9506 R9K3 MINH )-J:i'Pl R Т М E N Т? :) nrf^ ■)м>иЬ«шам|Ш Hmf i 4f~iMBiau ::"J г T 1 GIFT ©F JEPIOME В. LAHPFEELP J THE INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA MINING AND METALLURGY WITH A SET OF MINING MAPS BY A. KEPPEJi MINING ENGINEER FOR THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION AT CHICAGO EDITOR OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION JOHN MARTI\ CRAWFORD и S CONSUL OENEKAL TO KUSSIA Vol LV ST PETEKSBUKG 1893 Published by the Mining Department Ministry of Crown Domains. ^<^y^: . 1сл<Ау^ /<^ ^^2^^,^Jt^<^ I i i'rinted by W. Kiksciiuaum, Palace Square, House of the Ministry of Finance. PREFACE. HI PKEFACE. The mining industries, which constitute one of the chief branches of national economy and whose products form the most important objects of national wealth and consumption, undoubtedly deserve special attention among the various branches of industry of the Empire. The present review of the Russian Mining Industries was written for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 1893, and its main object is to acquaint foreign countries with the position of the industry in Russia. This work has been based upon the facts and data given in the official mining and metal- lurgical statistics annually published by the Mining Committee of Engineers, and the author has endeavoured to group these data in the clearest form possible and to elucidate them by giv- ing the reasons which have brought the separate branches of the industry to their present position. Therefore, notwithstanding the brevity of the present review, it was impossible to neglect the historical side of the development of the mining industry in Russia. This side of the subject is both treated in the introduc- tion and in the historical sketches of the rise and progress of the individual branches of mining and metallurgical works. But as the statistical data alone of the production of the objects of this industry cannot give the possibility of form- IV.^?0859 lY PREFACE. ing a conception of the extent to which the home industry corresponds to the national demand, inasmuch as this demand progresses and satisfies itself by interchange of these commodities with other countries, therefore the author has thought best to answer these questions by giving further data collected from various sources. And lastly, upon the suppositions that the acquaint- ing of foreign countries with the position of the Eussian mining industries may tend to incite commercial relations with other countries, which do not at present carry on any interchange with the products of the Russian Mining Industry, the author enumerates those countries which already participate in such interchange of trade, and cites the duties laid upon the import- ation of foreign products by the tariff of 1891. The extent of these duties also clearly indicates the protective policy required by each of the individual branches of this industry. A. Keppen, Mining Engineer. PREFACK. PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION. A visit to the Imperial Hermitage at St. Petersburg will impress even a casual observer witli the great variety and mar- vellous beauty of the jasper, porphyry, lapis lazuli, malachite and other semi-precious stones brought from the mines and quarries of the Empire to adorn the National Museum and Gal- lery of Arts. In like manner a visit to the Mineralogical and Mining museums of the Eussian Capital will convince the spec- ialist of the wonderful wealth of precious stones, noble metals, and other valuable minerals found in the different regions of this vast country. In these pages Mr. A. Keppen, Mining Engineer, has given a scientific, interesting and very instructive resume of the min- ing industries of Russia, together with an historical description of their birth and development in the several portions of the Empire: he has also given a detailed and carefully tabulatcHl account of the commercial importance of the many products of the Russian mines, and with the aid of тщ^ has carefully pointed out the most important localities of the principal deposits. In this work Mr. Keppen has been aided by the official figures of the Mining Department. Ministry of Imperial Domains. In the editino; of this translation I have soua'ht to render the compound consonants of the Russian language, and especially VI PREFACE. the geographical and other proper names, into Enghsh after a simple and uniform method. Therefore, case and gender endings, particularly of adjectives, have been dropped. To illustrate, the very common adjective terminations, ской, екая, ское (skoi, ska'ia, skoie), used to designate the genders, have been shorn of their final vowels, and the reader will consequently find such expres- sions as the Dombrovsk Mining School, instead of the varying forms, Domhroffshy, Domhrofshy. Bombrowski, Bombrovsky, or Dombrovskaia Mining School. However, such proper names as have become fixed with any degree of uniformity in Enghsh books have been retained in their famihar dress, although the orthography be erroneous, as Kirghiz for Kirgiz, and Ural mountains for Uralsk mountains. In this connection I wish to call attention to the list of errors to be found at the end of this work, and to say, as in the Preface to Manufactures and Trade of Eussia of this series of volumes, that this translation has been made in very great haste, and that the typographical work has been done by casemen unfamil- iar with the English language, thus making it extremely dif- ficult to avoid errors. In this instance, however, the more important mistakes of this kind, especially such as were apt to be mislead- ing, have been corrected in the table of Errata at the close of the volume. In presenting this translation of the Mining and Metallurgy of Russia to the visitors of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, I feel confident that the authentic information con- tained in .these pages will be of practical value to those who are interested in the great mining industries of the United States; and it was in this conviction that I accepted the labour of this Edition. J. M. Crawford. St. Petersburg, Aug. 11, 1893. CONTENTS. VII Contents. PAGE. Preface И1 Preface to the English Trakslation V Russian weights and measures Vni Introduction ..... 1 Mining Schools .• 10 Gold 11 Platinum 18 Silver 20 Copper 23 Lead 27 Zinc 29 Tin -30 Mercury 31 Manganese 32 Cobalt and Nickel 34 Iron 34 Coal эЗ Salt 75 Naphtha 81 Asphalt 90 Sulphur 9'^ Graphite 92 Phosphorites 92 Rare minerals, building materials 93 Mineral springs 96 VIII RUSSIAN WEIGHTS AND MEASUKES RUSSIAN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. The following tables will serve to define the Russian weights and measures in terms of the French Metric System, as also in those which are used in the United States. I. Long" measure. The lineal measures of Russia have for a unit the foot, which, according to the laws of Peter the Great, is the same as the English foot. 1 Russian foot » 1 Russian arshine » 1 Russian sagene » 1 Russian verst = 1 English or United States foot. = 12 inches = 120 lines = 1,200 points. = 0-304794 metres = .30-4794 centimetres. = 16 vershocks = 28 inches. = 2V3 feet = V9 or 0-77778 yards = 0-71118 metres. = 7 feet = 3 arshines. = 2-13356 metres = 213-356 centimetres. = 2-3333 yards. = 500 sagenes = 3,500 feet. = 1066-78 metres = 1-06678 kilometres. = 0-66269 English miles. II. Square measure. 1 square sagene = 49 sq. feet = 4*5521 sq. metres. » = 5-4444 sq. yards. 1 dessiatine (Russian land measure) = 2,400 sq. sagenes. » = 1-0925 hectare = 2-6997 acres. 1 square verst = 250,000 sq. sagenes = 104-17 dessiatines. » = 1-1380 sq. kilometres. » = 0-43916 sq. English mile. RUSSIAN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. IX III. Cubic measure. 1 cubic sagene = 343 cubic feet. » = 9*712 cubic metres. » = 12"704 cubic yards. IV. Avoirdupois weig-ht. 1 poud = 40 Russian pouuds = 001638 metric tons = 16-380 kilograms. = 0-32243 cwt. or 32-243 Eng. lbs. 1 Russian pound = 32 lots = 96 zolotniks = weight of 25-019 cubic inches of water at 137з" R- in vacuo. )) = 0-40951 kilograms = 409*51 grams. » = 0-90282 English pounds. 1 zolotnik Troy weight. 96 dolee. 4-2657 grams. 65-830 grains, Troy. INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION. THE birth of a true mining and metallurgical industry in Russia and the institution by the Government of systematic measures for its encouragement date only u'om the seventeenth century. Although before this the beginnings of a metallurgical and salt industry did exist in various parts of European Russia and Siberia, still strictly speak- ing, metallurgical works, in the present sense of the word, were only first founded in the reign of Peter the Great, who in 1700 also established the first separate official mining administration, known as the "Prikase of Mining Affairs". At the end of the year 1719 the Mining College was established for the administra- tion of mining affairs and of the artillery. An ukase of Peter the Great dated De- cember 10, 1719, and entitled the "Mining Privilege", forms the first Russian mining law, and the basis of all subsequent governmental measures for the regulation of mines. The Mining Privilege proclaimed an entire freedom in the establishment of a mining industrj' in Russia, with the right to prospect for ores and all kinds of mineral deposits not only on governmental property and on that of the prospectors, but also on the lands of other proprietors, even without their consent. In case of the appropriation of the property of others for metallurgical works or mines, the owners of the enterprise were obliged to pay the landowner a thirty-secondth part of the profits, besides a special indemnification for the lands occupied by the mines and works, and for the forests re- quired to supply fuel for the furnaces. The workmen employed in mines and metal- lurgical works were exempted from all taxation and also from military service. Furthermore, Peter the Great, recognizing the imperial right over all the mineral wealth of the land, instituted a Government tax of one-tenth of the production of all mines. In 1720 he issued ukases to the effect that no one should dare to impede the development of the mining industries, and also authorizing the importation of foreign workmen for employment in Russian works and mines. The most active helpers of Peter the Great in increasing the number of metallurgical works in various parts of Russia, in the Government of Tula, Olonets and the Urals, were Wilhelm de Hennin of Saxony, Tatischev and Nikitin Demidov, a merchant of Tula. De Hennin among other things founded the town of Ekaterinburg and established there the first mining school in Russia. Even to his death the Great Reformer devoted unceasing and especial care to the development of the mining industry and to the organization of a mining adnunistration in Russia, and thereby gave a firm basis for the growth of this important branch of national wealth. But the elements of mining freedom which were at the basis of the Mining Priv- ilege were not destined to receive that further development for which they were espec- ially intended, nor did they give that impetus to mining matters that might have been assuredly expected had they been properly cultivated. These elements did not remain 2 MIXING INDUSTRIES OF EUSSIA. in force in Russian legislation for more than sixty years, and during that time the Mining Privilege did not remain Avithout additions and alterations. The Empress Cathe- rine I, by an ukase dated 1727, endeavoured to facilitate the mining industries in distant parts of the Empire, and more especially in Siberia. In the reign of the Empress Anna loanovna the mining administration underwent a further modification, and in 1736 the Mining Privilege was annulled, and a Govern- ment Mining Direction w^as established for the administration of such affairs. On the recommendation of the all-powerful Biron, Baron von Schemberg a native of Saxony Avas nominated the first director of this ofiice. In 1739 an ukase was issued entitled the Mining Regulations. The most important point in this ukase was the handing over of all the State works, with the exception of Mount Blagodat in the Urals and the copper- mines of Lapland, to the management of private individuals and companies. The iron works on Mount Blagodat were placed under the direction of Schemberg himself. Du- ring the administration of the Mining Directorium the works which had been distributed among private individuals fell into a state of the utmost disorder and mismanagement, in consequence of which the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, in 1742, abolished the Mining Direction, ordered the works to be removed from Schemberg's hands and reestablished the Mining College. The discovery of gold in the neighbourhood of Ekaterinburg in the Berezovsk mines, and the smelting of auriferous silver ores of the Altai mountains at Demidov's works, which from that time passed over to the State, were the most impor- tant mining events of the reign of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The idea of founding a higher mining school in St. Petersburg, which first arose at the close of the reign of the Empress Elizabeth, was only fulfilled during the reign of the Empress Catherine, in 1773. In 1775 the administration of mining affairs in Russia underwent an entire reorganization. Soon after the subdivision of the Empire into gov- ernments, it was decreed by an Imperial ukaze, that the mining affairs should be given over to the administration of the local state tribunals by means of special mining commissions. This arrangement brought the metallurgical works of Russia and especially of the Urals into a state of perfect decadence. In the mining legislation of the Empire the Empress Catherine II took an exactly opposite view from that of Peter the Great in his Act of Privileges. This was brought about by a manifesto dated June 28, 1782, by which the landowners were endowed with a freedom in the disposition of their lands and a right over, not only their superficial area, but also over all the minerals contained beneath, and over the metals produced from such minerals. The main principles of this manifesto remain in force up to the present day. The unsatisfactory management of the metallurgical Avorks of the Empire already called forth certain modifications in the mining administration during the close of the reign of Catherine П, and induced the Emperor Paul, on his accession to the throne, to separate the direction of the mining affairs from the state tribunals, and to re-found the Mining College. The Emperor Paul, on the recommendation of the director of the Mining College, Saymonov, despatched exploring expeditions to various parts of the Empire with a view to the discovery of new mineral deposits and to make a mineralogical survey of the country. On the formation of the Imperial Ministries by Alexander I, in 1802, the Mining College was subordinated to the Ministry of Finance, and in 1806 it was ultimately abol- ished and the Mining Department established in its place. In the reign of the Emperor Alexander the name of Derzabin is especially memorable in the administration of min- INTLGDUCTION, О ing affairs, as that of the author of a "Project of an Act for the Regulation of Mines", edited July 13, 1806. It was at first proposed to try this project for a period of five years, from 1807 to 1812, and then, after revision, to ultimately confirm it; however owing to the events of those times, it was never revised, but remained in force until the first edition of the code of laws into whicli it entered in the form of a mines statute. In 1811 the salt industry was also brought under the supervision of the Mining Depart- ment. In 1825 the Mining Journal was first publiehed at the instigation of the director Kar- neev of the Mining Department, under Count Kankrine. This Journal was published with a view to supplying the most recent information concerning mining and metallurgical matters. During the reign of Emperor Nicolas the mining industry made rapid progress both in its scientific as well as in its technical and administrative aspects. Numerous mining surveys and expeditions were made in various parts of the Russian Empire. And here mention should be made of the expeditions made in 1829, under the special patron- age of the Emperor Nicolas, by Alexander von Humbolt and his fellow travellers /birr//. Gustave Rose and Erenberg, and of the geological survey made by the English savant ^ ^ iMurchcson together with the French paleontologist de Vernien and Count Kaiserling. ^ '''''' -^ This survey embraced the whole of European Russia and the Urals. Besides these' the expedition conducted by Demidov in the south of Russia, with the French savant Le Play at its head, should be mentioned, as also the exploration of the Caucasus and Crimea by Dubois de Monpere, and of the Altai by Chikachev. To this reign also belong the geological researches of the Russian geologists, Schourovsky, Eichwald, Hel- merson, Hoffmann and others. The great reforms made by the Emperor Alexander could ujt but have their in- fluence on the mining industries. The most important of them, namely, the liberation of the serfs in 18(51, brought about a complete revolution in the position of the mining industry of Russia, which in its immediate ond possible future consequences must be acknowledged as more important than all the modifications which the Russian Mining legislation had undergone up to that date. The abolition of obligatory serf labour, upon which the entire Russian mining production was, like all other industries, dependent, could not but produce a radical reform in the economic aspect of the industry and in the position of the mining population. With it the responsiliilities and duties of the mining administration also inevitably underwent a substantial change. The Government administration having up to 1861 immediately directeil the labours of the very consid- erable mmiber of workmen employed in the state works, and being called upon to guard over the relations held towards the labourers of private works whose proprietors were in their turn more or less the perfect disposers of the labour of their own serfs, was unable to limit itself to purely mining affairs, but was necessarily obliged to take upon itself many of the duties of a general state direction. Thus the mining department had its own police, its court of justice, inspection of schools, ho.spitals, churches and even its own post. After the liberation of the mining population from obligatory labour, such a union of most varied duties under one administration lost its nu'aning, and from that time began, so to say, the process of the specialization of the mining administration. It will be sufficient to cite only the most important of the many measures adopted for the protection of the mining industry during the reign of the Emperor Alexander П. The introduction in 1862 of an excise upon salt led to the withdrawal of the entire and vast salt business of the Empire from the jurisdiction of the Alining Depart- 4 MIXING INDUSTEIES OF KUSSIA. ment. The Imperial Mints were also separated in 1872, and the abolition of the tax upon crude naphtha led to the inspection of the private naphtha trade being given over to the Mining Dii'ection. Among the legislative measures of that period mention must be made of the following, having special reference to mining matters: 1. The publication in 1870 o f a statute respecting the private gold workings, in which rules were laid down regulating the gold production for the whole Empire; also many other measures respecting the extensive development and encouragement of the gold industry. 2. The declaration of a free naphtha trade and the publication of a special law respecting its production. 3. The giving of special bounties for the encouragement of the preparation of sulphur from pyrites. 4. The abolition of the salt monopoly and the permission of a free production and sale of salt, together with the subsequent introduction of the excise system of the salt revenue in 1862. 5. The publication in 1870 of a new mining law for the governments of Poland on the principle of separating the rights of the landowner from the minerals under his lands. 6. The formation of an Institute of district mining engineers for the inspection of private mines and works. During the reign of the Emperor Alexander II the mining tributes were one after another subjected to revision, which in general resulted in their being abated, and in some cases abolished. In 1874 the Mining Department was transferred from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of State Domains. Geological surveys and prospectings for mineral deposits were most actively con- ducted during the reign of the Emperor Alexander II. These surveys embraced every kind of minerals and extended from the frontiers of Germany and Austria over the whole of European and Asiatic Russia, as far as the shores of the Pacific ocean and the adjacent island of Sakhalin, on the one hand, and from the Mourman shores of the Arctic ocean and the mouths of the Petchora to the southern base of the Caucasus and the very heart of central Asia, the unexplored Pamir, on the other. It cannot but be recognized that such explorations must have borne important results both for science and for the development and extension of the mining production of Russia. These explorations, for example, called particular attention to the coal fields, salt and naphtha springs, and also to the iron ores of the south of Russia. Lastly it was during the reign of the Em- peror Alexander II that the first meetings of mine owners and metallurgists were held in the various mining centres of Russia for the purpose of discussing the requirements of entire mining districts and of individual branches of the mining and metallui'gical industries. Starting from 1881, a series of very important changes were made in the mining administration and legislation of the Empire. The abolition of the excise upon salt and its removal from the control of the Ministry of Finance considerably extended the range of action of the general mining direction. The formation of new mining regulations in western and eastern Siberia and in southern Russia, together with the reorganisation of the existing mining direction of the Urals and Caucasus, increased the powers of the local mining administrations. The relations between the owners on the one hand, and the workmen on the other were regulated by applying the already existing factory law to the private mining and metallurgical industries. INTRODUCTION. О Among the legislative measures of this reign the following should he mentioned as having special reference to mines: a. The extension of the mining law of 1870 for Poland, by which the expropriation of the subsoil minerals was applied to iron in addition to coal, zinc, and lead ores. b. The publication of a new law respecting the naphtha industry. с The imposition of a tax upon the pig iron and zinc smelted in Poland. d. The imposition of a tax upon gold with every possible facility for the payment of such a tax. e. The publication of a law for the preservation of mineral springs. f. The publication of a special law referring to private mines and works upon free Crown lands. This is a category of lands which plays a very important part in Russia, and for which the Government has never discredited the principle of so-called mining freedom, which Peter the Great placed as the basis of his mining legislation. The brilliant scientific and practical results attained by the geological surveys of western Europe and the United States induced the Russian Government to found a special geological institute for the purpose of making a systematic geological survey of the Empire. This institute was established in 1882, under the name of the Geological Committee. Its chief aim was the compilation of a general geological map of Russia, together with a systematic description of its formations. The work conducted by the Committee resulted in a substantial modification of the previous geological data for almost all the districts surveyed by them. Having terminated the historical review of the various changes which the mining administration and legislation underwent from the time of Peter the Great, the present organisation of the mining administration and the mining legislation now in force, may may be discussed. The direction of the mining affairs of Russia, exclusive of Finland, is mainly con- centrated in the Mining Department of the Ministry of State Domains. The only excep- tions are the mining and metallurgical industries of the Province of Don Cossacks, which are under the supervision of the Ministry of War, and also the metallurgical works of the Altai and Nerchinsk mining districts of Siberia which are under the man- agement of His Majesty's Cabinet, forming a part of the Ministry of the Imperial Court. It should be remembered that as the mining industries include besides mines the metallurgical works, the mining administration directs not only the raising of ores, but also their mechanical, inetallurgical and chemical treatment. The naphtha industry however forms an exception and is subject to the Ministry of Finance. The Government works and mines are divided into districts, each of which is under the supervision of a special mining inspector. There are four such districts in the Urals, one in northern Russia and one in Poland. The head direction of the Ural dis- tricts belongs to the chief inspector of the Government Ural works, who also controls all the private mining industries within these districts. The private works and mines are under the inspection of district engineers, eight in the Urals, four in southern Russia, two in central Russia, three in Poland, one in northern Russia, four in the Caucases, six in western and six in eastern Siberia. The district engineers have an immediate control over the private metallurgical works and mines of their districts and thus form the link between them and the chief mining administration. In certain parts of Russia there are mining directions to which the local district engineers are subordinate. There MIXING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. are five such directions, one at Ekaterinburg over the Ural districts, one at Elcateri- noslav over the south of Russia, one at Tiflis over the Caucasus, one at Tomsk over western Siberia and one at Irkutsk over eastern Siberia. The district engineers of the two districts of central Russia, of the three districts of Poland and of that of northern Russia, are subordinate to the Mining Department at St. Petersburg. There is a mining direction also in the province of the Don Cossacks. This direction includes a special section for the salt industry and has three district engineers attached to it. The Altai and Nerchinsk mining districts are controlled by mining inspectors who are directly sub- ordinate to His Majesty's Cabinet. There is a special mining direction in Finland. As re gards the mining laws of the Empire, they are published in the seventh volume of the Code of Laws. Many additions and alterations have however been made to this code since its first publication in 1857. Some of these modifications bear a purely local character Avhile others refer to the exploitation of certain minerals. To the first category belong: a. Rules for the mining industry of the province of the Don Cossacks. b. Rules for the mining industry of Poland. с Rules for private mining enterprises on free state lands. d. Rules for the coal mines of the island of Sakhalin. e. Rules for the amber industry on state lands. To the second category belong: 1. Rules for private gold workings. 2. Rules for the naphtha industry. 3. Rules for the salt industries. There has been no possibility of publishing a general and systematic mining code because the Government has been and is still making a gradual revision of the original code, since its publication in 1857. In the Grand Duchy of Finland however the original code is still in force. The following table gives a general view of the production of the mining and metallurgical industries during the reigns of the Emperors Nicholas, Alexander II and Alexander III, that is, from 1825 to 1890. о ' С O) -d > о о ,^ CO Ph о h4 N Й 1825 1830 1835 1840 1845 1850 1855 1860 1865 1870 1875 1880 1885 1890 237 388 393 458 1,.307 1,454 1,649 1,491 1,576 2,163 1,996 2,642 2,016 2,403 1,140 11 203,000 1,282 107 236,000 42,400 — 1,212 105 240,200 42,500 153,450 1,205 93 251,600 54,400 167,200 1,192 47 254,700 55,900 217,900 1,068 10 393,600 41,200 159,100 1,100 1 378,600 110,900 67,600 1,070 61 317,100 66,700 112,200 1,084 139 253,000 99,700 188,600 868 119 308,400 100,700 230,800 601 94 222,800 66,000 243,300 616 180 195,500 70,000 267,800 687 158 288,250 43,650 279,900 889 173 349,500 51,100 230,400 9,644,500 11,169,300 10,501,100 11,331,500 11,432,600 13,892,300 15,310,600 20,467,500 18,280,700 21,949,400 26,079,700 27,364,400 32,205,500 56,560,000 9,494,000 18,309,000 23,331,000 42,416,500 104,348,000 200,784,000 260,577,500 367,203,500 20,920,400 22,500,000 26,550,000 55,477,000 24,829,000 31,559,000 26,232,500 80,638,800 :^9,013,500 35,738,700 47,531,900 69,180,400 84,857,200 556,900 1,704,450' 8,074,400 21,498,000! 116,258,900 242,941,600 INTRODUCTION. Taking the figures giving the production of the most important branches of the mining industry for 1890, their values arc found to be as follows: Gold Silver Platinum . . Copper . . . . Lead Zinc .... Mercury. . Tin Pig Iron . . . Coal Salt Naphtha . . Manganese ore Sulphur . . , W с i g li t. V a 1 u e. Ponds. i Roubles gold. 2,155 30,402,900 1,011 923,400 173 692,000 349,500 2,796,000 51,100 51,000 230,400 553,000 17,885 535,000 800 8,000 56,560,000 22,624,000 367,203,500 12,852,200 8i,857,200 3,394,300 242,941,600 9,717,700 11,139,700 389,900 9,800 5,500 The amounts of gold and silver here given do not agree with those in the preced- ing table, as the value of these metals are calculated from the quantity of chemically pure metal obtained in 1890, as further explained in the articles on gold and silver. Thus in 1890 the total value of the chief products of the mining industries of Russia amounted to 85,945,200 roubles gold, or 62,491,200 dollars. The following table, giving the amount and value of the exports and imports ot the chief products of the mining industry, .shows how far the present production satisfies the internal requirements of the Empire: Import s. Weight. Value. Pouds. Roubles Export s. Weight. Ponds. Value. Roubles KOld. Copper and alloys. . Lead Zinc Mercury Tin Pig iron Iron and steel . . . . Coal Coke Salt Naphtha and products Mineral waters . . . . Sulphur 256,700 1,899,900 329,800 858 161,000 8,132,800 6,790,100 94,008,000 12,292,250 1,052,300 29,400 184,100 1,153,400 2,960,200 3,400,500 1,255,000 12,000 1,653,500 5,277,400 14,671,400 10,840,500 1,614,70( 289,700 106,400 87,200 1,028,000 1 latnium ("opper. Lead Mercury . ... Pig iron Irou and stoel ... Other metals .... Coal Salt Naphtha and products Manganese and other ores 2071 5,300 3,300 13,850 8,-.>oo! 314,700 7,200 834,700 456.100, 1,115,600 73,200 6,200 642,900 7,6.5(1 743,800 32,900 .s8,2<)0 75,5011 48,089,300 27,637,000 8,602,300 3,348,000 8 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. Hence in 1890 the total value of the imported mining products amounted to more than 43,0Э.),0!Х) roubles, while the value of the exports was 33,750,000 roubles. If the cost of fi-eight be deducted from the value of the imports it will be found that their value equalled that of the exports. The number of men employed in the mining industries has approximately increased during the last twenty years as follows: Year s. 1870. 1875. 1880. 1881. 1882. 1883. 1884. Total number of workmen. 223,400 268,000 283,400 280,400 314,000 323,000 330,750 Yea r s. 1885. . 1886. . 1887. . 1888. . 1889. . 1890. . Total number of workmen. 349,300 356,300 393,200 419,100 416,900 435,700 During the last five years the number of men occupied in the different branches of the mining and metallurgical industries has varied as follows: 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. 74,950 85,643 89,215 90,023 87,961 5,738 4,279 5,532 4,852 4,996 7,487 9,016 9,812 10,239 11,458 1,149 1,220 1,299 577 979 197,488 224,737 230,850 216,637 233,654 70 206 282 702 687 33,158 32,781 37,957 43,275 40,571 1,138 1,318 873 829 3,096 — 15 2,392 1,464 496 250 157 88 35 38 3.051 4,102 3,348 4,793 5,994 349 430 452 408 378 16.194 19,027 14,385 19,607 19,102 11,639 11,181 22,012 22,984 21,2611 Gold and platinum mines . . Argentiferous lead Copper Zinc Iron. Mercury Coal mines Manganese mines Other metallic mines . . . Sulphur mines and works . . Naphtha industry .... Asphalt Salt Phosphorite clay and quarries. On comparing the figures of this table with those giving the production of the different industries one is struck with the much larger production per man attained in foreign countries. It must however be remembered that in Russia mineral fuel still plays a very insignificant part in metallurgical operations and that the preparation of char- coal occupies the time of a. large proportion of the men employed in these industries, and accounts for the disadvantage under which Russia suffers in this respect. The following table shows the distribution of the workmen according to the different districts and branches of mining industry for the year 1890: INTRODUCTION. cocoiM-*»oeoo50-*t~ i^ ^ о cDcooiOooo-^eo-t О С СО CO t- ОЮ1:~(М1>00— 'COO t~ i^ t~ о 05C0irtOt^t^Ol~CD С5 -^ -* Ю X — 'СОС>оо«э-ч<юео1> 00 Ю о •^ CiiOCO—'ClOO.-i 1- -^ с CD CO •I^?ox Oi Ю (М (N Tf l> 00 CO с о со Ю ■* —1 CO CO CD ' era ■4< CD о Ю CD 1-4 g CD , 1 , OOiOCDOOOt-t-iCl со с 00 CO 1 1 00 ^ C5 CD 1 , , I— I 1 t^eo era CO 00 •* CO Ю ■* -' 1 ^ CD о •snsTOm?9 1 1 .-1 .-1 01.0^ 1 1 1 1 ^ 'Я, oq_c^ (N CO 1 icTcfT 1 -^ CD__ CD <М Ю (N ОС CO о OD -^ о 05 "* t- о "Bissn^j , , , 1 , , -* ю с; 00 , , l> (M , о CO 00 с 1 CD С5 -^ а 00 1 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 1 I— 1 Ю -4 т}< II 1 Ю о CO •- 1 t- о со с 05 •Ai'S P«« -S (M со ю ^ ся 1—1 01 г-1 00 CO о a: с Ю ^ о» lO г-1 ^ CO 1 1 1 1 1 -* '-' CD CO 1 со t^ -* •puBioj 1 1 1 1 1 -41 IT 1 CO Tj<_CD^ 1 [-"оо" 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 """.v ^^ t (M t> 1~ <м о i-i с с CD oi; 01 -^ CO -* .-1 о С о t- •siTJjn 1 С-1 <м MM o.-\ м - оГ| CO >i M ■ Ф 1 '"' я • -^ s • CO S Ш CJ 13 r— о W3 -a cr . ^ С с tm -3 -3 о о Ю a- "=1 2 S^ от s omiron nes an dustry orks . rks an §1 Лез гз о . «-3 V Я с CD 'orki m w ifero min ЛУОГ ines огкя OQ S S aj U •= я !S о ч; , C^ =^S m я 5; я OJ - ;?