Previous to the year 1830, the only copper properties in Cuba that were developed were those at El Cobre. But about that time, deposits were discovered in numerous parts of the Provinces of Puerto Principe, Santa Clara, and Matanzas. The most notable of these that were worked in days past are near the town of Las Minas, which is about twenty-seven miles east of the City of Puerto Principe, on the Puerto Principe and Nuevitas Railroad. Some of the many old shafts at this place show signs of considerable productiveness at one time. About ten years ago these properties were taken in hand by an American corporation, called the Cuban Copper Company, which in 1909 exported 59,430 tons of copper.
It seems to be the general opinion of experts, who have investigated the conditions, that Cuba will never produce gold in large quantities, although her silver mines may be profitably developed to a considerable extent. Nevertheless, gold mining enterprises are started every few years in the Island. The sole basis for these appears to be the traditions and questionable records of the past production of the old mine at Holguin, in the Province of Oriente. The group of workings at this point are said to have been known since the discovery of the Island. They were operated by a native in 1856, and it is claimed that one shaft produced ore bearing sixty-seven ounces of gold and twenty-three ounces of silver per ton of 2,000 pounds, making a value of $1,407 a ton at the time. In the same district, a native is said to have discovered a pocket that yielded $15,000 in fifteen days, the ore being worth one thousand dollars for every hundred pounds of mineral. Samples taken from the same place, and expertly assayed, showed a maximum of thirty-two ounces of gold to the ton of 2,240 pounds, and four ounces of silver.
Frequent rumors of rich finds in Cuba reach New York and London, but at present there is not a gold or silver mine in profitable operation in the Island.
Bituminous deposits are found in every province of Cuba. They vary from a clear translucent oil resembling petroleum to hard grahamite and substances that closely resemble lignite coal. The report of the Geological Survey’s reconnaissance says: “Every sugar planter claims to have an asphalt property on his estate, and every other man knows where there is one in which is a fortune for his friend. Many of these deposits have been worked, more or less extensively, in past years. Oil has been found in Cuba which has been successfully refined in the island and used as a luminant, also as a fuel; asphalt is mined there which is being employed as an enricher in the manufacture of gas, and is also doing duty as a material for roofing and street paving; grahamite and pitch are found there, which sell in this country and abroad to manufacturers of varnish and paint; and on at least one plantation a substance is being mined which performs the functions of coal in the kitchen brasero, although experts have frequently declared that there is no coal in Cuba. Whatever the exact and proper titles for these various forms of bitumen, their uses would seem to be sufficiently varied and the deposits extensive enough to be of some commercial interest. There is, however, only a limited demand for the kind of bitumens most frequently found in Cuba, the class which is most suitable for varnishes; and, on the other hand, no convincing evidence has been offered that great supplies exist of the asphalt suitable for roofing and paving, the uses to which the largest quantities of asphalt are applied. By large supplies we mean supplies similar to those of the asphalt lake in Trinidad. It should be remembered, however, that the asphalt deposits of Cuba have not yet been scientifically exploited, and it is impossible for anyone to say definitely that the supply is not sufficient to be commercially important.”
One of the greatest needs of Cuba’s industrial development is a domestic fuel supply. The discovery of a coal mine might be more profitable than that of a gold mine. This fact has led to extensive prospecting and to frequent declarations of the presence of coal, which turned out to be lignite or grahamite.
A STREET IN JIGUANI.
The British Consul at Santiago de Cuba, in 1895, reported the discovery of a coal deposit within fifty miles of that City. The analyses claimed for samples seemed to indicate commercial possibilities, but no operation of the deposit has followed.