hundred years. This seemed incredible to him, and he said that I had been so long absent from Mexico-for he had previously asked me how long I had been in this country-I could not know the real wealth and abundance of our mines, and he was very positive that I had made a mistake. He assured me that the silver mines in China yielded occasionally something, but soon were exhausted, and it was impossible to get any silver out of them, and judging the Mexican silver mines from those he had seen at home, he was, of course, incredulous as to their yield. Some years ago, and when the Mexican mines only yielded about $20,000,000 a year, I predicted that their annual yield would reach $100,000,000, and that prediction is about being verified, as the present product exceeds $60,000,000. Gold.-Gold was used freely in Mexico before the Spanish conquest, and history teaches us how Cortez induced Montezuma to deliver to him his gold treasury. As soon as Mexico was conquered, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of the cotemporary historians, tells us that Cortez inquired very carefully about the place where the Indians obtained their gold, whether there were placers, mines, or washings, and his agents were taken to some localities in the State of Oaxaca, where they were told was the gold supply, but, whether the Indians concealed the real location of the gold deposits, or for other reasons, the Spaniards did not obtain much gold. I have known recently of unavailing efforts having been made of persons from the United States who have tried to ascertain the localities where the Indians obtained their gold, that is-the places which were shown to Cortez in Oaxaca as gold deposits. There is a river in the State of Guerrero which flows over a country with hills abundant in gold formation, which carries nuggets that the natives find without any difficulty, and it is called for that reason the Gold River. That river passes over some mountains where gold is found, and then comes to a place where a natural dam is formed, and the gold carried by the washings in the rainy season sinks when reaching that place, and every indication shows that there must be a very large deposit of gold there. A military engineer suggested, the last time I was Secretary of the Treasury in Mexico, that the bed of the river be changed by the Mexican Government, a work which did not present serious obstacles, and thus allow excavations to be made and the gold deposits found. It was thought advisable to make some preliminary examinations in the way of boring, and for that purpose the necessary orders were issued to send soldiers there, but I understand the project was given up and nothing was accomplished. I have no doubt that at some future time that matter will be taken up, and a great deal of gold will be found there. Our production of gold has so far been comparatively small, because the mining and reduction of gold are more difficult and expensive than the same operations in silver, and our gold production has really been the amount of gold which has been found in our silver. For many years, when the amount was small, it was not separated, and for that reason old Mexican dollars have in China greater value than newly coined ones; but recent improvements have made it easy and cheap to make the separation of the two metals. Now that gold has risen so much in value, its mining is beginning to be developed in Mexico on a comparatively large scale, and I have no doubt that before long Mexico will be one of the largest gold producers of the world. Mexico is an undeveloped country, in fact there are parts of Mexico as unknown as was Central Africa a few years back. From the Sonora gold district, south, on the west side of the Sierra Madre, to the State of Oaxaca, there is a gold belt as rich as California, Alaska, and South Africa combined. It is known that in the State of Sinaloa there are gold placers and gold washings, and that they are also found in every State from there south on the line of this belt.' The gold output of Sonora, now beginning to attract attention, is only the first contribution of Mexico to the world's stock of the yellow metal. The west side of the Sierra Madre has a belt rich in gold, and when the world discovers this fact capital will flock to Mexico to dig it out, and Mexico will become one of the first gold producers of the world, as she has been in silver. Specimens of "float" rich in gold have been brought from the State of Guerrero. These indications of gold have not been followed up, because no one has been progressive enough to advance the means necessary to prospect this belt. To prospect in a country where often water fit to drink must be carried, where food for man and beast must be carried, and where in many places roads must be cut with machete and axe, cannot be done without the spending of money in outfit and expenses. The principal gold-producing States will be Sonora, Sinaloa, Guerrero, and Oaxaca, but in all of them gold-mining is yet in its beginning. 1 I take from a report of Mr. Cramer, a mining engineer sent to Mexico by the Geological Society of Washington, D. C., as Commissioner to explore the gold fields of that Republic, the following, which refers to only one of the many new gold fields that are being found there : There exists an extensive gold placer' situated about thirty miles from Durango in the mountain devoid of vegetation; the rock that is found in greater quantities is porphyry. I estimate that one ton of ore will yield at least $50 of gold. "Gold is found all over the mountain, though in such imperceptible filaments that it is hard to recognize it with the naked eye; however, every piece of stone contains the same proportion of gold." Coinage of the Precious Metals.-Mexico has produced about onehalf of the silver supply of the world. In the statistical portion of this paper I shall give full details of the production of gold and silver in Mexico, coinage, etc., and here I will only append the total coinage of gold, silver, copper, and nickel according to official statistics of the Mexican Government, which is the following: COINAGE OF MEXICO FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MINTS IN 1537 TO THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR OF 1896. Iturbide's Imperial Bust Total coinage from 1537 to June 30, 1896...... Colonial Epoch.. $68,778,411 00 $2,082,260,657 44 $ 542,893 37 557,392 00$ 18,575,569 69 19,132,961 69 55,748,559 50 1,247,289,651 59 $6,511,350 36 $4,000,000 1,313,549,561 45 56,305,951 50 $1,265,865,221 28 $6,511,350 36 $4,000,000 $1,332,682,523 14 $125,084,362 50 $3,348,125,878 72 $7,054,243 73 $4,000,000 $3,484,264,484 95 " Iron.