> , ' Gold w Platinu Argent Coppei Zinc n с ^ s s hi 1 Coal m Manga Cobalt, 1 Sulphu ' Naphtl ' Kcrose Asphal Salt IMiosnli 1 Glaube 1 China Stone с- 3 - *- 10 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. The province of Turgaisk is adjoined to the Urals, and the Kirghiz steppes to western Siberia. In the Urals, central Russia and Poland, where the raining industry has long taken root, local workmen are chiefly employed. This however is not the case in southern and northern Russia nor in Siberia, where in only a comparatively small number of cases has a purely mining population begun to settle around the mining centres. This economical importance of the mining industries to the state is to a certain extent revealed in the following table, giving the revenue acquired in the form of dues and other tributes collected from private mining and metallurgical enterprises: Years. Gold and platinum. Pig iron. Copper and other metals. Salt. Naphtha and its products. R u b 1 e s. 18.55 3,231,700 769,700 769,700 9,133,600 1860 2,069,800 416,900 300,200 8,212,400 — 1865 2,001,00 » 423,850 336,000 10,785,500 — i 1870 2,740,800 412,600 46,000 1 1,956,Я00 - 1875 1,972,200 349,900 87,100 11,283,500 — 1S80 712,100 307,100 47,200 15,598,300 — 1885 2,368,00 > 426,800 173,300 645,200 — ISiJO 3,375,600 573,7C0 157,000 474,000 10,658,000 The causes influencing tlie fl.uctuations shown in the above table will be explained in speaking of the separate industries. Mining Schools and Institutes. In Russia a higher mining education is given at the Institute of Mines at St. Pe- tersburg, Avhile a more elementary is obtained at the Ural, Barnaoulsk and Dombrovsk mining schools, at the Lisichausk Overmen's School and at Poliakov's Mining School. Al these educational establishments with the exception of the Barnaoulsk school are under the supervision of the Ministry of State Domains. The Barnaoulsk School, being situated in the Altai mining district, is under the control of His Majesty's Cabinet. Besides which the Ministry of Public Instruction has recently organized lower and middle class technical schools throughout the Empire. These schools give instruction in mining among other subjects. At the present time the Ministry has two such schools under its supervision within the limits of the Ural mining districts. The Mining Institute was founded by the Empress Catherine II by an ukase dated October 21, 1773, at the request of the owners of the Bashkir gold mine for the purpose of supplying competent engineers to direct the mines and metallurgical works of the Empire. Up to 1865 it was known as the Mining Cadet Corps, and was organ- ized lifter the pattern of military shools. It bore a brilliant reputation not only for the competent mining engineers which it turned out, but also for the general education which it gave, and a long list could be made of the distinguished statesmen and men of every profession who received their education at the Mining Cadet Corps. In 1866 the INTRODUCTION. 1 1 Mining Institute was reorganized and its oliaracter completely changed. It was converted into a civil establishment and liigher school for purely mining matters. The course of study covers five years. The Mining Institute receives a yearly (iovernment grant of 138,000 roubles, 16,000 of which go to scholarships and 12,700 for special assistance of the students. At the present time there are three hundred students in the Mining In- stitute. The Institute possesses a library, chemical laboratory and nmscum, which is famous for its collection of minerals; its paleontological and geological collections are also very extensive. The Ural Mining School, situated in the town of Ekaterinburg, and the IJarnaoulsk School in the town of Barnaoul, лveгe founded at the very birth of the mining industry in the Urals and Altai, the Ural school being founded in 1721 and the Barnaoulsk in 1779. The Lisichansk Overmen's School and Poliakov's Mining School are situated in the neighbourhood of the Donets coal fields, the former having been founded in 1873 and the latter in 1877. The Dombrovsk Mining School was opened in 1889 in the centre of the Polish mining district, that is, in the village of Dombrov. All these schools have the object of preparing the under-statf of mines and works. The Lesichansk and Poliakov's schools are exclusively mining schools, while the others are also technical and metallurgical. The Lisichansk Overmen's School and the Ural and Dombrovsk mining schools receive a yearly government grant of 57,000 roubles. The yearly expenses of the Barnaoulsk School amount to about 2.3,0(Ю roubles which falls upon His ^la.jesty's Cabinet; Poliakov's School costs its founder about 20,000 roubles a year. In the year ending 1892 these four schools had a complement of 680 students. In conclusion it sliouhl be mentioned that the Government purposes to found a new mining shool at Irkutsk for the object of preparing mining engineers for the gold workings of Siberia. G I. I). The production of gold in Russia dates from the middle of the eighteenth century, when deposits of this metal were almost simultaneously discovered in the Urals and in the government of Archangel. In the Urals gold was quite accidentally discovered in 1744 on the spot Avhere the Beresovsk gold mines were subsequently situated, near the town of Ekaterinburg. These mines began Avorking in 174B. Only ten years after their opening the production of these mines attained one poud of metal per year, while during the years 1803 to 1810 they gave as much as tw^enty-two pouds per year. From 1814 however the output began to decrease gradually, owing to the impoverishment of the gold-bearing veins as the depth of working increased. In the government of Archangel gold was first discovered in 1745 in the Kcmsk district at the Voitzk copper mine where particles of gold of various sizes were found disseminated in a variagated copper ore. After being intermittently worked this mine was ultimately closed in 1794, after giving a total output of three pouds and thirty-two and three-fourths pounds of gold. At the same time as the discoveries in the Urals and government of Archangel, gold was also obtained, in 1745, from the silver smelted from the ores of the Smeinogorsk mine in the Altai. In 1812 the gold industry and especially the exploitation of gold-vein deposits, was opened to all Russian subjects. Private individuals were only allowed to work gold-bearing sands in 1819. 12 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. The first discovery of alluvial gold was made in 1814 at the above-mentioned Beresovsk mines. In Siberia alluvial gold was first discovered in 1829 on the eastern side of the Alataou mountains, dividing the systems of the Yenisei and Tomi. In 1840 and 1841 rich alluvial deposits were found both in the southern and northern systems of Yenisei district. The richness of these deposits is clearly shown by the fact that in 1847 the Yenisei district alone gave more than 1,200 pouds of gold. From this time the discovery of alluvial gold gradually extended over Siberia and the gold mines acquired more and more localities, extending further and further east and at last reaching to the most eastern limits of Siberia. * The general character of the Russian gold deposits is as follows: 1. In the Orenburg region small gold workings mainly predominate, and the greater part of them are worked by small parties of miners. The deposits have neither the thickness nor the considerable extension which distinguishes the Siberian deposits. The majority of them are not situated in the valleys of rivers, but on plains, on the summits or declivities of mountains, foi'ming separate independent but small aud irregular beds, of gold. An exception is presented at the Miassk лvorkings where at the present time a considerable industry has been established. 2. The deposits of the government of Perm are also distinguished for their poor- ness and variableness, and are of inconsiderable size. Those of the Bogoslovsk region are the least variable in their production. The deposits here sometimes extend over several versts and somewhat recall those of eastern Siberia. 3. The deposits of the Altai mountains differ sharply in their internal character from the alluvial beds deposited from the Sayansk and Yablonov mountains of Eastern Siberia along the river systems of the Yenisei, Lena and Amour with their tributaries. The Altai deposits are not rich, are narrow in their extension, not thick and have an unequal and faulty stratification. Those of the Tomsk district are particularly poor. Those of the Achinsk and Minousinsk districts are richer than those of the Tomsk, but still are poor. In general the gold deposits of western Siberia are poor and it is not rare to find workings where it is impossible to place more than ten or fifteen men, and that without horses. 4. The gold workings of the Yenisei which were formerly distinguished for their considerable richness, continuity and unvariableness have, with the working out of the richer deposits, gradually changed their character and become of a kind necessitating their being worked by small enterprises. In general this kind of exploitation is becoming more and more frequent in this district. 5. The deposits of the Nerchinsk district, Amour r egion and Yakutsk province, are distinguished for their richness, continuity and considerable extension, In these parts large enterprises predominate and there are all the conditions for their success. In the Vitimks and Alekminsk regions some of the deposits are exploited by underground Avorkings. In general the richness of the gold deposits of the rivers Lena, Amour and their tributaries, shows itself in every respect, beginning with their width, size of strati- fication and the amount of gold they contain. Instead of five to seven sagenes Avhich form the width of the poorer systems, the deposits of eastern Siberia are a hundred to two hundred sagenes wide and more. They are four to six feet thick and are very * See the accompanying map of the gold and silver-bearing districts. INTRODUCTION. 13 uniform in their formation, without any faults. The average contents of gold in the sands are from two to three zolotniks and frequently more, while the poorer deposits of other districts do not contain more than twenty to thirty dolia. Thus the yearly production of gold from the workings of such deposits attains fifty to a hundred pouds, a figure which is impossible for the poorer districts. It is exident that the modus of working the richer and poorer deposits must vary considerably. There exist data for the production of gold beginning with the year 1814. During the first two years thirty pouds and twelve and one-half pounds of gold were produced. The following table reviews the further iiroduction. In this table the production of gold is grouped in periods of five years and the mean yearly amount is given. ' Years. 1816-1820 Production of gold. Average yearly production. Year.s. 1856-1860* Production of gold. Average 1 yearly i production. 1 Pouds. 1 Pounds. Pouds. Pounds. Ponds. Pounds. Ponds. Pounds. j 84 19-25 16 36 8,129 37-75 1,625 89-5 ; 1821—1825 630* 17 126 3-4 1861—1865 7,350 17-25 1,470 8-5 1 1826—1830 1,476 10-25 295, 10 1866—1870 9,211 39 1,842 15-8 1 1831—1835 2,032 30 406 22 1871—1875 10,758 1-2 2,151 22-2 ' 1836—1840 2,295 22 459 4-4 1876—1880 12,401 38 2,480 14-6 1841—1845 5,384 1 1,076 32-2 1881—1885 10,827 25-25 2,165 21 1846-1850 8,094 19 1,618 35-8 1886-1890 10,994| 38 2,198 89-6 1 1851—1855 7,550 10 1,510 2 Altogether from 1814 to 1890 inclusive there were produced 97,253 pouds of gold, not counting that Avhich was obtained from silver. It will be seen from the above table that up to 1850 the production of gold steadily increased, while during the subsequent thirty years the output was subject to various fluctuations. A maximum was reached in 1880 w^hen the production was 2,641 pouds and 28-75 pounds. During the last decade, after falling to 2015-5 pouds in 1885, the production has again revived and is slowly increasing from year to year. The following table gives the participation of the different regions in the general production: Urals. Years. p 1861—1865. . . . 21-3 1866— 1870. . . . 21-7 1871-1875. . . . 17-2 1876-1830. . . . 20-0 1881—1885. . . . 22-6 1886—1890. . . . 28-7 A more detailed review of the production of gold during the last ten years is given in the next table. These figures represent the amount of gold dust as received from the gold washers. They give an idea of the relative importance of the different gold- producing regions during recent years, but they do not permit of making deductions res- W. Siberia. E. Siberia e r с e n t. 4-6 74-1 61 72-2 7-2 75-5 60 74-0 61 71-2 7-0 64-2 * Until 1860 are given the product of alloy gold, and since that date tlie official figures include only schlich gold. INTRODICTION. 13 uniform in their formation, without any faults. The average contents of gold in the sands are from two to three zolotniks and frequently more, wliile the jtoorer deposits of other districts do not contain more than twenty to thirty dolia. Tiius the yearly production of gold from the workings of such deposits attains fifty to a hundred pouds, a figure which is impossible for the poorer districts. It is exident that the modus of working the richer and poorer deposits must vary considerably. There exist data for the production of gold beginning with the year 1814. During the first two years thirty pouds and twelve and one-half pounds of gold were produced. The following table reviews the further production. In this table the production of gold is grouped in periods of five years and the mean yearly amount is given. ' Years. 1816-1820 Production of gold. Average yearly production. Years. 1856-18Я0* I'rodiiction of gold. .\verage yearly production. Ponds. 1 Pounds.' Pouds. Pounds. Ponds. Pounds. Ponds, j Pounds. 84 19-25 16 36 8,129 37-75 1,625 39-5 ' 1821—1825 630 17 126 3-4 1861—1865 7,350 17-25 1,470 3-5, 1826—1830 1,476 10-25 295 10 1866—1670 9,211 39 1,842 15-8 1 , 1831—1835 2,032 30 406 22 1871—1875 10,758! 1-2 2.151 22-2 1836—1840 2,295 22 459 4-4 1876—1880 12,401] 33 2,480 14-6 1841—1845 5,384 1 1,076 32-2 1881—1885 10,827 25-25 2,165 21 1 1846-1850 8,094 19 1,618 35-8 1886—1890 10,994 38 2,1 98i 39-6; 1851—1855 7,550 10 1,510 2 Altogether from 1814 to 18У0 inclusive there were produced 97,253 pouds of gold, not counting that which was obtained from silver. It will be seen from the above table that up to 1850 the production of gold steadily increased, while during the subsequent thirty years the output was subject to various fiuctuations. A maximum was reached in 1880 when the production was 2,641 pouds and 28-75 pounds. During the last decade, after falling to 20155 pouds in 1885, the production has again revived and is slowly increasing from year to year. The following table gives the participation of the different regions in the general production: Urals. Years. p 1861—1865 . . . 2ГЗ 1866—1870. . . . 21-7 1871-1875. . . . 17-2 1876-1880. . 20-0 1881-1885. . . . 22-6 1886—1890. . . . 28-7 A more detailed review of the production of gold during the last ten years is given in the next table. These figures represent the amount of gold dust as received from the gold washers. They give an idea of the relative importance of the different gold- producing regions during recent years, but they do not permit of making deductions res- W. Siberia. К ..Siberia e r с e n t. 4-6 74-1 6-1 72-2 7-2 75-5 60 74-0 6-1 71-2 7-0 (U-2 * Until 1860 are given the product of alloy gold, and since that date the official figures include only schlich gold. 14 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. pecting the impoverishment or exhaustion of any of the districts. To do this it is neces- sary on the one hand to review the position of the gold industry for a longer period of time, and on the other hand, to subject less extensive areas, in which the general character of the deposits and conditions of their working are more uniform, to a separate investigation. Years. Ura s. W. Siberia. E. Siberia. Finlai id. Total of g yield old. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. 1881 486 38^ 135 16X 1,620 21% 1 1 9X 2,244 5% 1882 456 22 126 30X 1,622 31 1 6%: 2,207 10 1883 493 11% 134 6 1,554 12 — 24% 2,182 '4% 1884 486 17 131 7 1,561 25% — 2,178 12% 1885 530 38 134 36% 1,349 13 — 15 2,015 22% 1886 560 8 136 22% 1.345 1 — 11% 2,042 4 1887 649 30)< 149 28 1,328 6% — 16% 2,128 ^% 1888 665 26 154 6K 1,326 1% — 33 •2,146 27 j 19% 1889 641 15У, 169 19X 1,462 9X 1 15% 2,274 1890 642 21/. 160 39% 1,599 -% 1 3% 2,403 25 Without entering upon this subject more fully, it may be pointed out that a greater or less yield of gold in individual districts and in different years, is dependent upon such a mass of most varied facts, as is rarely met with in any other branch of industry. In the first place the gold industry is considerably influenced by legislative measures and their frequent modifications, and especially by the collection of dues upon the yield of gold, and to this fact may be ascribed some of the most decisive fluctuations in the production of this metal. On the other hand the various forces of nature play an exceed- ingly important part in the gold industry. The most essential element in the extraction of nearly the entire production of gold by the washing of gold-bearing sands, is Avater. A dry summer and a scarcity of water are very injurious, while an excessive amount of water, especially if it appears suddenly, frequently bursts the reservoirs and sluices and produces a perfect drought. It often happens that in course of one summer there is a scarcity of water followed by too great an abundance. But the injury produced by a dry, hot summer with its scarcity of water, is compensated by its utility in thawing the peat soil which covers the gold-bearing deposits, for in those localities where the gold industry is most developed, the entire soil is frozen, and it is necessary to thaw it before the gold-bearing sand can be washed. Besides these meteorological phenomena having a direct influence on the operations of the gold workings, the price of bread also has a most important effect, and which at the gold workings is entirely dependent upon the harvest of the preceding years and determines the cost of labour, which in some localities reaches 900 to 1,400 roubles per man for a working year, and which sometimes only covers four or five months. But one of the most, if not the most important factor in the yield of gold, is the exchange value of the paper rouble. As by law the gold mine owners are oblige d to hand over all the gold extracted by them to the Grovernment/which returns it to them in the form oF gold coin. As all their accounts are estimated in paper roubles, it is clear that a very important part must be played by the relative values of the metallic and INTRODUCTION. 15 the paper rouble. The lower the exchange the more desh-able is it to extract the greatest possible amount of gold and it often happens that the gold-mine owners make their profits on the exchange alone. Moreover this, the most important factor in the gold in- dustry, cannot be in any way foretold and therefore strongly reflects itself upon the yield of metal. It will be readily understood from this enumeration of the most important factors influencing the gold industry, that a series of bare figures giving tlie jjroduction might lead to an entirely erroneous conclusion. The total yield of gold in Russia includes comparatively only a very small (luantity of gold extracted from auriferous rock. Since 1882, however, the amount produced from auriferous veins has gradually risen as is seen from the following table: Year s. и r Yield of V e i n u s gold. i a 1 s. Siberia. T t a 1. Ponds. Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. ' 1882 no 20 '< 24/, 70 4% 1 188.S 1 1 14% 9 20% 86 35X 1884 71 11% 19 38% 91 9% 1885 91 8 18 36% 110 4% 1 18.S6 101 9% .ЯЗ 15% 134 24% 1887 IHO 13 33 13 163 26 1888 148 22V, 28 18% 172 IK 1881» 146 16% 25 29% 172 6 1890 153 4% 23 H0% 177 1% The above table shows that the extraction of veinous gold progresses much more rapidly in the Urals than in Siberia, where the working of auriferous veins is carried on in both portions of the Yenisei district and in the district of Nerchinsk. It is inter- esting to follow the total number of gold workings under exploitation and the amount of sand and quartz washed by them during the last ten years. Urals. '\V. Siberia. ] "]. Siberia. Total. i-i Sand and .^ Sand and ■s Sand an Л Sand and Year s. ^ quartz •9 quartz 5s quarts > quartz О ТЛ washed, in ю washed, in л washed, in О « washed, in g.2 ])()U(ls. ■<,£ l)ouds. 'лЁ l)niids. '<.= pouds. 1881 G4H .H24,972,O(J0 147 141,917,000 51(1 710,756,000 1,306 1,177,645,000 1882 455 .S07,062,000 159 155,424,000 487 663,.S86,0n0 1,101 1,125,871,000; 1883 513 319,452,000 165 151,516,000 .501 695,132,000 1,179 1,166,100,000, 1884 613 347,450,000 189 153,466,000 504 699.158,000 1,300 1,200,07.5,000! 1885 (lU) 381,711,000 209 147,203,000 534 635,179,000 1,362 1,164,093,000 j 1886 689 444,176,000 215 151,216,000 541 643,469,000 1,445 1,238,961,0001 1887 .-52 515,563,000 248 176,659,000 580 656,869,000 1,680 1,349,091,000 1888 9.52 538,255,000 252 179,315,000 585 630,868,000 1.789 1,348,438,000 1889 912 516,075,000 262 194,187,000 6'Ю 652,993,000 1,804 1,363.25.5,000 1890 7'.t7 471,691,000 248 184,496.000 671 735,259,000 1,716 1,385,447,000' 16 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. The amount of sand washed is in intimate relation to the number of labourers occupied in the mines. The following table gives the number of men employed in the gold mines of diiferent districts. Years. Numb e r of m en amp 1 у e d. Urals. W. Siberia. E. Siberia. Total. 1881 35,741 6,400 39,681 82,102 1882 31,651 6,653 26,768 65,072 1883 40,241 7,148 26,252 73,641 1884 40,930 8,094 27,441 76,465 1885 39,594 8,624 27,442 75,312 1886 38,794 9,158 25,593 73,546 1887 46,339 11,616 23,203 82,158 1888 47,842 11,460 24.803 84,105 1889 47,066 10,-585 26,697 84,348 1890 1 44,086 9,512 28,242 81,840 The private gold-mine owner is obliged to forward all the gold extracted by him to the nearest State smelting houses; the gold is sent by him in the form of dust. There are three such smelting houses in the Russian Empire, one at Ekaterinburg for the Ural district, one at Tomsk for western Siberia, and one at Irkutsk for eastern Siberia. Besides which His Majesty's Cabinet under whose direction are the works of the Altai and Nerchinsk districts, has its own laboratories and smelting houses, where the unrefined gold is smelted and assays taken for determining the amount of chemically pure gold it contains. Besides gold dust these laboratories also treat the silver smelted in the Empire and separate the gold it contains. The following table gives the amounts of chemically pure gold extracted during recent years from unrefined gold and from silver: Years. From gold dust. From silver. Total. Pourts. Lbs. Zolot- niks. dol- lies. Pouds. Lbs. Zolot- niks. dol- lies. Pouds. Lbs. Zolot- niks. dol- lies. 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1,838 1,864 1,704 1,702 1,881 1,907 2,007 2,140 17 26 8^ 13 11 27 11 42 17 3 1 95 55 2 55 52 77 14 80 12 25 47 9 14 13 17 16 15 14 15 26 4 30 20 9 36 15 57 63 53 17 52 53 38 62 94 7 62 74 21 53 6 28 1,848 1,878 1,717 1,719 1,897 1,922 2,022 2,155 4 30 31 37 34 21 23 26 4 80 57 18 52 12 40 62 52 59 43 88 5 75 31 75 The legislative measures introduced by the Russian Government for the private gold industry, have been frequently modified as the development of the industry has progressed. Up to the commencement of the present century the exploitation of gold formed a Government monopoly. In 1812 private individuals were first allowed to prospect for gold in the Urals on their own property. In 1826 Count Kankrine, the Minister of GOLD. 17 Finance, asked the Emperor Nicholas I to grant certain private individuals special priv- ileges for prospecting for gold on the Crown lands of the governments of Viatka and Tobolsk. Similar privileges were afterwards granted to various individuals throughout the whole of Siberia so that in 1838 when the first private gold-mining statute was edited, there were already as many as two hundred persons occupied in the gold industry. Owing to the progress made in the gold industry the statute of 1838 was revised in 1851. And lastly in 1870 new regulations for the private gold industry were published. In these regulations the previously existing diverse rules for different localities were changed for a general regulation act for the gold mines of the whole Empire. During the last twenty-two years some essential modifications have been also made in this act. The ch ief conditions governing the exploitation of gold are now as follows: in granting the landowners or persons nominated by him perfect freedom in the pros- pecting and exploitation of gold-bearing sands and ores, and requiring only that the exploitation should be carried on without injury to the health, or danger to the lives of the workmen, the law demands the payment of a definite tribute to the State upon the gold extracted and the fulfillment of certain formalities in the exploitation of gold on State lands, and the properties appertaining to His Majesty's Cabinet. These gold- bearing deposits and veins on the State lands and the properties appertaining to His Majesty's Cabinet are let to private individuals for their temporaly exploitation until they become exhausted; that is to say, the gold-bearing deposit is regarded as movable property. The exploitation of gold is permitted to all persons possessing civil rights, both Russians and foreigners, with the exception ot Jews. All persons desirous of Avorking gold deposits or veins are obliged to obtain a permissary certificate from the mining administration. Any locality which is not under exploitation, and which has not been previously claimed, is free for prospecting, and the gold deposits on it may be occupied under preliminary surveys over an area of not more than five versts along the direction of the valley or stream, and over the whole breadth of the same. In the case of gold-bearing veins the area is limited to one verst r adius from the gold miner's claim, marked by a post. Should the gold miner ultimately wish to exploit the claim, he is obliged to make a declaration of the gold deposit, or vein, before the police direction of the district in which it is situated. This declaration gives the right of legally acquiring the claim. To each working there is allotted a locality designated in the declaration. This allotment extends from a definite starting point, and always in the opposite direction to the current of the stream. For ore deposits the area of the allotment is limited to one square verst the width not being less than one-third of the length, while for alluvial deposits the working area must not exceed five versts and in Europ ean Russia the whole area must not exc eed one squa re verst . The methods of working are left to the judgment of the gold miner, but the extraction of gold both in open and underground workings must be conducted without injury to the health or danger to the lives of the workmen. There are special rules regulating the use of water on the gold workings and its consumption on neighbouring enterprises. The gold miner extracting gold on jirivate lands pays a tribute to the Government on the yield of metal, Avhile those working on State lands or on property belonging to His Majesty's Cabinet also pay a rental for the locality occupied by them. The tribute on the yield of gold is levied on the amount of pure gold and silver contained in the unrefined metal. In the Olekmin district, as 2 18 MIKING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. the richest, the tax amounts to ten per cent, a rental of ten ronbles per dessiatine for the workings on State lands; in the provinces of the Amour the tax is five per cent, and the rental five roubles per dessiatine, while in the remaining parts of Siberia and in European Russia the tax is three per cent , and the rental one rouble per dessiatine. The gold workings on the lands appertaining to His Majesty's Cabinet are divided into three categories according to their richness, and pay a tribute to the Cabinet to the extent of from five to fifteen per cent, and a rental of fifteen kopecks per sagene on the length of the workings. Besides this the gold miner has to pay the expense of trans- porting the gold from the State smelting house at Ekaterinburg, Tomsk, or Irkutsk to the Imperial Mint at St. Petersburg, and the cost of converting the gold into coin. The gold and silver having been smelted and assayed, the proprietor receives bills of credit for the amount of pure metal supplied by him. These bills of credit are payable in gold and silver coin or in ingots, and may be used as a means of exchange between private individuals and banks, and are accepted in payment at the customhouse. Besides which the Siberian gold mine owners are able to obtain advances on their gold dust at the Tomsk, Yenesei and Irkutsk branches of the State Bank, to the amount of two roubles per zolotnik. This is a great help to the gold-mine owners who are frequently in want of capital. In concluding this shoit review of the legislation of the private gold industry, it is necessary to add that the Government, recognizing the great importance of the treat- ment of gold-bearing ores, tailings and residues by chemical processes, has recently per- mitted the construction of such works on the basis of the special rules regulating the treatment of the tailings and washings ot gold workings. Platinum. Platinum occurs in the Urals in the government of Perm * where it is found on various private properties and state lands. In the mining district of Goroblagodat there are seventy allotments for the exploitation of platinum under different private individ- uals. The platinum occurs in the form of alluvial deposits or platinum -bearing sands, which frequently also contain gold. These deposits vary in richness, from several doley to four or five zolotniks and more in a hundred pouds of sand. The thickness of the platinum-bearmg deposits is rarely less than three, and sometimes reaches seven feet. The grains of platinum are small in size, but sometimes small nuggets are found weighing one or more kilograms. The platinum is often accompanied by other rare metals such as iridium and osmium. The Ural platinum deposits are the only ones in the world, as platinum is worked nowhere else, and is only known as a mineral finely disseminated in certain rocks. At the present time all the platinum extracted in the Urals is forwarded in the crude state to St. Petersburg whence it is sent abroad. Although there are two laboratories in St. Petersburg for refining platinum ore, still the greater quantity is sent abroad in the crude state. The production of platinum is subject to a tax of three per cent for leasehold, and four per cent for freehold works. The yearly revenue thus brought to the Government equals from sixty to eighty thousand credit roubles. The rapid and variable fluctuations in the price of a product having no definitely fixed exchange value, but indispensable to the arts, reflects itself upon the production * See map of the districts of production of precious metals. PLATINUM. 19 of platinum in Russia. Thus when the price of the metal is high it becomes profitable to work the poorer deposits, while it is only possible to work the very richest when the price is low. Although the tirst deposits of platinum in Russia were discovered in 1819, still the actual exploitation of this metal began only in 1824 when rich veins were discovered in the Kizhni-Tagilsk district of Demidov's works. From 1828 to 184^5 platinum money was coined in Russia. The denomination of these coins was three, six and twelve roubles; the total value of the platinum money put into circulation was 4,250,000 roubles. During this period the production of platinum increased considerably, but when platinum coinage was stopped the exploitation of the metal ahuost entirely ceased and only revived in 1859. From that time the production has varied with the foreign demand and 'market price. The production of platinum began in 1824 with 2 pouds 1 pound; in 1825 it increased to 11 pouds 24-5 pounds, and it subsequently varied in the manner shown in the following table, in which the data are given for periods of five years. 1826-1830 Production. Average yearly pro- duction. 1861-1865 Production. Average yearly pro- duction. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. 1 Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. i Lbs. 319 26V4 63 37 '/4 441 18 88 llVb 1831—1835 550 34 110 6V5 1866-1870 599 3474 119 38*/5 1836-1840 452 772 90 1772 1871—1875 531 2374 106 127б 1841-1845 590 2774 118 572 1876—1880 646 4 129 8*/5 1846—1850 23 17V4 4 277= 1881-1885 942 6 188 17V5 1851—1855 91 12 18 102/5 1886-1890 1033 6 206 2575 1856-1860 136 33 27 14=/o i Thus the total production of crude platinum in Russia from 1824 to 1890 inclusive was 6,373 pouds. In giving in the folloAving table the number of platinum deposits under exploitation during recent years, together with the quantity of sand washed and the production of metal, it should be noted that a portion of the platinum was obtained as a by-product from gold. I, bo : Sand- washed. Production of Yea r. 5 5 metal. 1 1 ; Pouds. Pouds.' Lbs. Itsl 66 15,036,900 182 10^< 1882 82 20,127,800 249 12 1883 107 11,194,000 215 33 1884 71 19,502,000 136 25 1885 58 17,388,400 158 sy. 1886 83 23,036,100 263 21% 1887 93 61,773,300* 269 4 1888 75 58,856,700 1«5 35X 18S9 72 67,184,800 160 36/, ■ 1800 82 47,334,100 173 26% * Previous to 1887 there луеге no official returns of the amount of sand washed; to that date the platinum-bearing was given together with the gold-bearing sand. up 20 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. The largest quantity of platinum is now extracted at the deposits of Nizhni- Tagilsk belonging to Prince Demidov San Donato, and at the Krestovozdvighensk deposits of Count Shuvalov. In 1890 there were 5,853 men actually employed in the exploitation of platinum. The export of platinum is given in the following table: Year. 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 Germany. P 103 28 52 50 51 34 13 Great Britain. I 28 261 237 263 178 216 194 Austria, d Total. s. 131 290 289 313 229 250 207 The value of the yearly export of platinum from Russia amounts to from 1,000,000 to 1,560,000 roubles. SILVER. Although the first discovery of silver ores in the district of Nerchinsk in eastern Siberia was made in the beginning of the second half of the seventeenth century, still the actual smelting of silver was not begun before 1704. And veins of silver ore were discovered at Smiainogorsk in the Altai by Akinfi Demidov in 1735, but it was only after ten years, in 1745, when they were taken over by the Grovernment, that the smelting of the ores was begun. The production of silver at the Nerchinsk works attained a maximum during the seventies of the last century, when it amounted to 600 pouds; during the same period the production of the Altai works exceeded 1,100 pouds, so that at that time the works of these two districts produced as much as 1,700 pouds of silver. The following data show how much the production of silver has varied since the beginning of the present century. 1 Average Average || 1822—1825 Production. yearly pro- duction. 1856-1860 Production, yearly pro- duction. Pouds. 1 Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. 4,540 1,135 5,306 2 1,061 875 1826-1830 5,780 — 1,156 — 1861—1865 5,259 31 1,051 38 '/5 1831-1835 6,361 8 1,272 9V5 1866—1870 4,972 17% 994 19V2 1836—1840 6,053 6 1,210 25V5 1871-1875 3,509 — 701 32 1841-1845 5,980 33 1,198 1 6V5 1876-1880 3,378 2 675 242/5 1S46— 1850 5,690 32 1,138 1 67б 1881 — 1885 2,731 1 546 8V5 1851-1855 5,236 33 1,047 15*/5 1886-1890 4,408 30% 881 30 During the present century the production of silver was greatest in 1831, but even then it was only 1,318 pouds or not more than 76 per cent of the yield at the close of the last century. The following table shows the yield of silver for the different silver-bearing districts during the last ten years *. * See map of the districts of precious metals. SILVER. 21 Year. Caucasus. Altai. Kirghis steppes. Nerchinsk. Urals. Fiuland. Total. I'oucls. Lbs. Ponds. Lbs. Pouds Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. Ponds. Lbs. Pouds. Lbs. Pouds. 1 Lbs. 1881 29 32' ( 468 4/, — — 54 39 28 1 4'; — 576 1882 35 14 397 25X — 49 37% 6 32 — — 489 29 1883 30 15% 36b 12X — 32X 50 20/ 13 — — 450 13% 1884 29 27 446 29X — 51 6% — — — — 527 23% 1885 33 36% 535 23/, 35 2% 52 13 "' — 30 20 687 15/ 1886 30 30/, 613 6% 84 23/ 52 39/ — — 28 30 810 10% 1887 32 17K 661 38 171 16X 51 25 — — 21 17%' 938 34% 1888 29 8Xi 682 4/. 