Original Correspondence. MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND. [LETTER II.] Statistics of Mining.

New Zealander, Volume 1, Issue 12, 23 August 1845, Page 3

Original Correspondence MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND. [LETTER ll.] Statistics of Mining.

' To the Editor of the New Zealandcr. Sir,—On referring to authentic returns* of the quantity of foreign Copper Oic, the produce of Chilian and other mines, sold at Swansea in tneyeir commencing 1 June 30, 1839, and ending June 30, 1840,1 find the following particulars:

The Copper Mines of Chili are mostly situated in the middle region of the Cordilleras of the Audes, istant from 5G to upwards of 100 miles from the d

coast. The roads are, in most cases, unlit for conveyance of the ore by wheel-carriages, and the locality of the mines is generally destitute of vegetation or water ; yet the climate is salubrious, the miners expert and laborious, and the country rich in minerals. Opposed to these advantages are dead charges, to an extent that must always limit the export of ores from Chili, and which, at low prices, must all but annihilate it, Independent of the cost of mining and extracting the ores, the following are the dead charges per ton of Chilian ore, before sold at Swansea —

Thus every ton of Copper ore from Chili is subject to £l I ss. per ton, dead charges, before it is sold at Swause or Liverpool. Nor can the cost of conveyance be diminished, unless the export falls off. When the trade opened, and the quantity of ore shipped was small, £4 per ton covered freight and insurance ; but as the quantity shipped increased, the rate of freight advanced in proportion. The goods shipped to South America consist principally of manufactured articles which occupy little space, whilst the exports are bulky-— consisting of Copper ore, dyewoods, wool, &c, requiring three or four times more tannage homeward" than outwards, so thatrvessels-go frequently empty to Chili to fetch ores, &c, which must consequently pay the freight both ways. The highest produce of Chilian ores does not exceed 25 per cent, and the average produce may be estimated at 20 per cent f ; in the latter case 5 tons of oie will be required to produce one ton of fine copper, the charges 'on which, at £ll 55., will be £56 ss. per ton, cost ot copper— independent of mining charges. Ores of 20 per cent, at a standard for average produce of £110 (see letter 1) may be worth about £18 ss. per ton ; deduct dead charges, £l I 55., and we have left but £7 per ton for all mining charges and expenses of extracting the ore, besides leaving a profit to the adventurers. It has been said that— "a person wit., a Copper mine will gain \ with a Silver mine he may gain\ but with a Gold mine he is sure to lose." 1 very much doubt however whether the proprietors of the Chilian mines can gain much with the above dead charges on their ores. It will be observed that J have assumed the standard for fine copper £110; this was the standard mXoniwall in 1839, lv 1840, the average standard for the ores sold in Cornwall was £(08 10s j and for those sold in Wales, the average standard was £93 10. What it may have been lately I have no information, but it is evident that, excepting at very high standards, the dead charges and cost of conveyance on Chilian ores must greatly limit, if it does not almost annihilate their exportation to Eugland. In Colombia and Cuba, the climate is insalubrious — at least to the English constitution, as many of the poor feliows sent from England to work in the mines there could teli. Iv fact, the celebrated Cobre mine, in the island of Cuba, is worked principally by slave labour, and since the Tariff of 1841, which admitted at a low duty the slave raised ore of Cuba, in competition with tbe free labour produce of British mines, the importation of Copperoreu from Cuba to England has it is believed greatly increased. 1 have no iv • formation as to the dead charges on the ores of Cuba, but owing to the difficulties and expense attendant on mining enterpri/es in foreign countries, where there k no turroundirtg population accustomed to mining, Ttsiwattheease-iu-<Dub*when-thej'nmies;eoinmon€ed working, the first cost of establishing a successful raining concern i Q that country must have been very heavy. Iseeth a t i n 1836, the Cobre ore sold at Swansea, averaged jg22 Vs. per ton ; and in 1837 they averaged only £15 4s* The produce of these ores varies from 18 to 22 per cent. We now tom e to the consideration of the Copper ores of Cornwall an ,i on referring to the returns of Copper ores sojj j(lj (l Cornwall from June 30, 1839, to June 30. 1840, ( find that the average price realised, for ore from a 1 the mines (iv number 79)» was £5 ?s. 6J. per toj. The highest price was £J0 15s. — and the lowest wag £l 14s. per ton of 21 cwt — The average produce of all the- mines for the same period was 7£ per cent, and the average standard £108 10s. It will prohcbly excite surprise in the minds of many how it is possible that Copper ores worth only ££ 14s. per ton, can pay charges and cost of extracting, and still leave a profit to the adventure is. The fact however is so, and may be explained, partly as owing to the great improvements that have been made lately in the art of smelting. Ores producing only three or four per cent of metal are now brought to sale in Cornwall— and in some cases, even when the produce is still smaller. The principal reason however, why these poor ores can be worked to profit, is thatin Cornwall the charges amount to a very trifling sum. Ten shillings per ton probably cover all expenses of raisin? the ores to the surface, and of sampling ; and being so d upon the spot to to the agents ot the different Copper smelting Companies, the mine is at no further expense than the actual cost of raising the ores, dressing and sampling Owing also to the admirable practice in Cornwall of letting different portions of the mines •• on tribute,'' for a certain length of time, such as one or two months, the actual miners receiving such proportion of the ore broken by them «s may have been agreed upon, the men are thus interested iv prserving every thing of any value that is found in prosecuting their worn : and although they may not always realise much profit, it is otherwise with tbe adventurers or proprietor-., who, whatever may be the bargain, make some profit on their portion of the ore. ■'- ThereTtrenwo^indsvof^coutractMUSi^ally^jenlerjdj into in the Cornish mines, by one of which (tut work) they are paid by the piece, and contract for their work l>y tae laihoin. This method is usually employed in cutting through rocks unproductive of ore, .md does notdifter from bargains similarly made in all kinds of work. The other, which i«s called " tribute," is au agreement by which the men, working on ore ground, are to he remunerated by a portion of the produce rendered on the surface in a marketable state, lv the tin mines they sometimes receive their portion in ore, and in the copper mines, generally in tuouey. The workmen provide themselves with all tools, randies and gunpowder, and the mine finds the requisite machinery, for the use of which, however, ibe "tributes." h.ive to pay a small sum per month. The work on the surface is to a great extent done for daily wages, which are regufated by the circumstances ot tlie nines, as iv other callings. Having thus taken a rapid survey of tbe state of the Copper Mining interest of CUiii and Cuba, from which countries the great bulk of the foreign ore sent to England is obtained %, and also stated the circumstances under which the Cornish mines are successfully worked, although their produce is in general very low, I may perhaps be allowed to ad-

