The Copper Mines of Escurial.
Some of the most prominent and promising of the newly-acquired copper properties in Spain are those of the Escurial district, of which mention has been made. Here, at a spot situated within thirty miles of Madrid, at the end of an hour-and-a-quarter’s train journey, is a district which promises to take rank among the leading copper-producing areas. Yet until some two years ago the properties were practically being ruined by the starvation policy of the Spanish owners, who obtained excellent results by following the richest of the leaders until a little expenditure was required to further prosecute the work, and then abandoned them. The Romans, who would appear from the evidences of their workings to have been the original miners at Escurial, carried out their developments on a large scale; and judging from the immensity and richness of the dumps of ore which they discarded as being too poor to pay for treatment by the primitive methods at their commands, they must have won enormous quantities of very high-grade copper ore. These huge mounds of refuse ore have been assayed to yield about 4 per cent. of copper; and with the modern system of concentration will all give profitable returns. Some of the outhouses and walls on the property are constructed of rich copper ore, and the purplish colour of the loose stones of the road from Galapagar, and on the other roads about the property, are everywhere indicative of the presence of the same mineral. The Romans evidently recognised the value of their mine, for before they vacated the country they carefully filled in all their workings, and obliterated every trace of their activity. The openings to the galleries and the mouths of their shafts were closed up with rubble, but they could not remove the incriminating dumps—the monuments to their energy and the witnesses to the richness of the property.
PORTION OF BUILDINGS, ESCURIAL.
The Romans undoubtedly meant, at a more convenient season, to return to the scene of their labours, as did the Carthaginians and Phœnicians before them; but the fates which govern nations ruled it otherwise. The Visigoths succeeded the Romans; and they in their turn were driven out by the Moors, who dominated the Peninsula for over 800 years. The Moors have left the marks of their greatness, their industry, and their love of art over the entire face of the land; but they have contributed comparatively little to the history of its mining. They certainly did not undertake systematic researches into the mineral resources of the country, and as certainly they did not happen upon the copper caverns which the Ancients had quarried at Escurial.
A CUTTING, ESCURIAL.
The present proprietary, upon taking possession of the property, immediately set to work to have the mine cleared, and all the old workings explored. These operations were attended with many remarkable discoveries, and it seemed as if everything was revealed which had been done by the original proprietors. But Señor Bárris, the modern discoverer of this remarkable property, and a gentleman who combines the erudition of the scholar with an unsurpassed practical knowledge of Spanish mining, was not satisfied. He was convinced that there remained further traces of more recent exploitation to be revealed; so the research was resumed, with the result that during my visit I paid to the property in 1902, some additional deeper workings of Spanish origin were discovered. Only then was Señor Bárris convinced that the end was reached; but even later, I have since learned, a falling-in in one of the levels disclosed the existence of further large ancient workings, and the presence of a mass of magnificent copper ore.
The Spaniards, whoever they were, who had worked the mine for a short period some (approximately) 300 years ago, had been interrupted in their labours by the lack of proper machinery, and had abandoned the pursuit. The walls of the gallery they had excavated had fallen in, rubbish had blocked up the entrance, and the mine had returned to the condition in which it had been left by the Roman discoverers. And, curiously enough, not a single document or record has come to light to reveal the identity of these disappointed adventurers.
“DOLORES,” “JAIME,” AND MAIN SHAFT, ESCURIAL.
The Escurial district is a network of copper lodes, which curve, and zig-zag, and bisect one another in an extraordinary fashion, and would appear to have their origin, or their ending, in a concession known as the Antigua Pilar—one of four concessions which constitutes the property of the Escurial Copper Mines, Limited, the principal company in the neighbourhood. The mines are chiefly in the hands of three companies—which are known as the Escurial, the Escurial Extended, and the Georgia Mines and Development Company. The properties owned by the premier company consists of the Antigua Pilar (103½ acres), the Gloria (140 acres), the Jaime (49½ acres), and the Ramon (49½ acres). This group, with a total area of 342½ acres, is held on perpetual tenure from the Spanish Government, subject only to an annual payment of 6s. 5d. per claim.
The mines are equi-distant from three railway stations, but Torrelodones is the most convenient, as it is connected with Galapagar by a good cart road. From this place, where are situated the Galapagar concentration works, one travels over an excellent high-road built of stone, all of which shows traces of copper. The weather is cool, clear, and invigorating; and the manager of the Escurial Copper Mines, Limited, informs me that the climate, though hot in summer and very cold in winter (the mines are about 2,850 feet above the sea level), is wonderfully healthy. I remarked upon the solidity of the buildings which serve to protect the openings of the various shafts, and was informed that such substantial structures were necessary as affording a shade from the sun in the hot weather and a shelter from the snows in winter.
The Escurial Mines, unlike some others in Spain, are worked all the year round; and, as many of the miners live on the property, a small barrack has been constructed of masonry for their accommodation. These buildings, which are of the most durable kind, having masonry walls three feet thick and tiled roofs, include, in addition to the men’s quarters and the manager’s dwelling, offices, &c., a small metallurgical establishment, large stores for the storage of minerals, for coal, and wood, and blasting powder, engine houses, and other buildings. “The mine is our home,” explains one of the old watchmen—a phrase which I take to be equivalent to the Englishman’s expression: “We’ve come to stay!”