136 8 50 30 — — 25 35/ 924 6%| 1889 33 32 652 1% 110 10/ 50 4 — — — — 846 8% 1890 30 24/, 681 8 72 28/2 54 34X — — 49 36 889 11% The Altai mining district of His Majesty's Cabinet continues to supply more than three-fourths of the entire production of silver in Russia. In 1860 the Altai district yielded 1,060 pouds; but twenty- five years later the production fell to less than a quarter of that amount, that is, only 446-75 pouds were smelted in 1884; since then the production has revived and has gone up to 681 pouds. In the Nerchinsk mining district of His Majesty's Cabinet, where up to 1863 the production of silver did not exceed 7-5 pouds, the yield has steadily risen since 1866, and in 1881 it attained 55 pouds at which figure it also stands in 1890. In the Caucasus there is a single silver smelting establish- ment, the Alagirsk works, belonging to the State. The annual production of these works varies between twenty-nine and thirty-five pouds. The works of the Kirghis steppes are very primitive and their production varies considerably. In the Urals, where silver was first smelted in 1874, the production reached a maximum of 28 pouds, 35 pounds in 188(J, but it subsequently fell rapidly and ceased entirely in 1884. Lastly in Finland there is also one establishment, the Pitkarand works on the northern shores of Lake Ladoga which has recently given from 22 to 50 pouds of silver yearly. All the silver smelted in Russia is extracted from argentiferous lead ores; but besides this all the gold produced in Russia contains silver, whose amount is determined by assays taken at the state smelting houses. Although the amount of chemically pure silver contained in the crude silver ingots can only be determined by assays taken at the smelting works, and the necessary data for this are wanting for certain years, still the following table gives the minimum amount of chemically pure silver contained in the silver ingots and gold produced in Russia during the last eight years. Y a r. 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 In silver in- _ gots. Pduds. Lbs. ; In unrefined j gold ingots. Pouds. Lbs. Total. Pouds. I Lbs. 411 527 537 762 876 823 773 826 39 23 8 24 31/ 22 13 179 31 229 10 146 9 151 7/ 166 7/ 171 ~ 179 8 185 25% 591 756 683 913 1,042 994 952 1,011 30 33 17 31/ 39 22 8 28% 22 MINING INDUSTEIES OF RUSSIA. The silver smelted by private individuals is subject to a tax which was lowered in 1887 from ten and fifteen per cent to three per cent for freehold, and four and a half per cent for leasehold works. It may not be superfluous to supplement the above remarks upon the production of precious metals in Russia, by a table giving the amount of money coined in the Empire during the last ten years. Year. R u b 1 e s. Gold. Silver bank money. Silver ex- change money. Copper. 1881 22,735,072 435,021 1,112,516 648,951 1882 27,187,040 504,854 1,500,003 481,150 1883 25,119,054 556,311 1,000,004 299,852 1884 26,802,088 425,519 1,000,006 100,000 1885 18,126,210 564,091 1,200,053 100,000 1886 27,055,175 510,551 1,000,002 100,000 1887 25,510,095 500,022 1,000,011 100,000 1888 24,430,030 1,753 2,000,001 100,000 1889 28,150,090 76,760 2,000,003 200,000 1890 3,735,140 500,024 2,351,504 200,000' /2 Besides which the following table gives the import and export of gold and silver during the last four years. 1 Import. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. R u b 1 e s. Gold in ingots, pouds . . 23-8 350-4 32-5 59 » » » value. . . 373,968 5,494,272 455,726 822,621 » coins, pouds. . . . 127-6 1,089-4 176-6 1,185 » » value .... 1,817,124 15,513,412 2,231,908 14,978,084 Silver in ingots, pouds. . 3,362 10,842 10,662 9,073 » » » value . . 2,955,106 9,541.268 7,484,461 6,368,912 » coins, pouds . . . 1,120 1,705 1,569 1,595 » » value .... 896,300 1,364,360 990,561 1,008,372 Export. Gold in ingots, pouds . . 214 1,403 0-4 — » » » value. 3,356,696 22,000,216 5,616 — » coins, pouds. . . . 1,090-8 913 1,380-2 1,318 » » value .... 15,533,424 13,001,120 17,445,412 16,915,164 Silver in ingots, pouds. . 2,789 4,169 3,671 2,448 » )) » value . . 2,453,924 3,668,940 2,576,709 1,718,777 » coins, pouds . . . 553 478 706 3,629 » » value. . . . 442,280 382,420 446,097 2,293,528 COPPER. 23 Co ГРЕК The production of copper in the Urals dates from the middle of the seventeenth century, copper smelting was also begun in the Altai by Akinti I)emidov at the coni- mencemeut of the eighteenth century. At the close of the last century the private copper works of the Urals alone smelted as uiuch as 100,000 pouds of copper, while in 1816 the production of these works rose to 178.4(X) pouds, so that at that time the total yield of copper in Russia amounted to at least i'00,0 )0 pouds. Starting from 1822 the production of copper in Russia was as follows. i 1822-1825 Quantity of copper smelted. Average yearly pro- duction. 1861-1865 Quantity of copper smelted. Aver ge ' yearly pro- dnction. Pomb. I'oiiils. Pouds;. Pouds. 774,666 193,666 1,412,758 282,552 1826—1830 1,115,945 223,189 1866—1870 1,364,533 272,907 ! 1831-1835 1,134,310 226,862 1871—1875 1,148,514 229,703 1846-1850* 1,556,314 311,263 1876—1880 1,051,4.50 210,290 1851-1855 1,864,827 372,965 1881—1885 1,364,629 272,920 1856-1860 1,676,456 335.291 1886—1890 1,. 507, 1 74 301,435 Up to 1845 the average yield of copper in Russia amounted to from 200 to 250 thousand pouds yearly, but during the following seven years this figure rapidly rose, and in 1852 the production already amounted to over 410,000 pouds. In the last century Russia supplied the whole of Europe with copper and up to the middle of the present, was one of the chief sources from Avhich the European markets obtained their copper; the famous bronze industry of France was mainly dependent upon Russia for its metal. This period also corresponds to the fortifying of Paris and to the reinforce- ment of the French artillery previous to the Crimean Avar. The Russian copper-smelting works attracted so much interest on the part of French Government that they requested the Russian consul at Paris to inform them of the various trade marks of the Russian works, and ad\ised the alteration of several marks which were likely to be counterfeited. The increased export of copper from Russia at this time raised the itrice and gave the possibility of increasing the production of the Russian copper-smelting works. But since 1852 the yield of copper in Russia has gradually fallen. The liberation of the serfs in 1801 and the policy of the customs of 1857 to 1876 almost ruined the copper industry. At that time the Russian copper masters paid a tax of from one to one and a half roubles per poud, while the duty upon foreign copper Avas only sixty kopecks per poud. Under these conditions the production of cojipei- decreased more and more, and in 1879 it was only 190,688 pouds or less than half of that for 1852. It was only in 1884 when half the copper works were already closed, that the duty upon foreign copper was raised to InO roubles gold. But even this duty proved insufficiently protective, owing to the appearance of a new universal crisis in the copper industry, brought on by the larger development of the production of copper in the New World and the consequent fall in the price of the metal on all the * Full data are wanting for the years from 1836 to 1845. 24 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. European markets. In order to sustain the copper industry which supports a large popu- lation in the distant parts of the Ural, Altai, Caucasus and Kirghis steppes, the duty was raised in 1886 to 2-50 roubles per poud. Since the yield of copper has again increased, and during the last ten years the production in Kussia has varied as follows. Yea r. Urals. Kirghis steppes. Altai. Finland. Siberia. Caucasus. Total. P u d s. 1881 126,083 18,578 21,500 7,262 491 37,551 211,465 1882 128,934 19,100 16,800 5,908 — 48,538 219,280 1883 165,762 22,214 14,015 9,396 — 54 552 265,939 1884 221,985 34,500 24,000 11,658 — 87,544 379,687 1885 146,701 23,933 24,605 11,405 — 81,619 288,258 1886 149,742 4,038 17,800 13,110 — 94,366 279,056 1887 163,045 249 16,240 12,218 — 112,855 304,607 1888 156,777 308 18,200 12,345 — 93,385 281,015 1889 157,949 345 21,073 23,070 — 90,539 292,976 1890 173,307 — 19,337 17,544 — 139,332 319,520 During these ten years the production showed an increase of 138,000 pouds, or more than fifty per cent. This increase was, to a considerable extent, due to the devel- opment of the copper works in the Urals, and even more, to the rapid growth of the cojjper industry of the Caucasus which may be ascribed to the richness of the deposits, and to the technical perfection of certain works. The largest output is given by the Bogoslov copper works in the Ural and the Kedal)ek works in the Caucasus. The former is notable from the fact that the copper ores are treated by the wet method and the copper deposited by electricity; they also retine the coarse metal in Bessemer convertors. At the Kedabek works they use naphtha refuse for fuel in the smelting furnaces. In the Kirghis steppes, renoAMied for the great richness of their deposits, the copper industry has entirely fallen, chiefly owing to the want of fuel. In the Altai the production of copper varies very slightly from year to year. In Finland however copper mining has recently increased to a marked degree. The general decrease in the yield of copper is not due to the exhaustion of the de- posits, as copper ores are found in many parts of Russia. In the Ural some works smelt the ores from veins and lodes, while others treat the ores of aqueous origin. The copper ores of the former category are situated on the eastern declivity of the Ural and they are all distinguished for the small amount of copper they contain, from three to seven per cent. These ores are chiefly pyritic, copper pyrites, copper glance, fahlerz, besides which azurite, malachite, red copper ore and native copper are met Avith. The works situated on the western declivity of the Urals smelt ores which occur in many localities in the form of masses disseminated in strata of the Permian system which are widely spread throughout the governments of Perm, Viatka, Kazan, Orenburg, Ufa and Samara. These ores are still poorer than the first, and only contain from two to three per cent of copper; they include azurite, emerald 1889. 1890. Production in pouds. 4,815,100 4,220,700 514,100 60,300 161,300 13,300 1Д00 — 1,458,700 2,225,500 113,100 51,700 1,598,600 1,672,000 COPPER. 2 5 copper, more rarel}' malachite, red and l)ro\vn toppri" ore, and very rarely native copper. In the Caucasus the cojjper ores occur in yeins which are widely distributed throu-jhout the southern side of the mountain chain. These ores are chiefly suljjhurous and are distinguished for their richness, which attains seven to fifteen per cent of copper. The deposits of the Kirghis steppes are the most favourable, both in respect to their size and richness. In this district there are vast deposits which frequently contain consider- able masses of native copper, while the ores contain 25 to 33 i)er cent of metallic copper. In 1890 there were 109 copper mines under exploitation, having a total output of 8,243.483 pouds of ore, the out])ut of the previous year being 8,662,042 pouds, and locally distributed as follows: Ural Altai Khirghis steppes Yenisei Caucasus .... Olonets Finland Owing to the diversity in the richness and facility of working the copper ores of the Ural the Government found it necessary in 1869 to change the previously existing tax of 10 per cent upon the yield of copper from freehold works, and of 15 per cent from works leased on State lands, to fifty kopecks per poud for the copper smelted from vein deposits upon freehold works, twenty-five kopecks per poud for that extracted from the sedimentary deposits of the western side of the Urals, one rouble for vein de- posits and seventy-five kopecks for the sedimentary deposits smelted by works leased on State lands. This lowered the tax upon copper approximately thirty per cent. In the Caucasus a mining tax of fifty kopecks is levied on the copper smelted by freehold works and of seventy-five kopecks per i)oud on that smelted by works leased on State lands. At the present time the revenue collected by the Government from the copper industry amounts to from 150 to 180 thousand paper roubles yearly. On turning to the foreign trade and consumjjtion of copper in Russia it is found that in 1853 about 400,000 pouds of copper, having a value of at least four million roubles, were exported, while the amount of copper imported did not then exceed 3,C00 pouds. Up to the year 1866 the export of copper, although it fell to an average of fifty thousand pouds, exceeded the import, or in other words, the internal production exceeded the requirements of Russia for this metal. Since 1867 the export has diminished, while the import has gone on increasing. Thus in 1880 the importation of copper amounted to 566,000 pouds, having a value of over 6,500,000 roubles, while the exjiort did not exceed 82,0СЮ roubles. The export of copper during the last ten years has varied as shown in the following table. 26 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. Yeai's. Copper exported from Russia. Ingots. Sheets. Total. P u d s. i 1881 — — 14,000 1 1882 — — 206,700 1 1883 — — .35,500 1884 — — 26,900 j 1885 17,900 2,300 20,200 1886 12,400 200 12,600 i 1887 10,150 400 10,550 i 1888 3,400 300 4,700 1889 4,000 500 4,500 1890 4,800 550 5,350 At the present time the chief consumers of Russian copper are Persia, which is supplied by the copper works of the Caucasus, and Germany. During the last ten years the importation of copper ingots into Russia has considerably risen, while the amount of sheet copper and of copper rods has decreased. The following table gives the impoxls of copper into Russia during the last ten years. Copper ingots Sheet copper, copper rods Total. Years. and scraps. and bars. 1 Г cud s. 1881 — — 537,800 1882 — — 127,500 1883 72,000 151,000 223,000 1884 97,000 184,000 281,000 1885 109,000 87,000 196,000 1886 105,214 28,844 134,058 1887 37,057 13,732 50,789 1888 25,649 8,164 33,813 1889 219,844 22,395 242,239 1890 246,159 22,018 268,177 The following data show what countries participated in supplying Russia with copper, and to what extent. Countries. Copper ingots and scraps. 1888. 1889. P 1890. Sheet copper, copper rods and bars. 1888. 1889. 1890. From Great Britain . , w Germany . . . » Holland . . . , » France )) Belgium . . . » Austro-Hungary » Italy » Turkey. . . . » Denmark . . . , 2,000 11,800 300 117,100 136,200 600 9,900 11,200 56,400 82,600 6,400 10,800 8,300 6,250 7,500 200 — — 12,000 2,500 — — 500 2,200 600 — 600 900 — 80 700 — 400 — — — — — — 260 500 1,100 — — — — LEAD. 2 1 According to the customs tariff of 1891 the following duties were put on copper, aluminium, nickel, cobalt, bismuth, cadmium, brass, tonipak, britannia, and all alloys of the non-noble metals, beyond those specially named above: 1. In the form of pig copper, ingots, turnings, fillings and scrap, and also in copper in the form of powder, 2-50 roubles in gold per poud. 2. In the form of bars, rods and sheets, 3"10 roubles in gold per poud. 3. On copper and its alloys when rolled or drawn into wire, half an inch or less in width, or diameter, the duty is the same as for copper wire, namely: a. On all telegraph cables from half an inch in width or diameter to № 25, in- clusive of the Birmingham guage, a duty of four roubles per poud. b. Above Л» 25 to X« 29 inclusive, five roubles per poud. с Finer than № 29, six roubles per poud. Li E A I). Lead is only obtained together with silver from argentiferous lead ores. In general the amount of lead smelted in Russia is very inconsiderable and is expressed by the following figures during the last sixty years. i Years. Amount of lead smelted. Average yearly pro- duction. Years. Amount of „ptrfv^oro- lead smelted. ^^^Г Poud s. Г u d s. j 1831—1835 1836-1840 1 1841—1845 1846-1850 1861-1865* 209,696 245,492 292,180 259,794 357,106 41,939 49,098 58,436 51,959 71,421 1866-1870 1871—1875 1876-1880 1881—1885 1886-1890 476,416 387,671 382,864 210,590 243,144 95,283 77,534 76,573 42,118 48,629 All the lead smelted in Russia is obtained from the argentiferous lead ores of the Caucasus and Siberia. In the Caucasus the ore is mined at the Alagirsk Government Works, and in Siberia at the Altai and Nerchinsk mining districts of His Majesty's Cabinet, and also in the Kirghis steppes, where the exploitation of the lead ores is carried on by private individuals. Lead was only smelted as an independent product at one set of works in Turkestan. These works were constructed in 1881 and only kept in operation till 1885. Besides this, argentiferous lead ores are known to exist on the Mourman coast in the government of Archangel. A private company has recently been formed for working these ore deposits which were only fully surveyed in 1890. Private individuals are also endeavouring to make a detailed survey of the argentiferous lead deposits of the gov- ernment of Ekaterinoslav, and to start the smelting of these metals there. The actual smelting of lead is carried on only in four districts whose production during the last ten years is shown in the following table. * Complete data are wanting for the production of lead during 1850 to 1860. 28 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. Years. Altai. Ner- chinsk. Caucasus. ^''S^'' steppes. Total. P u d s. 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 41,670 14,890 16,385 20,083 16,706 22,079 31,117 10,099 6,653 19,305 8,927 7,775 6,884 7,369 7,597 7,690 8,356 7,205 7,890 7,827 9,620 9,292 9,895 8,455 9,115 8,755 9,592 8,962 9,929 9,306 2,693 3,186 8,937 11,363 22,544 10,836 14,693 60,217 34,957* 33,164 38,600 43,651** 47,461 60,428 48,810 35,314 51,131 The fact that Russia produces so inconsiderable a quantity of lead clearly indicates that it is dependent upon foreign countries for its supply of a metal so indispensable. Indeed the following data show that Russia annually imports about a million pouds of lead. 1 Pig lead Lead sheets. Total. Years. and scrap. rolls and pipes. P u d s. ' 1883 939,000 147,000 1,086,000 1884 934,000 187,000 1,071,000 1885 398,000 125,000 528,000 1886 654,972 170,452 825,424 1887 928,516 150,289 1,078,805 I 1888 1,037,479 175,490 1,212,969 1889 1,010,607 191,858 1.202,465 1890 1,116,355 202,?>21 1,318,876 During the last three years the imports of lead have been as follows. Countries. Pig and scrap lead. 1888. 1889. 1890. Sheet, roll and pipe lead. 1888. 1889. 1890. From Great Britain . n Germany . . . » France. . . . » Belgium . . . » Holland . . . » United States » Denmark , , . » Austro-Hungary )> Turkey. . . » Italy 375,400 476,100 89,400 50,200 10,900 3,100 600 13,600 5,300 522,800 702,800 117,500 150,100 159,100 289,100 229,800 28,100 21,950 25,800 131,300 86,900 7,900 10,000 11,500 41,800 43,300 700 1,900 1,300 14,500 28,900 — — — — 9,300 — — 3,200 — 3,000 — — — 1,300 1,500 2,800 400 800 400 — 700 700 — 3,100 — — — — * Including 3,000 pouds smelted at the Turkestan works. ** Including 7,047 pouds smelted at the Turkestan works. ZINC. 29 According to the customs tariff of 1891 lead imported into Russia is subject to the following duty: 1. Lead in pig and scrap, litharge, lead ash, 10 kopecks in gold per poud. 2. Lead in rolls, sheets, wire and pipes 30 kopecks in gold per poud. .3. Type metal 20 kopecks per poud in gold. Zinc. All the Russian zinc works are situated in Poland, although deposits of zinc ores are also known in other parts of the Empire, for instance in the Caucasus, southern Russia, on the Mourman coast of the government of Archangel, in Siberia, and also in Finland. The annexed table gives the production of zine since 1836. Years. Production Average of zinc. yf ^lY production. Years. Production of zinc. Average yearly production. Poud s. P u d s. 1836-1840 1841—1845 1846—1850 1851-1855 1856-1860 1861—1865 856,103 768,585 823,900 447,425 435,730 831,072 171,221 192,146 184,780 89,485 87,146 166,216 1866-1870 1871—1875 1876-1880 1881—1885 1886—1890 972,233 1,052,852 1,387,708 1,317,850 1,169,254 194,447 210,570 277,542 263,570 233,851 In Poland, zinc is exclusively extracted from calamine, deposits of which are chiefly worked in the neighboui'hood of Olekousha where the exploitation of argentif- erous lead ores has been carried on for several centuries. These lead deposits lie in the upper portion of the strata from which the calamine is now extracted. The zinc ore here occurs in a dolomite formation and contains from eight to fifteen per cent of me- tallic zinc. A portion of the zinc here produced goes to the interior of Russia in the raw state and is chiefly used for the manufacture of brass, the remainder is rolled into sheets at the two existing works of Poland whose yearly production is from 150,000 to 200,000 pouds of sheet metal. There are also works for the preparation of zinc white at the same locality, and which turn out about 50,000 pouds yearly. Since 1888 a mining tax of eight kopecks per poud has been placed upon the pig zinc manufactured in Russia. This brings in an annual revenue of 18,000 paper roubles to the Government. The amount of zinc produced in Russia is far from sufficient to supply the increasing demand, so that a considerable quantity of the metal is annually imported into Russia, as is seen from the following table. Years. I m p r t s of zinc. Zinc in pigs. Zinc in sheets. Total. P u d s. 1881 99,400 42,300 141,700 i 1882 140,400 11,000 151,400 ! 1883 132,600 16,000 148,600 1884 211,600 33,500 245,100 1885 173,000 9,600 182,600 I 1886 151,196 13,168 164,364 ! 1887 40,244 8,373 48,617 1 1888 60,821 23,549 84,370 1889 186,310 57,760 244,070 1890 299,113 34,009 333,122 30 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. The importation of sheet zinc, which in 1879 amounted to 163,000 pouds, rapidly fell after the new zinc rolling works were built in 1880 in Poland. The returns of the customhouse show the exportation of zinc abroad, but a considerable portion of this zinc was re-imported into Russia, as owing to the high railway rates the Polish zinc was forwarded to St. Petersburg by sea through Stettin. The following table indicates what countries participated in furnishing Russia with zinc, and to Avhat extent. Countries. P i 1888. 1889. 1890. Sheet zinc. 1888. 1889. 1890. From Germany . . . Great Britain . Holland. . Belgium . . . Deumark . . . Austro-Hungary France . . . 4.5,100 166,500 2.54.100 16,100 5,300 8,800 23.000 3,900 6,150 8.250 14,200 — 3,400 2,800 4,000 3,450 — 900 1,900 — — 1,200 1,200 — 700 — — — 48,400 3,200 28,200 400 900 2.100 Г00 400 2,800 According to the customs tariff of 1891, zinc imported into Russia is subject to the following duties: 1. Pig zinc and scrap, 50 kopecks in gold per poud. 2. Sheet zinc, one rouble in gold per poud. Sheet zinc coated with nickel or other metals is subject to an extra duty of thirty per cent above that put upon sheet zinc; that is, 1-30 roubles per poud. T I N. Deposits of tin are only known in Finland and in the Baikal province of Siberia. At the present time tin is only smelted at the Pitkaransk works in b'inland, and that only in very inconsiderable quantities. The production of these works has especially fallen since the seventies, but during recent years it has again begun to rise. During the last ten years the following amounts of tin were smelted at these works: rears. Production of tin. Pouds. Years. Production of tin. Pouds. 1881 604 188G 1,038 1882 320 1887 629 1883 1,117 1888 1,186 1884 765 1889 721 1885 860 1890 804 In general the yearly demand in Russia for tin is over 100,0C0 pouds, so that the above internal production is utterly insufficient for home requirements. Therefore, a large quantity of tin is imported as the following figures show: Imports of tin. 1881 126,900 pouds. 1886 106,000 pouds. 1882 89,100 » 1887 111,000 >> 1883 114,300 >' 1888 143,700 » 1884 111,400 » 1889 132,600 » 1885 78,700 =' 1890 161,400 » TIN AND MERCURY. 31 During the last three years the following counti'ies have been the chief sources from which Russia has imported tin: Imports of tin. p , ,• ^ c. 1888- 1889. 1890. Countries. T> л P u d s. Great Britain 100,300 91,300 92,600 Holland 22,300 21,700 34,300 Germany 15,800 15,600 17,900 France 1,300 600 14,300 Belgium 700 1,900 600 Under the customs tariff of 1891, tin imported into Russia is subject to the fol- lowing duties: 1. Pig tin, rods and scrap, 45 kopecks in gold per poud. 2. Sheet tin, mirror backs, and lead sheets coated with tin, 1 rouble in gold per poud. Tin sheets and lead sheets coated with tin, and colored or covered with coloui'ed varnish pay a duty of loO roubles. MERCURY. Deposits of mercury ores were first discovered in Russia in 1879 in the government of Ekaterinoslav near the station of Nikitovka on the Kursk-Kharkov-Azov Railway. Mercury has also been recently discovered in the Caucasus at Daghestan but these de- posits hare not yet been opened out. The deposits near the station of Nikitovka lie in strata of the carboniferous system, and consist of cinnabar which fills the crevices in sandstone. The exploration of these deposits proved that they occupy an exceedingly large area. Traces of ancient workings were also brought to light, and notwithstanding that they extend over a distance of about two versts there is no record of the epoch to which they belong. These deposits were first worked in 1885 by the present owners, A. A. Auerbach and Co., who in 1886 built small works capable of turning out about four thousand pouds of mercury annually, which corresponded to the internal consumption of Russia. But already in 1887 these works were considerably enlarged owing to the evident pos- sibility of a considerable market being found abroad. The mines and works are models of their kind, and are better organized and work on a more economical and rational basis than those of Idria and Almaden. At the present time the locality of the works which in 1885 was a bare steppe is now occucied by a busy population of over 1,500 inhabitants. The production of these mines and works is shown in the following table. Years. Production of ore. Production of metallic mercury. Pouds. 1 1887 1888 1889 1890 762,300 2,005,250 3,074,450 3,686,680 3,911 10,062 10,202 17,835 32 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. In 1890 there were 687 men employed on the mercury mine and works. In 1892 the Russian Government seeing that the mercury industry had taken firm root, placed a mining tax of 50 kopecks per poud upon the mercury produced in the Empire. It is estimated that in 1893 this tax will hring in a revenue of 12,000 paper roubles. Up to 1886 Russia annually imported from 2,000 to 5,000 pouds of mercury having a value of from 85,000 to 200,000 roubles, but since 1887 this amount has fallen to 250 pouds. Indeed now a considerable portion of the mercury produced in Russia is sent abroad, thus in 1889, 7,805 pouds were exported, and in 1890, 13,855 pouds having a value of 642,916 roubles. This mercury goes exclusively to Germany. According to the customs tariff of 1891 mercury imported into Russia is subject to a duty of 2.40 roubles in gold per poud. Manganese. Deposits of manganese ore are known in the Caucasus, south of Russia and Urals. The exploitation of manganese ores is chiefly carried on in the Transcaucasus, where the workings are almost exclusively limited to the Sharapan district of the government of Kutais. However the production of manganese ore is also carried on to a small extent in the district of Kutais and in the government of Tittis. The richest deposits occur in the district of Sharapan at Chiatoura and extend over an area of about a hundred and twenty square versts, divided by the river Kvirila which with its tributaries passes through deep ravines and has laid bare the ore deposits. The deposits vary from five to seven feet in thickness and contain from six to eleven layers of manganese, about five inches thick. The exploitation of these deposits was first started in 1879. At first they were only worked by large capitalists, but they met with competition on the part of the small landowners of the district, in consequence of which the price of the ore began to fall. Owing to this circumstance the larger enterprises by degrees stopped working and at the present time the manganese industry is mainly in the hands of small capitalists who in the majority of cases do not understand mining matters, and consequently work the deposits in a most irrational manner. At first there was great difficulty in transporting the ore from the mines to the railways, about fifty versts distant, but now this difficulty has been overcome by the construction of a special branch line to the mines from the main line of the Transcaucasian Railway. The ore worked in the district of Sharapan contains 56 per cent of metallic manganese, and in general is distinguished for its fine quality as is shown by analysis made at New Castle. There are also deposits of manganese ore, which however contain a somewhat smaller percentage of manganese, at a short distance from the Transcaucasian Railway, and much nearer the Black Sea. These deposits are situated near the Samtredi and Novo-Senaki Railway stations. In the Urals, manganese ores are worked in the government of Perm in the region of the Nizhni-Taghilsk works, and also in the government of Orenburg in the district of Verkhneuralsk. Deposits of manganese ores are also known to exist in the government of Ekaterinoslav near Nikopol, where they occur in beds as much as half a sagene thick on strata of the Eocene formation. These deposits were first worked in 1886, and now there are two mines from which the ore is raised. According to foreign analysis the ore of the government of Ekaterinoslav contains about 57 per cent of peroxide of manganese. MANGANESE. 33 The total production of manganese ore in Russia during the last ten years is given in the following table. Year s. Caucasus. Ural. Ekaterino- slav. ^ Total. P u d s. 1881 686,100 686,100 1882 763,000 118,000 — 881,000 1883 975,000 66,000 — 1,041,000 1884 1,263,000 88,300 1,351,300 1885 3,640,800 54,700 — 3,695,500 1886 4,242,100 50,000 250,000 4,542,100 1887 3,277,200 50,000 226,350 3,553,550 1888 1,822,800 82,700 89,600 1,995,100 1889 4,243,200 179,100 341,500 4,763,800 1890 10,468,100 143,500 528,100 11,139,700 The greater portion of the manganese ore raised in Russia is sent abroad, and only a small quantity is smelted into ferro-manganese on the spot *. In 1890 the Ural works produced 22,000 pouds of ferro-manganese and spiegeleisen and the Avorks of southern Russia, 617,300 pouds. The accompanying table gives the export of Russian manganese ore during the last nine vears. Years. Export of Years manganese ore. Export of manganese ore. 1882 1883 1884 ! 1885 1886 562,700 871,500 1,247,800 2,567,000 3,403,400 1887 1888 1889 1890 3,690,400 3,042,700 3,440,300 8,129,500 The following table gives the amounts exported to the different countries during the last three years. It should be remarked however that the ore imported by Holland was probably destined for German works, and also, that all goods transported by sea to Gibraltar are shown as exported to Great Britain, although some vessels are registered to Gibraltar only, hence the following data cannot be regarded as absolutely correct. Manganese ore. Countries. 1888. 1889. 1 1890. Pouds. Great Britain Holland . . France . . . Germany . . United States Belgium . 1,627,800 768,000 276,700 250,500 132,000 2,348,400 349,000 121,600 303,400 9,400 104,700 5,275,000 1,466,700 511,500 439,400 400,100 104,800 * In 1890, 478,676 pouds of manganese ore were smelted. 34 mining industries of russia. Cobalt and Nickel. Cobalt is solely produced iu the Caucasus at the Dashkesau works situated in the government of Elisavetpol. Cobalt speiss was for the first time produced in Russia at the above-mentioned works in 1867 when 1,300 pouds of speiss wire were smelted. Since then the preparation of cobalt has been continued, although there have been intervals of several years when the production has ceased. Deposits of nickel ore are known in various parts of the Urals, and also in the Caucasus in the province of Daghestan. The richest deposits of nickel ore in Russia occur in the Revdin mining district of the Urals. Still there is every possibility of similar deposits being found in other parts of the Urals. The deposits in the Revdin district were first discovered in the fifties, and the Petrovsk mine was subsequently laid out for working them. This in the only instance known in Europe of a mine working oxidized nickel ores ahuost free from sulphur and arsenic. The percentage of nickel varies, but may be said to average about two per cent. The first experiments of smelting nickel were made in the beginning of the sixties, but there is no account of the preparation of nickel before 1874, since when about 8,(300 pouds were smelted. The constant extension of the practical applications of this metal, even for the army, may give a particular importance to the deposits of the Urals, and there is even reason to suppose that with the general scarcity of nickel ores Russia may become one of the chief sources of this metal. The iron industry. The working of iruu ores and their treatment in cold blast furnaces was carried on from ancient times in the government of Novgorod in the neighbourhood of Ustiuzhiua, afterwards called Zhelesnopol. To this day there exist many traces of these workings in the present government of Olonets and at the village of Dedilov in the government of Tula. The manufacture of pig iron and the treatment of iron on a larger scale was first developed in central Russia and in the governments of Olonets and Perm where not only rich deposits of ore but also an abundance of wood occur, together with other natural and economical conditions favourable to the development of the iron industry. By degrees the number of Avorks increased and the iron industry took root in localities where it had previously not existed. Still the chief centres of the iron industry were always the Urals, central Russia and Poland, but in recent times the greatest production is given by South Russia *. The works of eastern Russia, namely of the governments of Perm, Yiatka, Ufa and Orenburg belonging to the so-called mining regions of the Urals, chiefly smelt magnetic and brown iron ore. Red hematite, siderite and sphero-siderite are smelted in compara- tively small quantities. The most remarkable deposits of magnetic iron ore occur at Mounts Blagodat and Visokaia in the central Urals in the government of Perm and at Mount Maguitnaia in the south Urals, government of Orenburg. The deposits of Mount Visokaia, which furnish several mining districts with ore, yield above eight million pouds annually. This ore contains from 63 to 69 per cent of iron and can be smelted without the addition of any fluxes. Mount Blagodat annually yields over three million pouds of ore, containing from 52 to 58 per cent of iron. This ore, however, requires the * See map of the iron and steel producing regions. lYIAP OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA indicating pig iron, iron and steel regions. ^^j^ Regions of 1^Ш^ productireness. Productiveness of pig iron, in ponds ^ in 1890. Cartographical works.A Jlyne.St Pbg. Prodnclireness of iron cuid steel, in pouds^ in 1890 COBALT, NICKEL AND IKON. 35 addition of a small quantity of limestone flux. The ore of Mount Magnitnaia is very pure and rich, containing as much as 66 per cent of iron, nevertheless this deposit is very little Avorked OAving to its distance from iron works and the want of means of communication. Besides these three chief localities a more or less considerable amount of magnetic iron ore is yielded from several deposits on the eastern side of the Urals. In 1874 an extensive deposit of specular iron was discovered in the north of the Urals and in 1890 the Koutimsk iron works were built for smelting this ore. Most extensive deposits of brown iron ore of a very high quality, yielding pig iron suitable for the Bessemer process, occur in the central and south Urals. This ore sometimes gives as much as 60 per cent of iron in smelting. Deposits of spherosiderite occur in many parts of the government of Viatka and in the western portion of the government of Perm. In general these ores are not rich and contain some phosphorus. The deposits of red hematite on the western slopes of the Urals deserve special mention. The ore here occurs in strata of the carboniferous formation and yields as much as 64 per cent of iron in smelting. In speaking of the iron ores of the Urals, it is impossible to avoid mentioning the deposits of chrome iron ore, which occur in several localities in this region. The chrome iron ore here produced is partly smelted in blast furnaces and partly exported. The ore contains from 35 to 38 per cent of oxide of chromium and about 40 to 50 per cent of iron. The iron district of central Russia includes the governments of Nizhni-Novgorod, Vladimir, Riazan, Tula, Kalouga and Oriol. The ores worked are brown iron ore and siderite. As a rule the ores of Central Russia are easily reducible but in the majority of cases are not distinguished either for their richness or purity as they often contain phosphorus. However, they are very suitable for the manufacture of cast iron. The government of Olonets and Finland are rich in lake and bog iron ores. Un- fortunately the majority of these ores are poor and phosphoritic. Numerous deposits of other iron ores, such as magnetic iron ore and specular iron, are known in these localities. Numerous deposits of brown iron ore occur in the west of Russia in the governments of Vilna, Minsk and Yoljii. A considerable quantity of spherosiderite containing from 27 to 35 per cent of iron and brown iron ore with from 35 to 45 per cent of iron is raised in the south and Avest of Poland, but the majority of these ores are phosphorites. From the time of its exploration by the French savant Le Play, the Don coal basin of the south of Russia has always been known to be exceedingly rich in iron. The ores of this district are chiefly brown iron ore which occurs in strata of the carboniferous formation. Besides this, in the south of Russia there are vast deposits of exceedingly pure and rich ores with 60 to 68 per cent of iron. These deposits, which chiefly consist of specular iron, magnetic iron ore and red hematite, occur on the borders of the govern- ments of Kherson and Ekaterinoslav in the neighbourhood of the village of Krivoi-Rog. The exploitation of these deposits has been rapidly developed, and in 1890 more than 19,000,000 pouds of ore were yielded by seven mines worked upon the open-working system. Besides this there is a deposit very favourably situated of magnetic iron ore near Korsak-Mogila in the Tauride government about thirty versts distant from Berdiansk, one of the ports of the Azov Sea. The following table gives the yield of iron ore in diff"erent parts of Russia during the last five years. 3* MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. о о о э tz! со Т) ее r^ (Я о р- о 5^ со 3. р р" о а г*- 04 Е • (И со р' от со р' • о DO _ -Э 05 ^ ьо С5 о W -а ь-> ЕГ 3 р* .£. .N» of mines. к- Й ВТ' 05 to »^ Ф о ф S' ф 00 СО to СО ? р- ^ ф 00 H 00 2? *^ р J5S J-" j-a i" J<1 ^ 2^ "t- сд >;>- -J Ъ) "сп f.^ ■*--l о -^ О со CO OS 05 ОЭ >^ J2> *- i» J-" )— ' i^ Jf^ о Ъ " JsO JX) J35 1^ p. Ъх ""ю Ъх о Ъ» "Ьэ "ел "ел CO о о О о о о о 1-S о О о о ® о =^ ^ л ь- Ci ,_, hf» w со К-* ;^ to ьо -а ел № of mines. Е !=* 3_ р" 05 ю to to ф в Б' (V <1 СО о о to м &. Ф ." 00 J и 00 00 ь-> ь- ' )«>> 00 Ot JO JO со JDO JO •t! ее» ~bt ^ *. ^ Н-* "со ^5 "to О р< I—" о 00 со ►й- со to OS != о JJ5 гя h^ ет 00 hf^ -q J^ P. *-ь CO 1— i Ъ» ю "С5 Ъ ъ Ъэ "^ о о о о о о о I-! о о •^ "=* о о о ® р , н- 0> )— ' -J »*>■ 05 h-i VI ет ^ В р* В я^ № of mines. р р -а to ю CO р р- ® g' ® ф *>• со ю о CO 1—1 00 н- й 00 о Н-* ю н^ ел со J=> JO — JW JD „— ID "f-" "oj ъ -д Ъэ ^ "to 1— • с о OS о 00 о ^ to 1"^ g о <) О «о оо J» ^ 00 t— * 1-*5 CO 00 "о Чо ьэ Ъг со ъ VI о о о о О о о о 1-! ==■ о о о О о о о Ф . I-' 4Л Н-* CD со 00 I—" о» 05 о ■— ст >;>> jV» of mines. ^ р р в Е^ >£v to ю со g* в ?Г 5- i^r- «л СО to to их S р^ W CD у I—" 00 со ^ Й о I-; to >—t сд Л* о JO рэ oi to bS OS •D "а н«> 01 «а "оэ "со "to "to о ю ю <1 с™ со со ~д OS p о i^ i" t— ' со jp». Jj to _Q0 P' 1-+5 "ot "со "vi ъ» 00 "to £Л О о ^ о о о о ■-5 о О о о о о о о 05 * IKON ORES. 37 The following table gives the amount of iron ores smelted in the blast furnaces of the Empire during the last nine years. 1882. 1883. 1884. 1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. Ores. T housanrfs of pond 8. Magnetic iron ore 11,095 12,198 13,129 13,244 13,924 15,638 18,251 12,763 17,703 Brown iron ore 35,044 31,131 32,060: 34,333 36,879 42,029 43,049 51,101 46,348 ; Red hematite . 11,206 21,836 Siderite and clay- 14,918 iron stone . . 14,186 / 17,003 14,310 [ 16,932 / 12,800 16,790 8,534 14,013 j Lake and bog ore 5,065 1,861 2,938 Other ores . . . j > — — 493 Slag, cast iron i and scrap . . . 726 1,244 1,659 2,154 2,674 .Я,582 4,256[ 5,728 7,546 Total. 61,052 61,571 61,158 66,664 66,277 78,039 82,539 9 1,1 94] 110,878 This table shows that between 1882 and 1890 the consumption of magnetic iron ore increased sixty per cent while the consumption of brown iron ore only increased a little over thirty per cent. Red hematite is chiefly smelted by the iron works of south Russia, which consume large quantities of ore from the deposits at Krivy-Rog. A striking feature in this table is the large increase in the amount of slag smelted, which from 726,000 pouds in 1882 rose to 7:546,000 ponds in 1890, that is, more than ten times. About half of this quantity, namely 3,506,000 pouds, was consumed by the tin iron works of Poland, while the thirty-six works of the Urals only smelted 1,372,000 pouds of slag during the same year. This may be ascribed to the fact that in the Urals the ores are far richer in iron than the slags and cost comparatively little, while the works of Poland smelt exceedingly poor ores which, moreover, are rather expensive. The manufacture of pig iron is mainly carried on by charcoal fuel. The charcoal is either prepared in stoves or in stacks, and chiefly from pine and birch Avood. Pine and birch charcoal are preferred for fuel for blast furnaces. In Poland oak and beech Avood are also used for the preparation of charcoal for the blast furnace. Sometimes in central Russia and Finland the charcoal is mixed with wood, and peat is occasionally added in Poland, There. are also blast furnaces working on a* mixture of charcoal and coal. In 1890 there were seven such furnaces in Poland and one in the Urals. In 1890 there were five blast furnaces working exclusively upon coal in Poland and seven in the south of Russia upon coke. At the Sulinovsky works in the south of Russia there was one furnace working upon anthracite. The charcoal furnaces are frequently very primitive in their design, with massive brick or stone boshes, and cold or feebly heated blast of low pressure. Even in 1870 when the Austrian metallurgist Tunner visited the Urals he expressed his astonishment at the fact that the hot blast was nowhere used. The blast furnaces vary considerably in capacity and height. Thus in Finland, Poland and the government of Olonets the blast furnaces working with charcoal are chiefly small, not exceeding thirty to thirty- five feet in height; but in the Urals they are large and high, fifty feet and more, the furnaces of central Russia being intermediate between the two. In general the 38 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. furnaces of recent construction are distinguished for their large capacity, greater number of tuyeres, from three to twelve, which are often cooled by a cui-rent of water. In the new furnaces the hearth is accessible from all sides and like the shaft is most often built of brick. The external walls of the new furnaces are made comparatively thin and some are built upon the Scotch system without external casing. The furnaces of the newest pattern are generally furnished with a gas-collecting apparatus and work with a hot blast. The blast furnaces working with mineral fuel are for the most part of the newest construction with an annual yield of tW'O and one-half million pouds of pig iron. The changes which the manufacture of pig iron has undergone during the last ten years are seen in the accompanying table gi\1ng the number of furnaces worked with cold and hot blast and the production of pig iron with charcoal and mineral fuel. Years. № of furnaces. Cold I Hot blast. ! blast. Total. 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 110 90 106 96 91 107 88 107 85 107 70 119 67 133 74 139 69 145 ! 196 200 202 198 195 192 189 200 213 214 Production of pig iron in pouds. Charcoal fuel. Mineral fuel. Mixed fuel. 26,446,443 25,757,688 26,660,810 28,327,752 28,660,621 27,145,526 30,184,803 31,083,651 31,602,782 37,326,643 2,215,277 2,479,339 2,746,121 2,777,860 3,003,563 4,142,775 5,990,827 8,267,697 11,968,222 18,278,381 541,320 1,196,116 1,213,641 1,364,328 1,609,301 955,050 This table shows that while in 1882 fifty-five per cent of the blast furnaces in Kussia worked with cold blast there only remained thirty-two per cent in 1890. During the same period the number of furnaces working upon mineral fuel increased from three to thirteen. As regards the production of pig iron with mineral fuel, in 1881 it did not exceed 77 per cent of the total production of the Empire, while in 1890 it had risen to 32 per cent of the total, having increased over eight fold during the ten years. The iron works of Russia were formerly for the most part built on the banks of dammed up rivers. These works enjoy an immense supply of water which they store in vast reservoirs, often several square versts in area. The works therefore chiefly depend upon water power and are generally furnished with water wheels, which however are now being replaced by turbines and steam engines. The following table compares the number of different engines employed in the iron works of Russia in 1882 and 1890. ' Class of Engine. ! 1882. 1890. Number. H. P. Number. H. P. 1 Water wheels Turbines 1,547 163 726 74 27,097 8,261 31,432 931 362 904 126 20,507 18,593 57,148 Steam engines Portable engines IRON ORES. 39 This indicates a distinct progress in the application of steam power and turbines to the iron industry. In the Urals forge pig iron is chiefly produced, especially if the ore used is magnetic iron. Thanks to the comparative purity of the ore from the chief deposits of the Urals the pig iron produced therefrom is distinguished for its great purity and is often quite suitable for conversion into steel. Foundry pig iron of excellent quality is smelted at certain works in the governments of Perm and Viatka. The Kousinsk and Kaslinsk works are known for the fineness of their castings made direct from the blast furnace. The works of central Russia, Poland and Finland manufacture both forge and foundry pig. The works of the government of Olonets prepare the latter exclusively, Avhile only one blast furnace of the large works, built in the south of Russia and smelting with mineral fuel, produces foundry pig iron. The greater portion of the pig iron smelted in Russia is converted into iron and steel by means of fuel supplied from the same forests which furnish the blast furnace with fuel. Only the south of Russia and Poland take advantage of the local coal for this purpose. Coal imported, chiefly from England, is used by the iron and steel works in St. Petersburg and its neighbourhood, and also by some of the works in the interior. Turning to the actual manufacture of iron it is seen that up to about 1850 it was almost entirely conducted in bloomery furnaces. It was not before 184.") that the Ural iron works began to replace the ordinary bloomery furnaces lor the к a n t о u a z pattern, and afterwards to introduce the puddling process, which was also introduced into the govern- ments of central Russia about the same time. The bloomery process still continues to be employed in the Urals but in other parts of Russia it has been quite supplanted by the puddling process. In 1890, 377 or 84 per cent of the 451 bloomery furnaces in work in the whole of Russia belonged to the iron Avorks of the Urals, and about .SO per cent of the iron produced in this district is obtained by the bloomery process. The continuation of the bloomery process in the Urals is partly due to the fact that the forests having gradually receded from the works, it is impracticable to transpoi't the Avood required for the puddling furnace, while the charcoal for the bloomery process is far more easily conveyed to the works, another reason being that some markets, such as the Asiatic, have a special demand for bloomery iron. The puddling furnaces are either simple draught, gas simple draught, or Siemens furnaces. The gas simple draught furnaces are for the most part after Biietius pattern. Although as a rule the puddling works, being of newer construction, are more complete than the bloomery and blast furnace works, still the employment of the waste heat from the puddling furnaces is rarely met with. The manufacture of steel has been rapidly developed during the last twenty-five years. The reason of this will be discussed in speaking of the rail industry. Here it will only be mentioned that in 1851 Mr. Oboukhov, a mining engineer, invented a process for the preparation of crucible steel on a large scale. At first only cuirasses and swords were manufactured out of this steel, but it was soon employed for casting guns. The Zlatoust works were then built for this purpose and turned out ordnance of high (luality. The difficulty of transporting heavy ordnance from the Zlatoust works to the tor- tresses, chiefly situated upon the shores of the Black and Baltic sea<, induced the Gov- ernment to build a cast iron and steel gun factory near the town of Pei-m on the river Kama. The crucible process was introduced at these works for the prejtaration of steel. 40 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. The Perm steel gun factory was constructed by Mr. Yorontsov, mining engineer, who in 1875 also erected a fifty-ton steam hammer for the works. The bed of this hammer weighed 525 tons and was cast in one piece. At that time this casting was unequalled throughout the world. When the Zlatoust works were closed Mr. Oboukhov erected a steel gun factory near St. Petersburg; this factory now belongs to the Government. In the manufacture of steel it has been Russia's endeavour to keep pace with foreign works. When the Bessemer process Avas first announced several Government and private works in the Urals began to make experiments with a view to adopting it. The preparation of steel from phosphortic pig by the Gilchrist process was also quickly adopted in Russia. The accompanying three tables show the gradual process of development in the manufacture of pig iron, iron and steel in Russia. The data respecting pig iron begin from 1822; iron, from 1837; and steel, from 1847. Production of pig- iron. Year s. Production of pig iron. Average yearly production. Y e a r s. Production of pig iron. Average yearly 1 production, i P U (1 s. P u d s. 1 1822—1825 1826-1830 1831-1835 1836-1840 i 1841-1845 1846—1850 1851—1855 36,616,164 53,711,844 52,498,248 54,596,471 56,030,734 62,515,519 69,717,572 9,154,041 10,742,377 10,499,850 10,919,294 11,206,147 12,503,104 13,943,514 1S56 - 1860 1861-1865 1866-1870 1871-1875 1876-1880 1881—1885 1886-1890 82,809,707 88,328,097 97,981,395 119,084,592 130,754,907 149,616,794 212,329,743 16,561,941 17,665,619 19,596,279 23,816,918 26,150,981 29,923,359 42,465,949 Production of iron. Year s. Production of iron. Average yearly pro- duction. Year s. Production of iron. Average yearly pro- duction. P u d s. P u d s. II 1837 - 1840 1841-1845 1846-1850 1851 — 1855 1856-1860 1861—1865 27,134,154 38,167,751 43,763,406 54.011,452 58,410,847 56,266,163 6,783,538 7,633,550 8,752,681 10,802,290 11,682,169 11,253,230 1866-1870 1871-1875 1876-1880 1881 — 1885 1886—1890 65,962,111 84,406,478 85,773,167 99,929,753 119,530,506 j 13,192,422 16,881,296 17,154,633 1 19,985,951 1 23,906,101 1 1 Production of steel. Year s. Production of steel. Average yearly pro- duction. Year s. Production ,4;r'«v P u d s. P u d s. 1847—18.50 1851-1855 1856-1860 1861-1865 1866-1870 250,337 347,714 519,260 811,73^^ 2,232,414 62,584 69,543 103,852 162,348 446,483 1871—1875 1876—1880 1881—1885 1886-1890 2,863,838 39,301,366 70,985,080 80,996,150 572,768 7,860,273 14,197,01(i 16,199,230 IKON ORES. 41 The above tables show that during the last seventy years the production of pig iron has only increaced by four and a half times, and that at the present time Russia, which seventy years ago produced one and one-half times as much pig iron as France, four and a half times as much as Germany, three times as much as Belgium and as much as the United States, stands far behind all these countries in its production of pig iron. The chief reason for this regrettable state of affairs most certainly lies in the fact that Russia, owing to the force of circumstances, has always been dependent upon char- coal for the manufacture of its pig iron, while the other nations, having applied mineral fuel in far greater proportions or having totally ceased smelting pig iron with charcoal, have made rapid strides and have forged ahead. Moreover, the active rise in the pro- duction of pig iron during the last five years was mainly due to the firm establishment of its manufacture with mineral fuel, and there is every reason to foresee that the south of Russia will rapidly develop its production to an exceedingly large extent, and that the chief production of pig iron in Russia will be concentrated, just as it is in western Europe and America, where rich deposits of iron ores occur in the near neighbourhood of coal veins suitable for metallurgical purposes. The combined production of iron and steel has also increased b}' four and one- half times during the last forty-five years. The manufacture of iron and steel is not subject to any Government tax, but a mining duty is collected on the production of pig iron This duty amounts to one and one-half kopecks per poud on the pig iron smelted at freehold works, and two and one-half on that smelted at works leased from the Gov- ernment. The revenue thus brought to the Government by the private iron works averages from six to seven hundred thousand paper roubles a year. Before reviewing the production of the different iron centers of Russia it may be well to refer briefly to the history of the iron industry in the chief of these centres. In the Urals the metallurgical industry began to take root in the beginning of the seven- teenth century when the Government built the first iron works. The discovery of iron ores near the river Nitsa was followed in 1(d31 by the erection of the first iron луогкз in the Urals, called the Nitsinsk works. At these works, as was usual in those days, wrought iron was manufactured directly from the ore in hearths with an artificial blast. The metallurgical industry was placed on a perfectly firm footing in the Urals by Peter the Great, who in 1701 ordered the construction of the Niviansk and Kamensky Iron works. Cast iron cannons and projectiles were manufactured at both these works. Many other Government works were afterwards created in various parts of the Urals. Peter the Great and his successors evinced great energy and solicitude in establishing a pri- vate mining industry and thanks to the measures taken by the Government, nearly all the works now existing in the Urals were created within the space of a few decades. The most active helper of Peter the Great in establishing the metallurgical industry was William de Hennin, a native of Nassau, who from 1722 to 1734 was the head of the Siberian and Ural works, and erected many others. His predecessor and successor Tati- schev also did much for the mining industry of Russia. In speaking of the private mining industry of the Urals it would be impossible to avoid mentioning the active work done by Nikita Demidov, formerly a blacksmith of Tula. He was кполуп personally to Peter the Great, who gave over the Niviansk works to his charge under the condition that Demidov should make cannons, mortars, cold arms, as well as manufactured iron and wive at these works. Thanks to his unusual 42 MINING INDUSTKIES OF RUSSIA. perseverance Nikita Demidov erected four more works in the Urals; indeed, he and his descendants built altogether thirty works in the Urals. At the close of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries Russia was supplied with iron from SAveden, whence it was imported by Dutch merchants through the port of Archangel. The high price of this metal, induced one Vinius, a Dutch merchant settled in Russia, to erect Avorks at Tula, for casting objects of iron and for manufacturing iron by the foreign method. He was granted permission to do this in 1632 by the Tsar Michael Fedorovich. Vinius erected four works on the banks of the river Toulitsa. He was subsequently joined by two other foreigners, who erected several new works in the governments of central Russia. It was also at Tula that Peter the Great became acquainted in 1696 with the blacksmith Nikita Demidov Antoufiev, from whom the family of the Demidovs descended, and who attracted the Emperor by his talent, skill and rare perseverance. Nikita Demidov rendered immense service in the development of the mining industries, of not only central Russia, but also of the Urals and Siberia. Iron ores were first discovered in the government of Olonets in 1670 and their exploitation was soon given to Butenant von Rosenbusch a native of Denmark under the condition that he should furnish the Government with cannons and projectiles manufac- tured at the Petrovsk works erected in 1678. These works vieve subsequently taken over by the Government and their direction handed over to De Hennin луЬо with the aid of foreign foremen introduced the manufacture of steel, sheet iron, anchors, wire and nails at these works and also placed them in a position to satisfy the requirements of the navy. The Government, actively following up the idea of developing the production of iron in Russia with mineral fuel, has constantly held in view the establishment of inde- pendent iron works in the south of Russia, where both the pig iron and manufactured iron, transported from the Urals at a distance of two thousand versts, became so dear that it hindered and injured the industries and especially the agricultural interests of the district. From the very foundation of the Lougansk works in the government of Ekaterinoslav in 1797 up to the thirties of the present century experiments were made upon smelting pig iron from local ores and coal which, however, for various reasons were unsuccessful. Likewise, the works erected in Kertch in 1845 for the purpose of smelting local ores with anthracite from the Don basin also failed to give good results. Experiments were then again carried on in the Donets basin and the Petrovsk iron works erected there in 1859. The Lisichansk iron works were then completed in 1870 and after the failure attending the Petrovsk works the experiments were trans- ferred to these works. Here again the results Avere not satisfactory. Thus the repeated endeavours of the Russian Government to establish the manufacture of pig iron with local mineral fuel in the south of Russia remained unsuccessful. The honour of having attained success in this matter is due to John Hughs, a native of England and to a Russian capitalist named Pastoukhov. John Hughs, formerly chief foreman at the Millwal Iron works, London, signed a contract with the Russian Government in 1869, and having obtained large orders for rails at a high price, he agreed to erect a blast furnace ca- pable of turning out two hundred tons of pig iron a week and to lay out a mine which would give two thousand tons of coal per day. In April, 1871, the tirst blast furnace was IKON ORES. 40 О blown in, a second was erected in 1876 and at the present time these works possess tive furnaces and produce six million pouds of pif? iron, one million pouds of iron, and three million pouds of steel and rails annually. Mr. Pastoukhov began to erect iron works in the Don province almost simultaneously with liughs. Those works manufacture pi^^ iron with the local anthracite and the first pig iron was obtained during the autumn of 1872, but for various reasons the production of these works has not been as great as could be desired. The discovery and detailed exploration of the extremely rich iron ore deposits of the Krivoi-Rog was followed by the establishment of several large enterprises in the south of Russia and the erection of vast ii'on and steel works. The first pioneers in this direction have found many followers and it may be confidently expected that in a short space of time the iron industry of the south of Russia will be developed to such a vast extent that the Ural works, after having existed over a hundred and fifty years, will be obliged to cede their precedence. In the last partition of Poland, the land on which the iron industry first arose in the thirteenth century, was divided between Prussia. Austria and Russia. In 1814 there were forty-six blast furnaces within the limits of the then Principality of Warsaw. The period between 183:^ and 1837 was remarkable for the introduction of the hot blast puddling process and the employment of coal in the manufacture of iron. The iron in- dustry of Poland made particular progress about twelve years ago when large iron and steel works were erected by foreign capitalists. The production of pig iron in Russia during the last ten years is given in the following table. Production in pouds. to и 03 Ol Iron. works. S His Majesty's Cabinet. P r i V a t 6. 5 вМ 1 III Siberia. Poland. ■5 'm t-i от О S Finland. Total. 1881 3,655,386 20,200 15,936,75Г. 3,387,296 1,583,244 234,521 2,552,289 _ 1,282,028 28,661,720 11882 3,238,454 89,045 15,661,347 3,320,911 2,004,734 291,2312,366,345 — 1,264,960 28,237,027 1883 3,497,423 67,157 16,623,412 3,418,182 1,988,106 304,843 2,494,279 — 1,013,529 29,406,931 1884 3,379,391 148,320,17,879,919 3,661,9551 2,031,119 335,469 2,356,926 — 1,312,513| 31,105,612 1885 3,658,791 136,977 18,366,401 3,648,661' 2,242,720 287,210|2,466,892 — 1,. 397,8521 32,205,504 1886 3,451,291 192,839 17,806,958 3,991,857 [ 3,077,503 226,357 2,831,690 — 905,922; 32,484,417 1887 3,395,819 177,94120,362,807 4,374,064 4,158,431 223,5S7;3,717,500 — 979,122 37,389,271 |1888 3,789,384 102,799 20,648,906 4,605,724 5,432,681 192,3014,782,570 — 1,161,311 40,715,676 1889 3,554,119 135,335 21,537,733 5,107,640 8,468,005 177,2175,380,901 — 819,355 45,180,305 1890 4,160,600 159,459 24,012,529 5,758,708 13,417,718 278,9237,423,961 5,046 1,348,160 56,560,074 1 The figures of this table show that altogether the production of pig iron in Russia has almost doubled during the last ten years. Taking the separate districts it is seen that the Ural private Avorks have increased their production by fifty per cent, the works of Central Russia, by seventy per cent. The proiluction of South Russia has 44 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. increased by eight and one-half times and of Poland by almost three times. The extent to which the general aspect of the production of pig iron according to the chief centres has changed, is seen in the following comparison of relative production for 1881 and 1890. Years. i Govern- ment works. Privateworks. ^^"^^■ SS' South Russia. Poland. Finland, i Per cents. 1881 1890 12-5 7-3 55-5 42-4 11-8 10-1 5-5 23-7 9 4-4 13 2-3 During the last ten years the production of manufactured iron has varied in the following manner. Production in pouds. CO ^- ее ЛУ r к s. II S С о •22-^ я " о ^ от о = и от О S ■о "я о >н о Д :::) t) 'ОЙ P-( c«tf ^P^ со &ч Н 1881 163,420 501 1,826,374 3,575,129 3,902,267' 1,266,748 7,146,558 26,383 17,907,380 Il882 323,808 500 I,186,022l3,281,549i3,319,163 1,467,810 5,524,739 640 16,011 15,120,242 1883 178,510 504 1,5S8,717|3,023,410|3,434,834 1,118,963:4,183,340 1,078 16,628 13,545,984 1884 245,415 502 2,122,107'2,234,153 3,428,350 1,294,695 3,223,395 — 86,580 12,635,197 1885 220,173 252 1,915,600 1,524,699 2,446,012 1,955,757 3,493,899,2,337 217,548 11,776,277 1886 266,854 253 2,049,591 1,778,420,3,151,567 2,815,518 4,521,306 187 177,633 14,761,329 1887 325,255 253 2,002,976 2,265,864 3,048,327 2,488,743 3 509,711 187 125,021 13,765,537 1888 279,514 — 2,121,590 2,445,130 3,137,227 2,405,381 3,102,735 790 78,368 13,570,735 1889 442,475 — 2,140,808 4,014,386 2,390,407 3,721,399|3,026,232 1,415 58,630 15,795,752 1890 371,783 1 2,344,455 5,248,589 3,365,673 7,043,547 j 4,577,338 1,250 150,162 23,102,797 Data respecting the production of steel of various kinds can only be given for the last three years, as beloy^. Years. Production of steel in pouds. | Cementation steel. Puddled steel. Bessemer ' Marten Crucible steel. ' steel. steel. 1888 1889 1890 118,754 107,888 88,293 145,587 223,185 26,265 3,125,100 4,863,780 7,221,428 9,921,113 260,181 10,298,453 302,446 15,4.S6,034 330,777 And lastly the following table gives the production of steel rails and of sheet and assorted steel during the last ten rears. Years. Steel rails. Assorted steel. Sheet steel. ' 1881 12,611,872 93,911 198,398 1882 9,356,805 432,939 342,726 1883 7,854,875 865,019 432,352 1884 5,998,617 1,103,833 372,342 1885 5,831,669 1,405,643 234,226 1886 6,959,742 1,142,940 562,832 1887 5,309,672 2,034,839 1,365,754 ! i 1888 3,847,945 1,221,265 1,290,559 i i 1889 5,394,338 2,948,669 983,346 1 1890 10,140,874 3,833,626 1,276,353 i 46 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. The total production of iron and steel taken together has increased by 38"6 per cent since 1881. Taking the ditferent iron-producing regions separately the following changes in the production during the last ten years may be deduced: that of the Govern- ment works has increased by 6d per cent; of the Ural private works, by 31 per cent; of Central Russia, by 50 per cent and of Poland, by 41 per cent. In South Russia the pro- duction of iron and steel has increased nearly fivefold, while that of the works of northern Russia has fallen about 25 per cent. The production of different sorts of iron and steel has gradually and somewhat uniformly risen. The manufacture of steel rails has been subject to great fluctuations owing to their demand depending upon the erection of new and the re-equipment of the already existing railroads. The manufacture of rails in the Empire has its history. When Russia first began constructing its railroads the Government made every endeavour to encourage the manu- facture of rails by private individuals. When the Chief Company of Russian Railroads was instituted, about 1855, the Russian iron-masters were invited to supply the necessary rails, but only four works in the Urals appeared in answer to the invitation, and only two of these took the matter in hand, supplying 3,250,000 pouds of iron rails between 1856 and 1860, after which they refused to manufacture more. Since then certain works have undertaken orders for the manufacture of small parcels of rails. In the mean time the Poutilov works near St. Petersburg started turning over old iron rails and giving them steel heads. The importance of the production of rails to Russia, will be better understood by showing the gradual progress of the construction of railroads in the Empire, Finland excluded. In 1838 . . . - 25 versts. In 1875 . . . — 17,718 versts. » 1850 . . . - 468 » ). 1880 . . . — 21,226 « » 1860 . . . — 1,490 » )) 1885 . . . — 24,258 » )) 1865 . . . — 3,577 » » 1890 . . . — 28,581 » )) 1870 . . . — 10,090 » » 1892 . . . — 29,156 >) In 1866 a project was made for the erection of large rail-rolling works in the south of Russia, but Mr. Reitern, then Minister of Finance, expressed the opinion that it was impossible to stop the construction of railroads indispensable to Russia until the rail- rolling industry, then in its infancy, could be sufficiently developed. It was, therefore, decided to encourage reliable private companies to erect rail-roUiug mills in the south of Russia, but not to stay the construction of railroads. As the above data show, the con- struction of railways was most energetically carried out between 1868 and 1878 and during these years over ninety million pouds of iron and steel rails were imported at a cost of over a hundred and fifty million roubles. It was during this period that John Hughs in 1873 started the production of rails in the south of Russia. In 1874 the Briansk rail-rolling works erected by Messrs. Gou- bonin and Goloubev in the government of Oriol, began working, and lastly in 1875 the Nizhni-Saldinsk works of Prince Demidov San Donato, were the first to start the manu- facture of steel rails in Russia. In 1875 the manufacture of rails was revolutionized, owing to the generally recognised necessity of changing iron for steel rails. In 1876, because of the constantly increasing importation of foreign rails, the Russian Government found itself obliged to issue a series of measures, which were adopted in INTERNAL IRON TRADE. 47 view of the development of the home-rail production. These measures were the following: 1. the institution of a pondage bounty on the manufacture of steel rails, by independent works, from Russian pig iron and by iron Avorks using old rails; 2. the issue of Govern- ment orders for fifteen million pouds of rails; 3. the prohibition of the free importation of rails. The result of these measures was that the three already existing rail-rolling works were rendered capable of making steel rails, and furtliermore, four more steel rail-rolling works were erected in various parts of Russia, so that counting the Demidov works in the Urals, which had been previously capable of turning out steel rails, there луеге at that time altogether eight rail works in the Empire. The following table gives the number of workmen employed in the iron industry, that is, in iron mines and works, during the last five years. Ill the Urals » Central Russia » Poland » South and south-west Russia » North Russia » Siberia » Finland . .' Total 1886. 1S87. 1888. 1889. 1890. 145,910 21,187 11,021 5,956 9,382 2,380 1,652 174,018 20,183 10,84] 6,603 9,254 1,814 2,524 177,188 19,954 12,234 9,260 7,028 1,933 3,162 158,486 21,858 12,460 10,294 8,481 2,422 2.636 165,057 25,754 11,376 15,698 10,652 1,930 3,177 197,488 224,737 230,759 1 216,637 233,644 On comparing this table Avith that showing the production of the difterent regions, it is seen that the number of workmen employed is comparatively very high in those regions where the smelting of pig iron and the manufacture of iron and steel is exclusively carried on with charcoal. This is due to the preparation of charcoal, the cutting of the wood inevitably requiring a considerable expenditure of manual labour. Internal iron trade. The iron and steel works of the Urals as the most important sources of iron and steel are now connected on the southern side only by an uninterrupted railway line with the general railway system of the Empire; but on the other hand they enjoy an exceedingly vast system of water communication transporting their produce along the rivers Chusovaia, Belaia and Viatka to the Kama and thence to the A'olga. This cheap route, as much as two thousand versts long, opens out an immense market to the iron industry of the Urals, the entire length of the Volga, the Transcaspian provinces and Persia and with the canals, there is also access to the White, Baltic and Azov seas. However, the advantages of this route are limited by the fact that it is only practicable for six or seven months in the year, so that during the rest of the year the majority of the Ural works have no communication with the consumers of their produce and are obliged to keep a large amount of capital idle, without returns. 48 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. The position of the three other chief centres of the Russian iron trade, namely Poland, Central and South Russia, is much more pi-opitious in this respect, owing to their being in connection with the general railway system of the Empire, and to their proximity to the consuming markets. The chief market for the Urals is that of Nizhni- Novgorod to which are sent from seven to eight million pouds of iron product every year» The other chief markets for pig iron and manufactured iron, are St. Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw, Odessa, Riga and Rostov-on-Don. These towns obtain their iron and steel from one or other of the iron centres, according to their proximity or convenience of transport. The external iron and steel trade and the fiscal regime to which it is subjected^ play an exceedingly important part in the economical condition of Russia. In the middle of the past century Russian iron formed one of the chief articles of export, and in 1782, amounted to 3,840,000 pouds, to the value of more than five million roubles. At the close of the last century Great Britain alone imported annually about two million pouds of iron from Russia; but at the beginning of the present cen- tury the export decreased, owing to the development of iron works in other countries^ especially in England. Up to 1862 Russia was able to satisfy its internal demand for pig iron, iron and steel by its own product; but since 1863 the demand for iron has- increased, chiefly owing to the active construction of railroads, and this together with the small progress made by the home production has resulted in a rapid increase in the importation of foreign iron. Up to 1857 the Government held a prohibitory system Avith regard to the import- ation of iron and steel; but the prohibition against the importation by sea, Avith th& exception of the ports of the Sea of .izov, of pig iron and manufactured iron was re- cinded by the customs tariff of 1857, and a duty of 15 kopecks a poud was put upon, pig iron and of 50 to 90 kopecks upon iron. However, in 1859 these duties were lowered to 5 kopecks upon pig iron and 35 kopecks upon bar, scrap iron and rails, 45 kopecks upon manufactured iron and 75 kopecks upon boiler plate, retort, sheet and armour plate. The duty upon steel was then 70 kopecks a poud. In 1868 the duty on pig iron remained unchanged, but that on bars, scrap and assorted iron was altered to 36 kopecks; sheet, boiler plate, armour plate and retort iron, to 50 kopecks; rails, to 20 kopecks; and steel, to 80 kopecks. The prohibition against the importation of pig and manufactured iron by the ports of the Azov was also abolished at the same time. The lowering of the import duties upon iron coincided with a considerable animation in the construction of railroads, and therefore the importation of iron rose rapidly, and in 1870 amounted to over eighteen million pouds, that is, two and one-half million pouds above the production at home. The general application of steel in the place of iron rails,, induced the Government in 1871 to lower the duty upon steel rails to 45 kopecks per poud instead of 80 kopecks to which they were previously subjected as steel goods. Starting from 1881 the duties upon pig iron, iron and steel Avere gradually raised in order to protect the home industry. Thus, in 1884 a progressively rising duty upon pig iron was instituted for a period of three years, thus, from June 1, 1884, to March 1, 1885, the duty upon pig iron, imported by land or sea, Avas 9 kopecks, from March 1, 1885, to March 1, 1886, 12 kopecks, and from March 1, 1886, the duty was 15 ko- pecks in gold per poud. In 1887 this duty was again increased, as follows: for pig iron imported by sea, to 25 kopecks per poud, and for pig iron imported by land, to 30 ko- pecks in gold per poud. INTERNAL IRON TRADE. 49 The duties upon iron and steel were also gradually raised in 1881, 1882, 1885 and 1887. Those instituted in 1887 were as follows: a. bar and assorted iron, blooms, puddled ingots or mill bars, steel bars and ingots, and all kinds of assorted steel, 50 kopecks in gold per f)Oud; b. iron and steel rails, 50 kopecks in gold per pond; с sheet and plate iron and sheet and plate steel over 18 inches wide, and assorted iron and steel over 18 inches wide or high, or having a diameter of 7 inches and above, as well as fine assorted iron and steel from one-quarter to one-half of an inch inclusive in diameter or width, 70 kopecks in gold per poud; d. iron one-quarter of an inch and less in diameter or width is counted as wire and pays a duty of 1 rouble 10 kopecks in gold per poud. The following tables give the amount of pig iron, iron and steel imported into Russia during the years from 1881 to 1890. Importation of Pig- iron. Years. Importation of pig iron. Y P 1 r Ч ' Importation 1 e a r s. ^^ pjg .j,^jj 1881 1882 ' 1883 1884 1885 14,293,000 13,363,000 14,491,000 17,330,000 13,509,000 1886 16,178,802 1887 7,877,613 1888 4,590,877 1889 7,132,890 1890 ► 7,712,600 Importation of iron of various sorts. Bar, scrap Sheet iron. and assorted boiler and Iron rails. Total. Year s. iron. plate iron. 1 P u d s. ! 1881 4,633,000 1,853,000 58,000 6.544,000 1882 4,573,000 2,136,000 55,000 6,764,000 1883 3,702.000 2,770,000 39,000 6,511,000 1884 2,660,000 2,211,000 11,000 4,882,000 1885 2,250,000 1,628,000 37,000 3,915,000 1886 3,358,221 1.400,073 22,727 4,781,021 1887 2,206,173 1,164,697 6,386 3,377,256 ; 1888 2,616,671 1,396,745 11,711 4,025,127 1 1889 3,372,975 1,880,554 29,846 5,283,375 1 1890 3,825,598 2,008,262 46,625 5,880,485 [ Importation of steel of various sorts. i Bar, scrap Sheet and 1 and assorted Steel rails. Total. i Years. 1 ! steel. plate steel. i P u d s. 1881 540,000 90,000 820,000 1,450,000 1882 262,000 19,000 286,000 567.000 1883 194,000 37,000 79,000 310,000 1884 263,000 75,000 133.000 471,000 ' 1885 211,000 57,000 125,000 393,000 1886 525,449 140,364 43,854 709,667 1887 309,291 140,426 17,559 467.27(i 1888 458,666 120,241 13,169 592.076 1889 742.023 163,535 73,161 978,719 1890 767,494 153.603 103,419 1,024,516 50 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. Although up to 1877 the importation of pig iron into Russia did not exceed three million pouds a year, yet in 1878 it began rapidly to increase. This was partly due to the erection of large rail-rolling works, and partly to the erection of works near the frontiers for converting foreign pig into manufactured iron, taking advantage of the difference in the duties upon the two products. However, due to the raising of the duty upon iron partly because of the erection of the above-mentioned works and partly because of the development of the home production, the importation of these metals, which for the live years ending 1878 was about eighteen million pouds a year, began to fall considerably. Besides the above-mentioned iron goods, Russia imports a considerable quantity of tin plate. In 1888 the importation of tin plate amounted to 964,000 pouds, in 1889, to 1,076,000 pouds, and in 1890, to 1,490,000 pouds. This tin plate is almost exclusively imported via Batoum, where it is passed free of duty for the requirements of the local tin case factories making tin cases for transporting the naphtha products abroad. The importation of iron and steel wire during the last five years, 1886 to 1890, has been somewhat constant, varying between twenty-four and thirty-three thousand pouds a year. The importation of iron and steel from Russia is very small. Still the famous Russian sheet iron and certain other kinds find a market abroad. The following table gives the exports of iron from Russia. Years. Sheet. Scrap. Other kinds. Pouds. P cud s. 1881 120,300 191,400 311,700 1882 97,000 257,200 354,200 1883 181,600 120,900 302,500 1884 144,700 160,700 305,400 1885 134,500 96,400 119,700 350,600 1886 124,100 108,300 209,000 441.400 1887 94,400 143,600 124,700 362,700 1888 47,600 60,900 104,700 213,200 1889 60,600 125,900 127,400 313,900 1890 84,700 106,600 114,000 305,300 Although Russian sheet iron goes almost exclusively to the foreign markets of Great Britain, Germany and America, the manufactured iron and iron scrap goes chiefly to Persia. The following three tables show which countries chiefly participate in supplying Russia with pig iron, iron and steel. Countries. Pig iron and pig iron scrap. 1888. 1889. 1890. Pouds. From Great Britain. . » Germany. . . )) Holland .... » Belgium .... )) Sweden .... » Austro-Hungary. » United States. )) Norway .... )) France 3,114,000 817,200 97,800 5,800 160,400 152,700 4,663,800 1,673,800 233,300 207,800 86,500 5,212,800 1,326,500 220,100 111,900 110,700 98,300 83,800 6,300 1 1,500 INTERNAL IRON TliADK. 51 , о о о о о о о о о OS ео со -* 1 (М 1 1 1 ! 1 CO осГ 1гГ о~ ' ^■" ' ' I '"' <М 1-1 s о о о '^ oi о о ю и 00 'Ж 00 1 1 CD 1 1 1 1 О 00 I-H оГ os" ' ■ ' 1 1 1 и l-H о о о 00 о о о , , , 1 00 ^ со 00 00 •ч ^V III 1 1 1 1-t со 00 сч , "^^"^ s о о о о о о о о о %■! d о о о о о о о о со о^ ^^ ес_ os_ ^^ ■*. о , 9i OS •^ 1 00 «о" 00*" -Г .-Г ^ ю" —Г со 1 1 "^ I— 1 -- со .-н f-H Ю о 00 со t^ "p. '^ Й -й eS Г of «о*" ' со Ю t~ 1-н I-H с» со" ' со ю ю а 'S ,£3 a о о о о о о о о о 00 00 о о о о о о о ю 0> 00 (М ^^ со OS Tj( со 1 1 1 -w 00 l-H о -Ф 00 -5lH ю со ' 1 Ш "^ "^ со ^ j3 о -* OJ о OJ о о о о о о о о • о о о о о о о о a d С^ О^ С^ О^ Ю^ -н^ ю^ 00 о OS 00 -н" о" -*" «гГ оо" of ю" 1 1 PL| о "Ф со OS — о 1 nd ^H U5_ t- со OI OJ <м -н >> я сЗ м . .5 . ЬС ■ ■ <и M d — OJ ■ "П ■ ^ ' ■ л S "ьп еЗ ''S -Д J3 я (Л ^ S « оа Д й м -^ о я > ез J- ^ Ф Ш S- fe 3 о (U и а '3 о о eq о c/j о_ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I f-H иГ СП о о о о о d о о о о о OS со ю о ! о_ со 1 1 1 1 00 гН • о; -^ 00 со" -*" ' ' 1 1 со '^ — 1 со _й — ТЗ а S3 о о о о о о OS о о о ю о (У) 00 О!^ СО^ -^ со "^ ^- 1 1 1 1 (В 00 —Г ю" сС of of со" ' ' 1 1 гН со -н о GQ я _d — "оЗ ■2 о о о о сю 1— I о 70,90 6,70 41,50 1 о 1 1 1 1 1 о о о о о о о о о о d OS о о о о о о о о о о 00 о со со 01^ "^ ■^ ю^ -^ ^ ^- |> -в 00 со ^" оо" осГ оГ Ю 1-Г 1-Н (U l-< Рн OS СО -^ со OI 1-Н ■|-> 01 гя -н ^ о оо so ев -в я ~ о о о о о о о ^ ^ еЗ OS 00 о о о о о о ю о о о^ "*, со ->#_ со i— 00 1 о со ей 00 ю" оГ lo" со (— t со" .-Г ' ^н а ^ I-H о ю OS -* 1-Н и 1^ т-1 и 1Л - (2 ев ^ о о о о о о _fl 00 00 о о о id ^ о со со os^ со^ «> ^. 1 1 1 1 ^^ 00 оо" -н" d" 1-Н оо" ю ' ' 03 l-H о 01 со 1-Н |> ф о^ ^ ■<2 CQ >» и я as ьс • CO '3 я 3 >. ^ ■-? ж м я гшап Igium eat I ТЗ я stro-] irkey Iv а '1 о а ев s ^ t-l о о eq о О) и ^ н Й Q »^ о в 1 о '^ я __1н _ Ьн 52 MINING INDUSTRIES OF EUSSIA. According to the customs tariff of 1891 the following duties were laid on iron and steel. Paragraph 139; cast iron in jiigs, scrap and turnings: I. All kinds except those especially indicated: a. Imported by sea, 30 kopecks per poud. b. Imported by land across the western frontier, 35 kopecks per poud. II. Ferro-manganese, spiegeleisen, silico iron and chrome iron alloys, 50 kopecks per poud. Remark: These duties are not subject to alteration before January 1, 1898. Paragraph 140; I. Bar and all kinds of manufactured iron, except those mentioned below, iron blooms, puddled iron, pieces or ingots, scrap, mill bars, iron powder, 60 ko- pecks per poud. II. Iron rails, even if drilled or grooved, 60 kopecks per poud. III. Sheet iron up to number 25, according to the Birmingham calibre, iron plates over 18 inches wide, all kinds of manufactured iron over 18 inches wide or high, or over 7 inches thick or in diameter, fashioned iron, such as branded, double-branded girders, cross beams and such like, complex profile, except angle iron, which belongs to clause I, manufactured iron ot finer calibre, between one-quarter and one-half of an inch in width or diameter, 85 kopecks per poud. IV. Sheet iron over .N» 25, according to the Birmingham calibre, 1 rouble per poud. Remark: Iron less than one-quarter of an inch thick or in diameter pays duty according to paragraph 155, clause 1. Paragraph 141; Tin plate, polished, stamped with designs, and damascened; sheet iron coloured, polished, coated with zinc, copper, nickel and other metals, 1.70 roubles per poud. Paragraph 142; steel. 1. Bar and manufactured steel of all sorts, except those specially mentioned below, steel ingots, steel scrap, 60 kopecks per poud. 2. Steel rails, even if drilled or grooved, 60 kopecks per poud. 3. Sheet steel of all kinds up to jYs 25, according to the Birmingham guage, steel plates over 18 inches wide, all kinds of manufactured steel over 18 inches wide or high and 7 inches in thickness or diameter. Fashioned steel, branded, double-branded girders and cross beams and of other like complex profile, except steel angle, which comes under paragraph 1, fine assorted steel from one-quarter to one-half of an inch in width or diameter inclusive, 85 kopecks per poud. 4. Sheet steel above № 25, according to the Birmingham guage, 1 rouble per poud. Remark: Steel one-quarter of an inch and less in width or diameter comes under paragraph 155, clause 1. Paragraph 155; wire. 1. Iron and steel wire. a. From one-quarter of an inch in width or diameter to .M' 25, B. G. inclusive, 1 rouble per poud. b. Above № 25 to jY» 29 inclusive, 1*50 roubles per poud. с Finer than Л! 29, 2 roubles per poud. COAL. 53 Remark: All wire, coated with tin, zinc or other metals, pays an additional duty of 50 per cent above that to which its guage corresponds. Coal. Although coal veins had been known to exist in various parts of European and Asiatic Russia since the last and the beginning of the present century, still up to about 1855, coal was only worked in the south of Russia and Poland, and then the total yield did not even attain ten million pouds. The Government, however, made every endeavour to raise a regular coal industry not only in the Donets and Polish coal fields, but also in central Russia, the Urals, Caucasus and on the island of Sakhalin. It is impossible not to call attention to the fact that the position of the chief Russian coal fields coincides with other important economical conditions which give a still greater importance to the Russian coal industry '. The coal fields of central Russia, known as the Pod-Moscow Coal Basin, are situated on the spot occupied by the oldest and most floui'ishing manufacturing district. The Donets coal fields are situated in a district perfectly void of forests, and coal is the only fuel for satisfying the wants of the inhal)itants and of the railroads for any length of time. The proximity of extremely rich deposits of iron ore gives the right to count upon the development of a vast coal trade in the south of Russia, while the near neighboui'hood of the sea gives the possibility of a wide market to this coal. The Ural coal fields coincide with an abundance of mineral wealth which has long been known and valued by the savants of all Europe. The Kiev-Elisavetgrad coal field is situated in the centre of the sugar industry which alone fui'nishes a considerable demand for coal; this field gives a brown coal. In western Siberia the Kusnetsk coal basin occurs in the Altai mining district, Avhich is known for the richness of its ore deposits. The coal veins of the Kirghiz steppes will be of great importance in the future when the metallurgical industries are more developed in this forestless district rich in copper, silver and lead ores. In eastern Siberia the coal veins of the island of Sakhalin and those recently discovered on the river Soukhanov give an excellent coal, and guarantee the Russian fleet and merchant vessels on the Pacific ocean a supply of fuel. In Western Europe and America the largest manufacturing centres have been established and developed to enormous dimensions on their present sites, due solely to the production of coal from veins occurring in the nearest proximity. In Russia on the contrary a demand for combustible material in localities rich in coal existed and grew before the rise of the coal industry. The only excei)tion was Poland where the manu- facturing industries acquired their present status chiefly owing to the abundance and cheapness of coal. An outline of the position of the coal industry in various parts of Russia is given below, and the following table shows the gradual progress made during the last thirty- five years. ^ See map of the Russiau coal fields. 54 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. I— ' !-> Н-" Kj 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 CD «D 00 00 ~а —1 сгг 05 СЛ р О о» о СЛ о СЛ о СЛ >-! ,_, ^ 00 Г~1 00 СЛ I— ' се )f^ Oi _сл со _pi 1^ lo "«о "со )«>- "bi "оо (^ "ел tf^- «i- rf^ со 1^ ю ^ о Donets. JC о ^ J^ -а со iO о [ "o ъ о о о "о о ъ о о с> о о о о о о о ° •^ о о о о h- ' ,_, СЛ о ^ to to 1— • Н-* p со 00 tf>- о С) _о *^ О "^ to »^ "со ъ "<1 "Vl )f^ «o 00 *^ о ^ »t- 00 ел Poland. JO ^ю со tf^ JO со JX *>» "oi о ъ "о ъ> "о ^ "о о о о о о о ^ о о ° о о о о ® о •-d о 1—' ьо to to Jf>> h-" СЛ со _сл 1—1 "k> со 1—' "Oi "о со 05 05 J» о 00 СЛ со 00 со t— ' 1 Pod-Moscow. •^ P о сд ъ ^ "ел "о "о Q о о (^ о о <^ "^ о о о о о о „ 1— ' p* о -^ '-' ^j "io ъ То "to со •^ |<^ )^ ^ ^ Ь- ' -J 00 Oi о »й- Ural. J>- ет ^ со ~] _05 00 о о © о "о о "о ^ ъ о ^^ о о t^ о "^ о о о о о о о 1—1 C5 СЛ СЛ СЛ со о со i= Kiev-Elisa- i-b OS ъ СЛ ъ ъ со ъ ' ' ' ' vetgrad. ^ о о о о о о о -. Oi ю с» со 1— ' Ь- ' (—• ^ . о н- 00 ■<| со lf>. о о pi р5 j-a J-J 00 СЛ о о Caucasus. о о ъ о "о о "о "о ^^ о о о о о о о л о о о о о о о о о- ^_, _ »— СЛ to 00 )^ to ).^ Kirghiz со 05 ё со ю ~3 00 о to 00 ел 1 ^ "o ъ ъ "о ъ "о ъ 1 stepps. о о о о о о о Ci ■^ о о о о о (-■ о ~3 »;>- to со to со P- СЛ со СЛ 00 СЛ СЛ § 05 -а ел СП 1 Kusnetsk. 'ел ъ "о "о о "о ^ о о о о о ^ о ® о о о о о co 00 СЛ СЛ I—" Н- ' со to СЛ _р о to со 05 ю JX> J» со _ео Island of "2J "t^ "о 1 Sakhalin. о ^ о ^ Q 1^ о '^ '^ о о о о to rf^ со »(^ о t-^ о 1— ' -а J<1 _сл СЛ СЛ 1 1 1 Turkestan. "о "ел о ъ ъ о о о о о о о о ■^ со to ю I-J 05 05 о о )f>- to (-' <| JD _р Jp^ JO _со _00 со h -Э to "ел "^а "bs "►f». "со "оэ "*>й> о о -3 00 ф- I-* со о со оэ ^ «f>- 00 05 н^ со Jf^ *"^ р о» СЛ "о ъ СЛ о ъ о о о о о о о о J"^ о о * о ® о о о COAL. 55 The figures of this table clearly indicate the situation of the coal industry in the different fields during the last thirty-five years. Notwithstanding the rapid growth of the yield of coal in Russia the home production cannot satisfy the large and yearly increasing demand, and hence a considerable quantity is imported. The total amount of coal now consumed in Russia amounts to 460 million pouds annually, which with a popu- lation of 117 million amounts per year to about four pouds per capita. Exact data respect- ing the consumption of coal only exist for the railroads, and the following table shows the gradual growth of their demand. Years. Consumption of coal. | Russian. Foreign. Total. | Ponds. i 1875 1880 1885 1890 54,691,300 66,721,000 66,538,700 17,513,300 8,813,800 6,898,900 30,424,800 1 72,204,600 75,534,800 75,437,600 It is interesting to follow the growth of the consumption of Russian coal from the different fields by the Russian railroads. This may be seen in the following table giving the data for the last ten years: Anthracite, Don coal fields 1880. 1885. 1890. P u d s. 10,878,800 7,099,600 5,121,100 Don coal fields 22,239,600 34,332,800 39,762,600 Pod-Moscow 10,256,900 8,602,000 5,410,900 Poland 10,815,500 13,773,800 17,556,600 Urals 108,566 2,912,500 5,786,200 Caucasus 1 363,587 200 22,500 This table shows a rapid growth in the consumption of coal from the Don, Polish and Ural coal fields, and a reduction of one-half in the consumption of coal and anthracite from the Pod -Moscow basin. The total consumption of coal in Russia has been approximately determined to be as follows: Pouds. Metallurgical and metal industry 120,000,000 Railroads 76,000,0{Ю Navy and other vessels 25,000,000 Gas works 15,000,000 Manufacture of textile fabrics 40,000,000 Sugar works 35,000,000 Other industries 80,000,000 Coal and other mines, salt works 15,000,(ХЮ House-warming and other purposes 55,000,000 56 MINING INDUSTKIES OF KUSSIA. The following two tables show: 1. the number of mines worked and the number of shafts in action; 2. the number of steam engines and their horse powers employed in the coal mines of the different coal fields during the last five years. Coal fields. 1886. 1887.. 1888. 1889. 1890. j Number of mines. о ;-( ^ от Number of mines. Cm О о . ^ от 11 ^ "от Number of mines. «M о « . Number of mines. о и JZ. от Number of mines. Number of shafts. Don 257 760 244 699 263 914 270 777 270 763 ; Polish 27 54 27 58 20 56 20 59 20 52 Pod-Moscow . . 10 34 10 56 12 39 12 36 12 46 Ural 5 14 6 17 7 20 8 21 8 19 1 Kirghiz steppes 2 4 5 16 8 13 9 37 8 24 Kievo-Elisavetgrad 1 3 4 5 7 13 )7 1 3 1 3 Sakhalin. . . 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 Kusnetsk 2 6 2 6 2 6 2 6 2 7 I Caucasus ... 2 4 5 16 8 13 8 31 7 20 Turkestan . . 3 5 5 1^ 6 8 5 9 6 12 Total . . 310 887 309 881 327 1,082 337 982 336 949 Coal fields. 1886. 1887. 1 1888. 1889. 1890. с 05 ! S j 53 1 .72 "5c с от ей О) О) с Steam gines. ^ Д Steam gines. Ф Я Р4 Don 148 3,352 158 3,553 186 4,038 221 5,171 228 5,856 Polish 139 8,643 149 9,226 155 9,971 167 9,898 167 10,497 Pod-Moscow . 54 664 33 470 35 526 36 521 34 594 1 Ural -6 100 5 91 5 91 8 161 9 241 1 Kirghiz steppes . . —1 12 1 6 1 6 — — 3 14 Kievo-Elisavetgrad — 1 10 1 10 1 10 1 10 Sakhalin. . . . — — — — — — — — Kusnetsk . 1 14 1 14 1 14 1 14 2 1 19 Caucasus — — — — — — — — Turkestan . . . — — — — — ■ — — Total. . 349 12,785 348 13,373 384 14,656 434 15,775 444 17,281 COAL. Э ( The accompanying table gives the number of men employed underground and at the mouths of the shafts in the different coal tields during the last three years. Coal fields. 1888. 1889. 1890. -a e s о ад и -в а L3 "а с S Surface. о 5-( •о 1 с • а с ьс и с 1 1 о о ^ 1 У2 Total. Don 16,428 4,047 20,470 20,963 4,704 25,667 ■" i 25,167 j Polish 7,274 2,868 10,142 7,244 2,851 10,095 6,077 2,615 8,692 Pod-Moscow .... 1,915 1,007 2,922 2,141 988 3,129 1,733 719 2,452 Ural 1,284 1,427 2,711 1,713 1,223 2,936 1,176 1,250 2,426 Kirghiz steppes . . . 206 206 202 — 202 125 22 147 Kievo-Elisavetgrad. . 85 85 40 13 53 21 7 28 Sakhalin 212 386 598 228 242 470 277 286 513 Kusnetsk. .... 235 107 342 219 219 438 207 403 610 Caucasus 178 24 202 102 14 116 206 164 370 i Turkestan 195 84 279 108 57 165 86 73 162 Total . . . 28,007 9,950 37,957 32,960 10,311 43,271 — ' - 40,571 If a comparison be made of the figures of these three tables and the production of coal in the different coal fields, it will immediately be seen that the Polish coal mines differ distinctly from the others in the vastness of their yield. As the Polish and Donets coal fields always very nearly equal each other in their yield a comparison will be made only of these two fields for the year 1890, when the yield of the former was 150,000,000 pouds, and of the latter, 183,000,000 pouds. The latter amount was furnished by 270 coal mines from 763 shafts, that is, each mine on the average yielded 678,000 pouds and each shaft 240,000 pouds. In Poland there were only 20 mines in work, with 52 shafts which gave a yield of 7,500,000 pouds from each mine, and 2,985,000 pouds from each shaft. Similarly a comparatively rare application of steam power is seen in the Donets coal fields where there were only 228 steam engines to 763 shafts, that is, less than one engine to three shafts, while in Poland there were 167 steam engines to 52 shafts, or more than three engines per shaft. And lastly with respect to the number of men employed, in the Polish mines the yield of coal per man is much greater than in the Donets district. This may also be ascribed to the larger application of steam power and to the thickness of the coal veins, which in the Donets coal fields rarely exceeds one sagene, while in Poland the chief vein, which gives nine-tenths of the entire production, is from four to six and more sagenes thick. Passing now to the exportation and importation of coal it is seen that Russia, with an exceedingly limited export, receives a very considerable quantity from abroad, and that this importation is on the whole gradually increasing notwithstanding the growing home production. The following table shows the gradual progress of the Russian impor- tation of coal. MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. Years. Total importa- tion of coal. Average yearly importation of coal. P u d s. 1866-1870 1871—1875 1876-1880 1881—1885 1886-1890 245,510,000 302,474,600 485,515,000 561,144,000 499,120,000 49,102,000 60,500,000 97,103,000 112,228,800 99,824,000 1 In this table the figures up to 1885 show the combined importation of coal and coke, but those for the past five years do not include coke. During these five years the importation of coke amounted to 49,334,500 pouds, or on the average, 9,867,000 pouds per year, so that the combined average importation of both coal and coke amounted to 109,691,000 pouds. As in Russia there are three chief regions of consumption, south Russia, Poland and the Baltic coasts, the first two of which being able to supply them- selves with coal from the local coal fields, while the latter is necessarily obliged to consume foreign coal, it is important to know how the total importation of coal is dis- tributed between these regions. During the last five years the distribution was as follows. Importation. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. To White Sea ports .... To Baltic ports Across the western frontier. To Black Sea and Azov ports Across Asiatic frontier.. . . Total. . . . To White Sea ports .... To Baltic ports Across the western frontier . To Black Sea ports .... Across Asiatic frontier . Total . . . 214,200 72,761,200 20,957,500 13,080,000 72,700 a. G J 117,800J 274,100 70,543,400 69,582,200 12,893,000 11,094,500 3,822,400| 15,095,300 121,400 539,600 1. 299,4001 289,100 84,499,300 1 74,558,400 10,658,600 9,617,800 18,416,1001 9,478,500 411,950' 220,600 107,085,600 86,998,000 96,585,700 114,285,350 94,164,400 i , I h. Coke. 1,300J 30o| 1,200 3,063,500 3,300,700 34,400 3,809,800 3,461,800 4,971,30o! 5,704,600 — i 625,100 22,7001 8,000 12,000^ 3,200 5,391,300| 3,202,600 6,479,400 9,055,900 1 40,600 j 27,000 14,300| 3,600 6,399,800 8,805,100 9,799,800| 12,037,600 12,292,300 While the importation of coal and coke through the Baltic ports remains nearly con- stant, that of both coal and coke to western Russia is subject to a considerable and at the same time somewhat constant variation. Although the importation of coal across the western frontier has fallen nearly one-half during the last five years owing to the growth of the production of the Polish coal fields yet the importation of coke has nearly tripled during the same period. This must be ascribed to the rapid growth of the pro- duction of pig iron in Poland for which coke is imported from Prussia and Austria, as COAL. 59 the Polish coal is non-coking. During the last live years the following countries were the chief exporters of coal to Russia. Countries. 1886. ' 1887. 1 1888. 1889. 1890. 1 Ponds. 1 Great Britain . . . Germany .... Austria Norway and Sweden Spain Great Britain . . . ' Germany Austria Holland 86,166,600 19,520,800 1,281,600 2,775,250 3,200,600 403,100 20,850 a. 73,949,000 12,383,800 300,600 271,600 b. 3,241,450 4,286,650 1,157,000 78,100 С a 85,034,800 10,579,800 327,650 450,400 С к 3,630,350 4,789,800 1,317,700 54,000 1. 102,589,800 40,579,800 538,000 492,200 359,800 е. 5,140,700 4,660,300 2,097,800 138,900 84,522,700 8,662,900 711,300 21,100 124,100 3,062,750 6,045,000 3,178,300 The exportation of coal from Russia during the last five years is expressed by the following figures: 1886. . . . 150,000 pouds. 1887. - . . 192,000 » 1888. . . . 950,900 » 1889. . . . 880,900 » 1890. . . . 834,700 « In order to protect the Russian coal industry from foreign competition during the last ten years the Government has found it necessary to place a duty upon foreign coal, and this duty has been gradually raised. Until the year 1884 all coal, Avith the ex- ception of that passing through the Polish frontier, was imported free of duty. In 1882 the coal imported through the Polish frontier was subjected to a duty of one kopeck per poud instead of half a kopeck as before. In 1884 a duty was put upon the coal and coke imported through all the frontiers of Russia with the exception of the White Sea, namely: 1. the ports of Black Sea and Sea of Azov, 2 kopecks in gold per poud; 2. across the western frontier by land, one and one-half kopeck in gold per poud; 3. the ports of the Baltic, half a kopeck in gold per poud. In 1886 the duty upon coal im- ported through the ports of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov Avas raised to three kopecks; and in 1887 the duties upon coal and coke were distributed and altered as follows: Coal. Coke. Imported through ports of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. 3 kopecks. 4/, kopecks. Imported across the western frontier by land ...... 2 » 3 » Imported through ports of the Baltic 1 » VA » The customs tariff of 1891 did not introduce any changes in these duties, but in 1892 the duties on the coal and coke imported through the ports of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov were raised to four kopecks for coal, and six kopecks in gold for coke. 60 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. The Donets coal field. This basin occupies the southern portion of the government of Kharkov, the eastern portion of the government of Ekaterinoslav and the western portion of the province of the Don Cossacks. It extends over an area of irregular form, lengthened in the direction from west to east, 320 versts long and 150 versts across. By its geological structure the whole area of the Donets coal field may be divided into three portions; the middle, and most extensive, consists entirely of strata of the carbon- iferous system; the eastern and Avestern portions are covered by more recent strata amongst which those of the carboniferous system only appear in the form of separate islands. Surveys made in 1864 and 1869 showed that the carboniferous strata of the Donets basin cover an area of about 20,000 square versts. But it has been asserted by such authorities as Le Play, Helmersen and Guillaumen that the strata of the carboniferous system extend over an equal area beneath strata of the Permian, cretacious and tertiary systems, so that in all, the area occupied by the coal-bearing strata of the south of Russia may be taken as approximately forty thousand square versts. The superficial aspect of the district is hilly, intersected in different directions by deep ravines; on the average it is situated at an elevation of 460 feet above the level of the sea, although in many places it stands much higher. The first record of the discovery of coal in the south of Russia belongs to the beginning of the eighteenth century at the time of Peter the Great's Azov campaign. A piece of coal was brought to the Emperor who being already acquainted with its use in Western Europe pronounced the famous words: "This mineral will be extremely valuable, if not to us, at all events to our descendants." At the close of the last cen- tury the Government endeavoured to apply the Donets coal to heating the Black sea fleet, and to transport it to the nearest ports. In 1797 the Lougansk Iron AVorks were built for satisfying the requirements of the Black sea fleet and to establish the manu- facture of pig iron with local coal in the south of Russia. If these efforts were not crowned with success, at all events the surveys made between 1797 and 1806 brought many deposits of coal and iron ores to light, which subsequently aided the systematic investigation of the whole of the Donets coal basin. One of the chief movers in starting the extraction of coal in the south of Russia was Count Vorontsov, then Govenor General of Novorossia and Bessarabia; and it was in his time that a geological survey of the Donets basin was begun. In 1827 Mr. E. Ko- valevsky's report on the geological survey was published, and in it the Donets coal fields were for the first time called a vein, and its formation referred to the most ancient or carboniferous sandstone age. In 1835 scientific explorations of the coal veins were begun by mining engineers specially sent for the pui'pose by the Govern- ment. Soon afterwards a private individual appeared in aid of the Government, and in 1837 an expedition was sent by Anatole Demidov, to explore the mineral wealth of the south of Russia. In this expedition the Donets basin was explored by the French engineer Le Play, who in 1842 published his remarkable memoire on the Donets coal field, under the title "Voyage dans la Russie meridionale, par Le Play; Paris, 1842." In this memoire the strata of the Donets basin were for the first time scientifically classified into their тик DOXKTS СОЛЬ FIELD. 61 various systems. Le Play did not recognize the existence of strata belonging to the upper carboniferous system but referred the Donets coal-bearing strata to the lower carbonif- erous system, that is, to carboniferous limestone; and in the absence of fossil remains indicating the order of their stratification he divided them into eight separate groups. This want Avas soon satisfied by another foreign geologist, Murtcheson, who succeeded in classifying the Donets coal-bearing strata under the same three divisions as he estab- lished for the carboniferous limestone of central Russia, in consequence of which he referred the coal veins to the middle division. The Donets basin was subsequently the object of numerous private explorations which brought to light such stores of coal as had never been expected. In the western portion of the basin alone, in the government of Ekaterinoslav, the presence of forty-four workable veins was determined, having a total thickness of 112 feet and a store of 415 milliard pouds of coal at a depth of 100 sagenes. The eastern portion of the basin in the Don province, proved to be still richer in coal. These explorations elucidated the formation and structure of the coal-bearing strata and showed that they might be divided into three divisions as follows: The lower division, corresponding to culm, containing veins of anthracite coal. The middle productive division, containing caking and coking coal. The upper productive division, containing gas and cannel coal. The rock strata, in which these three divisions occur, consist of sandstone, shale, limestone and intermediate formations. The coal veins rarely exceed one sagene in thickness. It is remarked that those seams which are not more than three feet thick, generally consist of uniformly clean coal, while the thicker seams often exhibit interlayers of shale or sandstone. In the majority of cases the roof and floor of the coal seams consist of clay shale or sandstone. The Donets coal field is remarkable not only for its vast extent but also for the great variety of coal it produces. It includes every quality, from soft coal to anthracite. The different varieties of coal are however far from occupying equal areas. Dry coals, burning with a long flame, are only met with in the north-eastern borders, at Zisichansk, and extend over a very limited area; the greasy, gas and smithy coals form a narrow zone between the dry and caking coals. The caking, giving coke suitable for metallur- gical purposes, occurs in two separate areas of comparatively large extent; the semi- anthracites form a gradual transition from the caking coals to the anthracites, w'hich cover the whole of the south-western portion of the Donets basin. The dry coals are hewed in lumps but rapidly disintegrate in the air, and hence they cannot be stored for any length of time, nor be transported to any great distance. They also contain a considerable amount of ash and sulphur. The gas coals are greasy in appearance, are generally hewn into small lumps, but owing to their caking properties and cleaness they are also suitable for house fires. The caking coals are black, dull, small and are used both as fuel and for coke. They contain but little sulphur and ash. The semi- anthracites vary in appearance; some are pitchy, are cut into large lumps with small shining surfaces, but they rapidly disintegrate and burn with a long flame; others are black, with large shining surfaces and burn with a short flame, but owing to the pres- ence of interlayers of clay schist and calc spar they decrepitate, and do not burn well in the fire. Lastly the anthracites are of a brilliant black color with a compact fracture; they are hewn into large, dense lumps, and burn without flame. The following table gives the average chemical composition of the five kinds of Donets coal. 62 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. GROUP I. DRY COALS Л'olatile sub- stances and Carbon. Sulphur. water. Ash. Coke. with long flame .... 37-60— 50-10 37-70-55-20 0-60—5-15 1-25-8-10 49-10— 55-10 GROUP II. GREASY COALS a. Avith long flames, gas coals. 