a wonderful impulse was given to mining industry throughout the new world. In 1548 Zacatecas began to produce its treasures; Sombrerete in 1555, and Guanajuato in 1558. În 1557 a miner named Bartolome de Medina, working Pachuca, made a discovery that was more important to silver mining than even the opening of Potosi. He found that silver could be extracted from the common ores by mixing the pulverized mineral with water, salt, and copper pyrites, and it was a process that required very little water, no fuel, little machinery, no mechanical skill, and few buildings. It was a method of reduction peculiarly adapted to the treeless and waterless mountains, and to the ignorant mining population of Mexico and Peru. Previously all the silver had been obtained by smelting, in a very expensive and wasteful manner, the furnaces being small and very numerous; so that it was impossible to prevent great loss, both by incompetency and by dishonesty. Some years elapsed before the amalgamation process was extensively adopted, but within 10 years it had been introduced into all the mining districts of Spanish America; and the workmen became expert, and as the mine-owners found the separation of the metal on a large scale could be supervised by one or two men, and that thus waste and thieving could be prevented to a much greater extent than before, they made renewed exertions to extend their works. The production of Potosi was six times as great in 1585 as it had been 12 years before, owing partly to the general use of amalgamation, which was first introduced there in 1570, and was not generally accepted until some years later. The copper-pan or cazo amalgamation was discovered in 1590, at Potosi, by Alonzo Barba, but its use was confined to a few districts. It was during the last decennium of the 16th century that Potosi was in its most prosperous condition, producing $7,500,000 per annum. In 1630 the mines of Cerro Pasco were discovered. In the years 1726 and 1727 the Vizcaina and Jacal mines of Zacatecas yielded $4,500,000. The great bonanza of Real del Monte was opened in 1762, yielding $15,000,000 in 22 years. The great wealth of the Veta Madre was demonstrated in 1768, and Guanajuato rose almost to the leading position among the argentiferous districts. The production of silver in Mexico increased very rapidly from 1770 until the beginning of the revolution; and the increase was owing to various causes, including the reduction of the royal tax from 20 to 10 per cent. on the_gross yield, the reduction in the price of quicksilver, the opening of commerce to Spain, merchant vessels from numerous ports instead of confining the trade to vessels from only two ports, the reduction of the price of blasting powder from 75 to 50 cents per pound, the abolition of the alcabala, an article needed at the mines, (an odions and oppressive tax on internal trade,) and the purchase of bars by the provincial treasury. The fact that the country could produce $10,000,000 annually from 1760 to 1770, as it did, in spite of all these restrictions, furnishes conclusive proof of the wonderful wealth of the mines, and also of the industry of the people. A tax of 20 per cent. on the gross yield would paralyze every branch of British and American mining, and would entirely stop the production of the precious metals in many districts of California and Australia. Quicksilver, of which more than a pound was lost for every pound of silver extracted, cost 80 cents per pound in 1750, and was reduced in 1767 to 62 cents, and in 1777 to 41 cents. The purchase of bars by the provincial treasuries was of great benefit to the miners, who previously had to sell their bullion at a loss of 20, 30, or in remote districts even 40 per cent. There were few merchants, and those few expected to make great profits from their transactions. The mines of Hualgayo in Peru were found in 1771, and three years later the placers of the Ural, which were known in the time of Herodotus, were rediscovered. It was estimated in 1777 that two-fifths of the silver of Mexico was obtained by smelting, but this was probably an exaggeration, and when Humboldt was in the country only one-seventh was taken out by means of fire. The mines of Catorce were opened in 1778, and proved to be very rich, the mine of Padre Flores yielding $1,600,000 the first year. The mines of Guarisamey, near Durango, became productive in 1783. For two centuries the pulp in the yard amalgamation process, made with pulverized ore, quicksilver, salt, pyrites, and water, was mixed by the treading of men, who, notwithstanding the cold, moisture, and mercury, were generally healthy. Singular as it may seem, it was not till 1783 that mules and horses were introduced to this work; and, although the change saved 75 per cent. of the expense on that branch of the working, still it would probably not have been adopted when it was, but for the greatly increased production of silver in Mexico, and