Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/486

Rh 468 MINING [MINERAL PRODUCE OF The quantities of metal produced in France from native and foreign ores in I860 1 were Pig iron 1,725,000 metric tons. Lead 6,500 Copper 3,^00 Zinc 16,200 Nickel 30 metric tons. Gold 31 kilogrammes Silver 40,400 Aluminium 1,160 ,, Germany. The mining industry of the German empire is of high importance. The output of the mines in 1881 is shown by the following table, taken from the Stat. Jakrb. fur das Deutsche Reich, Berlin, 1883, p. 27. The production of common salt, potassium chloride, and other salts from brine is also considerable. The total quantity for the German empire in 1881 was 693,000 metric tons, worth 33,567,000 marks, including 113,200 tons of potassium chloride valued at 14,090,000 marks. Coal. Lignite. Rock- Salt. Potash Salts. Iron Ore. Zinc Ore. Lead Ore. Copper Ore. Silver and Gold Ore. lion Pyrites and other Vitriol and Alum Ores. Other Mining Products. Total Value of all the Mining Products. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Metric Tons. Unit 1000 Marks. 43780-5 519-8 3707-8 10412-2 18-1 601)7 30-7 12-3 735-3 273-7 766-1 &quot;s-2 207-8 0-9 84-2 19-0 545-4 390G-3 75-6 23-8 19-3 133-8 659-2 159-7 0-8 1-7 523-6 0-03 01 o-i 20-7 142-0 1-1 0-1 o-i 6-4 2-4 33-2 1-5 12 b&quot;o 0-6 i-4 18-0 2-1 o- o* 9-7 326,423 5,124 33,057 752 110 1,115 46 1,626 1,578 6,344 965 170 6,61)0 Bavaria Baden 9-4 03 Thuringia 0-9 360-5 28-4 96-4 b&quot;-9 1-4 o-o 3 108-9 32-3 109G-0 V-3 Alsace-Lorraine SCO -9 48G88-2 12852-3 311-9 905-9 5411-9 2161-9 659-5 1G4-8 523-7 26-8 146-1 67-7 384,000 4,994 Together 4868S-2 12852-3 311-9 905-9 7573-8 659-5 164-8 523-7 26-8 146-1 67-7 3S8.9W Austria- Hungary. Among the famous mines of the Austria - Hungarian empire may be mentioned those of Hungary and Transylvania for gold and silver ; Styria produces much of the iron ; quicksilver is yielded by the mines of Idria in Carniola, lead and silver by those of Przibram in Bohemia ; salt is obtained in the Austrian Alps and in Galicia, which also produces petroleum and ozokerite. The production of minerals and metals in Austria 5 during the year 1881 was as follows : Gold ore 784 metric tons Metallic gold Silver ore 12,383 Quicksilver ore 48,204 Copper ore 4,445 Iron ore 618,963 Lead ore 13,542 Zinc ore 27339 Manganese ore 9,109 Graphite 13.379 Petroleum 1,249 Lignite 8.961,498 Coal 6,343,315 Exclusive of salt, the value of the produce of the Austrian mines in 1881 was 44,693,692 florins. The total output of salt in 1881 was 267,279 metric tons, valued according to the monopoly prices at 23,000,498 florins. Hungary in 1879 6 produced silver ,, mercury. copper.... iron _( lead Litharge Metallic zinc 18-6 kilogrammes. 31,359 398 metric tons. 481 179,639 6,385 2,996 ., 4,119 Iron 118,321 metric tons. Coal 674,008 Lignite 932,475 ,, Iron pyrites 56,282 Gold 1,593 kilogrammes. Silver 18,660 Copper 1,035 metric tons. Lead 1,967 ,, M jrcury 22 ,, ,, Belgium. Belgium is rich in coal, the output in 1881 being no less than 16,873,951 metric tons, valued at 163,704,242 francs. Though it produces iron ores, it is largely dependent upon other countries, and especially the grand-duchy of Luxemburg, for supplies for its blast furnaces. The principal lead mine is that of Bleiberg, and the calamine deposits in the neutral territory of Moresnet have long been worked with success by the celebrated Vieilie Montagne Company, which also owns zinc mines in Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Sardinia, and Algeria. Russia. In a vast empire like Russia it is not surprising that there should be valuable deposits of a great variety of minerals. Among the most important are the auriferous alluvia of the Ural mountains and Siberia, which in 1880 yielded 115,940 troy It) of gold, worth more than 5 millions sterling. Platinum is found associ ated with the gold-bearing sands of the Urals ; the output in 1880 was 7895 troy lb. Zinc ore is largely worked in Poland. Import- 1 Statistique de V Industrie Minerale et des Appareils a Vapeur en France et en