If you happen to entertain any doubts as to the capacity
“JAIME,” “DOLORES,” AND MAIN SHAFTS, ESCURIAL COPPER MINES.
GALAPAGAR SMELTING WORKS, ESCURIAL.
and general excellence of the Spanish miner, I would advise you not to ventilate your opinion of the subject in the presence of the manager of the Escurial Mines, or of Señor Bárris, the Company’s local director. Nor indeed can one be long among these men without recognising their sterling good qualities. They work well, and they lighten their labours with an enthusiasm which I have not remarked in any miners outside Spain. Every man and boy has a personal interest in the mine and its development; his talk is about its progress and prospects: his joy is a rich strike or a satisfactory return; his sorrow is a blank day. And with the characteristic independence of the Spaniard, each man keeps to his own drive, or shaft, or gallery, which he is convinced is the best, and richest, and most promising portion of the whole property.
ENGINE HOUSE AND BLACKSMITH’S SHOP, ESCURIAL.
It will be seen from a glance at the accompanying plan that the northernmost claim, the Ramon, is situated at a little distance from the rest of the group, and it is here that the principal buildings and concentration works are located. Two lodes have been proved on this property. No development work had been done on the Ramon at the time of my last visit, nearly the whole of the labour having been concentrated on the Antigua Pilar concession, which carries eight proved reefs, and is undoubtedly the most valuable claim of the entire group. The developments on this, and on the adjoining Jaime lease, have demonstrated that both these claims are of very great value, and the manager declares in his report that with proper management “they will yield incalculable profit.”
The Antigua Pilar claim has been exploited in a masterly manner, and the results reflect the greatest credit upon the management. All the work proceeds under the unremitting personal supervision of the manager, and his very full and luminous reports reveal his intimate knowledge of every detail. “It is a pleasure,” he said to me, “to work such a mine. Every week brings its work, and the work brings its recompense in the consistently and thoroughly satisfactory nature of the progress made. The property has never, as mothers say of good children, given me an uneasy moment, and I am only too delighted to show visitors over it.” As we proceed, he explains to me his theory of the property and of its prospects. The Antigua Pilar he believes to be the centre of a network of reefs, and the eight lodes he has already proved are only a few that he expects to discover as the work progresses. “It is a large property,” he says, “and it must be developed by degrees. I have proved to my entire satisfaction that the lodes in the Ramon and the Jaime leases will pay handsomely when we get to work on them. I have also traced two of the Antigua Pilar reefs into the Gloria lease, and six others are also making in that direction. This naturally led me to make a special study of the lodes in Antigua Pilar, and I am convinced that in formation and structure the reefs are the same in all. Everything pointed to satisfactory results, and, indeed, the results have exceeded our expectations.”
A CUTTING, ESCURIAL.
In the manager’s office I was permitted to examine the figures and measurements on which he had based his estimates of the value of the mine, and they are calculated on so moderate a scale that he is convinced the net profits will be much greater. To give an idea of the value and sizes of the lodes on the property, I may mention that by cubing the lodes of Nos. 2, 3, and 4 on Antigua Pilar alone, and calculating the yield of copper at the very low return of 5 per cent. per ton, he estimates the value of the ore at £155,532. By the present methods of exploitation, the daily output of ore will shortly be twenty tons per day; and this ore, with proper plant for concentration, could be brought up to 33 per cent. of copper, worth £16 10s. per ton. The carbonates of copper which the ore carries could, by proper treatment, be made to yield from sixty per cent. to eighty per cent. of copper suitable for smelting. But there is an alternative scheme for the complete exploitation of the property, by which 100 tons of copper ore, of a value of £550, could be raised and treated per diem. This plan would, of course, involve a larger outlay, but it has been forwarded to London for the consideration of the directors. Such figures and prospects justify the manager in his high opinion of the mine, which is shared by the miners and the local shareholders.
SNAPSHOT SHOWING CUTTING, ESCURIAL.
When I was at Escurial I visited two other groups of properties in the neighbourhood which had been acquired by British capitalists. The successful developments in the Escurial property proper—especially on the Jaime and Antigua Pilar leases—attracted a good deal of attention to the district, which subsequent prospecting work shows to have been thoroughly warranted. One of these groups comprises the Recompensa, the Pepitanga, and the San Antonio leases, which have a combined area of 437 acres. The local theory is that the nature of the country and the constitution of the lodes is the same throughout the district, and the work done on these mines bears out that belief. The lodes and veins are numerous, varying in thickness from seven inches to three feet; and the ores have yielded, as the result of assays, from eleven per cent. to thirty per cent. of copper. Seven lodes, which are distinct and well defined, have been followed for a distance of over 6,000 feet through the property, and five separate workings have been undertaken to test the value of the mineral deposits. As the workings are 750 feet above sea level, at which depths the lodes usually improve, the quantity of ore in the property must consequently be very considerable. The ore also yields both silver and gold, but it is not possible to estimate the profit likely to be made from this source. Only one assay has been made from this ore, but it disclosed the existence of nearly thirteen ozs. of silver and over nine dwts. of gold. The other group that is now the property of English capitalists, consists of five concessions, called the Clarisa, the Morena, Natividad, Mitry, and the Mercedes, having a total area of 2,111 acres.