SAN JULIAN MINE, CASTROVIRREINA.
In Tumbes and Piura, great masses of sulphur have been found almost on the surface of the soil, and the beds are being worked by a rich company. The mineral contains fifty per cent of sulphur, and when elaborated the product is ninety-eight pure. The coast country is rich in mineral salts, especially of soda, magnesia, etc.; chloride of sodium is found in Morrope, in the Department of Lambayeque, and saltpetre exists not only in the provinces of the coast but in Cajamarca and other interior departments. There are important beds of borax in several of the southern states, those of Arequipa yielding large quantities of this useful product. The borax beds of Arequipa were discovered in 1893 by Don Juan Manuel de Escurra, who formed a company for their exploitation, the enterprise being now in the hands of a large syndicate, the Borax Consolidated Limited, which has an extensive establishment, with all modern improvements, including twelve reverberatory ovens for drying the borax. The Laguna de Salinas, where the borax is found, lies just west of Arequipa on the pampa between the Misti and the Pichu-Pichu.
THE MINING TOWN OF CASAPALCA, DEPARTMENT OF LIMA.
Iron is met with in almost every mining district of Peru. In the province of Calca, in Cuzco, mines have been discovered containing iron with a grade of eighty per cent pure metal. They have been little worked owing to the expense connected with their exploitation. Nickel abounds in the northern districts of Ayacucho; mica of superior quality has recently been found in one of the coast provinces of Arequipa; bismuth exists in various districts, and Junín has deposits of bismuth-ochre containing forty per cent of bismuth. Molybdenum, which is constantly increasing in demand for amalgamating purposes, is exploited in Jauja and Cerro de Pasco; and, in the neighboring Department of Ayacucho, iron, manganese, and wolfram are taken out of the mines of Lircay. It would be difficult to name a mineral that is not to be found somewhere in Peru; and its marbles, granites, and other fine stones are of the highest value for architectural and constructive work. Kaolin, cement, and other clays for ceramic purposes are abundant, and may be utilized in manufacturing the finest pottery and porcelains. The ancient Peruvians had the secret of making their urns and vases of pottery so very light in weight as to be remarkable for this feature among all the ancient potteries; one of the tests used by experts in determining whether the huacas that are sold as antiques in the Lima stores are genuine or false consists in weighing the article, the modern imitators being unable to produce a pottery as light as the original.
The exports from Peruvian mines show increasing development of the mining industry annually. The production of silver last year amounted to about five million dollars in value, and of copper to a little over that amount; petroleum was taken out to the value of a million and a half dollars, gold of a million dollars, and other minerals in paying quantities. During 1907, the Cerro de Pasco mine shipped ten thousand tons of copper, more than a third of all that South America exported to the United States that year, and the output for 1908 is estimated at fifteen thousand tons. It is predicted that the ultimate copper output of Cerro de Pasco will reach fifty thousand tons.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE CERRO DE PASCO MINING COMPANY AT CERRO DE PASCO.
