The Provinces of Salta and Jujuy, which possess rich veins of auriferous quartz, argentiferous galena, copper, borate of
lime, lignite and petroleum, are famous for the gold obtained from the streams that descend from their mountains. Undertakings have been formed with foreign and native capital, and profitable results are expected. The extension of the Argentine railways to Bolivia will still further develop the exploitation of mining districts all through this region.
In former times silver mines were worked in the Province of Tucuman. In Aconquija also we find mines of copper which must be a continuation of those of Catamarca.
The Provinces of Córdoba and San Luis, besides ascertained veins of gold-bearing quartz, galena and copper, contain mines of manganese and wolfram, and well-known quarries of marble, and of onyx, both green and of other shades.
In the Territories of Tierra del Fuego and Santa Cruz the sands along the Atlantic coast contain, especially after storms, an abundance of gold in powder and small nuggets, whose extraction gives employment to numbers of workers.[87] There also are seams of lignite and of peat. Finally, in Santa Cruz there are several salt workings, the produce being sent to Buenos Ayres.
[87] few years ago a company was formed with North American and Argentine capital to work the sands in this manner in Tierra del Fuego.
The River Chubut, in the Territory of Chubut, brings down fine gold along its bed, as do its numerous small tributaries, which rise in the Andean slopes. The presence of gold more than 100 miles from the Cordillera tempted some colonists to organise an expedition; at the foot of the mountain they found gold in nuggets.
Another company exploits the salt pits of the Valdez Peninsula, and another the quarry of flat granite slabs, known as the Atlas Quarry.
For many years now large quantities of gold have been found in the rich “placers” of the Territory of Neuquen, where copper also has been discovered, silver-bearing galena, coal, and petroleum. The gold taken out of the washers of Villa Michicó and the neighbourhood is estimated at 330 lb. avoirdupois annually.