Coal.

It has been already stated that the production of coal in Spain is quite insignificant in comparison with the extent of the coal-bearing beds (which are estimated to cover an area of about 3,500 square miles, of which nearly a third belongs to Oviedo); but the new find of coal (lignite) and cement stone in the province of Lerida should, and undoubtedly will, draw attention to this profitable industry. The Almatret Mines, which have an area of 820 acres, are situated on the river Elbro, near Fayon, on the main railway from Madrid to Barcelona. In each of the eight seams, which are distinctly visible on the property, the lignite is much decomposed, and the outcrops contain a great deal of gypsum. This has effloresced, and the seams present a very different appearance from that of lignite. On cutting into the beds, however, the infiltrations of the gypsum soon disappears. The workings, which are very limited, had been carried out without any system, and much of the lignite had been lost in winning. The quality of the lignite is very satisfactory. It keeps well, and burns with a long flame. Owing to the exceptional conditions under which these deposits can be worked—the seams lying horizontally, and being entirely free from water or deleterious gases—no shafts are required, and the ventilation is a very simple matter. The question of transport is stated to be the chief element of a successful exploitation of these mines, and it will be necessary to construct a light railway to reduce the cost of the present system. The probable profit on the lignite, according to expert’s reports, will depend on the ruling price of coal in Spain: this is determined by that of Cardiff coal and the rate of freight. The calcareous layers are, in several places, comprised of highly aluminius and siliceous limestone, forming a natural cement stone. One of the beds of this material has been exploited in former years for the manufacture of a cement which was somewhat largely used in Lerida for house construction, &c. A cement of this quality is highly suited for constructive work, such as floors, staircases, water tanks, &c., for which very large quantities are used in Spain. It is not, of course, equal to a true Portland cement; but when the various layers of cement stone have been examined and analysed, several of them will be found to approximate very closely to the composition required for giving the true Portland cement. The quantity of cement stones which exist on the property is enormous. In fact, it may be said to be practically inexhaustible.

I have referred in detail to these Almatret Mines because they demonstrate the truth of the contention that the coal districts of Spain are not, as has been erroneously accepted, confined to the province of Oviedo; although, up to the present, little mining has been done outside the Asturian coal basin. Even here the rate of progress is lamentably slow. Lack of capital, which has hitherto retarded the increase of mechanical facilities and railway construction, is now being overcome, and it is confidently expected that a material advance is imminent. Every class of coal is obtainable in this district; and the seams, which vary from two and a-half feet to over six feet in thickness, are being worked by galleries in the mountain sides. In only one instance is the pit system in practice; and the whole of the coal below the level of the base of the mountain is virgin ground, which will ultimately be exploited by deep workings. But it is highly improbable that this profitable industry will be undertaken by the present owners, who, for want of the necessary capital, will, in a large number of cases, suspend operations when they have exhausted the coal from their lower galleries. Valuable concessions will then come into the market at “knock-out” prices; and if British capitalists desire to be associated with the highly-promising enterprise, they will have to seize the opportunity before the French and Belgian investors step in. For, despite their comparative failure in the past, the French capitalists are more keenly alive than their English rivals to the enormous possibilities of Spanish mining, and Spanish money is now coming forward as an earnest of the rejuvenated spirit of enterprise which careful observers have already noted in the spirit of the country.

In the foregoing pages I have outlined, in the barest fashion, the history of the mining industry of Spain from its genesis, and I have cited instances of modern development with the object of proving that in Spain of to-day we have at once one of the most backward and most promising mineral countries in Europe, if not in the world. I have not attempted to exhaust the list of mines that are in full operation at the present time, but have contented myself with giving some particulars about representative properties—properties which, for the most part, have come under my own immediate notice, and several of which I have visited more than once. My experience compels me to the conclusion that Spanish mining offers more and better opportunities for the investment of British capital than that of any other country with which I am acquainted, and I treasure the hope that a closer union will be welded between England and Spain by the common bond of a mutual interest in her mineral development.

E. Goodman & Son, Phœnix Printing Works, Taunton.

INDEX.

