Other minerals exported are tungsten, in 1917 1500 tons with a 60 per cent basis; a deposit at Yauli gives 14 per cent zinc with silver; a large borax lake near the city of Arequipa is likely soon to be developed; salt, a government monopoly, is found in many places but mainly worked in the salinas of Huacho near Lima. Bismuth, molybdenum, and antimony are found.
Petroleum is a very important product of Peru, the total area of oil territory being 5000 square miles, not all proved but with possibilities. The chief field is in Tumbes and Piura in the north, the Titicaca so far having made slight production. The latter field is 300 miles from the sea and eight from Lake Titicaca, near the Bolivian frontier and extending toward Cuzco. Deposits have been found in several provinces but the chief work was not far from the Juliaca station where 10 wells were sunk, in 1912 producing an average of 50 barrels a day, the oil with the paraffin base. At last accounts the work had been discontinued. In 1915 there were 524 wells in the country.
The field at the north extends 180 miles south from the town of Tumbes to some distance beyond Paita, running east to the mountains and perhaps including the Islands of Lobos. The field is 30 miles wide, though some believe it may extend 150 miles. Here is practically no rain, no vegetation, and no water, except that of the sea which is used for all purposes. The temperature is called ideal. The wells range from 250 to over 3000 feet deep. At the north there is a slight plateau 160-500 feet high, running down towards the south.
The Zorritos field farthest north and the oldest in Peru is 24 miles south of Tumbes, with wells four miles along the coast, drilled mostly at the water’s edge and some in the ocean. The deepest is 3000 feet but most are 600-2000 feet. Some wells produce 500-600 barrels a day, but one third of those dug were failures.
The Lobitos field in Piura, 60 miles north of Paita, with a proved area of 725 square miles the second largest in Peru, has all its wells over 2000 feet deep. One sunk to 3435 feet was a failure. A well around 3000 feet deep costs $10 per foot average, against $1.50 or $2.00 for wells under 1500 feet. The shallower wells here are short lived. In 1915 a new pool was opened 12 miles north.
The Negritos field is the richest, 40 miles north of Paita, with an area of 650 square miles. The average depth of the wells is 2500-3000 feet and the most important oil deposits are below 1500 feet. Eleven miles east is an asphalt seepage called La Brea. The oil from Negritos is piped 16 miles north to Talara, the port where the refinery and the wharves are situated. Besides the 6-inch pipe line there is a narrow gauge railway. The modern refinery has a capacity of 6000 barrels a day. With pressure stills employed the oil will give 75 per cent benzine. The Talara port permits vessels of 28-foot draught to approach the wharves. The International Petroleum Company, said to be controlled by Standard Oil interests, now operates this property and has taken over the smaller property of the Lagunitos Oil Company 11 miles from Talara. The amount of oil production in Peru has in ten years increased from 756,226 barrels of 42 gallons to 2,550,000 barrels in 1916, two thirds of the last amount coming from Negritos and Lagunitos.
Industries
While Peru does not support large manufacturing industries she has more than some other South American countries and ample means for increase. Scattered along the coast are more than 50 streams which, though small, falling 10,000 feet, are capable of providing an immense amount of electric power. The use of electricity is already widespread, electric lights and telephones are found in many towns, in several, electric cars; the development of this source of power is progressing.
Of factories, sugar mills take the lead, 50 haciendas near the coast having their own mills. In some of these 75 per cent of the sucrose is extracted with the use of the best machinery. Alcohol and aguardiente are made from both sugar cane and grapes, as well as wine from the latter. There are rice mills, and factories for making soap, tallow, lard, matches, chocolate, paper, and other ordinary articles; tobacco, cigar and cigarette factories, flour mills, etc. Panamá hats, though made by hand, must not be forgotten.
Of great importance is the manufacture of textiles, in which the Indians were so proficient in Inca days that their work is said never to have been surpassed. Now there are seven cotton factories, five of these at Lima, making 24,000,000 yards of cloth for the home market. Three thousand operatives are employed. Also there are five woolen factories, at Lima, Cuzco, and Arequipa. Although the Indians are illiterate and lacking in initiative they have a taste for mechanics as well as for agriculture and pastoral pursuits. They still weave and spin, making excellent ponchos and blankets. Education will be a developer. The Indian’s patience and skill should be utilized, his ambition roused, so that he may desire to live more comfortably. Higher wages and more varied wants for these people will produce more business and prosperity in all lines.