Appendix No. 1.

THE MINING LAWS OF PERU.

In Bulletin No. 40, published by the Bureau of the American Republics, under the title of "Mines and Mining Laws of Latin America," the following was said:

Nothing to be said about the mineral wealth of Peru will be equal to its immensity. It has been so well known and so well established for centuries that it has become proverbial in almost all modern languages. In Spanish, at least, the words "Peruvian" and "Peru" have become accepted synonyms of rich and richness; and the fact is not doubted, either in the United States or anywhere else, that, as stated by the South American Commission of 1884-85,1 in their report of April 25, 1885, "upon the return of peace in that Republic and by permitting the ordinary forces of nature and commerce to do their work undisturbed * * * the mines of Peru would open up to a production not rivaled in its palmiest days."

Even at the time in which this report was made the production of silver was supplying annually to the mint for coinage about 1,200,000 sols, the chief source being the celebrated mines of Cerro de Pasco.

Peru abounds in all classes of minerals. Gold, silver, quicksilver, and other metals are plentifully found on its soil, and if recently the mining industry has not received there as much attention as in colonial times the reason is to be found in the facility of working the immense guano deposits which at one time were profitable enough to supersede all other industry in the country, and the not less valuable and abundant nitrate beds which are found in its territory.

How these two productions absorbed almost exclusively the attention of the country can be easily explained. The exportation of guano, which commenced in 1846, amounted, at the Chincha Island alone, in the nine years elapsed between 1851 and 1860 to 2,860,000 tons. In 1875 the guano exports.

House Ex. Doc. No. 50, Forty-ninth Congress, first session, p. 234.

amounted to 378,683 tons, valued at $20,000,000. As to the nitrate beds, which have been worked in the Province of Tarapacá since 1830, the yield has been in no lesser proportion. In 1875 the exports through Tarapacá and Iquique amounted to 326,869 tons. In 1878 from Tarapacá alone 269,327 tons were exported. The Peruvian nitrate of soda imported into the United States from 1869 to 1881 amounted to 425,827,093 pounds.

In 1880 the nitrate exports to Europe, the United States, and the West Indies amounted to 481,200,600 pounds. In 1881 they were to the amount of 771,968,000 pounds, and in 1882 they reached the total of 1,070,302,600 pounds.

Gold is found in many places, and nearly all the mountain streams carry it with their sands. The mountains are interspersed with veins of gold and silver ores and with copper and lead. The silver ore is particularly rich, yielding from 5 to 50 per cent, and presents itself in all forms and combinations, from the pure metal to the lead ore mixed with silver. The value of the silver produced between 1630 and 1803 amounted to $1,232,000,000. The mines of Hualgayoc, Huantajaya, and Cerro de Pasco yielded $849,445,500.1

Petroleum has been discovered in many places, but the richest springs are found principally in the Province of Paira, in the northern part of the Republic, and in localities near the coast and connected with it by railroad. An interesting book published in Lima in 1891 under the title of Petroleum in Peru from an Industrial Point of View, and written by Señor Don Frederico Moreno, lately the superior executive authority (prefecto) of the Province of Piura, shows that petroleum is destined to be in Peru as large a source of wealth as guano or the nitrates.

* * *

"Petroleum oil abounds through the entire coast length of the province," says Mr. W. Warren, a British mining engineer, in a report appended to the book above mentioned, “and is found in great abundance over large areas from the coast to 10 or 15 miles inland, from which there would appear to be ample reserves to last for generations. Some wells drilled at different places yield 70 barrels per day. Other wells have given as much as 400 barrels. The operation of well drilling is very easy, one good, productive well, 210 feet deep, having been drilled in less than five days. Wells 345 feet deep can be drilled in ten days.”

The petroleum deposits of Paita comprise, according to Señor Moreno, an area of 16,000 square miles. One of the districts of this province alone, named the Negritos district, in which the area of the petroleum fields is 2 square miles, will probably yield from 15,000,000 to 18,000,000 barrels, representing a value of $15,000,000.

1 See Appleton's American Cyclopedia, in verbo Peru.

A very interesting paper, prepared by Mr. A. D. Hodges, jr., mining engineer, of Boston, Mass., under the title of "Notes on the topography and geology of the Cerro de Pasco, Peru," was published in 1888 in the transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. All those desiring to have full knowledge of the wonderful wealth of that celebrated hill must study this exhaustive monograph.

MINING LAWS.

According to the excellent Dictionary of Peruvian Law (Diccionario de Legislación peruana), published by the learned jurist Don Francisco García Calderón, a law was passed on the 27th of March, 1857, providing for the appointment of a commission whose duty it should be to frame and report to Congress a mining code. But although the commission was appointed and the code was made and submitted for approval to the legislative body, it was never enacted as a law. Consequently, up to the date in which Señor García Calderón wrote (1879), the mining law in Peru consisted of the mining ordinances of Spain, promulgated on the 22d of May, 1783, and of several decrees of the Republic modifying or amending some of their provisions.

These royal ordinances are divided into 19 titles, and regulate the whole subject of mines and mining business in the following way:

Title I, consisting of 28 sections, provides for the establishment of a royal superior court of mines, and regulates in detail the duties and the powers of its respective officials.