1 b. with short flames, smithy \ coals 27-80-37-40 26-40-30-60 50-50-67-40 60-20-72-40 0-50- 2-30 0-25-1-60 I- 10 -7-00 1-30 - 400 58-30—70-40 69-40 -72-90 [ GROUP III. GREASY COALS with short flames, coking coal 12-40 - 23-50 66-60-85-10 0-40-3-10 0-90—8-30 70-30-87-10 GROUP IV. Semi-anthracite 10-20-20-30 73-50—87-50 0-20- 3-00 1-50-6-20 78-40-89-60 GROUP Y. 1 Anthracite 4-20-11-40 85-40-91-00 0-60-2-90 2-00-9-00 90-70-95-80 For a long time the Donets coal was exclusively worked b}- small capitalists and it is only since the construction of railways in the south of Russia, calling forth an in- creased demand for coal, that the matter was taken up on a large scale and the veins worked in vast and well organized coal mines. At the present time the shafts in some mines are over a hundred sagenes deep. Fire damp has recently made its appearance in some mines in the Donets basin, and there have already been several explosions with loss of life. The accompanying table shows the gradual progress of the development of the Donets coal industry, giving the data for soft coal and anthracite separately. Yield of Yield of Total. Year s. bituminous. anthracite. P u d s. 1855 4,500,000 1860 2,005,000 4,004,000 6,009,000 1865 4,104,000 5,725,000 9,829.000 1870 2,629,900 13,017,400 15,647,300 1875 25,708.000 25,728,700 51,436,700 1880 57,086,100 29,261,200 86,347,300 1881 58,227,600 33,070,600 91,298,200 1 1882 73,066,200 33,184,000 106,250,200 1883 75,669,000 31,648,000 107,317,000 ' 1884 70,626,800 30,918,000 101,544,800 1885 82,345,000 32,601,300 114,946,300 1886 95,876,500 32,778,000 128,654,500 1887 97,730,600 27,753,800 125,484,400 1888 105,230 300 31,529,400 136,759,700 ! 1889 145,660,400 44,208,600 189,869,000 I 1890 146,766,100 36,482,700 183,248,800 MAP OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA indicating mineral coal regions. r Coal 'eiji Cartographical works^A.JIyne, St. Pbg. Proiliictii'pness of minerttl coal , in рои f Is, in 1890. ТНК DONETS COAL FIELD. 63 Anterior to the Crimean campaign the yield of the Donets basin was in all, according to official data, about one million pouds of bituminous coal in the govern- ment of Ekaterinoslav, and slightly over three million pouds of anthracite from the Groushevsk mines in the province of the Don Cossacks. Out of this quantity about two million pouds were consumed in heating private and governmental buildings in the regions of Black and Azov seas, and on the steamers navigating the Black sea and the south Volga and even on the Caspian; the remainder was consumed in the locality. The coal was mainly used for smithies, for the Lougansk foundry works and the Slaviansk salt works. The anthracite was used by steamers and governmental buildings. The above table shows that up to 1875 the amount of anthracite raised con- stantly exceeded the yield of bituminous coal. The yield of anthracite then almost at- tained its full extent, due to the measures taken for its production in the province of the Don Cossacks. In 1856 the anthracite industry of the Don province was pronounced free, and the formation of companies for its exploitation was permitted. On March 8, 1864, an Imperial statute was formulated respecting the mining industry in the present province of the Don Cossacks by which all persons, without restriction of being of Cossack origin or not, were admitted to the mining industry of this district. Thanks to this law the production of anthracite began to develop rapidly, and in two years had risen from 3,600,СЮ0 pouds, 1864, to ten million pouds, 1866. To this period also belongs the con- struction of the first special coal railway in Russia, from the Groushevsk anthracite mines to the Cossack village of Aksaisk on the Don, 66 versts in length. The year 1866 inaugurated the gradual construction of a whole network of rail- roads in the south of Russia, namely, the Koslov-Voronezh-Rostov (1868—1871); the Kursk- Kharkov- Azov (1869); the Kharkov-Nicolaev (1870-1878); the Konstantinovsk (1872); the Lozovo-Sevastopol (1873); Rostov-Vladikavkaz (1875); Fastovsk (1876); Donets Coal Railway (1878); Mariopol (1882), and Ekaterininsky (1884). The Kursk-Kharkov-Azov Railway, passing through the western portion of the Donets basin, including the richest coal de- posits, was opened in 1869 along its entire length of 763 versts. This railway gave the possibility of finding a market for the Donets coal which up to that time had been ex- clusively transported by oxen, and could not therefore have an extensive sale. How great an influence this railroad had in developing the production of the Don coal field is seen from the fact that it rose from 2,250,000 pouds, extracted in 1862, to 47,000,000 pouds in 1879. Thus, it increased twenty-one times in the space of eleven years. The Koslov- Voronezh-Rostov Railway connected the anthracite mines of the eastern portion of the Donets basin with the general network of Russian railroads, thus giving the possibility of selling the anthracite in the interior of Russia. The Kharkov-Nicolaev and Lozovo- Sevastopol railroads opened out the Black sea ports to the Donets coal; and the Fastovsk railroad connected the Don basin with the rich region of the sugar industry. The Donets Railway, whose branch lines intersect the Donets basin in various directions, connected the Kursk-Kharkov-Azov with the Koslov-Voronezh-Rostov Railway and gave a free outlet to the coal from the mines lying between these two lines, and animated the coal industry of the district to a very great extent. The connection of the Donets basin with the rich iron ore deposits of the Krivoy-Rog by means of the Ekaterininsk Railway, which extended to the Kharkov-Nicolaev line, called forth the erection of extensive iron and steel works in the neighbourhood of this railway. And lastly the extension of the Konstantinovsk line to Mariopol on the Azov sea and the construction of a port for coasting vessels 64 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. with machinery for automatically loading the coal into them at Mariopol, opened out the most direct and easy routes between the coal mines and the sea, and gave the means of quick and cheap transportation to the ports of the Black sea, of which Odessa, formerly supplied by England exclusively, offered the greatest demand. The construction of the above mentioned railroads, the gradual growth of the industries of the south of Russia, the increasing traffic on the railways, necessitating an increased demand for fuel, the regulation of the transport of coal and of the railway tariffs, a protective duty upon the coal and coke imported to the ports of Black sea and Sea of Azov, all of these factors had an influence upon the rapid development of the coal industry of the Donets, basin, which has doubled in its production during the last ten years. It must be remem- bered that the coal trade of the south of Russia is almost exclusively supported by markets situated at a distance, and that the local consumption is very inconsiderable. In general the coal industry would develop incomparatively quicker were it not that the coal has to be transported great distances by railways, which are not always to be depended upon for quick dispatch of their freight. As regards the distribution of the Donets coal between different classes of consumers, there are very accurate official data, respecting the consumption of coal transported from the western portion of the Donets basin for the last ten years, but these data do not include anthracite. Class of Consumers. 1880. 1885. 1890. T r иск s *. Railroads Black sea fleet ... 36,781 6 3,780 535 326 11,420 11,711 55,973 648 6,036 775 190 15,362 39,846 60,911 117 13,124 2,994 34,745 19,274 64,542 River and sea navigation Gas works Metallurgical woi'ks Sugar works Manufacturing industries and house heating . Total 64,549 118,830 195,707 Thus we see that during the last ten years the total consumption of coal has in- creased by three times. The separate items of the above table cannot be subject to com- parison because the amount of coal consumed by the railroads and sugar works in 1890 was not normal, owing to their having laid in considerable stocks of coal for that year fearing a repetition of the coal crisis of 1888 to 1889. In 1889 the railroads were sup- plied with 84,426 trucks of coal and the sugar works with 30,640, that is, the former with 40 per cent, and the latter with 52 per cent above the demand in 1890. On the other hand, the newly erected metallurgical works in the south of Russia consumed a considerable amount of coal and coke. During the last two years the yield of coke in the Donets district was in 1889, 10, 207,376 pouds and in 1890, 17,081,211 pouds. One truck contains 609 pouds. THE MOSCOW BASIN. 65 In 1890 there were altogether 270 coal mines in work in the Donets basin; of this number 195 yielded anthracite and 75, bituminous coal. As the preceding table shows that in 1890 the yield of soft coal was four times greater than that of anthracite, it is evident that the latter was chiefly worked by small capitalists, although there are mines yielding more than four million pouds of anthracite; but on the other hand there are a number of mines with an output of less than 30,000 pouds. Among the coal mines proper there are some which give five, eight, fifteen and even twenty-two million pouds annually. The Moscow Basin. This coal region extends over the governments of Tver, Moscow, Kalouga, Tula, and part of the governments of Novgorod, Smolensk, Riazan, Vladimir and Tambov. This central field of carboniferous strata is six hundred versts long and over four hundred wide. To the north the carboniferous strata spreads out in a rather wide band across the governments of Olonets and Archangel to the White Sea. The coal bearing strata of the Pod-Moscow basin are chiefiy limestone; the coal veins lie between limestone of the lower division and strata of the Devonian period. In some places limestone of the car- boniferous system lies between the Devonian and the coal bearing strata. The presence of coal in the Pod-Moscow basin was known at the close of the last century; the first veins were discovered in 1768, on the borders of the basin in the government of Novgorod, and in 1796 in the government of Riazan. The rapid extirpa- tion of the forests in central Russia caused the Government to turn its attention to the coal veins of the Moscow basin, and to make repeated endeavours to establish the exploitation of coal there. In 1851 a third and detailed exploration was made of the coal veins in the government of Tula. This exploration was conducted by two parties, one geological and the other mining, which after two years of work came to the conclusion that the coal of the government of Tula was of unsatisfactory quality and occurred in the form of interrupted masses unsuitable for regular working. This opinion was retained until the close of the fifties when Count Bobrinsky, being in want of fuel for his sugar Avorks, began to make explorations of this question on his Malevka estate in the government of Tula, where he discovered a vein of coal which proved to have a vast horizontal extension. The exploitation of this vein was begun and induced other landowners to make surveys which also led to satisfactory results and the opening out of fresh coal mines. The rapid growth of the railway system in Central Russia, about 1865, called forth a more active exploitation of the coal in the government of Riazan and Tula. In general the growth of the coal industry in the Moscow basin is represented by the following data. Years. Yield of coal. Years. Yield of coal. Pouds. Pouds. 1860 1865 1870 1875 1880 1881 1882 1883 631,250 1,371,300 5,078,500 2.^,658,600 25,117,81)0 23,426,200 24,400,300 22,731,500 1884 1885 1866 1887 1888 1889 1890 1 24,009,500 21,307,500 15,652,300 17,589,100 16,865 000 18,697,300 14,268,100 66 MINING INDUSTEIES OF RUSSIA. The decrease in the production of coal from the Moscow basin during recent years is due to the competition of the Donets coal, which is of far better quality, and also to the increased adoption of naphtha refuse in the place of Moscow coal and peat in the Moscow manufacturing district. At the present time the presence of coal has heen certified in over two hundred places in the Moscow basin, but only twelve mines are worked. This is due to the fact that only a few veins are of a workable character, and also to the fact that the coal is often of very poor quality and does not permit of being transported to any distance, or of being exposed to the atmosphere for any length of time; it often contains also a considerable amount of ash. This coal does not coke. Thus the Moscow coal is combustible, and of rather poor quality, which however is suitable for heating steam boilers and buildings and for making gas. The chief consumers of this coal are the railways of central Russia and certain local works. The chemical composition of the Moscow coal is as follows: Carbon from 24'5 to 50'8 per cent Volatile matter , « 24-1 » 49-1 » » Moisture .... » 3-1 » 15*9 » » Ash » 9-0 » 22-4 » » Sulphur » 2-0 » 14"4 » » The best kind of Moscow coal is the so-called h о g h e a d, which is distinguished for the large amount of hydrogen it contains, and the considerable quantity of gases it gives by dry distillation. The Kiev-Elisavetgrad Basin. Although veins of brown coal have long been known to exist in the neighbour- hood of Kiev, the quality of the coal was too bad to be of much use. In 1860, thicker veins of brown coal were discovered on the Ekaterinopol Crown estate in the Zvenigo- rodsk district and on Count Eobrinsky's estate of Smela in the Cherkassk district of the government of Kiev. These veins are now being worked. Subsequently several other veins of brown coal were discovered along the Fastovsk Railway but none of these have been worked. Geological surveys have proved that the coal of the Kiev- Elisavetgrad basin belongs to the tertiary system and that the strata containing the brown coal extend to the government of Kherson, and also that the area over which new coal veins may be looked for, in the governments of Kiev and Kherson, ex- tends over about five thousand square versts. The following table gives the production of the Kiev-Elisavetgrad basin since 1868. Production Production Years. of coal. Years. of coal. Pouds. Pouds. 1868 103,000 1885 554,700 1875 1,093,000 1886 859,700 1880 534,400 1887 558,900 1881 584,200 1888 215,000 1882 656,600 1889 853,000 1883 571,600 1890 693,300 1 1884 635,000 THE POLISH BASIN. 67 The Polish Basin. This coal region is situated at the very south-western corner of Poland and em- braces a portion of theBendinsk district of the government of Petrokov and of the Olekoushsk district of the government of Kelets. From a physiographical point of view it forms a continuation of the so-called Polish-Silesian basin, whose western part lies within the limits of Prussia and southern part within those of Austria. The superficial aspect of the Polish basin is in intimate connection with its geological structure. In general the district is undulating, descending in a south-western direction, and in so doing pre- sents a transition from the newer to the older strata. The strata of the carboniferous system come to the surface surrounded by trias, keiper, Jurassic strata, and on the aver- age rise to 900 feet above the level of the sea. The area of the entire Polish-Silesian basin, in which there is reason for supposing it to be a continuation of the upper coal- bearing formations of the carboniferous system, extends over about 5,800 square versts, of which four thousand are in Prussia, one thousand in Austria and about eight hundred in Poland. The portion upon which the presence of coal veins has been revealed by mining explorations covers an area of about 2,100 square versts of which about nine hundred are in Prussia, seven hundred in Austria and about five hundred in Poland. In their petrographical relation the carboniferous strata of the actual Polish basin consists of sandstone and schist which frequently pass imperceptibly from one into the other. The carboniferous system of this district includes coal, iron ore, sandstone and fire clay, all of which are worked. Paleontological data show that the entire Polish-Silesian basin may be divided as follows: 1. The upper productive division which includes the coal veins. 2. The lower division or "Culm" which does not contain coal and covers the first. The upper division may in its turn be subdivided into, the upper and the lower. The upper subdivision is characterized by the considerable thickness of the coal veins; the lower, although it includes a considerable number of coal veins, does not present any of great thickness. The coal veins, which are known in Poland, chiefly belong to the upper subdivision. From an industrial point of view the most important zone of carboniferous formation in the entire Polish-Silesian basin is that which extends into Prussia from Zabrzhe to Mislovitsy and farther to the east into Poland and to Austria on the south-east. The chiet production of coal is centred within the limits of this zone. The coal veins worked within this zone are divided into three groups: 1. The middle group including a thick vein, known as the Reden vein in Poland and the Sattel-Flotz in Germany; 2. The upper group of veins lying above the Reden; these veins are not so thi ck as the Reden, and the coal is of a different quality; 3. The third group of veins lies below the Reden and is also of less thickness. In Poland all the three groups are wo rked. The thickness of the veins and the quality of their coal is far from being con- stant throughout the entire range of the above mentioned zone. For instance, in Poland the Reden veins have an average thickness, from four to seven sa genes, but as it extends to the west this vein is divided by interlayers of dirt, first into two, then three, and lastly into four separate veins, each from one to four sagenes thick. The quality of the coal 68 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. also varies as the seam subdivides and thins out. At the western extremity near Zabrzhe in Prussia the Reden group of veins contains coking coal. At the same locality the lower veins of the upjDer group, lying above the Reden vein, contain gas coal, and it is only the coal of the uppermost veins that should be referred to the class of poor coals. Nearer to the Polish frontier the Reden veins are no longer coking but are still serviceable for the preparation of gas. Lastly in Poland the Reden and the overlying veins give neither coking nor gas coal. In Poland the number of upper veins overlying the Rede n amounts to twelve, having a total thickness of nine sagenes. Here the average thickness of the Reden vein is from seven to ten sagenes. And lastly there are nine veins having a total thickness of about seven sagenes, underlying the Reden vein. All these veins have a common extension from the north-west to the south-east, and dip in a south-western direction. Outcrops of the Reden vein are known at a great distance. To the south in Poland, the Reden and the other coal veins crop out and form a basin filled with trias formations. Owing to the convolution of the entire series of the formations of the carbon- iferous system, the Reden vein is worked in different places at very different depths, from 35 to 120 sagenes, and at one point a new shaft has been sunk to a depth of 140 sagenes. The veins overlying the Reden are worked at a depth of 18 to 30 sagenes. The work of exploitating the coal in Poland was up to recent times conducted on the same plan as in the neighbouring Russian Siberia, that is, by letting the roof fall in. But with this mode of working the far greater thickness of the Reden vein in Poland caused numerous accidents, while the impossibility of winning all the coal led to consid- erable waste. Moreover the disintegration of portions of the vein and the consequent self - combustion of the coal occasioned frequent fires in the mines, which sometimes continued for several years and necessitated such radical measures, as flooding whole groups of large coal mines. In consequence of this the Government recently turned particular attention to this matter and now the exploitation must be carried out accor- ding to Government regulations. By these regulations, those veins which are over two to three sagenes thick according to the local conditions, can only be worked by filling up the worked out spaces with goaf. Besides the frequent occurrence of fires, the Polish mines present another difficulty owing to the inconsiderable thickness of the super incumbant carboniferous formations in some localities, owing to which the mines are insufficiently protected from the bursting in of water, from the overlying strata of varigated sandstone, which is exceedingly watery. Due to the hardness of the coal in the veins, worked in Poland, it is everywhere blasted by gunpowder. This is possible, thanks to absence of oxy hydrogen gas. As regards the deposite of brown coal occurring in the Bendinsk district of the govern- ment of Petrokov, they belong to the Keiper system and occur in veins about one sagene thick. The chemical composition of the coal of the different groups is as follows. Reden vein. ....•; Lower group of veins. Volatile matter and water. Carbon. 35-5— 41-6 24-5— 25-6 271— 29-5 53-1 -63-6 70-5-71-3 64-5 THE POLISH BASIN. 69 The exploitation of coal in Poland dates from the close of the eighteenth century, but only attained considerable dimensions after 1816, when the Polish zinc works were started. The production of the coal mines increased with the development of the zinc works, and with various fluctuations it reached a yield of ten million pouds a year, after 1860. The Polish insurrection in 1863 and the liberation of the mining population from obligatory labour in 1864 evinced an unfavourable influence on the Polish coal industry, but on the other hand there were many other factors which acted very beneficially on its development. The chief of these were the following: 1. The opening of a branch line of the Warsaw-Vienna Railway to the Prussian frontier; this line intersected the Polish coal basin and gave possibility of transporting the coals to Warsaw and other industrial centres; 2. The development of the metallurgical and manufacturing industries in the region of the Warsaw - Vienna Railway, with the almost exclusive employment of min- eral fuel; 3. The growth of the application of coal to house-heating; 4. The publication of a new mining law for Poland in 1870; this law called forth the participation of exceedingly active private enterprise in the construction of new coal mines and in con- sequence a rapid rise in the production of coal since 1872; 5. The transference of the most important State coal mines into private hands; 6. The construction of the Ivangorod- Dombrovsk Railway during the beginning of 1880; this railway gave the possibility of supplying Polish coal not only to fresh markets within the limits of Poland itself, but also to the west and south-west of Russia, by a shorter route and without the reloading, which was formerly necessary owing to the difference between the guage of the AVarsaw- Vienna Railway and that of all the other Russian roads. The gradual growth of the Polish coal industry is seen in the following table. Production Production T n t я 1 Years. 1 of coal. of brown coal. 1 U L d* i. P u d s. 1855 _ 4,454,000 I860 — 10,787,900 1865 10,592,900 150,000 10,742,900 1870 19,580,600 498,800 20,079,400 1875 23,985,600 918,100 24 903,700 1880 77,395,900 1,058,000 78,448,900 1 1881 85,303,800 470,900 85,771,700 1882 83,665,000 665,700 84,330,700 1883 101,786,600 606,600 102,393,200 1884 102,816,700 656,600 103,473,300 1885 108,075,000 1,207,500 109,282,500 1886 118,605,900 1,451,600 120,057,500 1887 119,747,J00 1,409,000 121,156,200 1888 145,918,400 1,438,700 147,357,100 1889 149,814,600 1,794,400 151,109,000 1890 149,586,700 1,205,800 150,792,500 At the present time there are twenty coal mines in Poland, one of which raises brown coal. The yearly output of the chief coal mines ranges from eleven to sixteen 70 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. million pouds, but one, the George pit, gave 34,436,000 pouds in 1890, from two shafts. These mines are furnished with powerful steam engines both for haulage and for pump- ing the water out of the mine. The majority of the mines have plants for sorting and some for washing the coal. They are nearly all connected by branch lines with the War- saw - Vienna Railway and some of them also with the Ivangorod - Dombrovsk line. The Warsaw- Vienna Railway transports the largest amount of Poland coal; thus, in 1890 this line carried 93,814,600 pouds. The largest consumers within the region of this railway are the town of Lodz, with its manufacturing neighbourhoods, which consumed 30,613,000 pouds in 1890, and AVarsaw, 26,О00,00Э pouds; then part of the coal, carried by the Warsaw- Vienna Railway, the most important route for the Polish coal field, is the Ivan- gorod - Dombrovsk Railway, which carried 18,980,600 pouds of coal in 1890; out of this quantity 5,376,900 pouds were transferred to the South - Western, Fastov, Koursk - Kiev, and Kharkov-Nikolaev railways. Taking the average results for recent years, the demand for Poland coal, including its consumption by railways, was distributed in the following manner: Pouds: The region of the Warsaw-Vienna Railway 85,000,000 » » » » Ivangorod-Dombrovsk Railway 9,500,000 » » » » Vistula Railway 7,700,000 » » » » Warsaw-Terespolsk Railway 2,200,000 Consumption by the Lodz manufacturing district lines 500,000 Transferred to the South - Western, Fastov, Koursk - Kiev and Kharkov-Nikolaev railways 5,200,000 Transferred to the Moscow-Brest railways 1,200,000 » » » St.-Petersburg- Warsaw railways 2,000,000 113,300,000 Moreover, about 40,000,000 pouds of coal are consumed in the neighbourhood of the pits, that is, in the district of Sosnovitsi, where a considerable amount is consumed by the metallurgical works. The Urals. Carboniferous formations occur on both sides of the Urals. On the western side they form an almost uninterrupted band extending along the greater part of the strata. Besides this they also appear in separate patches generally among more recent form- ations. On the eastern side the carboniferous formations generally occur in small, narrow and interrupted bands and patches, sometimes jammed between massive, cry'stalline rocks. In their mode of stratification the coal measures of the western Urals present an almost entire similarity to those of the Moscow field, which similarity extends to the position of the coal veins, forming the basis of the system between the lower carboniferous limestone and the Devonian formations. As in the Moscow basin, carboniferous limestone in some places occurs above the latter, but beneath the coal measures. In its quality the coal of the western side of the Urals differs from that of the Moscow basin, being a true coal without any resemblance to the brown coals or boghead to which the Moscow coals more or less approximate. The exploitation of coal on the western side of the Urals is concentrated in a small area to the north, where the thickness of THE UEALS. 71 the coal veins varies between a half and two and a half sagenes. The coal is poor and in some rare cases after being washed gives a caking coke. The carboniferous formations of the eastern side of the Urals are distinguished for their comparative complexity and the originality of the upper division of the system. The lower division oifers an almost perfect resemblance to the corresponding division of the western side and of the Moscow basin, being composed of lower carboniferous limestone and an underlying strata of coal measures stratified directly on Devonian formations. The most important coal-bearing area on the eastern side of the Urals extends for a distance of about a hundred versts in a southern direction. In this band may be distinguished the northern portion containing poor soft coal and anthracite, and the southern portion containing coking coal. Besides this there are areas where graphite is found with anthracite and where beds of graphite occur alone. Although the exploitation of coal in the Urals was first, irom 1851 to 1860, ex- clusively conducted on the eastern side, where the presence of coal of good quality has recently been certified, nevertheless at the present time the working of coal is almost entirely centred in the northern portion of the western side of the Urals. The following table shows the progress of the exploitation of coal here since 1855. Yield of coal. Yield of coal. Years. Years. Pouds. Pouds. 1855 440,000 1883 j 7,671,000 1860 408,000 1884 7,723,000 1865 766,200 1885 10,875,400 1870 387,400 1886 12,107,000 1875 1,278,900 1887 9,972,100 1880 7,217,400 1888 12,757,100 1881 10,031,300 1889 16,040,000 1 1882 12,253,400 1890 15,223,600 Up to 1870 the yield of coal was subject to repeated fluctuations owing to various external conditions. For instance, in 1864 more than a million pouds of coal were raised owing to the temporary transfer of the Ysevolozhsk coal mine to a private company, which supplied coal during that year to the steamers navigating the Volga, Kama and Oka. It was only in 1871 that the exploitation of coal became more active and regular in this district, and it received a great impetus in 1879 when a branch line of the Ural Railway was constructed intersecting the coal district of the western side of the Urals and extending to the banks of the river Kama. Nearly all the coal raised in 1890 was obtained from four coal mines on the western side of the Urals. The Ural coal goes to the railways, local metallurgical ami salt works, and a small quantity is transported down the Kama. The production of coke in the Urals during the last two years was in 1889, 589,700 pouds; and in 1890, 572,800 pouds. These figures show the small application of the Ural coal to metallur- gical operations. 72 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. In 1875 coal Avas also discovered and explored in the government of Olonets on the north-western shores of lake Onega. In its composition this coal resembles anthracite, but owing to its mode of occurrence it does not deserve serious attention. The coal fields of Asiatic Russia. The presence of coal is known both on the northern and southern declivities of the Caucasus. Professor Abikh has shown that the coal veins on the northern side of the Caucasus lie on two levels and occur throughout the area of extension of the sandstones of the middle division of the Jurassic system. Coal has here been worked since 1846 on the banks of the river Kuban, where it occurs in thin veins. The Kuban coal is black, rather bright and hard; it frequently contains pyrites and interlayers of gypsum, and also large nodules of spherosiderite. It burns with a bright flame and gives a caking coke. Besides the coal of the northern side of the Caucasus, deposits of a combustible shale, also belonging to the Jurassic system, are worked in the province of Daghestan. On the southern side of the Caucasus, coal is exploited in the government of Koutais at Tkvibula, 45 versts to the north of the town of Koutais. These coal veins are famous for their great thickness. The coal here occurs in several veins, lying one above the other and having a total thickness of seven sagenes. The property of the coal varies greatly in the diiferent veins both in its external appearance and in chemical compo- sition. The coal fields in the neighbourhood of Koutais also belong to the lower Jurassic period. In 1890 two mines were worked on the Tkvibula coal deposit, and 457,500 pouds of coal were raised. The Western Siberian Fields. The most important coal field in this region is that of Kusnetsk situated in the south-eastern corner of the government of Tomsk, between the mountain chains, Salairsk and Altai. This coal field presents a vast basin divided into two parts along its length by the river Tom. It is 420 versts wide and 105 versts long, or about forty-four thousand square versts in area. This coal basin, which is one of the most vast in the луогЫ, contains many thick veins of excellent coal. The geological formations of the district belong to the post-tertiary, devonian and carboniferous periods. The coal measures belong to the last mentioned age. Explorations conducted at different periods have shown that in many parts of the Kusnetsk basin there exist vast series of coal veins, varying in thickness from three feet to over six sagenes. It has been estimated that the store of coal in this field amounts to millards of pouds. The presence of coal in the neighbourhood of the town of Kusnetsk was already known at the beginning of the last century. At the present time only two mines are worked, which in 1890 gave an output of 1,051,540 pouds of coal. The oldest of these mines the Bachatsk, works a vein which varies in thickness, and in some places attains 25 sagenes; the quality of the coal also varies in different parts of the vein. In the middle portion the coal is dry, dense, dull, does not coke and burns almost without flame. In the upper and lower portions the coal is semi - greasy and greasy, friable, bright, burns with a flame and gives a good caking coke. In the Kolchoughin mine four veins are known, varying between six feet and two sagenes in THE WESTERN SIBERIAN FIKLDS. 73 thickness, and lying almost horizontally. This coal gives a caking coke and does not contain more than 2 per cent of ash. The coal extracted in the Kusnetsk hasin is chiefly used in the metallurgical industries of the Altai district. During the last two years the production of coke in the Kusnetsk basin was in 1889, 310,700 pouds. and in 1890, 412,700 pouds. Coal veins are known in various parts of the Kirghiz steppes where they were first discovered in 1838. Difterent coal veins have been worked here at various times but all the workings were surface mines, and detailed explorations were nowhere made, nor the store of coal determined. According to the testimony of persons who have made geological surveys in the Kirghiz steppes the coal measures occur exclusively in strata of the carboniferous system. The coal of this district varies extremely in quality, some kinds giving a caking coke of good quality. In 1890 there were eight mines in work, yielding 62,500 pouds of common coal, 64,200 pouds of brown coal and 30,000 pouds of combustible shale. In Eastern Siberia, coal veins have been discovered in different localities, in the governments of Yenisseisk and Irkutsk, in the Zaibaikal, Amour and seacoast provinces, and also in Kamchatka. Those of the seacoast provinces are most important and are the only ones which have been exploited. The Island of Sakhalin, which forms, as it were, a perfectly separate formation from the continent, is distinguished for the richness of its carboniferous formations. Thanks to surveys first made in 1851 a whole series of coal deposits was discovered extending from the northern extremity of the island along the western coast to its southern extremity for a distance of 950 versts, and also on the eastern shores and interior of the island. The extent of the coal veins, containing very good quality coal, is especially remarkable in the central portion of the western coast. Notwithstanding the fact that the coal here lies in strata of the tertiary system, it is, as for instance at Doue where the coal is exclusively worked, of excellent quality and does not cede to the best sorts of Welsh coal. It contains from 74 to 84 per cent of carbon, a very small amount of ash and sulphur, and gives 60 per cent of clean me- tallic coke. The coal veins of the island of Sakhalin rarely exceed three feet in thick- ness, but they are easily worked by levels driven to the coal itself, which crops out along the steep seashore. The coal is supplied to the Russian fleet in the Pacific ocean and also to foreign commercial and war vessels, and the yield corresponds to the above demand. As however the coal mines of the island of Sakhalin are at a great distance from Vladivostok, the chief port for the Russian Pacific fleet, and as coal veins have been discovered along the entire southern portion of the seacoast province from the bay of St. Olga to the very frontier of Corea, not only along the entire coast, but also in the interior, the Russian Government started a detailed exploration of the whole of the so- called South-Ousourisk region in 1886. In some places the coal veins have been worked since the beginning of the sixties. The most favourable and the richest of all these coal veins is situated on the river Souchan at a distance of 45 versts from the junction of this river and the Gulf of America. The coal veins here vary between three and seven feet in thickness and consist partly of caking and coking coal, and partly of a smokeless coal, resembling the Cardiff coal. The absence of fuel in the Turkestan provinces induced the Government to take 74 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. measures for the exploration and survey of the coal deposits, said to exist in various parts of the country. These explorations resulted in the discovery of coal veins in dif- ferent localities, some of which are now under exploitation. In the Syr-Daria province the presence of coal in the Karatau mountains became known after the first appearance of the Russian troops in that country, although the natives knew of the existence of this fuel. Preliminary explorations of these coal veins, prospecting for fresh measures, and their ultimate exploitation were undertaken in view of the possibility of furnishing the flottilia of the Sea of Aral with coal. Coal is worked in the neighbourhood of Chemkend, Tashkend and Hodgend, where some of the veins are as much as 2-5 sagenes thick. Some- times series of coal veins, overlying each other, are met with. In 1890 there were six mines in operation in Turkestan, which gave a total output of 300,900 pouds of brown coal. In conclusion the two accompanying tables give the chemical composition of the coal from the various regions of Asiatic Kussia, and the production of those regions in pouds. Caucasus, Kouban . . . » Tkviboulsk . . Kouznetsk basin .... Sakhalin Kirghiz steppes Turkestan Volatile matter. Carbon. Ash. Per cents. 