176

MINES.

ounce of silver, -which contains 3 per cent, of gold. Their annual product was toward1786, according to M. Patrin, 3,000 marcs, or 1,615 libs, avoirdupois of gold, worth101,1511.; and 60,000 marcs, or 31,020 libs, avoird. or silver, worth 130,5201.

The precious metals are not the sole product of this mineral district. There is animportant copper-mine 15 leagues N.W. of Zmeof, in a chain of hills formed °I’S ra 'nitic rocks, schists, porphyries, and shell-limestone, graduating into the plain. 1', ievein presents copper pyrites, sulphuret of copper, and native copper, disseminated inargillaceous substances, more or less ferruginous, and of different degrees of hardness-This mine, which bears the name of Aleiski-Loktefski, furnished annually at the dateof 1782, 1,500 quintals (metric), or 330,000 libs, avoird. of copper, which was coineinto money in the country itself. »

At Tchakirskoy, on the banks of the Tscharisch, toward the northern extremity 01the metalliferous semicircle, mentioned above, there is a mine of argentiferous copP eand lead, opened in a very large but extremely short vein. Besides the lead ® n _copper ores, including a little silver, this mine affords a great quantity of ealam inL(carbonate of zinc), which forms occasionally fine stalactites of a white or green colo •The northern flank of the Altai mountains presents few mines. Some veins 0copper exist 2,000 leagues east of Zmeof, near the spot where the river Janissei issufrom the Saxanean mountains, which are a prolongation of the Altayan chain. .

There is no lead-mine, properly so called, in the Altai mountains. Almost all jlead which is required for the treatment of the silver and gold ores is obtained from 1department of Nertchinsk, situated 700 leagues off', on the borders of the river Jrnou ‘The first smelting-house erected in this district was in the middle of the metallifmj 0 ^region at Kolywan, the place from which it takes its name. It has been suppressed,account of the dearth of wood in the neighborhood of the mines. The principal exting foundry it that of Bornaoul on the Ob, 50 leagues north of Zmeof.

MINES OF THE UBAL MOUNTAINS.

ates

This chain of mountains, which begins on the coasts of the icy sea, and term'"- .in the 50th degree of latitude amid the steppes of the Kerguis, after having n dthrough an extent of more than 40 leagues, the natural limit between EuropeAsia, contains very rich and very remarkable deposites of metallic ores, which &given rise to important mines of iron, copper, and gold. These explorationssituated on the two slopes, but chiefly on the one that looks to Asia , from the enyiof Ekaterinbourg to about 120 or 130 leagues north of that city. They constitutedepartment of the mines of Ekaterinbourg, one of the three belonging to Siberia . eThe copper-mines are pretty numerous, and lie almost wholly on the oriental 9 "j,of the chain. They are opened into veins of a very peculiar nature, and which altn

very powerful at the surface, do not extend to any considerable depth.

These

vein 9

and

are in general filled with argillaceous matters, penetrated with red oxide of copp er Jmingled with green and blue carbonated copper, sulphuret of copper, and native copThe most important workings are those of Tourinski and Gonmechafski. &e , ’ ree

The first are situated 120 leagues north of Ekaterinbourg , toward the ^liof N. latitude, at the eastern base of the Uralian mountains, near the banks of the 1 te dThey amount to three, opened in the same vein, which turns round on angle P re to0 eby the chain in this place. The ground is composed of a porphyry with a b° g oC rbasis of clay-slate, and of a white or grayish limestone, which form the root a ua llyof the vein. The ore yields from 18 to 20 per cent., and these mines produced ain 1786, 10,000 metric quintals (2,200,000 libs, avoird.) of copper. ea r a

The mine of Goumechefski lies 12 or 15 leagues S.W. of Ekaterinbourg * c j ia inlake bordered By primitive mountains, which form in this region the axis ol j n ;t.of the Urals . This mine is celebrated for the beautiful malachites that oc e jjery-It has furnished almost all the fine specimens of this substance employed in J s0 uth-The vein, of which the sides are calcareous, is vertical, and runs north coa rscIt does not sink deeper than about 50 yards, and is filled with a species . to "pudding-stone, composed of masses of primitive rocks. The ore yields aT oird-per cent, of copper, and the mine furnished about the year 1786, 4,400,000 Hof this metal per annum. ■ aX ; 3 of ^ e

The beds of iron ore occur generally at a certain distance from thecentral chain. Those of the western slope lie sometimes in a gray coinp a _^ l|0 t pee 11which contains entrochi and other petrifications, and whose geological age [ cha* n 'ascertained, but it appears to be much more modern than the rocks of the ce ^ e ptb, 0Both the one and the other seem to form large veins, which extend little of > r °rather fill irregular and shallow cavities. The most common ore is the bbydr® ]H(bog ore), hematite, or compact iron ore, sometimes mixed or accompanieof manganese, and occasionally with ores of zinc, copper, and lea j ar ]y inof iron, possessing magnetic polarity, likewise frequently occurs, par

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