in dealing with silver ores, they were never able to successfully handle. the gold-bearing quartz in Spanish America. Copper ores are reported from a great number of localities in the Philippines. They are said to occur in Luzón, Mindoro, Panay, and Mindanao. It is not probable that all of these are important, but northern Luzón contains a copper region of unquestioned value. The best-known portion of this region lies about Mount Data, in the Province of Lepanto. The range of which Data forms a part trends due north of Cape Lacay-Lacay. In this range copper was smelted by the natives long before Magellan discovered the Philippines. The process consists of alternate partial roasting and reductions to "matte," and eventually to block copper. It is generally believed that this process must have been introduced from China or Japan. It is practiced only by one peculiar tribe of natives, the Igorrotes. This tribe is in most respects semibarbarous and lives in great squalor, though industrially they stand on a high level, and show remarkable skill in the working of metals as well as in their extraction. They have turned out not merely implements of small dimensions, but copper kettles as large as 3 feet in diameter. From 1840 to 1855, according to Santos, as much as 20 tons of copper utensils and ingots were exported annually by the Igorrotes. It was this trade which drew the attention of the Spaniards to this region. Vague reports and the routes by which the copper comes to market indicate that there are copper mines in various portions of the Cordillera Central, but the only deposits which have been examined with care are those of Mancayan (about 5 miles west of Mount Data) and two or three other localities within a few miles of Mancayan. These deposits are described as veins of rich ore some 7 meters wide and arranged in groups. Mean assays are said to show over 16 per cent of copper. The gangue is quartz. The country rock is described as a large quartzite lens embodied in a great mass of trachyte. The Mancayan deposit appears in a deep ravine called Fabio or Magambang, on the south side of Mount Aban, one of the western spurs of the great Data. At this locality there is a quartzose mass in a vertical position not more than 80 or 100 meters in thickness which strikes northwest and is exposed at the southeast by a great cut, partly due to the mining operations of the natives. The croppings are of columnar form and the whole mass is fissured or jointed in different directions, though the principal ore-bearing fissures strike WNW. Mr. José Maria Santos, who reported on these mines in 1862, states that the ores are tetrahedrite, both antimonial and arsenical, chalcopyrite, chalcosite, bornite, the black oxide, and other oxidized or carbonated species, as well as iron pyrite. Comb or ribbon structure is common and the proportion of the various cupriferous minerals is very variable. He made an effort to avoid the tendency to select rich specimens in sampling and gives the following as the mean composition of the different ore breasts of the native workings: Mean composition of the ore breasts of the native Mancayan copper workings. But little is known about the other copper deposits of the Philippines. There is a deposit near Antimonan, in Tayabas Province, and another in Camarines Norte, while d'Almont's map notes two localities in Camarines Sur where copper has been found. In the Island of Masbate native copper was discovered in 1847. In the Island of Marinduque the Guía Oficial states that copper occurs, but nothing further is known of the locality. At Lubang, on the Island of the same name, Dana found copper pyrite, probably only as an accompaniment of the gold, and indications have been noted at a number of other places, but practically nothing is known as to values. Galena is found in Camarines Norte in the area of the crystalline schists accompanying other sulphurets and gold. Concessions have been granted for lead mining at a mountain called Tingá, near Paracale, and at a small hamlet named Imbong-inmong, in the barrio of Mambulao, but these ores were worked only for the gold. Centeno reports that the Tingá occurrence is very rich, but the veins are only from 3 to 10 centimeters in width. Paracale and Mambulao have a reputation among mineralogists as a source of lead chromate and vauquelinite. The deposit near Paracale is in a gneiss hill ten minutes' walk from the village of Malaguit, and the other is a mile and a half northeast from Mambulao, in the plumbiferous mountain Dinianan, which is composed of hornblende-schist. Roth states that the chromate is found in quartz veins and is accompanied by vauquelinite, like the occurrence in the Ural Mountains. Caramuan, in Camarines Sur, is credited with lead ore in the Guía Oficial, but it is probably associated with the copper deposits of that district. In the Island of Marinduque, Province of Mindoro, at Torrijos, there is a lead deposit regarded by Mr. Espina as important. The assays are said to give, for average ore, 56.65 per cent lead, 0.0096 per cent silver, and 0.00096 per cent gold. Cebú contains lead ores upon which Mr. Abella has reported as follows: The most important metalliferous deposits, and indeed the only ones which deserve the name, yet discovered in the island are those of gold and silver bearing galena. They lie toward the center of the island, at Panoypoy, barrio of Consolación, and at Acsubing and Budlaan, in the barrio of Talamban, the first two being those which give rise to the claims of the company known as Le Cebuana. The deposits all consist of bunches, veins, and stringers of pyritous galena, which form an irregular network in the rock complex of the eastern area of the interior of the island. They lack system or regular direction, and form there a true Stockwerk. Centeno found the ore extremely rich in silver and gold, but for some unknown reason mining seems to have been abandoned. While in Mindanao Mr. Espina saw specimens of lead ores, but was unable to ascertain from whence they came. Argentiferous lead deposits of that island are yet to be discovered. Something like a belt of magnetite exists among the mountains lying to the east of the great plain of Luzon. The northern part of this belt is 12 or 15 miles to the eastward of San Miguel de Mayumo on the headwaters of the stream which passes through the place. In this neighborhood the positions of four mines are indicated on d'Allmonte's