[A], [B], [C], [D], [E], [F], [G], [H], [I], [J], [K], [L], [M], [N], [O], [P], [R], [S], [T], [V], [W], [Z]

Aben Cencid, [128]
African Spain, [86]
Avila, [114]
Albaycin, The, [136]
Alcázar (Toledo), [100]
Alfonso VI., [102]
Alfonso XIII., [254], et seq.
Alhambra, The, [122], et seq.
Alicante, [84], et seq.
Alluvial Gold Washing in Spain, [300], et seq.
Alonso II., [203]
Alonso el Sabio, [93]
Alonso V., [210]
Almadén, [119]
Alva Garcia, [115]
American in Spain, The, [12]
Arab Mining Enterprise, [281]
Aragonese, [219]
Aranjuez, Palace of, [49]
Armeria Real (Madrid), [30]
Bailen, [93]
Barcelona, [50], et seq.
Barcelona, Labour Riots in, [58]
Basque Provincia, The, [180], et seq.
Beariz and its Tin Mines, [294], [330], et seq.
Beggars in Spain, [155]
Bicycle in Spain, The, [87]
Bilbao, [189], et seq.
Bombita-chico, [234]
Borrow, George, [7]
Bull-Fighting, [38], [220], et seq.
Burgos, [108], et seq.
Cadiz, [164], et seq.
Cadmus, [269]
Carthagena, [88]
Carthaginian Miners in Spain, [270]
Castellon, [77]
Castiles, The, [108], et seq.
Catalans, The, [53], et seq.
Cervantes, [116]
Charles the Fifth, [124]
Children in Spain, [87], [156]
Christ in Burgos Cathedral, The, [110]
Cid, The, [102], [111]
Coal and Cement Mines of Spain, The, [300], [341]
Cobham, Lord, [204]
Colon Cape (Barcelona), [29]
Colonial Possessions, Loss of, [3]
Columbus Memorial (Barcelona), [67]
Contreras Rafael, [128]
Cooking in Spain, [34]
Córdova, [103], et seq.
Coruña, [199], et seq.
Coruña Copper Mines, The, [329]
Crime in Spain, [175]
Cuba, [3]
Cuenca, [119]
Cuidad-Real, [116]
Dances, [39], et seq.
De Amicis E., [25], [106], [127], [253]
Decline of Carthaginian Influence, [275]
Didorus, [271]
Don Carlos, [189]
Don Pedro, [210]
Don Quixote, [103]
Drake, Sir Francis, [204]
Elche, [86], [88]
English in Spain, The, [11]
Escorial, The, [43], et seq.
Escurial Copper Mines, [293], [307], et seq.
Espadeno, [77]
Esparto Grass, [85]
Ferdinand and Isabella, [116], [134]
Ferdinand VI., [218]
Festival of San Isidro del Campo, [41]
Ford, Richard, [101], [159], [163]
Francisco Herrera, [218]
Frascuelo, [234]
Fuentes, [236]
Galicia, [195], et seq.
Gallenga, [71]
Gijon, [208]
Gold-bearing Alluvials of Spain, [300], et seq.
Goya, [241]
Granada, [122], [134], et seq.
Guardia Civil, [60]
Guerrita, [239]
Gypsies, [136]
Herrera, Juan de, [43]
Hiendelæncina Silver Mine, The, [296]
Hotel de Paris (Madrid), [26], [34]
Huércal Copper-cobalt Mines, [293], [319], et seq.
Huecar, The, [119]
Huerta of Alicante, The, [85]
Imperial Cafe (Madrid), [29]
Infanta Isabel, [262]
Iron Industry, [287]
Irun, [185]
Jaén, [94]
John of Gaunt, [199]
Juan the Second, [116]
Jucar, The, [119]
Kingston Gold Mines, The, [336]
La Correspondencia, [38]
La Granja, [112]
La Mancha, [93]
La Princesa de Asturias, [263]
La Union, [91]
León, [209], [212], et seq.
Libro de Oro, [47]
Liebert Wolters, [289]
Lomas, John, [95], [150]
Lorenzana, Cardinal, [102]
Lorenzo, Bishop, [204]
Louis de Débonnaire, [77]
Lugo, [207]
Lugo Goldfields, The, [337]
Madrid, [10], et seq.