37 -43 37-9 -43-0 17-7-25-8 26-3-30-3 10 —42-0 34 —40-0 51-4-58-9 39-1— 55-5 67-8— 74-7 53-4- 68-0 27-5- 64-4 55-3-56-8 3-1- 5-6 2 —23-0 2 — 8-0 2 -10-0 4 -25-0 2 —100 Years. Kousnetsk basin. Kirghiz steppes. Seacoast provinces. Is- land of Sa- khalin. Turkestan. Caucasus. 1860 55,000 185,100 133,000 _ 100,000 1865 267,200 202,200 8,400 — 145,000 1870 350,000 477,900 123,200 75,000 197,900 1875 256,450 832,500 95,900 415,000 377,100 1880 484,650 1,240,000 501,900 305,200 387,300 1881 487,100 1,051,100 317,500 — 218,200 1882 422,300 1,064,900 707,200 — 108,000 1883 370,400 1,269,700 371,250 — 102,600 1884 542,200 1,516,800 424,000 — 52,600 1885 795,400 1,635,600 549,900 417 500 213,000 1886 873,000 306,600 409,800 340,500 133,000 1887 807,800 72,500 556 300 365,700 215.700 1888 1,010,400 91,700 600 300 426,100 511,400 1889 895,500 174,700 650,200 423,200 667,000 1890 1,051,500 126,700 892,500 300,900 604,700 SALT. 7 5 Salt. In Russia there are all the three sorts of salt, namely, 1. rock salt, 2. salt lakes, 3. salt springs; all of which are distinguished for their richness. (See map of the regions of salt production). I. Rock salt is known in the following localities: 1. The Ilets deposit of rock salt is situated about 70 versts to the south of Oren- burg and is one of the largest in the world. Surveys made here have shown that the salt occurs in an immense bed, the limits of which have not been accurately determined either in a vertical or horizontal direction. It is only known that the salt lies in a con- tinous mass over an area of more than three square versts, for a depth of over 65 sa- genes, and that the store of salt contained in this area is determined to be over fifteen milliard pouds. The Ilets salt is also unrivalled for its purity. The whole bed is pure throughout, with only three thin interlayers of I'ed clay and gypsum. This deposit be- longs to the State and is rented out to private individuals. 2. The salt deposits of the mountain of Chapchachi is situated in the government of Astrakhan, at a distance of about 90 versts to the east of the Volga. This deposit consists of a continuous bed, extending for a distance of about three versts with an aver- age breadth of about one verst. Its thickness has not yet been accurately determined but it is not less than 42 sagenes, to which depth borings have already been made. 3. The Bakhmout or Briansk salt beds in the government of Ekaterinoslav, were only discovered about fifteen years ago. The idea of seeking salt in this locality arose from the presence of two salt springs, near the towns of Bakhmout and Slaviansk, situ- ated at a distance of about forty versts from each other. But the actual likelihood of the occurrence of rock salt in the southern portion of the government of Kharkov and the northern portion of that of Ekaterinoslav, was first promulgated in 1841 by Le Play, after his exploration of the Donets coal basin. And in 1870 detailed geological surveys of the country between Bakhmout and Slaviansk fully confirmed this supposition. On the basis of these data, two bore-holes were sunk by private individuals near these towns, with the result that rock salt was actually discovered. In 1876 the Government sank two holes, one near the village of Briantsevka about 10 versts from Bakhmout. This hole encountered the first bed of salt, 4'5 feet thick, at a depth of forty sagenes, and then another bed, 17 feet thick, at a depth of 46 sagenes. The boring was continued, to a depth of 109 sagenes, and passed through seven more layers of salt, in the last of which it was stopped before having passed through its entire thickness; altogether 49 sagenes of pure salt were bored. If this thickness of the beds be compared with the area covered by the Slaviansk-Bakhmout basin, it Avill be readily understood what an importance this discovery had for not only the south but the whole of Russia. 4. In the Caucasus, rock salt is worked in the government of Erivan, namely at the Koulpin, Nakhichevan and Soustin deposits, and also in the province of Kars at the Kaghyzman and Olitinsk deposits. 5. In the Transcaspian province a bed of rock salt is known in the neighbourhood of the gulf of Krasnovodsk. This bed was originally the now dried up lake of Karababa. The exploitation of this deposit is carried on irregularly. 76 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. II. In Russia there are brine evaporating works in the following localities: 1. In the government of Perm there are saltworks at a distance of about 400 versts above the town of Perm up the river Kama. These are the Ousolsk, Lenvensk, De- dukhinsk, Beresinsk and Solikamsk works. 2. In the government of Archangel salt is extracted both from brine and from the water of the White sea. 3. In the government of Vologda salt is extracted at three works, the Ledensk, Totemsk and Seregovsk works. 4. In the government of Nizhni-Novgorod brines are known near the town of Ba- lakhna where there are now eight salt works in action. 5. In the government of Kharkov there are over twenty salt Avorks, in the town of Slaviansk. 6. In the government of Ekaterinoslav there are works in the town of Bakhmout. 7. In the government of Warsaw, the Tsekhotsinsk Salt Works are situated close to the Prussian frontier. P. In eastern Siberia there are ten salt works, four of which are situated in the government of Yenissei, three in the government of Irkutsk, two in the province of Bai- kal and one in the province of Yakutsk. III. In Russia, salt lakes are very widely distributed and occur in numberless quantities. 1. The government of Astrakhan, which forms the comparatively lower portion of the great Aral-Caspian plane, abounds in salt lakes and marshes. The chief of the salt lakes is the Elton situated on the left side of the Volga at a distance of about three hundred versts from the town of Saratov. This lake is perhaps the richest of all the deposits of salt yet known. It covers an area of over two hundred square versts. The bottom of the lake is covered throughout with a vast layer of salt, whose thickness however has not yet been determined. The inexhaustibility of the stores of salt in this lake is already proved by the fact that during the space of 150 years it has yielded over 550 million pouds of salt without leaving any traces to show that any such amount has been extracted. In the Baskounchak lake, situated at the foot of Mount Bogdo, fifty versts to the east of the Volga, the bottom is also covered with a rich layer of salt. The area of the lake is about 110 versts. Investigations made at a depth of 25 sagenes at the bottom of the lake, showed the existence of three layers of salt, the upper of which, now worked, is from three to four sagenes thick, the second is one sagene, and the third was explored for five sagenes without passing entirely through it. The upper layer alone is estimated to contain forty-five milliard pouds of salt. A special railway line has been constructed for carrying the salt from the Baskounchak lake to the Volga, thanks to which the yield has been greatly developed. The salt extracted from this lake is very pure. Besides the Elton and Baskounchask lakes, the govern- ment of Astrakhan includes as many as seven hundred salt lakes, and up to one thousand two hundred salt marshes. 2. The salt lakes occurring in the Tauride government, are known under the common term of the Crimean lakes, and according to their geographical position, may be divided into the internal, lying in the Crimean peninsula itself, and the e x- t e r n a 1, which occur in tlie northern portion of the government, in the Dnieper and Melitopol districts. All the Crimean lakes lie in proximity to the seashore, from which MAP OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA indicating salt regions. ^^ A К С 'Г 1С О С К А X ^"^^ ^t Ч \ I- Kolquev у^ \ \ Cart05riphicalworHs.*.JIyn«,St.Pbg. ШЖШ Jifffions of produetiveness . Ш Productiveness of salt, in ponds, in 1890. SALT. 77 they are separated by narrow stretches of sand. The brine of these lakes only reaches saturation in the summer, in specially constructed basins where the salt is deposited in layers several inches thick. The extent of the deposit of salt in these basins is entirely dependent upon meteorological conditions; thus during a hot summer the yield of salt is far greater than during a rainy season, when the process of deposition is much slower. Hence it will be understood that the success of the Crimean salt industry is greatly dependent upon chance, and that the lakes differ essentially in many respects from those in the government of Astrakhan. 3. In the government of Kherson the Kouyalnitsko-Hadgibeisk salt workings are situated near Odessa on the Kouyalnitsk liman. 4. In the province of the Don Cossacks is the Manych salt lake. 5. In the government of Stavropol is the Chalginsk self-depositing lake and on the borders of the government of Astrakhan, the Mozharsk and Gaidouksk lakes. 6. In the Caucasus there are salt lakes in the governments of Baku, Daghestan and Kouban. 7. In Asiatic Russia salt lakes are under exploitation in the provinces of Tour- gaisk, Semipalatinsk, Yakutsk and Baikal, in the government of Tomsk, and also in the Transcaspian and Fergan provinces. From the above it will be seen that Russia is in general very rich in salt, and would be able not only to amply supply itself but also to furnish other countries. But the geographical distribution of its stores is such that the chief natural sources mainly lie in the southern, eastern and noith-eastern limits of Eui'opean Russia, which until recently had no regular means of communication. This is the chief reason of the compar- ative high price of salt at the points of its consumption, although it is extremely cheap in the neighbourhood of its extraction. Under such conditions the growth of the demand for salt has up to very recently made little or no progress and some governments, namely the western and north-western, were obliged chiefly to consume foreign salt. The furnishing of the Empire with salt was always a subject of special care to the Government. Up to 1862 a particular so-called monopoly system was in vogue. The Government, as the proprietor of the chief salt deposits and sources in the Empire, extracted the salt and sold it from its storehouses. The salt extracted from private sources, could be either sold by the proprietor, to the State at a fixed price, or to private individuals. But in the latter case a poudal tribute had to be paid to the State, the extent of which was determined annually. The deficiencies of this system made the Government renounce keeping the chief salt operations in its hands, and in 1862 the excise system was introduced. The Government gradually ceased its salt operations and handed over the State salt deposits to be rented and worked by private individuals. The salt extracted by them, on both private and State property, was subject to a tax, from which however the salt employed in feeding cattle and in the technical and manufacturing industries was exempt. Salt imported was subjected to a duty ot 38.5 kopecks per poud. With the intro- duction of the excise system upon salt, the private industry began to develop rap- idly, so that the supply for the people was accomplished by a method of free trade throughout the Empire. The revenue brought to the Government by the excise dues upon home production of salt in some years exceeded ten million roubles. However, on January 1, 1881, the Government, wishing to aid the poorer classes in obtaining an object of first necessity and to develop the breeding of cattle, the fish trade and certain /о MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. branches of the manufacturing industries together with the improvement of agriculture, abolished the excise system entirely and lowered the duty upon salt imported to twenty kopecks a poud. This measure gave a great impetus to the growth of the salt industry in Russia. Since the abolishment of the excise system the production of salt has fluctuated in the manner shown by the accompanying table. Rock salt. Lake salt. Evaporated salt. Total. Years. Poud s. 1881 4,200,700 29,713,300 16,820,300 50,734,300 1882 5,538,900 79,059,300 17,171,400 101,769,600 1883 7,301,800 44,173,000 17,997,400 69,472,200 1884 9,613,500 32,724,800 20,163,000 62,501,300 1885 11,155,000 36,078,300 21,947,000 69,180,400 1886 14,045.800 38,289,500 20,730,700 73,066,000 1887 15,950,800 37,148,300 17,517,000 70,616,100 1888 13,978,600 33,646,200 20,326,300 67,951,000 1889 14,704,900 47,678,600 22,738,700 85,122,200 i 1890 13,213,000 47,540,800 24,103,400 84,857,200 It is interesting to compare the present yield of salt with that of thirty years ago, before the introduction of the excise system. In 1860 the production of salt was as follows: rock salt 1,352,200 pouds, lake salt 17,157,200 pouds, evaporated salt 7,723,200 pouds, in all 26,232,600 pouds. Thus, between 1860 and 1890 the greatest increase observed in the yield of rock salt is 880 per cent; in the yield of evaporated salt, 212 per cent, and in that of lake salt, 175 per cent, while in general the total production has increased by 234 per cent during thirty years. During the last ten years, that is, since the abandon- ment of the excise system, after a considerable increase followed by a considerable fall in the price of salt in 1882, the production, especially of lake salt, decreased greatly. Since 1883, however, the growth of the output has proceeded far more uniformly. From this general description of the salt industry of Russia a review of the chief deposits and sources, and of the markets at their disposal, may be given. It has already been said that lake Elton is the richest of all the salt lakes of the government of Astrakhan. The extraction of salt from this lake has been carried on from ancient times on a very great scale, but the yield of salt has fallen with the development of the exploitation of the Baskounchak lake, which owing to its shorter distance, fifty versts, from the Volga, and its connection with this main water way of Russia by a railway, is now worked in preference to the other Astrakhan lakes. In 1866 lake Elton alone yielded 5,842,800 pouds, out of 9,146,000 pouds of salt extracted in the government of Astrakhan, while no salt at all was then extracted from lake Baskounchak. In 1870, lake Elton gave 1,015,400 pouds and lake Baskounchak, 1,279,000 pouds, however after a space of ten years, in 1880, only 595,600 pouds of salt were extracted from lake Elton and the exploitation of salt from lake Baskounchak had risen to 10,093,000 pouds. In 1882 the extraction of salt from lake Elton ceased entirely, while in 1890 the yield of lake SALT. 79 Baskounchak amounted to 12,8C0,000 pouds, and in 1889 it equalled 13,756,700 pouds. In general, in 1890 the salt lakes of the government of Astrakhan yielded 16,866,500 pouds of salt, although there had been years, for instance 1882, when the production was a little under twenty-six million pouds. A large proportion of the salt extracted from the Astrakhan lakes is consumed by the local fish industries of the Volga and Caspian Sea, where herring and salmon are caught in large quantities, and preserved chiefly with Baskounchak salt, while the cheaper kinds of fish are cured with the less pure salt of other lakes. The Astrakhan salt is also transported up the Volga, whence it is carried by rail into the central governments of Russia, as far as those points were it encounters the competition of the Perm, Bakhmout and Crimean salts. Although the Crimean industry does not include such rich sources of salt as the Elton and Baskounchak lakes, yet its total yield is also considerable. Owing to the insufficient concentration of the lakes of southern Russia, the local salt workers are obliged to expend more labour and capital in exploiting the salt, and to construct artificial salt depositing basins for which there is no necessity in Astrakhan. The Govern- ment, which owns a considerable number of the Crimean salt lakes, leases them out at a poudal royalty varying between one and four kopecks. The most productive of all the Crimean lakes are those of Saksk and Sassyk-Sivashsk belonging to the Government. In 1890 the former yielded 3,455,000 pouds and the latter, 1,779,000 pouds. Of the private lakes the following are the most important: the Crim-Eliysk, yielding 2,026,000 pouds and the Chongarsk, 3,600,000 pouds. Altogether in 1890 the Crimean lakes yielded 23,519 800 pouds of salt, while those of the governments of Kherson and Bessarabia gave 1,708,800 pouds of self-deposited salt. The salt extracted from these lakes is consumed in the south of Russia, where the people have been long accustomed to use self-deposited salt in preference to the rock salt of the Bakhmout basins, >vhich has, however, barred the transport of Crimean salt to the interior of Russia. The competition of the Slaviansk-Bakhmout basin obliged the Crimean salt workers to seek fresh markets for their salt, and therefore they took advantage of the cheap sea freights and began to transport a portion of it by water from the Black sea to the ports of the Baltic, where the Crimean salt has supplanted the foreign product. The amount of salt brought by this route to St. Petersburg, Reval, Riga and Libau amounts to four million pouds. The Crimean salt is transported by rail from the Baltic ports towards the regions supplied with Donets salt. The self-deposited salt extracted in the Don province, Urals, Tourgai and Transcaspian and Fergan provinces, and also in various parts of the Caucasus and Siberia, has only a local importance. Next to the lake salt, the largest yield falls to the evaporated salt, obtained by means of bore-holes, from which brine of the strength of 12 to 26° Baume is pumped and evaporated. Owing to the cheapness of wood fuel this mode of extraction is more advan- tageous than the mining of rock salt from beds lying at a great depth. The most favourable combination of the necessary conditions for this process is found in the gov- ernment of Perm where it has been practised since the middle of the sixteenth century. The brine is here pumped from a depth of 30 to 105 sagenes. In Count Strogonov's works, eleven beds of salt having a total thickness of 21 sagenes were encountered in sinking a bore-hole to a depth of 105 sagenes. Altogether in 1890 the Perm salt industry yielded 17,981,000 pouds of evaporated salt, the brine being obtained from 66 bore-holes and wells. The salt produced at the Perm evaporating works, besides going to the north. 80 MINING INDUSTEIES OF EUSSIA. penetrates far into the interior, thanks to the cheap water route along the Kama and Volga and their tributaries. Second to the government of Perm, the evaporation of brine is carried on to a large extent in the governments of Kharkov and Ekaterinoslav, in the Slaviansk-Bakhmout salt basin, where in 1890 there were twenty- one salt works at Slaviansk and one at Bakhmout. All these works are situated close to the Donets coal basin and therefore enjoy the advantage of cheap mineral fuel. The brine which is pumped varies in strength, but is chietiy between 22 and 23° Baume. In 1890, 4,990,400 pouds of salt were produced at these works. Besides having a local demand this salt is consumed in the central and northern governments of Russia. The remaining evaporating works of Euro- pean Russia and Siberia yield inconsiderable quantities of salt and have only an exclu- sively local importance. As has been already remarked the deposits of rock salt in Russia are of enor- mous extent, but for various local reasons their exploitation has not yet obtained large dimensions, although daring the last ten years the production has risen somewhat rap- idly. In 1890, eighty-one per cent, or 10,789,900 pouds, of the total yield of rock salt, fell to the Bakhmout salt basin, where there are now altogether four mines, two of them having a total output of 7,500,000 pouds, belonging to a French company, and one to a Dutch company. The Bakhmout salt is distributed in all directions, except to the south, where it rapidly meets the competition of the Crimean salt. But it especially finds a market in the west- ern zone of Russia and in Poland, where the inhabitants have long been accustomed to use rock salt, which was at first obtained from Velichki in Austria and afterwards also from Prussia where a large deposit of rock salt was discovered at Inovratslavel near the Russian frontier. Messrs. Lubimov & Solvey have recently constructed soda works near the Bakhmout salt mines, for treating the local material. In 1890, the Bets rock salt mine in the government of Orenburg yielded 1,243,600 pouds and in the Caucasus three mines in the government of Erivan gave 784,300 pouds, and two in the province of Kars, 395,200 pouds of rock salt. The salt of these deposits is consumed locally. . In 1890 the total amount of salt consumed in Russia was 85,450,000 pouds which, taking the population as 117 millions, equals 29 pounds per capita. In 1890, nineteen thousand men were employed in the extraction of salt in Russia. And now it remains to cite the data for the importation of salt from abroad. The following table shows the variation of the import of foreign salt into European Russia during the last ten years. Years. Import of salt. Years. Import of salt. Pouds. Pouds. 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 11,368,800 10,290,700 9,469,900 4,566,300 2,147,100 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1,202,100 473,700 689,200 1,400,900 1,049,500 The following table, showing the gradual decrease of the importation of foreign salt to the Baltic ports and Western frontier during the last seven years, will illustrate what SALT. 11 was said above respecting the gradual spread of the salt industry, and chiefly of the Bakhmout district, towards the western parts of the Empire, anfl also respecting the carriage of Crimean salt by sea to the ports of the Baltic. Import of salt. 1884. 1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. To Baltic ports Across the western frontier by land . . . 1,376,300, 191,500 162,800 I 3,032,500 1,724,500| 918,200 88,900 332,600 102,400 99,500 146,300 503,200i 1,177,800 714,300 This salt was chiefly supplied by the following countries and in amounts as enu- merated below. Countries. Importation of Salt. 1884. 1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. Great Britain . Germany . . . Austro-Hungary Roumania . . . France .... 1,191,900 1,890,600 780,400 462,500 235,6001 116,600 904,500 553,300 148,600 7,700 517,100 129,500 313,600 98,000 124,800 118,800 7,500 — 164,200 147,400 181,400 291,500! 990,40o! 618,700 89,000 129,200 112,600 130,600 123,200 119,300 6,300 4,000 — According to the customs tariff of 1891 the following duties were placed upon the imported salt: 1. By sea and by land, with the exception of those localities mentioned in the following clause, 20 kopecks per poud. 2. To the ports of the government of Archangel, 10 kopecks per poud. According to the same tariff the importation of salt for curing fish is allowed duty free, on the Mourman coasts of the government of Archangel. Besides common salt, glauber salt to the amount of about half a million ponds, is extracted from several lakes in the Caucasus and in western Siberia. Naphtha. Russia possesses numerous, and some of the richest, naphtha springs in the world and indeed the naphtha industry is one of the most important of all the mining indust- ries of Russia. The naphtha deposits of Russia occur either in disconnected, isolated plots or else cover considerable and continuous areas extending over a large surface. The first category includes the deposits lying along the river Ukhta in the government of Archangel, and the Volga and Soka in the government of Samara, also in the southern portion of the government of Relets, in the provinces of Ural and Turgai, in Turkestan and on the island of Sakhalin. All these localities have been but little explored, and not worked at all, or else worked only temporarily as an experiment. The chief wealth of Russia in naphtha is concentrated within a vast area along the northern and southern declivities of the Caucasian range. Natural springs of naphtha, bitumenous masses, the evolution of gases and other indubitable signs of the presence И. 6 82 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. of vast accumulations of naphtha are met with over the whole area from the north-west to the south-east, starting from the peninsula of Kerch. Springs of naphtha are particularly abundant along the extremities of the hills, forerunning the Caucasian mountains. Thus naphtha is met with over the whole of the isthmus of Taman and in the valley of the Kouban river and its left tributaries along the northern declivity of the Caucasian mountains for a distance of 250 versts. Naphtha wells have also been discovered in many localities' on the same side of the Caucasus in the province of Tersk, between the rivers Sunzha and Terek, and in the province of Daghestan. On the south side of the Caucasus, naphtha occurs in the government of Elisavetpol, between the towns of Shousha and Elisavetpol in the government of Tiflis, and lastly in the gov- ernment of Kutais. But the south-eastern extremity of the Caucasian range, forming the Apsheron penin- sula, is the most remarkable for its abundance of naphtha. Evolutions of gas and naphtha commencing at Shemakhi extend past Baku, across the Holy Island and then continue to the sea in the direction of the Caucasus mountains to the east shore of the Caspian ending in the naphtha and naphthalene deposits of the island of Cheleken. The naphtha springs of the Apsheron peninsula are chiefly concentrated in its central portion about thirteen versts to the south-west of Baku between the villages of Balakhany, Sabunchy, Romany and Zabrat and over the neighbourhood of the villages Binagady and Bibi- Eibat. More or less numerous and productive naphtha springs also lie about the neigh- bourhood of the villages of Sourakhany and Khourdalan, in the Yasamal valley near the borders of Bakhcha and along the shores of the Caspian to the north and from the Apsheron peninsula to the south. Lastly rich sources of naphtha have been discovered to the east of the Caspian in the Transcaspian province. The presence of naphtha in Russia has been long known, and as early as 1745 there existed works belonging to a merchant named Nabatov for treating raw naphtha, in the Pechirsk district at the mouth of the river Okhta. However, the production in Russia only attained a really commercial importance at the beginning of the present century. By a treaty signed between Russia and Persia at Hulestan on Octo- ber 12, 1813, the khanates of Baku, Kouban and Derbent were united to the Empire and from that time Russia became the possessor of the rich naphtha sources of the Apsheron peninsula which, as the Arab writer Massoundi states, had been worked since the ninth century, B. C. At first, however, the naphtha industry of the Caucasus developed very slowly, and up to 1860 the yearly yield did not exceed 250,000 to 300,000 pouds. The reason of this apparently strange phenomenon was chiefly due to the fact that, after making a few unsuccessful attempts at exploiting the naphtha sources itself, the Government decided upon a farming-out system, without giving sufficient liberty to private enterprise. Another important circumstance was that the preparation of lighting oil from the raw naphtha was unknown before the middle of the present century. Although about 1823, Doubinin Brothers made a successful attempt at Mozdok, to obtain an oil fit for lighting purposes from raw naphtha, still the industry which they had thus started did not attract sufficient attention and Avas soon given up, so that until 1860, the naphtha was exclusively employed in the raw state either for burning or as a coarse lubricant, thus accounting for its small demand. The success of the photogene production in Germany gave an impetus to the Caucasian naphtha industry. In 1860 a refinery was started at Sourakhany, and NAPHTHA. 83 in 1864 the Baku works were inaugurated, олу1пд to which the demand for naphtha became larger and its production gradually increased. Thus in 1863 the yield of naphtha was 340,000 pouds, in 1867, 999,000 pouds and in 1870, 1,704,000 pouds. In 1864 also, exploratory borings were first conducted in the Caucasus in the province of Kouban. The first successful well was finished in 1866 in the valley of the river Koudako, which gave the first naphtha fountain in the Caucasus. However the naphtha, although abundant, was heavy and unsuitable for use. Further boring, to a depth of 570 feet, showed the presence of a light naphtha, and the explorations made in the valley of the river Kouban and its tributaries showed that the discovery of naphtha might be expected • over nearly all the district. Lastly in 1871, the first well was sunk in the Balokhan district and although its productiveness did not exceed that of the richer springs, still the advantages of borings over the primitive diggings became evident. The above mentioned circumstances convinced the Government of the necessity of removing the petroleum districts of the Caucasus from the exclusive enjoyment of the farmer to whom they were leased and to render them free to all desirous of exploiting them. The farming-out system was abolished by a law dated February 1, 1872, and accord- ing to the general fundaments of the mining legislation, the naphtha industry was pronounced free. By the same law, the refining of naphtha and the manufacture of pho- togene was subjected to excise. In acting thus, the Government was not misled in its calculations of founding an important economical and commercial industry, conducive to the interests of the State. The publication of the law of February 1, 1872, was immediately followed by brilliant results; the public auctions of the State naphtha springs in the Caucasus, previously held by the farmers, exceeded all expectations. All the naphtha sources of the Bolokhana district were divided into seventeen lots, about ten dessiatines each, with one or more wells in each. At the auctions, allotments valued at 523,300 roubles, were sold for 2,851,200 roubles Notwithstanding the high prices given for the allotments, the buyers quickly set themselves to the exploitation of the naphtha, and instead of digging, sank wells to a greater depth and thus attained striking results. The production of naphtha began to increase rapidly, in a manner which could in no way have been looked for. The exploitation of naphtha was also begun on private lands, and the industry became still more animated owing to the energetic borings made by the proprietors of naphtha- bearing land, among whom a competition soon sprung up. The appearance of the first naphtha fountain in this district in 1873, produced an entire revolution in the industry. The price of naphtha, which in the beginning of 1873 stood at 45 kopecks a poud, imme- diately fell to two kopecks. This fountain presented an exceedingly tempting phenomenon to many, and although a portion of the naphtha it threw oif was lost, it did not retard the search for fresh deposits, but on the contrary strengthened the faith in boring as the best means of attaining quick wealth. The rapidity of the growth of the production of naphtha in Kussia, during the first years after the publication of the freedom of the industry, is seen from the fact that up to 1872 the entire production of the Empire did not exceed 1,750,000 pouds, while in 1873 the Bolakhana and Sabouncha districts alone yielded 3,951,600 pouds, 4,862,600 pouds in 1874, and 5,809,000 pouds in 1875. The publication of the freedom of the naphtha industry not only facilitated the rapid increase of the production of raw naphtha, but under favourable conditions also conduced to the development of the manufacture of photogene, and many works were built for the distillation of the product. 6* 84 MINING INTUSTKIES OF RUSSIA The appearance of a series of abundant naphtha fountains, put an end to the hope of a rise in price owing to increased demand. The Baku market had always a surplus over the demands of the local refining works, and as early as 1875, when the yield did not yet exceed six million pouds, there was a crisis in the Baku naphtha industry foUowed by the stoppage of many of the refining works. In 1877 the Government with a view to develop the industry, decided to abolish the excise upon photogene. From this time the Baku naphtha industry made rapid strides forward, and in 1888 had attained such dimensions that the Government saw the opportunity of placing a moderate excise upon naphtha lighting oil. In 1887 the yield of naphtha was 167,000,000 pouds and 46,000,000 pouds of lighting oil had been prepared. This excise, to the amount of forty kopecks per poud upon ordinary light kerosene, and thirty kopecks upon the less dangerous heavy lighting oil, did not evince any unfavourable influence upon the now firmly established industry, and in 1890 the yield of lighting oil amounted to seventy million pouds; that is, it increased fifty per cent over the production of 1887. In 1890 the revenue brought to the Government by the excise upon naphtha oil exceeded ten and a half million roubles. Notwithstanding the favourable results attained by the publication of the freedom of the naphtha industry, a twenty years application of the regulations published in 1872 showed the existence in them of many imperfections and wants whose completion was desirable both in the interests of the naphtha industry and of the State. Therefore, these regulations were revised and replaced by new ones on the 3rd of June, 1892. Based as before upon the freedom of the industry, the new regulations gave greater advantages to the discoverers of naphtha sources, facilitated the conditions of leasehold of State naphtha bearing lands, removed impediments to the laying down of pipe lines over State and private properties, established measures for preserving the industry from the dangers of fire, took measures against the rapacious and irregular exploitation of the naphtha sources, and gave a definite organization to the periodical meetings of the naphtha traders for discussing the general needs of the industry. The following table shows the growth of the yield and of the refining of naphtha during the last ten years. Years. Naphtha. Lighting oil. Benzine. Lubricating oil. P 11 d s. 1881 40,474,731 * 12,840,656 . II 2,92 2,815 1 1882 50,507,723 16,427,776 — 1,781,494 1883 60,375,970 15,145,401 49,544 3,044,220 1884 90,229,812 20,340,544 151,000 3,406.346 1885 116,258,915 34,148,176 41,072 2,963,838 1886 120,410,927 37,837,306 61,280 2,526,500 1887 166,868,759 46,108,648 242,263 4,003,453 1888 194,341,955 52,120,653 144,157 3,713,452 1889 202,127,942 64,992,245 111,095 3,157,418 1890 242,941,629 69,973,884 124,892 5,374,000 In the case of naphtha of sp. gr. 0-87, one poud corresponds to 4-94 American gallons. NAPHTHA. 