Afgerie, Amide 1880, Paris, 18S2, pp. 59 and 72. a Detailed statistics concerning tlie mineral produce of Prussia are given every year in the Zeitschrift fiir das Burg-, Iliitten-, untl Salinen-Wcsen im Preussischen Staate (Berlin). Quantity less than 50 tons. ant supplies of chromic iron ore are derived from the Urals, amount ing in 1880 to more than 8000 tons. The metallic copper produced in 1880 was aboxit 3100 tons, and the oil wells of Baku yielded in that year 346,000 tons of petroleum. Russia also possesses mines of iron ore, manganese, lead, silver, coal, and lignite. A little tin ore is furnished by Finland. Italy. The most important mineral in Italy 7 is sulphur, 359,540 tons (metric), worth 36,448,453 lire, having been obtained in 1880, and mainly from seams containing the native element in the Miocene rocks of Sicily and Romagna. The celebrated iron mines of the island of Elba have been worked from very early times, and furnish a valuable ore ; and the deposits of calamine, lead ore, and silver ore in Sardinia form no small pro portion of the mineral wealth of the Italian kingdom. The gold mines in and near the Yal Auzasca (Piedmont) are producing more than 7000 ounces of metal yearly. Spain. Spain is justly celebrated for its mineral wealth. It produces more cupreous pyrites than any other country in the world, and very large amounts of lead ore and quicksilver; and its iron ores are abundant and of excellent quality. The principal lead mines are in the provinces of Jaen (Andalusia) and Murcia, and the total amount of metallic lead produced in Spain or from Spanish ores is estimated to be 120,000 tons yearly. Cinnabar, the heavy red ore of mercury, naturally attracted atten tion at a very early date, and the world-renowned Almaden mine has been worked from time immemorial. The output in 1880 was 13874 tons (metric) of quicksilver. 8 The cupreous pyrites, often known as sulphur ore, is obtained from the province of Huelva, where vast deposits occur over a belt of country nearly 100 miles long by 20 miles wide. The Rio Tinto mines are the largest in the district, and are worked on a gigantic scale. The company employs upwards of 10,000 hands, or more persons than are engaged in all the Cleveland iron mines, and the output is upwards of a million tons per annum. About one-quarter of this, containing 3 per cent, of copper, is exported, mainly for the manufacture of sulphuric acid and subsequent treatment for copper and silver, whilst the remaining three-quarters, with 2 to 2 per cent, of copper, are treated on the spot. The ore contains rather less than 1 oz. of silver to the ton, and a few grains of gold. These are profitably extracted from the burnt ore by Claudet s process, and some idea of the importance of the copper and silver will be gained by reference to the following figures. 9 During the year 1881 there were obtained from cupreous pyrites imported into the United Kingdom in 1881, mainly from Spain and Portugal, 14,000 tons of copper, 258,463 oz. of silver, and 1490 oz. of gold. The total value of the silver and gold was 64,195. The total output of iron ore in 1880 was 3,565,338 metric tons, 10 more than two-thirds, viz., 2,683,627 tons, being obtained from the celebrated mines near Bilbao in the province of Biscay. England, France, Belgium, and Germany are all glad to draw supplies of Jahrbuck fiir das H,-rg- und Iluttenwesen im Konigreiclie Suchsen( Freiberg). j 1881, p. 406. 5 Stat, .lahrb. des k. k. Ackerbau- Ministeriuins fur 1881, Heft Hi., Lief. 1, ! &quot; --&quot;-&quot; &quot;- J - &quot; Vienna, 1882. V 1U1111U, lOOi. &quot; Der Bergwerksbetrieb Ungr.vns im Jahrel879,&quot; Oesterreichiscfte Zeittchrift fiir B^-g- und ffiitUnweien, 1881, p. 271. 1881, p. 406. 8 Estadistica Minera de Espana, correfponditnte al ano de 1880. Madrid, 1382, p. 37. 9 Hunt, Mineral Statistics, &amp;lt;fec., p. 46. 10 Estadistica Minera, Ac., ut supra, p. 15.
 * Detailed statistics of the mineral produce of Saxony are given yearly in the, 7 Notitie statistiche sullalndustria Mineraria in Italia dal 18GOa&amp;lt; 1880, Rome,