Several other companies are in possession of good yielding properties and are well equipped for operation, but the development of the business seems to have been checked. The reason for this is not apparent. Conditions appear to be favorable to profitable operation. The demand in the United States is constant at prices that should be satisfactory to the miners. To quote Mr. Robert P. Porter: “Whatever conditions of taxation, duties, and other expenses on the production of manganese existed previously have been changed by the war, and entirely new conditions are presented now for the continuance of the work. It is believed that the mines are practically inexhaustible, and that the metal, while varying considerably in quantity, is in the main high grade and can be mined and shipped at prices that will extend the industry until the United States steel
SANTIAGO DE CUBA.
manufacturers will get their entire manganese supply from this nearest known manganese district.”
On the other hand, the report of the geological survey, referred to above, presents an entirely different view of the matter. From this report it is gathered that the manganese deposits of Cuba usually occur in limestone and sandstone, associated with a secondary silica, called jasper. The ore is not in large bodies, but in small pockets, irregularly scattered, deposits varying in size from a pebble to masses that weigh several hundred tons. Manganese is also found in the form of wash dirt, which is the result of decomposition of the original ore-bearing rock. Most of the Cuban ore is in this form.
“The concensus of opinion of various experts who have looked into the matter seems to be that the Cuban deposits of manganese ore are not likely to be very valuable, as they are too scattered, too irregular, too small, and too inaccessible to be profitably worked. The fact that there is undoubtedly a considerable quantity of manganese in the Province of Santiago de Cuba seems to be more than offset by the peculiarities of its occurrence. If, however, the world’s supply of manganese should run short, these deposits would undoubtedly be thought considerable and important. With the new facilities for concentration that have recently been installed in the plants already in operation, some of the deposits may, indeed, be very profitably worked.”
The first mines worked in the Island of Cuba were at the place now called El Cobre, situated about twelve miles west of the City of Santiago de Cuba, and celebrated for its shrine and miracle-working image of the Virgin. These mines were opened in the year 1530, and were worked as Crown property for more than two centuries, and then abandoned. Following a century of disuse, the mines were re-opened by a British corporation, exactly five hundred years after work was first started in them. The venture proved highly successful. The official records show that between fifty and sixty million dollars’ worth of ore was taken from El Cobre between the years 1830 and 1868. About the close of this period the mine-owners encountered various difficulties. They became involved in a long and costly lawsuit, which they lost, with the railroad upon which they were dependent for the transportation of their product. This was followed by a fall in the price of copper, and unsettled political conditions. As a result, the mines were shut down, and in the succeeding wars the plant was destroyed and the workings flooded to such an extent that it was not even possible to inspect them.
After the last war, an American company, styled the San José Copper Mining Company, took over the property and revived it. This concern and a few others are now actively at work in the El Cobre district, with good prospects of success.