85 Thus during the last ten years the production of naphtha increased six times and the preparation of lighting oils, nearly as much. The accompanying table shows the yield of naphtha in the different governments and provinces during the last two years. Governments and Provinces. Yield of naphtha, in pouds. 1889. 189f). Gov. of Baku Prov. of Kouban Transcaspian Prov Prov. of Tersk Gov. of Tiflis Prov. of Daghestan Gov. of Tauride Gov. of Elisabetpol Prov. of Fergan 200,116,300 1,381,942 286,400 275,721 55,296 3,955 3,603 3,000 1,425 240,380,924 1,813,327 285,000 370,800 46,444 2,780 29,168 11,000 2,106 202,127,942 242,941,629 The above figures show that the first place in the Russian naphtha industry is occupied by the government of Baku, or strictly speaking, by the Apsheron peninsula, where 99 per cent of the total yield is produced. Hence an examination of the data respecting this district will be of the greatest interest and importance. The Apsheron peninsula presents an uneven and, in general, but little elevated surface; in places it is intersected by shallow but rather wide and sometimes contracted valleys. It is chiefly covered with sand, and only partially by salt marshes, salt lakes and mud volcanoes. In its geological structure the peninsula is exclusively formed of post- tertiary and tertiary formations the oldest of which are marles and schists of the upper eocene period. The stratification of all these formations are broken, the dislocations appear- ing in two predominating directions north-west and north-east. In the majority of cases the natural outflow of naphtha appears on the sides or crests of anticlinal curves or in narrow and deep anticlinal valleys of rupture. The naphtha lies in oligocene formations and is chiefly concentrated in sands and friable sandstones. The total thickness of the naphtha bearing tier of oligocene is not less than eight hundred and fifty to a thousand sagenes; and the thickness of the actual naphtha bearing sands and sandstones extends to 150 sagenes. The quality of the naphtha varies considerably, and starting from an immobile black viscous mass of specific gravity 0"96 it passes through all the transitions to a mobile, light yellow liquid of specific gravity 0'85 to 0-885, having a peculiar odour, dichroism and fluorescence. In its chemical composition the Baku naphtha ju'esents a mixture of hydrocarbons, in which the unsaturated hydrocarbons of the series Cnlbn predominate. These hydrocarbons are known as the defines and resemble the hydro- aromatic hydrocarbons in their properties. The Balakhana-Sabouncha naphtha, on being destilled in the usual manner, that is, without crocking, gives: 86 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. Light oil (benzene, gazolene) 5— 7 per cent. Kerosene 27 — 30 » » Solar oil (heavy lighting oil) 13—15 » » Lubricating oils: spindle oil 7 » » л » machine oil 18 — 25 » » л » cylinder oil 2 — 5 » » Vaseline 1 » » In the preparation of kerosene only, the majority of works obtain: Kerosene 35 per cent. Refuse 55 » » Light oils and waste 10 » » The heating power of the naphtha, on the average, equals 11,370 calories . The amount of ash does not exceed 0'09 per cent. The naphtha is exploited by borings, generally made by means of rigid rods with free falling tools; the rope system of boring is rarely employed owing to the local conditions being unfavourable to it. In 1890 there were 105 allotments under exploitation in the government of Baku. The total number of wells was 376, each well, therefore, yielding on the average H44,452 pouds of naphtha. It is remarked that, in general, the average productiveness of the wells has fallen somewhat. The depth of the newly sunk holes has at the same time increased. In 1881 the average depth of the new wells did not exceed s ixty sagenes , but in 1890 it already attained 107 sagenes. A considerable amount of naphtha is thrown up in the form of fountains and during the last few years they yielded as follows: Years. Yield of fountains. Percentage of total production 1887. . 68 million pouds 42 per cent. 1888. . . . 73 « » 40 » » 1889. . 42 » » 22 » » 1890. . . 49 » » 22 » » 1891. . 39 » » 10 » » The naphtha is stored in various ways, the most usual method is in earthern and stone warehouses having a capacity of as much as eleven million pouds, or in iron res- ervoirs holding as high as five million pouds. The stores of naphtha are not as a rule large, and rarely exceed nine to ten million pouds. The oil is supplied to the Baku works by means of twenty-five pipe lines having a total length of 260 versts and capable of supplying up to one and a half million pouds daily. In 1890 there were 224 refining works, 148 of which were situated in the neighbourhood of Baku and the remainder in various parts of European Russia. Of the Baku works, 135 were small, and 13 were constructed on a larger scale; the latter gave three-fourths of the total production of naphtha products in Baku. The largest works belong to the Nobel Brothers; in 1890 these works produced 17,964,403 pouds of various petroleum products. In 1890 the naphtha industry of Russia employed 10,503 men, of which number 4,509 belonged to the refining works. NAPHTHA. 87 Lighting and lubricating oils and other naphtha products are chiefly transported from Baku to the interior of Russia in tanks, by the Caspian Sea to Astrakhan, thence also in bulk up the Volga, and then by rail in cistern trucks over the whole of Russia. Another portion is carried by rail from Baku to Batoum, whence it is transported in tanks to the various ports of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov for home consumption, or else in all directions abroad. Before being transported, all the lighting oils arc tested on the spot of their preparation by Government agents and, according to the law of March 8, 1886, oil with a flash point of under 28° Celsius (Abel-Pensky's apparatus) is pronounced dangerous and only admitted for sale under certain limiting conditions. In 1890 the official data show that 29,963,260 pouds of lighting oil, or about 43 per cent of the annual production, went to home consumption. Taking the population of Russia in 1890 at 117 millions, the consumption per head comes to 10-2 pounds. Besides being a cheap mode of illumination, mineral oil now plays an im- portant role as a fuel. It is only natural that the boilers used in the produc- tion of naphtha should be heated by no other fuel, the naphtha thus consumed amounting to 11,781,000 pouds. The large quantity of refuse obtained at Baku is partially consumed on the spot, and a comparatively small quantity is sent abroad, but the chief amount is transported to the interior where it is used as fuel. At the present time not only the steamers navigating the Caspian, but also the majority of those upon the Volga and its chief tributaries, employ naphtha fuel, and the amount of naphtha refuse thus consumed equals about fifty-eight million pouds. There are very accurate data respecting the consumption of naphtha refuse for locomotives, and the quantity thus employed steadily increases every year, clearly showing the advantages offered by this class of fuels. The following are the data published by the Ministry of Ways of Communication respecting the consumption of naphtha fuels on the raihvavs: 1881 115,600 pouds 1886 5,788,500 pouds 1882 131,900 » 1887 6,741,000 )) 1883 1,720,400 » 1888 8,707,600 » 1884 3,887,200 » 1889 12,994,100 » 1885 5,042,700 » 1890 17,654,600 >) Independent of this, naphtha refuse has in recent years been applied to all kinds of industrial works, not only locally along the Volga but also in the central gov- ernments of Russia. Here naphtha fuel is used not only for heating boilers , but also in metallurgical furnaces in the manufacture o f iron . In the Caucasus also, naphtha refuse is employed in copper smelting . According to the data of the Jlinistry of Finance, the consumption of naphtha fuel by all classes of industries in Russia amounts to eighteen million pouds a yean In 1889, Baku shipped 88,836,400 pouds of naphtha refuse and in 1890, 96,905,900 pouds. A very small portion of this amount was transported to Batoum and all the remainder was consumed in the interior of Russia chiefly as fuel, only a small quantity being converted into other products. As regards the external trade in naphtha products, in 1873 the importations of volatile lighting oils into Russia amounted to about three million pouds, but since then and especially since 18S2 it has steadily fallen, and during the last four years has reached a minimum, as the following table for the last ten years shows. MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. Years. Lighting oil. Raw naphtha. Years. Lighting oil. Raw naphtha. P u d s. P u d s. 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1,298,500 1,032,300 389,300 181,600 118,100 27,250 15,550 19,200 14,100 1,550 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 40,700 15,000 11,400 16,200 15,100 59 37 110 111 12 1 The almost total cessation of the importation of American lighting oil into Russia is explained by the rapid growth of the output of all kinds of naphtha products, and chiefly of lighting oil, and also by the excess of their production over the require- ments of the interior of Russia. At the same time the exportation of naphtha products has rapidly increased as the following table indicates. Years. Raw naphtha. Lighting oil. Lubricating oil. Refined. | Unrefined. Naphtha refuse. 1 P u d s 1881 182,600 134,500 309,100 276,800 67,000 1882 112,000 228,700 327,100 376,200 77,500 1888 283,700 1,493,700 454,300 1,266,700 60,400 1884 602,800 3,948,900 604,800 853,000 451,700 1885 1,129,300 7,269,500 648,200 1,490,400 208,200 1886 1,257,800 9,195,300 776,300 1,452,200 2,255,600 1887 1,078,100 11,819,500 1,136,600 1,664,400 3,281,700 1888 299,400 27,363,300 1,515,700 1,281,600 4,481,300 1889 224,700 34,989,400 1,527,800 1,926,800 6,129,500 1890 760,700 39,767,200 3,433,500 1,133,700 2,986,400 The figures of this table clearly indicate the importance of the naphtha industry of Russia. Indeed, while in 1873 when the largest amount of naphtha products were imported, Russia paid over ten and a half million roubles for lighting oil and raw naphtha of foreign production, and in 1890, on the contrary, she exported various naphtha products of home production, to the value of over twenty-seven and a half million roubles. Of all the naphtha products the Russian lighting oil has the widest market. In 1881 the export of this oil amounted to 1.34,500 pouds, and after a space of ten years, in 1890, it increased to 39,767,200 pouds; the relation between the total production of lighting oil and the amount exported in 1890 is about 57 per cent. The exportation of lubricating oils, which in 1881 amounted to only 585,900 pouds, rose to 4,567,200 pouds in 1890. With respect to lubricating oils it must be remarked that at first more unre- fined than refined oil was exported, but recently there is observed an evident preference for Russian refined oil, which in 1890 amounted to three-quarters of the total of lubricating oils exported. It is interesting, to observe which are the chief foreign markets for the Russian naphtha industry, and this is shown in the following table giving the data for the last three years. 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This table shows that the products of the Russian naphtha industry not only find a market in Europe but also in the far east. The chief consumers are those countries to which the naphtha can by carried by the cheap sea route from Batoum, which is connected by rail with Baku, the centre of the industry. Asphalt. Asphalt bearing sandstone and limestone occur on the right bank of the Volga in the Syzransk district of the government of Simbirsk, where there are four works for treating the raw material and for preparing bitumen and asphalt compositions, of which they turn out from 750,000 to 1,000,000 pouds per year. Moreover, the same products are extracted in various parts of the Caucasus, to the amount of over 100,000 pouds annually. Sulphur. Deposits of sulphur exist in many parts of Russia, but they have nowhere been fully explored. Thus sulphur occurs on the shores of the Volga, in Poland, the Caucasus, and in the Transcaspian and Fergan provinces. In the government of Kazan, it is known to occur near the village of Sukeevo on the Volga. The ore here lies in druses and interlayers in limestone of the Permian system, whose thickness varies between two and seven feet. The percentage of sulphur in the ore varies between 25 and 8 per cent. There formerly existed works for treating the ore, but they are now closed. In Poland there is a deposit of native sulphur, in the government of Relets, near the junction of the rivers Nida and Vistula, at the village of Charkovo. The sulphur is here disseminated in a marl of the tertiary system whose thickness varies from one to ten sagenes. The distribution of the sulphur in the gauge is extremely variable, the upper layers generally contain not more than ten per cent, while in the lower it varies from 25 to 75 per cent. Explorations made on the Kharkova mines showed the presence of very considerable stores of sulphur. Works were erected upon the deposit and in 1885 yielded as high as 35,000 pouds. Now these works are closed. Besides the Charkova deposit the geological survey of the same portion of the government of Kelets showed the existence of a fresh bed of sulphur. In the Caucasus native sulphur is found pretty widely distributed over both sides of the mountain chain. In the province of Daghestan, there is a bed of sulphur belonging to the upper Jurassic system, situated about 120 versts to the west of Petrovsk, on the Caspian Sea near the village of Chirkat, in the mountains at a height of 4,500 feet above the level of the sea. The ore here occurs in considerable agglomerations in clay; it contains from 33 to 35 per cent of sulphur. The deposit has been only regularly ex- ploited since 1883, when a French firm, Lescanne Perdoux fils et C°. took over the Chirkat or Khioutsk mine. In 1888 this firm produced 88,000 pouds of sulphur but lately the output has considerably fallen. Besides the Chirkat deposit, native sulphur is found in other parts of Daghestan and also in the governments of Erivan and Tiflis. A vast bed of sulphur has recently SULPHUR. 91 been discovered and explored in the Transcaspian province about 240 versts from Geok- Tepe and Khiva. In this locality there are solitary, standing hills about ЗГЮ feet high, rising in the midst of the uniform sandy steppes. These hills contain nests and veins of quartzose sandstone containing over 60 per cent of sulphur. There are forty such hills, and it has been estimated that each hill could yield as much as thirty million pouds of sulphui", and the local conditions are very favourable to the establishment of sulphur works on a large scale. A deposit of sulphur is also known in the Fergan province where there are works for treating the ore. The following table gives the yield of sulphur during the last ten years. Yield of Yield of Years. sulphur. Years. sulphur. Pouds. Pouds. 1881 6,500 1886 72,000 1882 39,700 1887 88,300 1883 70,900 1888 22,700 1884 46,100 1889 5,800 1885 108,700 1890 9,800 With such a small home production of sulphur, Russia is obliged to cover its re- quirements by importation which, during the last five years, is expressed by the fol- lowing iigures. Years. Imported. | Raw sulphur. Refined sulphur and flowers of sulphur. Pouds. ^ 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 484,700 899,600 1,363,400 1,165,900 1,125,000 34,300 64,900 34,700 28,800 28,400 Raw sulphur is imported from Italy. In 1890, 75,.300 pouds were for the first time brought from the United States. Relined sulphur chiefly comes from France. According to the customs tariff of 1891, sulphur imported into Russia is subject to the following duties: 1. Raw sulphur: a. Imported to the ports of the Baltic and White Sea, and also by land 2 kopecks per poud. b. Imported to the ports of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov . 5 » » » 2. Refined sulphur and flowers of sulphur 20 » » » 92 mining industeies of russia. Graphite. Graphite was first discovered in Russia in 1826. Deposits of graphite are known in various parts of Russia in Europe and Asia; but it has as yet only been exploited in the Kirghiz steppes, in eastern Siberia and in Finland. The deposits of eastern Siberia are especially worthy of attention. In 1856 a Finnish merchant, named Aliber, began to work graphite in the government of Irkutsk, where there is a bed of the highest quality. At one time this graphite was supplied to the well known pencil makers Faber, but at present it is only worked in the smallest quantities to satisfy the wants of the Irkutsk gold melting house, for the manufacture of crucibles. Very vast deposits of graphite of most excellent quality were discovered in 1860 by a merchant named Sidorov, in the north of the government of Yenissei, along the rivers Nizhni-Toungouska and Koureika. The former deposit is estimated to contain ten million pouds of graphite. The high qualities of this ore were certified at the Perm gun factory, and in St. Petersburg, and also in London whither a parcel of it was sent by sea across the Arctic ocean. The situation of these deposits in a distant desert and unpopulated district is the cause of their not being worked. In general the production of graphite in Russia is subject to considerable fluc- tuations, and sometimes it is not extracted in the least degree for several years running. Judging from official data the largest amount of graphite was yielded in 1875 when the production amounted to 18,500 pouds. According to the customs tariff of 1891, graphite imported into Russia is subject to duty as follows: 1. Graphite in lumps 8 kopecks per poud. 2. Graphite powder 30 » » » Phosphorites. Phosphorites are known in many parts of Russia, but they are only exploited in the governments of Podolsk, Bessarabia, Kursk and Kostroma. In Bessarabia and Podolia the working area is situated along the shores of the river Dneister and its tributaries. The phosphorites lie in schists of the Silurian system and have the appearance of more or less regular spheres from one-half to seven inches in diameter. Numerous analyses conducted in Austria have shown that these phosphorites are far richer than those of other localities, containing, as they do, 70 to 75 per cent of phosphate of lime, which corresponds to 30 or 35 per cent of phosphoric acid beds. In respect to their size the most important phosphorite beds in Russia are those which occur in the midst of strata belonging to the cretaceous system, where the phosphorite, locally called nugget, is composed of sand cemented together by phosphate and carbonate of lime. In the interior of Russia these beds extend to the northern limit of the creta- ceous formations. The richest deposits are situated in the governments of Smolensk, Kursk, Orel and Voronezh; the length of this band is over 600 versts and its width about 150 versts. The percentage of phosphoric acid in the nugget varies from 13 to 27 per cent. In the government of Kostroma the ore contains from 22 to 26 per cent of phosphoric acid. PRECIOUS STONES AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 93 There are no data giving the total production of phosphorites in Russia and it can only be said that their use is extending more and more in the Empire. But Russian phosphorites also form an object of export as the following data from the official customs statistics show. Export of phosphorites. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. P u d s Total Including, to Germany. » « Austria. . 674,900 10,000 663,500 468,700 468,700 448,500 448,500 521,100 521,100 705,400 705,400 According to the customs tariff of 1891, the exportation of phosphorites in the raw state is restricted by a duty of 12 kopecks per poud; while ground phosphorites are passed free of export dues. On the other hand ground phosphorites imported into Russia are subject to a duty of 2 kopecks per poud in gold. PkECIOUS STONES AND BUILDING MATERIALS. Among the precious stones, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topazes, amethysts, aquamarines, beryls, garnets and alexandrites are found in Russia. Diamonds were first discovered in 1829 in the Krestovozdvigensk gold workings in the central Urals. Subsequently they were also found in working the gold of other mines, but in general, they are of rare occurrence. There are no real diamond mines, and only a portion of the Krestovozdvigensk was temporarily worked exclusively for diamonds. Altogether about 160 diamonds were found, the largest of which weighed about 2^VIG carats. As yet no diamond bearing rocks are known in the Urals. Sapphires and rubies are also rarely found in alluvial gold deposits, to- gether with other more or less rare minerals, such as euclase, rose topaz, chrysoberyl, chrysolite, zircon, rutile et cetera. But in the Urals, emeralds occur in quite a different manner. Their deposits form an entire group situated to the north-east of Ekaterinburg. Here exceptionally lai*ge crystals of emeralds, с h i>y s о b e r у 1 and phenacite are met with in a micaceous schist. Very fine topazes, beryls and phenacites are found in the southern portion of the Urals, in the Ilmen hills. These stones are also found in the Mourzinsk deposits, situated about a hundred versts to the north-east of Ekaterinburg. The Mourzinsk topazes and beryls are known to the mineralogists of the whole world. The largest topaz known was found here; it is now in the Museum of the Mining Institute, and measures 27 centimetres in length, and 31 centimetres in circumference. Topazes, aquamarines and beryls are also found in the Nerchinsk mountains in eastern Siberia. A crystal of topaz of exceedingly large dimensions was found in one of the gold workings of this locality. In general, gar- nets are of frequent occurrence in the Urals. Here different varieties of greenish coloured garnets are known. If these stones contain a small amount of chromium they have an emerald green tint, and a very powerful lustre, and indeed exceed the emerald in beauty. 9 4 MINING INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA. . Rock crystals and amethysts are found in many parts of the Urals and Si- berian mountains. The Urals long ago attracted attention by their richness in precious and coloured stones, and in 1755 a Government Stone Cutting and Polishing Works was estab- lished at Ekaterinburg. At the present time the cutting of the precious stones and the polish- ing of the various rocks and minerals found in the Urals, is chiefly carried on by the for- mer workmen of the above establishment, which has almost ceased working; the industry has now developed into a rather large peasant occupation (koustarny promyshlennost). Amber is found in the governments of Courland, Grodna, Kiev, Volynsk, Minsk and Kherson. Moreover, it is cast up by the Baltic Sea in the neighbourhood of Libau and also on the shores of the Arctic ocean at the mouths of the rivers Pechora and Mezen. Those practically useful minerals, which are found as mountain rocks or in the form of more or less considerable masses will now be noticed. Lapis lazuli is known in several localities about Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia. Malachite is met with in the Urals, frequently accompanied by other copper ores, sometimes in huge blocks. In the Museum of the Mining Institute there is such a block weighing about 90 pouds, which formed part of a still larger block weighing 170 pouds. Labradorite occurs in the governments of Kiev and Volyn, in considerable masses, subordinate to granite. This stone is used in building, for facing walls and for making ornaments. Granite occurs in abundance both in the south and in the north of Russia, but it is only regularly quarried in a few places. St. Petersburg is supplied with two sorts: the red or Viborg granite, locally called rappakivi, is quarried in Finland on the shore of the gulf of Finland between Viborg and Borgo; and the gray, so called Serdobolsk granite, is chiefly transported from the neighbourhood of the town of Serdobol on the north shore of lake Ladoga. The red, large grained Finnish granite or rappakivi is used in large quantities in St. Petersburg; all the quays of the Neva and the canals are walled with it, and the foun- dations of many buildings as well as all the port and fortifications of Cronstadt are built of it. The most remarkable monolites of rappakivi are those out of which the columns of the St. Isaac Cathedral and the monument of the Emperor Alexander I are made; the latter is 78 feet high and 12 feet in diameter. Besides the granite cut from quarries, there is a large demand for granite cobbles which are found largely disseminated over a great portion of the north and interior of Russia. In the north, huge blocks of granite are sometimes met with, like that which forms the base of Peter the Great's mon- ument in St. Petersburg. The Serdobolsk granite is dark gray, fine-grained,, exceedingly hard, and polishes with difficulty. It is used for architectural ornamentation; for example, the huge figures, supporting the portico of the Imperial Hermitage of St. Petersbui'g are made of it. In the south of Russia, granite is very widely distributed over the governments of Ekaterinoslav, Poltava, Podolsk, Volyn, Bessarabia and Tauride. There are large granite quarries in the governments of Volyn and Podolsk. In the government of Vor- onezh, there are granite quarries on the banks of the river Don. Jasper occurs in the Ural and Altai mountains. The largest amount is found on the eastern side of the south Urals. The Kalkansk jasper is the most beautiful. In the Altai a very large number of beds of different kinds of jasper are known and worked up by the local Kolyvansk polishing works into such large objects as the vases, and oval bowl 20 feet across, which are preserved in the Imperial Hermitage. PRECIOUS STONES AND BUILDING MATERIALS. 95 Marble is found in many parts of Russia, but it is far from being worked in all the localities of its occurrence. There are marble quarries in Finland, in the government of Olonets, in the Urals and in Poland. A white marble is found on the eastern side of the Urals near Ekaterinburg; it is cleavable into pieces up to seven teet long; in the purity of its colour it excels some kinds of Carrara marble. In the government of Olonets there are the Tivdisk marble quarries, which were opened out in the reign of Catherine II, and which have been worked on a very large scale for many monumental works in St. Petersburg, the St. Isaac Cathedral being among them. In Finland there are the Ruskiolsk marble quarries. In Poland, marbles of the most varied colours and designs occur in the neighbourhood of the towns of Relets, and Hentsina. These marbles have been quarried since the sixteenth century. A black marble is known in the neighbourhood of the town of Olekoush, about twelve versts distant from the Austrian frontier. This marble has also been quarried since the seventeenth century. The ikonostas in the Cathedral of St. Stephan in Vienna is made of it. Limestones are also quarried in many parts of Russia, as for instance, in the neigh- bourhood of Moscow, where the Miachkov quarries are the best known. This limestone is distinguished for its whiteness, homeogenuity and purity; it is sufficiently soft to admit of being chiselled, and is therefore used for making ornaments. Calcareous limestone of the tertiary system is largely distributed in the south of Russia, and some towns, as for instance Odessa, are almost entirely built of it; when damp it is very soft and easily disintegrates, but hardens when dried. Maries are used in the preparation of hydraulic cements and occur abundantly in the governments of St. Petersburg and Esthonia. Those found near the town of Novorossisk are remarkable for their high quality, and are used for making Portland cement. Quartz and q u a r t z о s e sandstone are also known in various parts of Russia. The government of Olonets is especially rich in them. The dark red Shokshink quartzose sandstone of this locality is used for many monuments, and the tomb of Na- poleon I, in the Paris Hotel des Invalides, is made of this material, the gift of the Emperor Nicholas I. In the neighbourhood of Moscow there are several sandstone quarries which give an excellent building material and grindstone. Such sandstone also occurs in the Urals, in the governments of Kursk, Kharkov, Saratov, in Poland, and other places. Whetstone is exploited in the governments of Vologda, Ufa and Ekater- inburg. Lithographic stone is found in the governments of Perm and Podolsk. Slate is known in the north of Russia in the government of Olonets, in the south of Russia near the Krivoy-Rog, on the borders of the governments of Cherson, and Ekaterinburg, and also in the Caucasus. Asbestos and talc occur in various parts ot European Russia and Siberia. In the Urals, asbestos is now chiefly extracted in the neighbourhood of Ekaterinburg, and in 1891, 72,000 ponds were taken from that locality. Gypsum beds are known wherever the Permian system occurs in the east of Russia in Europe; it also lies in the same formation in the government of Ekaterinoslav. CT}T)sum is known in the Devonian system, in the governments of Pskov, Vitebsk, and Lithuania; it lies in more recent formations in the governments of Poltava and Podolsk and also in Poland. Chalk is worked in considerable quantities in the government of Simbirsk and Kharkov and in other localities. Among the mmierous varieties of clay known in all 96 MINING INDUSTEIES OF RUSSIA. the governments of Russia and lying in all kinds of geological formations, the most important, from an industrial point of view, are the china and fire clays. Kaolin is known in many parts of south Russia where it forms the product of the desintegration of granite and gneiss. I^arge deposits of kaolin are known in the govern- ments of Ekaterinoslav, Kherson, Kiev, Volyn and Chernigov. In the interior of Russia the Gzhelsk beds of china clay, about .50 versts from Moscow, have been worked for a very long time. Fire clay is also worked in many parts of Russia. The most im- portant are the tire clays of the carboniferous system, which are worked on a large scale in the governments of Novgorod, Tver and Tula. Besides this, tire clay is worked in the governments of Vladimir and Olonets, in the Donets coal basin, and in the western portion of the government of Ekaterinoslav and also in Poland. According to the official data for 1890, which only include the stone quarries subject to the supervision of the Mining Department, the following number of men were employed in these industries: In the exploitation of kaolin 760 men. » » » » fire clays .... 1,318 » » stone quarries 16,443 » Total. . . 18,521 men. Mineral springs. By the law of February 19, 1885, for the preservation of mineral springs, the land surrounding the springs is, within a certain area, subject to preservative measures, and the landowner cannot conduct any kind of work upon it without the previous permission of the mining authorities. Among the numerous mineral springs of Russia the following are included under that law. In northern Russia: the Starorussk, in the government of Novgorod; the Hillovsk, in the government of Pskov; and the Kashinsk, in the government of Tver; in central Russia: the Lipetsk in the government of Tambov; in western Russia: the Kemmernsky in Lithuania, the Baldonsk in Courland, and the Druskeniksk in the government of Grodno; in Poland: the Tsekhotsinsk, in the government of Warsaw, and the Bussk, in the government of Kelets; in Eastern Russia: the Serghievsk and Stolypin, in the government of Samara; in South Russia: the Slaviansk, in the government of Kharkov, and the Sakskand Chokraksk mud springs in the Tauride government. In the Caucasus there are four groups of the so-called Caucasian mineral waters: the Podkoumsk, in the province of Tersk, the Borzhomsk in the province of Sta- vropol, and the Abas-Toumansk in the government of Tiflis. The most important of all these springs are four groups of the Can casian waters situated near tho town of Piatigorsk. At Kislovodsk there is one carbonate spring situated at a height of 2,500 feet above the level of the sea, and known as the Narzan spring, whose temperature is about 15° C. The Essentouksk mineral springs lie at a height of 1850 feet above the level of the sea. These springs fall into two groups, one alkaline and the other sulphurous. The spring No. 17 is especially famous for its strength. The Piatigorsk sulphurous MINERAL SPRINGS. 97 springs are situated in the town of Piatigorsk and its neighbourhood. Here, as at Essen- touki, there is a whole series of sulphur spriucs varying from 20^ to 59° Celsius in temperature. The Zhelesnovodsk springs are ferruginous-alkaline, i)artly hot (50°) and partly cold; there are in all twelve springs here. All these four groups of the Caucasian springs belong to the State, and in recent years the Government has expended 800,000 roubles in developing them. Among the remaining above mentioned springs, the Starorussk, Druskeniksk, Tsekhotsinsk, Bussk and Slaviansk are saline; the Hillovsk, Kemmernsk, Ikldonsk and Serghievsk are sulphurous; the Borzhomsk, alkaline; the Kashinsk and Lipetsk, ferruginous, and the Stolypinsk, saline- ferruginous. Without citing all the remaining springs known in European Russia and the Caucasus, it should be mentioned that numerous chalybeate springs are known in Turkestan, in the Altai in Western Siberia, and in the Transbaikal province of Eastern Siberia. The Trans- baikal mineral springs are particularly famous. The medicative lake Shiro, in the southern portion of the government of Yenisei, is of great repute; according to the investigations made by the Faculty, the water of this lake contains a larger amount of alkalis and sulphate of sodium than the frequented waters of Carlsbad, Marienbad and Vichy. ERRATA. Page. 1 2 3 3 12 17 24 80 42 50 55 56 56 57 61 63 68 72 73 75 82 82 82 93 95 96 Line. 28 46 16 20 39 12 23 24 33 16 21 6 19 5 27 32 19 29 16 19 4 18 22 and 23 32 36 35 and 36 Printed. Nikitin Derzabin Vernien Monpere Alekminsk him Bogoslov Baikal Don importation Don » » ... . » . . Zisichansk 1862 Russian Siberia and carboniferous Zaibaikal Briansk isthmus south-west from the Aspheron peninsula to the south topaz Ekaterinburg the Podkoumsk, in the province of Tersk, the Borzhomsk in the province of Stavropol and the Abas-Toumausk in the govern- ment of Tiflis R Nikita. Deryabin. Verneuil. Montpereux. Olekminsk. them. Bogoslovsk. Transbaikal. Donets. exportation. Donets. Lisichansk. 1869. Prussian Silesia carboniferous and Jurassic. Transbaikal. Briantsevsk. peninsula. north-east. to the south of the Apsheron peninsula. beryl. Ekaterinoslav. in the province of Tersk; the Podkoumsk, in the government of Stavropol; the Borzhomsk and the Abas-Toumansk, in the government of Tiflis. 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