Outlines Of The Mining Industry In The Russian Far East

UNDER the name of the Russian Far East we understand the territory occupied by the Amur, Maritime, Sakhalin and Kamchatka Provinces, the total area of which is about 918,000 square miles. The mining industry took its first step in the Russian Far East in the second half of the 19th century, and until the end of this century was restricted to gold placer mining. In the last years of the 19th century, the extraction of coal and lignite was begun, and in 1910-11 the exploitation of silver-lead-zinc mines. The conditions of the Far Eastern mining industry during the last few years may be outlined by the following figures. Annual production of gold mines was about 54,000 lb., valued at $13,000,000. During the period of 1910-15 a considerable increase of placer-gold mining by mechanical processes took place; in 1910, by means of dredging and excavators, 500 lb.. of gold were obtained; in 1914, 2740 pounds. Annual output of coal; lignite and. silver-lead-zinc ores was: 1911 1920 Bituminous and semi-anthracite coal, long tons 270,000 316,000 Lignite, long tons 66,000 205,000 Silver-lead-zinc ores, long tons 28,400 94,500 In other branches of mining in the Far East, only the quarrying of building stone and clay may be men-tioned, the total yearly output amounting to about $500,000 in value. The principal gold mines are in the Amur Province, in the systems of the Zeia and Bureia rivers, and in Kamchatka Province, near the town of Okhotsk. The above-mentioned tonnage of coal and lignite was extracted from the mines in the Maritime Province, near Vladivostok. The only silver-lead-zinc mine worked was that of Tetiukhe, near the Tetiukhe Bay, 240 miles northeast of Vladivostok. The ores of this mine were exported to Germany, Belgium, and Japan, partly raw, partly calcined.