the difficulty of getting Indian repasadores in some districts. The great bonanza of Ramos, that yielded $18,000,000 in nine years, was opened in 1798. The mines of Mexico continued to increase in productiveness until the revolu tion, which was a war of races, the Mexicans against the Spaniards, the latter being in a small minority, but possessing most of the wealth, mining and commercial knowledge and enterprise in the country. They were driven out, and with them went three-fourths of the men who had the money and brains to conduct large mining operations. The production fell from $22,000,000 to less than one-third that amount, but it soon began to increase again, and from 1850 to 1860 it was as large as from 1795 to 1805. When the independence of Mexico was recognized and peace was restored, it was expected that the production would soon rise far beyond its former figure. The most brilliant hopes were excited in England, and they were based on many plausible considerations, but they were destined to bitter disappointment. Many of the best mines were offered for sale for about the amount which they produced annually. They had been well opened; their value had been proved; they had been abandoned while in full production, with large bodies of rich ore in sight; some of them had not suffered much by standing idle; their production had been increased at the average rate of three per cent. annually for 40 years before the revolution, and the workmen familiar with all the processes of mining and reduction were still numerous. And if such production and increase occurred under the oppressive policy of the Spanish government, and under the ignorant management of the Spanish mine owners, what might not be expected under a liberal republic and English engineering? The mines would no longer be burdened with the payment of one-tenth of the gross yield, over and above all the costs of refining and coining. The ore would no longer be carried up to the surface from depths of 1,500 or 2,000 feet on the backs of Indians, nor would it be packed 6, 10, or 20 miles on mules to the reduction works, nor would the water be hoisted up in raw-hide buckets by horse whims, nor would mules and horses drive the arrastras and stamps. Steam would pump the water, hoist the ore, and drive the pulverizing machinery. Wagons would do the transportation. Skilful engineers would direct the cutting of adits, shafts, and working levels, and educated metallurgists would have charge of the amalgamation. The production should rise to $50,000,000 or $100,000,000 a year, and those companies which could get possession of the best mines should make princely fortunes for all their shareholders. Great care should be exercised in the purchase of the property; only those mines should be bought which had been visited by Humboldt in 1803, and were mentioned in his book, and were known to have continued productive up to the revolution. On these principles, it was supposed that failure would be impossible. But failure was possible, and it came. England during the silver fever spent $50,000,000, for which she got little return save dear experience. Independence did not prove a great blessing to Mexico. Peace never came, and without peace there could be no success, for silver mining above all other pursuits demands peace. Forced loans were levied by the government on the productive mines, and the silver bars while on the way to the coast were taken by highway robbers. The steam machinery could not be taken to the mines till roads had been made and wagons imported; the roads cost immense sums; when the engines were in place native engineers could not be found, and foreign engineers were murdered; English superintendents and Mexioan miners could not get along together; the mines were found in a much worse condition than that in which they were at the time of sale represented to be; and in a few years the mines of Mexico were, with a few exceptions, abandoned to the Mexicans. The most notable mining districts opened in the 19th century have been the placer district of San Francisco in Sonora, in 1803; the Melkowka placers in Siberia, in 1816; the silver district of Fresuillo, in 1824; the silver district of Chañarcillo, Chili, in 1832; the silver district of Guadalupe y Caloo, in 1834; the silver district of Guadalcañal, in Spain, about 1830; the placers of the Altai mountains, in Siberia, in 1830; the placers of the Sacramento basin, in 1849; the placers of Australia, in 1851; the placers of New Zealand, in 1857; the placers of British Columbia, in 1858; the placers of Colorado, in 1859; the silver district of Washoe, in 1859; the Nevada iron pan amalgamation, in 1860; the silver and gold of Idaho, in 1861; the placers of Montana, in 1862. STOCK OF PRECIOUS METALS.