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56 are paying handsomely, while all others are unprofitable; and so must it prove in every organized effort for the development of gold-mining in this Republic.

While it is apparent from what has here been stated that, under present conditions, the annual production of gold in Bolivia is small, it is equally apparent that, under proper conditions, it is capable of expansion. If the old system of mining employed by the Incas and early Spaniards yielded the rich tributes of gold to the Spanish crown described by Prescott and others, certain it is that, with proper transportation facilities and the introduction of our modern system of mining, backed by sufficient capital and the requisite mining and business intelligence, Bolivia will become one of the greatest gold-mining centers of the world.

The vast mineral regions and ancient river channels of the Bolivian cordilleras and the auriferous gravel beds of the great Andean plateau but await the vitalizing touch of the agencies described to make them yield up their enormous treasures of gold and vastly increase the world's annual production of this precious metal.