Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/326

 COPPER MINES of sulphate of copper, employing 47 hands, and producing 945 tons, valued at $110,000. The most important mines of the Austrian em- pire are in Hungary, though the metal is also found in Bohemia. The product of ore, metal, and sulphate, with the value of each, from 1863 to 1867, is shown in the following table : 1864.. 1865.. 1866.. 1867.. Ore, 58,037 66,255 44,763 50,825 Value. $751,605 940,682 780,222 761,937 781,864 Copper, tons. 2,542 2,380 2,887 Value. $1,326,861 1,411,658 1,180,398 Sulphate, 409,173 390,544 508,931 Value. $29,053 23,545 30,573 40,522 60,165 The product of copper for 1869 was 2,698 metric tons. In Italy copper is found in the mountains bordering the gulf of Genoa, and in Sardinia, and there are mines in the mountains of Modena, and in central and southern Tus- cany. In 1865 there were 34 mines in Italy, employing 2,412 hands, and producing 16,075 metric tons of ore, valued at $318,725 ; and 21 smelting works, with 287 hands, producing 1,032 tons of copper, worth $552,915. The average production during the period 1867-'70 was 25,500 tons of ore and 550 tons of pig copper. In France there are copper mines at Chessy and St. Bel near Lyons, but the pro- duct is not large. Considerable quantities of ore and crude metal, however, are imported, and smelted in that country. The product of the mines and smelting works for different periods has been as follows : M NES. 8MELTH. G WORKS. YEARS. Copper, tons. Value. Copper, toot. Value. 1855 99 $64400 7190 $4359400 1861 465 255,400 11410 5,406,400 1867 755 339429 20016 9,801 454 1868 811 840238 22 422 10 160 900 The imports into France from 1857 to 1868 are shown by the following table : YEARS

RE. CRUDE COPPER. Ton*. Value. Ton.. Value. 1857 1858... 4,861 4,347 $972,178 869,462 12,345 11,199 $8,024,568 6,853,605 1859 6582 1 816 439 12,770 6640545 1860 4135 827006 18350 7 209 162 1861 5827 1 165400 13959 6 700 489 1862 1868.. 8,862 8976 1,772,492 1 795 292 13,301 16175 6,384,813 7440736 1864... 1865 . . . 7,950 6392 1,589,928 1 278 461 17,827 15610 8J85J173 7,492,963 1866 1867 1868 4,217 8,806 5,742 843,423 721,192 1,091,074 20.576 18,900 19,310 9,841,631 7,370,956 6,951,605 Of the 71,697 tons of ore imported into France during that period, 22,119 were from Peru and 7,870 from Algeria. The value of manufac- tured, alloyed, and old copper imported in 1868 was $1,348,014. The exports in 1867 were 3,454 metric tons of ore and 2,647 of crude copper; in 1868, 2,976 tons of ore, 3,812 of crude copper, and $1,380,861 worth of manufactured copper. Spain is one of the chief copper-producing countries, and its mines have long been famous. The most important are those of Huelva, near the Rio Tinto, in Andalusia. The quantity of ore raised has been as follows: in 1864, 294,079 metric tons; in 1866, 347,257; in 1868, 284,184. The amount worked at the government mine of Tinto in 1864 was 64,756 tons, producing 1,046^ tons of copper; in 1866, 67,608 tons, producing 1,135 tons of copper; in 1868, 56,453 tons, producing 1,124 tons of copper. The average fineness was If per cent. At the same rate the total copper product of the kingdom for 1864 would be 5,146 tons; in 1866, 6,077 tons; in 1868, 4,973 tons. From Portugal were ex- ported to Great Britain, in 1868, 1,774 tons of ore, worth $125,830 ; in, 1869, 4,214 tons, worth $308,840; in 1870, 2,592 tons, worth $152,275 ; in 1871, 2,895 tons, worth $287,755. In England, the mines of Cornwall and Dev- onshire were formerly the most productive known, but they have greatly declined. There are also some mines in Cumberland, Wales, and Ireland. In 1757 the mine called Huel Virgin, in Cornwall (now a part of the consoli- dated mines), produced in two weeks, at a cost of 100, copper ores which sold for 5,700 ; and in the next 23 days the product, obtained at about the same proportional cost, sold for 9,600. From 1744 to 1758 the average an- nual value of the copper product of Cornwall is stated at from 100,000 to 160,000. The production continued rapidly to increase, until in 1800 it amounted to 55,981 tons of ore, which produced 5,187 tons of metal, worth 550,925. In 1805, 78,452 tons of ore produ- ced 6,234 tons of copper, worth 862,510 ; and though in subsequent years larger quantities of equally rich ore were produced, the same value was not reached till 1834, when 143,296 tons of ore produced 11,224 tons of copper, worth 887,502. The product of the mines of the United Kingdom since 1847 has been as follows: YEARS. Copper, tons. Value. YEARS. Copper, tons. Value. 1847... 14,139 996,199 1860. 15,968 1,706,261 1848.. 18,608 795,582 1861. 15,881 1,572,480 1849.. 12,670 836,552 1862. 14,843 1,498,241 1850.. 13,314 954,949 1868. 14,247 1,409,608 1851.. 12,914 866,080 1864. 13,802 1,350,699 1852.. 12,868 1,076,833 1865. 11,888 1,134,664 1853.. 13,137 1,281,410 1866. 11,153 1,019,168 1854.. 18,113 1,822,903 1867. 10,233 831,761 1855.. 13,854 1,400,657 1868. 9,817 761,602 1856.. 13,275 1,283,639 1869. . 8,291 644,065 1857.. 17,875 2,154,500 1870. . 7,175 551.309 1858.. 14.456 1,562,693 1871. . 6,280 471,000 1859.. 15,770 1,734,700 11872. . 6,000 450,000 The product for 1856 includes that of Corn- wall and Devon only ; that for 1872 is estimated. In addition to the above, considerable quanti- ties of copper are obtained from pyrites mined in the kingdom. The amount for 1867 was 2,338 tons; 1868, 1,530; 1869, 1,519; 1870 and 1871,