Impressions of Spain

by Albert Frederick Calvert

THE OLD GOLD WORKINGS, PARAMO.

In the case of other alluvial properties, water was brought in by the Ancients from great distances by canals; and at Páramo, in Léon, the ancient water channels are now used as country roads. Many of these water-races are so substantially constructed that they could be repaired at a comparatively small cost. Where these indications of previous workings are observed, gold has always been found; and in the summer, when the river channels narrow under the influence of the sun, the banks of the Ouria, the Navia, the Sil and their tributaries, and all the considerable rivers of these North-west provinces, are panned by the country people, who get a very good return on their labours. Yet the fact remains that while the existence of gold in highly-paying quantities has been definitely proved, no systematic exploitation of this rich source of auriferous supply has yet been attempted. In New Zealand, scores of locally-floated gold dredging companies are reaping rich and regular returns on a comparatively trifling outlay; in New South Wales and Victoria, gold dredging has been carried on for years with most satisfactory results; and in California, alluvial mines worked by hydraulic sluicing methods give handsome profits from alluvial carrying only about four grains of gold per cubic metre. Even in Australia, where the water has to be pumped, the cost of treating the alluvial does not exceed 6d. per ton.

In Spain, the conditions are immensely more favourable to profitable working, while the gold-bearing alluvial is very much richer than that of Australasia or America. The concessions are held direct from the Spanish Government in perpetuity at a nominal yearly rental. The most important properties that have as yet been acquired in Spain are situated in the provinces of Lugo, Orense and Léon; and the nature, value and depths of the alluvial is practically common to all. The Romans, with the primitive apparatus that was employed in those days, could only wash the sands down to the water level; but below the water level in the rivers is a vast stretch of the rich deposits which have not yet been touched. Of the thirty-three groups of properties that have been secured by English capitalists, four are in the province of Léon, and have a total area of 541 English acres. Of these, the Crones (153½ acres), and the Retorno (129 acres), are situated on the river Sil; and the Flórez (180 acres), and the Bostarga (79 acres), are both on the left bank of the river Cabrera. The twelve concessions in the province of Orense comprise the Baño (190 acres), the Disco (160 acres), the Alameiro (158½ acres), the Otero (148½ acres), the Casayo (272½ acres), the Carvalleda (50 acres), the Bacelos (176 acres), the Gateira (233 acres), the Charca (228 acres), the Pedela (67 acres), the Vuelpozo (233 acres), and the Mouchinos (114 acres). All the foregoing properties, with a combined area of 2,031 acres, are situate on the rivers Sil and Miño and their tributaries, while the seventeen concessions in the province of Lugo, which have an aggregate acreage of 2,148 acres, are in the same geographical district, and are also located on the river Sil, the river Miño and their

HEAD OF THE SAINTE-BARBE SHAFT, HUELVA.

tributaries. The Lugo groups include the Arenas (203 acres), the Subieros (121 acres), the Peuadolo (54½ acres), the Coba (74 acres), the Corrego (74 acres), the Lor (101½ acres), the Lodeiras (196 acres), the Reineite (79 acres), the Rosio (69 acres), the Baicela (76½ acres), the Libedo (101½ acres), the Pesquiera (111½ acres), the Alban (116½ acres), the Lis (109 acres), the Blanca (282½ acres), the Lloris (188 acres), and the Ramamo (190½ acres). The Páramo Alluvial Gold Mines, in the province of Léon, on which gold-washing machines are now working, are giving satisfactory returns. The Kingston Gold Mines in Léon, and the Moraleja Gold-bearing Alluvial Mines in the neighbouring province of Orense, are being exploited on a steady scale, with good results.

SAN DIONISIO SHAFT, RIO TINTO.

The geological features of all the foregoing groups present an almost remarkable uniformity. The gold-bearing alluvial deposits cover practically the whole of the entire area of each concession, and the depth of the alluvial varies from ten feet, which is the minimum depth on any of the properties, to twenty-five feet. In cubicating the alluvial ground available for treatment, one-half may be deducted (although that is a very high proportion, and one not likely to be attained), on account of the stones and boulders which may be present in the earth and sand. The average of the assays made of the alluvial deposits of all these concessions give a minimum of five dwts. of gold per cubic yard; but if the return is estimated at only one and a-half dwts., the facilities for economically working and handling the ore are so favourable that the profits will be seen to be enormous. The cost of working the deposits varies from 3½d. to 6d. per cubic yard. The working of these alluvials is being done by machines, especially adapted for the purpose, which are capable of treating twenty-five cubic yards of earth, at a cost of 5s. per day; and give, roughly, a return of £6 per day per machine. The number of these machines, which cost £25 each, and can be erected on the spot at a small additional expenditure, can be increased indefinitely.

When the alluvial is exhausted, by means of these machines, down to water level, the beds of the rivers will have to be dredged. Up to the present time these river deposits have not been touched, and they will, of course, be found to be considerably richer in gold than the exposed alluvials. By many mining men the result of the dredging operations are looked to, to complete the revival in Spanish mining that has been so long coming. It is impossible to contemplate the probable—one might almost say the assured—return from this dredger mining without a feeling of amazement that such a source of wealth should have lain so long untapped. Want of capital in Spain, and want of confidence in the Spaniards, have hitherto been the chief obstacles to her progress; and the fact that the country has never become a fashionable mining venue has also to be taken into consideration in reviewing the causes that have contributed to its backward position. It is, however, evident to those who have been much in the country in recent times, that the long-delayed interest in its mineral resources has set in; and it is with considerable confidence that one predicts an enormous revival in the industry as soon as some of these alluvial gold-bearing districts are systematically exploited, and regular returns are forthcoming. But the gold quartz mines of Spain are still almost entirely neglected, as they have been since the days of the Romans; and despite the fact that there are numberless prospects containing reefs that yield from half-an-ounce to 1½ ozs. of gold per ton, only two or three companies are engaged in gold quartz mining in the Peninsula. The miner and the investor have generally confined their attention to iron, copper, and lead—metals that occur in huge deposits—and have disregarded the less assertive tin and gold-bearing alluvials which, when scientifically developed and economically managed, will give larger returns than any other mining in the world.