Madrileño, El, [21]
Madrid, Climate of, [14]
Malaga, [171], et seq.
Maria Christina, [254], [258], [263]
Mazantini, [235]
Medina Az-zahra, [107]
Mendicancy in Spain, [155]
Mining Enterprise in the Middle Ages, [286]
Mining in Spain, [271], et seq.
Miño River, [204], [207]
Monserrat, [70], et seq.
Moraleja Gold-bearing Alluvial Concession, The, [336]
Muleteers, [161], et seq.
Murcia, [83], et seq.
Murcians, The, [92]
Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban, [152], [167], [246]
Murviedro (Sanguntum), [77]
Nava Cerrada, [113]
Newspapers in Madrid, [38]
Northern Spain, In, [195], et seq.
Nuevalos, [218]
Officialism in Spain, [6], [160]
Ordoño I., [210]
Ordoño II., [211]
Orense, [204]
Orense and the Tin Industry, [294]
Oriedo, [208]
Oviedo, [196]
Palacio Real, (Madrid), [14]
Pantano de Tibi, [85]
Páramo Alluvial Gold Fields, [305], [335]
Pasajes de San Juan, [183]
Pasco de Gracia, [64]
Pelota, [183]
Philip II., [2], [43]
Philip the Fifth, [112]
Phœnicians in Galicia, [199]
Phœnician Miners in Spain, [270]
Picture Gallery, The (Madrid), [30], [241], et seq.
Pontevedra, [203]
Pontevedra Tin Mines, The, [333]
Posting, [161], et seq.
Puchero, [37]
Puerta del Diablo, [114]
Puerta del Sol, [22], et seq.
Rafael Contreras, [128]
Ramon of Burgundy, [115]
Railway Travelling, [157], et seq.
Rambla, The, [63]
Recompensa Copper Mines, [318]
Rio Rimal Copper Mines, [326], et seq.
Rio Tinto Mines, [288], et seq.
Roman Conquest of Spain, [277], [279], et seq.
Roman Gold-washing Operations, [300]
Ronda, [175], et seq.
Roque Barcia, [91]
Royal Palace (Madrid), [33]
Sagasta, [264]
St. Ferdinand, [93], [94]
St. James the Apostle, [203]
St. Lawrence, [44]
Salamanca, [209], [213]
Sanguntum (Murviedro), [77]
San Isidro del Campo, Festival of, [41]
San Sebastian, [185]
Santa Lucia, [91]
Santa Maria Silver-lead Mines, [299], [338]
Santiago, [200], et seq.
Segovia, [113], et seq.
Sereno, El, [203]
Seville, [141], et seq.
Sevillians, The, [142]
Sierra Nevada, [103]
Silver-Lead Mining in Spain, 297 et seq.
Silver Mines of Spain, The, [296]
Singing in Spain, [69]
Slaves as Miners, [271], [279]
Soko, El, [96]
Somorrosto Range, [193]
Southern Andalusia, In, [164], et seq.
Spain (Her Position To-day), [8]
Spain’s Mineral Resources, [283]
Spaniards as Miners, [312]
Spaniards, The, [6], et seq.
Spanish-American War, [6], [56]
Spanish Courtesy, [59]
Spanish Mining, [271], et seq.
Spanish Mining Regulations, [319]
Spanish Tin Corporation’s Mines, The, [333]
Spanish Pride, [3]
Spanish Provincialism, [53]
Spanish Wines, [75]
Sport, [38], [183]
Tagus, The, [101]
Tarragona, [73]
Temperance Question, The, [25]
Tharsis Mines, [291]
Theatres, [40]
Theodimah, [84]
Theophile Gautier, [105], [127]
Tin Mines of Spain, The, [295]
Toledo, [95], et seq.
Toledo, Juan Bautista de, [43]
Tortosa, [76]
Trading Spirit, The, [54]
Truimfo Mine, The, [297]
Valencia, [81], et seq.
Velo, The, [21]
Ventura Rodriguex, [218]
Velasquez, [242]
Vigo, [204]
Webster, Rev. Wentworth, [2]
Wörmann, [98]
Zahira, [107]
Zaragoza, [217], et seq.