-Iron, the most useful of all the metals, is found in such vast abundance in Mexico that, could it be even partially utilized, that Republic would become one of the wealthiest of modern communities. One of the largest mines was discovered by Gines Vazquez del Mercado, in Durango, in 1562, and its appellation of “ Cerro del Mercado' still preserves his name. The hill, which is 4800 feet long by 1100 feet in width and 640 feet in height, is almost a solid mass of mineral, averaging about seventy per cent. of metal and from which could be extracted more than 300,000,000 tons of solid ore; this only to the level of the plain, beneath which it probably extends to an unknown depth. The iron is also magnetic to a high degree and its power is greater when the grain is fine. This may delay fusion, but the result is an excellent wrought iron, with none of the inconveniences caused by earthy substances mixed with the iron. I have no doubt that when the coal mines are developed the iron industry will make great strides and that we will be able to manufacture most of at least the low grades of the iron goods required for our comsumption. In several other places besides our Iron Mountain we have iron with very little phosphorus, which makes first-class steel and is as good as the best produced in Cuba or Spain. The deposits of iron in Mexico are sufficient to supply the universe for centuries to come. There is but one thing lacking, and that thing is-cheap fuel. Nature never works by halves; those immense deposits of iron never were put where they are without the means near at hand for their utilization. Coal exists, but it has not been mined yet on a large scale, as it will be hereafter. But even at the present time the principal supply of pig-iron comes from native ore, the output being consumed by the producers in the manufacture of iron goods. The main iron mines now being worked are located at Durango, Zimapán, Zacualtipán, Tulancingo, and Leon. For the most part these mines are found in the midst of great forests, in consequence of which cheap fuel is found in the form of charcoal, the iron made from which being of very superior quality, free from phosphorous, and, price and other things being equal, is always preferred to the imported pig. It is manufactured in charcoal furnaces exclusively. There is, however, quite a considerable amount of pig imported, principally from Alabama, and Scotch pig from England. The great drawback to importations heretofore has been the immense quantity of scrap iron, which, during the lapse of centuries, had accumulated, unused, throughout the Republic. This, however, is becoming well-nigh exhausted; and for that reason the demand for imported pig is increasing, the native output not keeping pace with the need for it. Much scrap iron also has come from railroads, another source of supply which is not increasing with the demand. Imported pig ranges in price in the City of Mexico from $50 to $60 silver per ton, the native producers aiming to keep their price just about the same. Iron Foundries.-There are in the City of Mexico, in addition to several small ones, seven large foundries, as follows: the Mexican Central Railroad foundry, the Mexican National Railroad foundry, the Artistic, the Delicias, Charreton Bros., V. Elcoro & Co., and Hipolito David. There are also large foundries at Pachuca, Puebla, Chihuahua, Durango, and Monterey, as well as smaller ones at Irapuato, Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Veracruz, Guadalajara, Mazatlán, Oaxaca, and Morelia. Copper-Copper is now quite an important product of Mexico, and is used to a certain extent in the country, but as the supply far exceeds the home demand, it is exported to the United States and Europe. That which finds its way to this country enters chiefly in the form of matte, and is refined into casting or electrolytic copper. What goes to Europe is blister copper, or approximately so, from the Boleo mine in Lower California, where a French company is working a large group of copper mines. The point of most activity is Santa Rosalia, on the Gulf of California, where the company treats the ore in its own smelting plant adjoining. The matte, or black copper, is sent to Europe in the same vessels that bring out coke. The company gives employment to thousands of hands directly and indirectly, owns its own steamers, and solicits workmen all along the coast. But this enterprise, large as it is, shows the progress that has been made and the difficulties overcome by individuals. The country itself is arid and sterile, and there is little encouragement for others to prospect, or even develop, when found, apparently good prospects, owing to the natural difficulties to be overcome and the vast capital necessary to successfully carry on mining operations; as success is hardly to be obtained except by treating the ores on the ground, as the Boleo Company has done. At the same time the enterprising firm of Guggenheim has established its works at Aguas Calientes, adding very considerably to the copper product, and the increase of matte shipments from San Luis Potosi and Monterey makes a large difference from former returns. To judge from the official figures, the amount of copper produced in 1896 was not less than 22,000 metric tons, the greater production being from the Boleo mines. Quicksilver. The production of quicksilver can only be approximated from imports, as the native production is far short of the requirements of the country. In 1895 the amount imported was 818,704 kilos, with a value of $541,664, while during the past year the amount imported was 854,526 kilos, with a value of $574,153. The only inference to be drawn from these figures is that the production in Mexico in the past year as compared with 1895 has not increased, and the figures of production given in the Engineering and Mining Fournal of 1895 may be accepted as correct for 1896. Coal-Fuel is perhaps the greatest and most pressing need of Mexico. For centuries the population of the whole country has used wood for fuel, until the most thickly inhabited portions of the country are completely destitute of trees. This condition of things is a very serious objection to the increase of manufacturing, as it is impossible to manufacture cheaply when fuel commands a very high figure. Coal, which has to be transported sometimes for thousands of miles before it reaches the centre of the country, becomes very expensive. At present rates the cost of wood in the City of Mexico is equal to $14 a cord, while coal ranges from $16 to $22 per ton according to grade, and one source of supply is the artificial fuel of compressed coal dust brought from England, and in use not alone on the Veracruz Railway, but in various local industries, while coal also comes from West Virginia, Alabama, etc. The distances of the sources of coal supply and its consequent cost led to the attempt of utilizing the peat deposits which |