-The stock of coin in Christendom in 1492, and at various epochs since, may be thus estimated : Stock of gold and silver coin in Europe in 1492... $170,000 000 Production of 108 years, less loss by wear Used in arts $690,000,000 Sent to Asia Deductions Net gain from 1492 to 1600 Stock at end of 1600.... Production of the XVIIth century. Used in the arts.. Abrasion and loss Deductions for the XVIIth century Net gain of the XVIIth century.. Stock at end of 1700... Production of the XVIIIth century $140, 000, 000 210,000,000 480, 000, 000 650, 000, 000 1,687, 000, 000 Used in the arts.. Wear and loss.. 400,000,000 Total deductions for XVIIIth century Stock at end of 1800.... Production of 1st quarter XIXth century. 750, 000, 000 Used in the arts. Sent to Asia.. Deductions for 1st quarter XIXth century.. Net gain of 1st quarter XIXth century... Stock at end of 1825... Production 2d quarter XIXth century Used in the arts. Sent to Asia Deductions 2d quarter XIXth century The following is Jacobs's estimate, as given in Vol. II, pp. 70, 131, 214, It has been customary to make estimates of the amount of precious metals in Christendom at various times by deducting the quantity shipped to China and Hindostan, and the quantity used for plate; but there is a constant change from coin to plate and from plate to coin, and the wide line which once separated China and Hindostan from European trade has now disappeared, and those Asiatic countries are within the pale of civilized commerce, and are almost as near to London and New York as California and Victoria. Whitney, in his Metallic Wealth of the United States, says that in 1853 the Russian empire produced 64,000 pounds Troy of gold; Austria, 5,700; the remainder of Europe, 100; Southern Asia, 25,000; Africa, 4,000; South America, 34,000; and the United States, (exclusive of California,) 2,200. The gold production of Chili in 1845 (the statistics for later years not being obtainable at the time) was 2,850 pounds Troy; of Bolivia, 1,200; of Peru, 1,900; of New Grenada, 13,300; of Brazil, 5,100; and of Mexico, 9,900. The yield of silver in 1850 is thus stated: Russian Empire, 60,000 pounds Troy; Scandinavia, 20,400; Great Britain, 48,500; Harz Silver District, 31,500; Prussia, 21,200; Saxony, 63,600; other German states, 2,500; Austria, 87,000; Spain, 125,000; France, 5,000; Aus tralia, 10,000; Chili, 238,500; Bolivia, 130,000; Peru, 303,150; New Grenada, 13,000; Brazil, 675; Mexico, 1,650,000; California, 17,400; total, 2,817,425 pounds Troy. THE DRAIN OF SILVER TO ASIA.-It is admitted by all eminent authors who have written about the present supply of the precious metal that it far exceeds the demands of Christendom, and that the inévitable fall in value is retarded only by exceptional and temporary circumstances, the chief of which is the remarkable stream of silver pouring into Asia. The Hindoos and Chinese and Japanese are industrious and very populous nations, which have to import nearly all their gold and silver from abroad, and their capacity to absorb those metals increases as value declines, and as their stock becomes greater their wages rise, and they obtain the means to purchase more foreign goods, and after a time they will have as much coin proportionately to their productive powers as the Christian nations; and then their imports of merchandise will nearly equal their exports, and the importation of the precious metals will not be one-tenth of the present figure. Asia was called "the sink of silver" by Pliny, and it has deserved that name ever since, and will continue to deserve it for an uncertain period in the future. So long as we continue to consume so much tea, silk, sugar, rice, and other Asiatic products, and so long as they consume so few of our products, so long we must settle the difference by payment of the precious metals, and the precious metals will probably not decline much in value. But let the vessel of Asiatic trade, now half empty of silver, be once filled, as it will be in 5, 10, or 15 years, and then we shall begin to feel the influence of the over-supply of the precious metals, and their market value will fall rapidly. Christendom and Asia may be compared to two tubs standing side by side, and. connected by a large open tube half way from the ground, and the supply of the precious metals to a stream of water falling into the tub representing Christendom. Before the water reached the tube, or before the tube was well opened, the level rose very rapidly in the first tub; but now the stream pours so swiftly into the second that the level can scarcely rise at all in the first. When the liquid gets up to the same level in both tubs, then it will rise with equal pace in both. The quantity of silver annually exported from England and the Mediterranean to Asia has been as follows: The figures from 1851 to 1862, inclusive, in the above table are copied from Hunt's Merchants' Magazine for August, 1863, and those for 1863 and 1864 from newspaper reports. Michel Chevalier says that in 1857 £20,145,921 were sent to Asia, or about $100,000,000.* * Michel Chevalier on Gold, p. 65. |