The price of Chilean coal responded to war conditions. In 1914 it stood at about 13 paper pesos per ton; in 1915 it rose to 25 pesos, and thence steadily climbed to 57 pesos in 1917, to 70 in the following year, and to 85 pesos in 1919. With the cessation of hostilities these prices, which were comparable with those of foreign imported coal, dropped; at the same time demand fell, fewer vessels requiring bunkering, not only because older fuel depôts became again available but because the extended use of the Panama Canal by international vessels is making itself felt more keenly. South Chile found its ports recording many fewer foreign vessels in 1919 and 1920 than in former years.
Curanilahue Coal Mine, Arauco Province.
Dulcinea Copper Mine, Copiapó Province.
Chuquicamata Copper Mine, Antofagasta Province.
In the Lonquimay region, along the valley of the upper Bio-Bio, are deposits of petroliferous shales, upon which a big industry will some day be founded. The most hopeful reports suggest the presence of a great oil-bed, but it is undisputed that the superficial layers or capas yield 5 to 6 per cent of petroleum, the lower part of the bed yielding 12 per cent. In Scotland a percentage of 5 per cent is considered good enough, and the development of the prosperous North British industry could no doubt be duplicated in Chile—with adequate transport facilities. Manifestations of petroleum have been also identified farther south. Don Salustio Valdes, an enthusiastic Chilean mining engineer, considers that the most promising deposits are in the Province of Llanquihue, at Carelmapu, where the Cia. Petroléos del Pacifico has acquired territory; in Magellanes Territory, near Punta Arenas, where the Sindicato de Petroléo de Agua Fresca is operating; and on Tierra del Fuego, upon the north shore of Useless Bay. Natural gas escapes in considerable quantities in all these regions.
Borax is produced by a British company from a wonderful and beautiful lake-like deposit at Ascotan, on the Antofagasta and Bolivia Railway almost at the Bolivian frontier. Nearly half the world’s supply comes from Ascotan, the pre-war export of Borax Consolidated averaging 40,000 tons, a quantity subsequently reduced owing to the imposition of a heavy export tax and high freight rates. The deposit lies at an altitude of over 12,400 feet with temperature ranging from 24 degrees below zero (Centigrade) and 32 degrees above, so that this well-organised company works under climatic difficulties accentuated by high winds, rain and snow.
Sulphur is abundant in Chilean mountains from north to south, a few thousand tons being annually produced, chiefly for the use of the copper mines; lead, cobalt, nickel, aluminium, graphite and bismuth also exist in the highly mineralised north; deposits of manganese are worked on a small scale near Merceditas in the interior of the Province of Atacama.