 feet in maximum width. The ore-body appears to persist beyond the ends of the present workings, but the miners prefer to work in the wider portions of the deposit. The greatest depth reached in 1913 was 80 feet, the length and width of the deposit being maintained. The deposit consists of massive iron-pyrites and chalcopyrite, without gangue. Large masses of pure chalcopyrite occur free from iron-pyrites, and most of the * Estimated at 7 per cent, t Exports. Figures for 1914 are for six months only. i Notes on Mines in the Ottoman Empire ; Trans. Inst. Min. Met., 1913-14, 23, 192-210. 155 work is concentrated on these. The ore in general contains 8 per cent, copper, but the masses of chaloopyrite bring the average up to 15 per cent. Ore containing less than 10 per cent, copper is not worked. The ore-body is exploited by numerous adits and spiral incHnes, the mine being worked on a tribute system, the miners selhng their copper matte to the Government at a price equivalent to about £16 per ton. The ore is carefully picked, afterwards roasted in heaps, and then smelted in small cupolas to a matte averaging 65 per cent, copper. This product is shipped to Germany from Alexandretta. In 1913 it was officially estimated that there were still 700,000 tons of ore in the miiin averaging 10 per cent, copper. In the neighbourhood of the Aghana mine outcrops of otljor deposits of copper ore occur. The Hendek copper- " basin " deposit is situated less than 80 miles from Constantinople, and about 20 miles from the railway station of Ada-Bazar, on the Bagdad railway. The copper ore is found here impregnating beds of schist, resembUng greatly the M'ansfield deposits of Germany. The small amount of work done has indicated that these beds are on the average thicker and richer than those of Mansfield. Prospecting has disclosed the existence of five separate impregnated horizons. The district is covered by 26 concessions and has an area of about 80 square miles. The cupriferous series has a uniform dip of 30°, the thickness of the impregnated beds varying from 12 inches to 7 feet, and averaging 2 J feet. Numerous assays indicate an average copper-content of 5 per cent., one report giving the average as 7 per cent. There is an old copper-mining region at Kiire, about 12J miles from Ineboli, on the Black Sea coast. Beyschlag mentions a copper mine in the west part of the Caucasus, then recently assigned to Turkey (the region from Batum to Kars), at Khvarzkhana, near Artvin, south of Batum. Before the war this mine was equipped by the Siemens family with a smelting works having a capacity of 2,000 tons of copper per annum, but the plant does not appear to have been operated up to the present time. At Dzansul, in the same region, an American company owns a copper mine and a smelter, which produced 8,030 tons of copper in 1912 and 4,000 tons in 1914. China* The occurrences of copper ore in China are extremely numerous, but few have been proved to be of value. The principaK deposits are ia the provinces of Yunnan, Szechuan, Anhui and Kansu. According to their origin, these deposits have » Mineral Kesources of China, by V. K. Ting ; Specia,! China Supplement North China Daily News, 1917. Mining Mag., 1917, October, p. 189, also 1920, i Nov. and Dec, pp. 267 and 331. Trade Reports of the Maritime Customs. The Chinese Year Book. 156 been classified in five groups : (1) magmatic segregations, (2) contact deposits, (3) replacement and fissure veins, (4) impregna- tions, and (5) sedimentary deposits. So far as is at present known the first two groups are of no economic importance. Group (3) is by far the most important, the famous copper mines of Tung-chuan, in Yunnan, being of this character. The ore is of Mgh grade, usually above 8 per cent, copper, and the possible reserves are large. The deposits in the limestone are formed by replacement, while in shaly rocks they are fissure veins. Similar deposits occur in the Hueili district of Szechuan. Group (4) is found exclusively in the pre-Cambrian crystalline rocks of south Shansi and north-west Hupeh. They are usually of low grade, but the reserves are sometimes considerable. The Govern- ment mine of Peng-shien, near Chengtu, in Szechuan, is on a deposit of the same nature. There, the ore-bodies are large lenses in the crystalline schists and limestone, the copper content averaging about' 5 per cent. Group (5) is of great geological interest. In Yunnan and Kweichow the Lower Triassic sand- stones, overlying the Permo-Triassic coal measures, always con- tain some copper, usually in the form of malachite, which was formerly, worked extensively in Tantang, in the district of Hsuanhui, Yunnan. Similar deposits occur in the Hanhai for- mation in Turkestan, an example being the copper mines near Aksu. The mines of Yunnan are said "to have been producing copper for a thousand years, and are credited with: having had an annual production, at one time, of 9,000 tons of metal. This was em- ployed in coinage and the whole industry has, in consequence, always been under close Government supervision and has been considerably restricted thereby. The ores consist' of alteration products from copper pyrites, chiefly carbonates, which are sorted to a grade containing 20 per cent, copper, the minimum accepted by the smelters. The smelting arrangements are very crude in most cases but one mine has been worked by Japanese on European lines. At Yaokai, in Kansu, there is a modern smelting plant, belong- ing to the Chinese Government, wMch smelts the ores of the province. The present annual production of copper in China is said to be about 2,000 tons, this being obtained mostly from Yunnan, Eirin, Kansu, and Turkestan, Yunnan supplying about one-half. The production has declined in recent years owing to the exhaus- tion of the mines to depths available for primitive methods of working, the exhaustion of timber for smelting purposes and the burdens placed on the industry by the Government 10/ ' Imports of Copper into China