vert to the present prospects of Mining iv New Zealand. , Of the two mines that have as yet been worked for copper in this country, one (at the Kauwau) is so situated that the expense of shipping the ore is very triflin- j and the other (at the Great Barrier Island) is also favourably situated in this respect. Five shillings per ton would probably cover this item of expense, and I believe the following may be assumed as including the whole of the dead charges, per ton, of New Zealand Copper ore, before being sold at London or Liverpool : —

With respect to the import duty of ss. per ton, I shonld observe that according to the new Tariff, Copper ore, .the produce of British possessions, is subject to a duty of £L per ton of metal ;— thus, rupposing the New Zealand ores to average 25 per cent, the duty will be ss. per ton of ore. In the absence of correct data on some points, the above estimate may be taken only as an approximation, but which I believe will be found to be not far from the truth. I am aware that dead weight has been takeu at a lesfc rate than-£4 10s. per ton from Sydney to England, but I believe that at present, owing io the demand for shipping inSydney,for the conveyance of tallow, hides, bones, and other bnlky articles, to England, this sum ia below the actual rate of freight. It is true that some of the above expenses might be avoided by shipping the ore direct from New Zealand to England, but as we have not at present the requisite shipping to convey the ore, we must take the matter as we find it. With respect to the actual cost of breaking and extracting the ore. and other matters cuunected with the New Zealand Mines, 1 must reserve any remarks I may have to offer on the subject to a future com-munication.—-I remain, Sir, your's &c, F. S. P.

* From " Gryll's Annual Mining Sheet." ] t The import duty on foreign co pper ores, of 20 per cent, is £i 10s. per ton of metal. 1 The export of Copper ores beyond those from Colombia,] Chili, and Cuba, is very trifling, if we except some ores of 12 or 18 per cent from a mine in Norway (the Alten Mine), •worked by an English Company.

Average cost of conveyance from the mine, and shipping on hoard the vessel, ? « Freight to Sydney ...10 Average cost of transhipping and other chargM in Sydney, including commission and *gency, 0 15 Freight and insurance from Sydney to England, . * 10 Commission and other chargei at London or Liverpool . . 1 10 Import duty^according to the newTariff of 1841, . 0 5 Totaldead chargei per ton on New Zealand ore £8 5

:hili, . . "opiapo, . iantiago, . Valparaiso, 2uba, . . ?obre, . . Quantity of C 21 Cwts. . 7,436 . 877 . 5,114 . 1,547 . 2,080 . 12,954 Ore. Average price per Ton of 21 Cwt. .£l9 4 0 . 20 3 8 . ' 16 18 11 . 19 7 3 . 14 12 4 . 16 10 2

Lverage cost of conveyance from the Mines to the (hipping port on the coast,— per ton £3 0 0 Jommission and other charges at the port, including an export duty of 6 percent, 1 10 0 height and insurance to England, . 6 0 0 iampling and other charges at Swansea, 0 15 0 Total cost per ton (not including import duty) £11 5 0