map. A few miles southeast from this group lies a second, about 10 miles northeast of Angat. Here also four mines are shown, and this district has the reputation of possessing the most valuable iron ores in the Archipelago. At a similar distance to the northeast of Borsoboso another iron mine has been worked, and 10 miles northeast of Mórong there is still another mine. All of these deposits are in the foothills of the range which forms the western boundary of the district of La Infanta and at nearly equal distances from the crest. The belt is 40 miles long and evidently stands in genetic relations to the range. According to assays made by the Inspección General de Minas, the Angat ores carry from 60 to 70 per cent of iron. In Camarines Norte there is a mine of magnetic iron ore about six miles south of Paracale on the Malaguit River. The natives work the ores of Angat and San Miguel de Mayumo, and the product is chiefly worked up into plowshares, which bring a much higher price than those imported from Europe. The process of treating the ore is probably similar to that employed in Borneo, where ironsmiths still manufecture excellent blades which the natives prefer to those of European manufacture, as experience has taught them that both the keenness of edge and durability are superior to any that can be found in imported blades. Efforts have been made both by Spaniards and other Europeans to work these ores on an extensive scale, but, owing to the interference of the Government and the difficulty of obtaining suitable labor, all these efforts have come to grief, and at present nothing is done save by the natives, and that in a crude manner and on a small scale. Among the more miscellaneous mineral products of the Archipelago, the value of which must depend upon future investigation and develop ment, may be mentioned petroleum, which has recently been discovered in the Islands of Panay, Cebu, and Leyte. In Panay it is found at Janiuay, in the Province of Iloilo, and is accompanied by natural gas; in Cebú it is found on the west coast of Asturias, Toledo, and Alegría; in Leyte in the barrio of San Isidro—but in none of these places have serious efforts been made to extract, refine, or utilize this valuable fuel and illuminant. It is to be regretted that more specific information concerning these regions is not available. Sulphur has been extracted under concession only at Biliran, but the volcanoes of the islands afford endless opportunities for exploitation all the way from Mount Apo in Mindanao to the volcano of Cagua near the northern extremity of Luzón. Excellent marble is found on the Island of Romblón to the north of Panay, and it has been employed in the manufacture of baptismal fonts and other interior ecclesiastical decorations. THE MINERAL WATERS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. In a country of as marked vocanic character as the Philippine Islands, thermal springs are to be expected, and we find that for ages certain springs have enjoyed great reputation on account of their medicinal value. Both hot and cold springs are found in various parts of the Archipelago and some of them have an undoubted claim to great medicinal properties. Among these the hot springs at Los Baños, in Laguna Province, Luzón; the Sibul Springs of San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan Province, and Tivi, Albay Province, Luzón, were perhaps the most celebrated, and from at least two of these the results obtained under American control fully warrant the high reputation they enjoyed. Mineral waters may be roughly divided into (1) chalybeate; (2) saline; and (3) sulphuretted waters. So far none have been found of the first group, although the Spanish doctors have so classed several well-known springs; of the last two groups, however, numerous springs are in existence. To the second group belong all the springs at Los Baños and some of the springs in Benguet Province, as well as the San Rafael and Santa Matilda springs at San Miguel de Mayumo, and some of the springs at Mainit, Bontoc. As the resources of these Islands become better known and investigated this list will be, without a doubt, greatly enlarged. The springs at Los Baños have been found of great value by the military authorities in the treatment of scrofulous affections, and this resulted in the establishment of a hospital there for the systematic use. of these waters. Likewise those at San Rafael and others at Sibul have been used with excellent results, although since the American occupation they have fallen to some extent into disuse. In addition to these well-known springs there are to be found a large number whose value has been known only to the natives in the immediate vicinity, but which warrant a careful investigation and correct analysis. Owing to the very unsettled state of the country where these waters are mostly to be found little attention has so far been paid to this form of natural resources, but a gratifying change is beginning to be noticeable, and it will be only a question of time when these Islands will probably become the exporters of more varied and valuable mineral waters than Japan. Under Spanish rule only a few of these waters were analyzed, and under the new régime only a slight beginning has been made in this direction, but enough has been done to remove the matter from the realm of empiric speculation and place it on a firm scientific basis. Tables here shown, indicating the work done, will greatly aid in placing this matter in a compact form for comparison. 1. Chalybeate waters. [Analysis made by Spanish Government chemists of the San Jose Spring, San Miguel de Mayumo.] Parts per million. 481.000 Total residue Free ammonia (NH3) Chlorine (Cl) . Silica, (SiO2) Sulphuric acid (H2SO,) Iron oxide (Fe203) Aluminium oxide (Al,O,) 15.408 37.537 12. 200 24.034 15. 200 190.400 36.210 20.561 357.960 2. Saline waters. [A, San Rafael; B, Santa Matilda, San Miguel de Mayumo; C, Bilain; D, San Mariano, Norzagaray, Bulacan; analyses made by Spanish Government chemists. E and F, from two springs near San Miguel, Camarines; G, from near Bued River, Benguet; H, 1 mile above; 1,3 miles above; J, from above; K and L, from near Twin Peaks, Benguet; E to L, inclusive, from analyses by the Government Laboratory. All figures are in parts per million.] NOTE. Those above are also classed as sulphuretted, but in proportion to other constituents they seem to come in this group. |