This tribunal existed in Peru until the 19th of October, 1821, when it was abolished and superseded by what was called "Dirección General de Minería.” But by law of the Peruvian Congress, approved on February 6, 1875, this Dirección was also abolished. Its executive authority was transferred to a bureau or division of the treasury department, and its judicial functions were devolved upon "territorial deputations," to be established in those localities. where mines are in existence.

Title II, consisting of 16 sections, provides for the creation of local courts of mines, and also of diputaciones, or board of deputies, and the appointment of inspectors of mines.

The provisions of this title have been thoroughly modified in Peru. The mining courts, which retain the name of "Diputación de Minería,” exercise judicial as well as executive authority on the subject of mines.

By law of January 24, 1871, a diputacion was ordered to be established in each province having more than fifteen miners.

In the department of Ancachs there are 4 diputaciones, 3 in Arequipa, 2 in Ayacucho, 1 in Cajamarca, 1 in Cuzco, 3 in Junin, 4 in Libertad, 2 in Moquegua, and 2 in Puno.

Title III, consisting of 37 sections, regulates the matter of jurisdiction in matters of mines and the course of proceedings to be pursued in mining cases, whether in the first, the second, or the third instance.

These provisions are all in force, except in such portions thereof as are affected by the suppression of the superior court of mines and the substitution therefor of diputaciones de minería.

Only in those cases in which the provisions of this title prove to be insufficient, either to decide some question in a mining cause or to properly conduct some proceedings in the same, is it permitted to resort to the code of civil proceedings, which then becomes the final law on the subject.

Title IV, containing only 4 sections, supplementary to a certain extent to the preceding title, establishes what has to be done in the absence of the local judge of mines or when a change of venue has been demanded.

Title V, "on the original ownership of the mines, the grants thereof in favor of private parties, and the dues and taxes to be paid on that account," contains only 3 sections, providing in substance, first, that the King (or his successor in Peru, the Republic) is the owner of all the mines, and, secondly, that mines, however, may be granted and allowed to become private property of an individual or corporation upon certain terms and conditions, two of which are the payment to the treasury of such a share of the yield as may be established by law, and the working of the mine in strict compliance with the provisions of these ordinances.

Title VI, which contains 32 sections, and Title VII, which contains only 6 sections, respectively, refer to the acquisition of the mines on the ground of discovery or by denouncement, and to the persons who are allowed or forbidden to make these discoveries or denouncements to own mining property or do mining work of any kind.

Many of these provisions are obsolete, while others have been expressly amended or modified by subsequent legislation in Peru. For this reason, the matter being of such a great importance, it has seemed proper to translate from the Dictionary of Señor García Calderón, in verbo, Denuncia de minas, the following paragraphs:

"Mines which have not been the property of any private party may be adjudicated to the discoverer. Those which have belonged to some private individual or corporation may be denounced or adjudicated to the denouncer.

"The discoverer of a new mining ground or region wherein no mine or shaft has ever been opened before shall be entitled to the concession of three mining properties, to be surveyed as will be seen hereafter, either close to each other or separate, as he may choose, on the principal vein or deposit discovered by him, and to the additional concession of one mining property on each further

vein or deposit above named.

vein or deposit he may have discovered in other places different from the main The designation of these additional properties (Sec. 1, Title VI.)

must be made within ten days. "The discoverer of a new vein in grounds or regions already known as mineral and worked in some other parts shall be entitled only to two mining properties, either close to each other or separate, on condition, however, that they are designated within ten days. (Sec. 2, Title VI.)

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The privileges of a discoverer shall not be granted to any claimant of a new mine when said mine is found on a vein already known and worked at some place. (Sec. 3, Title VI.)

"Applicants on the ground of discovery must file their applications in writing before the diputación de minería of their respective districts, or of the nearest district if there is none in their own, setting forth their names and the names of their associates, if they have any, the place of birth and residence of each one, their respective occupations, and the full description of the hill, mountain, ground, or vein whose discovery is claimed. The whole of this information and the exact date, the day and the hour, of the filing of the application shall be entered on a register to be kept by the clerk of the diputación, and, this being done, the application, together with the decree of the court or diputación directing it to be published, shall be returned to the applicant, with the proper indorsement, for the security of his rights. The publication shall be made in the usual form for ninety days, during which the applicant shall be permitted to make a pit, 11⁄2 yards in diameter and 10 yards deep, for the purpose of enabling one of the members of the diputación, delegated to that effect, the clerk of the same diputación, and the mining inspector, or some other expert of the locality, all of whom must personally visit the place and inspect the work done, to ascertain the nature and the course or direction of the vein, its size, its inclination to the horizon, the degree of hardness of its material, and the greater or lesser firmness of its bed. A minute record must be made of everything noticed in this examination, and said record shall be transcribed in the register, in continuation of the entry already made on it in reference to the subject.

"When the examination is completed and proves to be satisfactory, possession of the mine shall be immediately given to the applicant, in the name of the nation. The mining properties shall be measured, and their limits shall be marked by estacas or poles.

"A further record shall be made and entered also on the register of the proceedings relative to this giving possession of the mine, and a full authenticated copy of the whole record and entries, which shall be given to the applicant, will constitute his title. (Sec. 4, Title VI.)

Bull. 60-9