I do not believe that at present, and for many years to come, it is possible to work these ores and make iron and steel to compete with American or British imported iron.
But the time may come when, under different conditions, these remarkable ores may be turned to account; in fact, it is a.s.serted a scarcity of high cla.s.s iron ore will soon occur, in which case the Philippine ores of such extraordinary richness will come into use.
Coal.
It is common to see coal mentioned amongst the mineral resources of the Philippines, but so far as I have been able to learn, no true coal has been found there, nor in any of the adjacent islands. There are beds of lignite of varying quality, and when enthusiastic finders are told of the poor quality of their samples, they reply at once, "It will be better at depth."
The Philippine formations seem to greatly resemble those of Borneo, and there it was found that the lignite got poorer at depth, so that mines were abandoned from this cause alone.
The Philippine beds of lignite have been violently upheaved by the cataclysms of former ages, and are often turned up vertically, as at the mines of Sugud in Albay. I was consulted about these mines after a considerable sum had been thrown away. The Spanish engineer employed commenced by building himself a commodious house; he then laid a tramway from the port to where the mine was to be, and bought a winding engine. The available capital was expended, and nothing more was done.
The position of the seams at Sugud very much resembles the occurrence of the seams at the Pengaron mine in Borneo, which stopped work 18th October, 1884, after a precarious existence of thirty-six years, on account of the poor quality of the coal and the relatively high cost of extraction. This is on the authority of Dr. Theodor Posewitz in "Borneo: its Geology and Mineral Resources," 1892, and what follows so exactly applies to all the so-called coal in the Philippines, that I shall quote the paragraph:--
P. 480.--"A number of a.n.a.lyses were carried out, and practical tests were applied on board various ships. The result was always ore or less favourable, yet n.o.body would have the coal."
The coal mine in the British Colony of Labuan was given up after several years" working.
People blame the Spanish Government, the priests, the natives, the roads, but the reason of failure in the Philippines is very simple. "n.o.body would have the coal," that is to say on board ship. The lignite could be used on land, but there is little demand for it, except for navigation. Some of it is liable to spontaneous combustion in the bunkers, some is so charged with sulphur as to be bad for the furnaces, or else it will not keep steam. I doubt if there is any good coal between j.a.pan and Australia, and as long as coal from there can be delivered at present prices in Manila, I don"t advise anybody to put money into Philippine coal unless they know more about it than I do.
It has often been said that the Philippines have never been explored. This is, however, only true of certain regions, and as regards beds of the so-called coal you will find them marked on the maps all over the princ.i.p.al islands.
If you proceed to the village nearest the spot, you will find, very probably, that the seam has been known for a century, and that pits or adits have been made and a lot of money spent to no purpose. n.o.body ever made any money out of Philippine lignite that I know of, but I don"t prophesy whether anybody ever will.
I append an a.n.a.lysis of some so-called coal that was brought me from Masbate in 1889.
a.n.a.lysis of Masbate Lignite.
Laboratory of A. del Rosario y Sales.
No. 1367. 16th April, 1889.
Lignite from Masbate.
Colour, black.
Physical condition, fragile.
Fracture, splintery.
Colour, when reduced to powder, blackish brown.
Burns with difficulty, giving a short flame; not very smoky, and leaves a brick-red ash.
c.o.ke not very spongy, pulverulent and lightly agglutinated.
Density at 33 C., 13082.
a.n.a.lysis.
Hygroscopic water 3.73 Volatile const.i.tuents 45.49 c.o.ke Fixed carbon 48.20 Ash Silica 12 Aluminic 2.46 Ferric, calcic Magnesic Chloric Sulphuric acids, etc.
100.00
c.o.ke = 50.79. Equivalent calories 5203.44 Ash = 2.58. Absolute calorific effect, centesimal 64.41 Sulphur per 100 of lignite 0.1633 Iron calculated in metallic state 1.2173 Lead reduced by 1 gramme of combustible (mean) by Berthier"s a.s.say grammes 21.90
Various Minerals.
Lead.--Galena is found in Tayabas and in Camarines Norte; in the latter province there is found chromate of lead with ferruginous quartz. This ore is often found mixed with iron or copper pyrites, and sometimes with blende.
I have seen samples of galena from Cebu which was said to be auriferous, but I have never heard that any of these ores have been worked anywhere in the islands.
If it should be found profitable to smelt the gold-bearing ores, as is so splendidly done at Denver, Col., the galena will be necessary to the success of the process.
Red Lead is found in Camarines Norte and other places.
Graphite.--In 1891 some pieces of this valuable mineral were shown to me by a native, who said he had found the ore in Mindoro, but he would not say from what locality.
Quicksilver.--I have seen small bottles of this handed round by native disciples of Ananias. But I have never seen a bit of cinnabar or other ore of mercury, and I shall not believe there is any of this metal in the Philippines until I see the ore in situ, or have good testimony to that effect.
Sulphur abounds; there are several places where it can be obtained in large quant.i.ties near the volcanoes.
Asbestos.--This curious mineral would not strike a native as being of value.
All I can say about it is that at the Madrid Exhibition of 1887 a specimen of this substance was shown by the Civil Governor of Ilocos Norte as having been found in that province.
Yellow Ochre is found in Batangas, Camarines, Albay, Leyte and Antique, amongst other places.
Kaolin is found in Manila, Batangas and Camarines Sur, and probably in many other places.
Marble of a yellowish colour has been quarried at Montalban. I have used some of it, but found it full of faults, and not very satisfactory.
Plastic Clays for pottery and for making bricks and tiles abound.
Mineral Waters.--As might be expected in a volcanic region, hot springs and mineral waters of very varied const.i.tuents abound.
I do not think that the a.n.a.lyses of these would interest the general reader.
I may say that I have derived great benefit from the hot-springs of Los Banos on the lake, and greatly regretted that I could not remain at the extraordinary vapour baths of Tibi near Tabaco.
CHAPTER XVII.