Mining Association For Br...
The plan of the A?sociation, established for the purpome of min- ing for told in the province of Mlinas Geraes (General Mines), in Brazil, has been completed, and the shares in it will be brought in- to the market immediately. The substantial advantages of thisnn- dertaking are stated to rest on the following grounds :.- That the inhabitants of Brazil generally, are alike destitute of capital andi in- dustry and ignorant of the principles of mineralogy; all which defects the conductors of this Association will be able to supply. 2. That the onlyniethod hitherto reausted to for obtawninggo d by the uninistrueted natives, has been the simple process of making the ommrent of a stream descend a mountain, by the force of which the grains are wathed out: but it is the opinion of experienced miners, that by ascending the streams totheir soutrces, or by penetrating deeper into the mountains, a much areater quantityof the metal may be obtain- ed. Of this latter point the Emperor of Brazil, who anti- elpates a great increase of revenue from the produce of the mining districts, appears to be aware; as he expressly states in the decree granted to Mr. E. Oxenford, asone reason fbr departine from the hereditary jealousy of theCourt of Brazil on thesubject, thead- vantages the country may be expected to derive from the introduc- tion of foreigners, who may bring with them the improved methods of mining adopted in Europe. Jfost of the mines in the province of Minas Geraes are said to be private property, as at the period of its original conquest from the Inldianseby the Portuguese, they were apportioned among the conquerers by grants from the Crown. Of the original possessors, however, numbers have wholly disappeAred and abandoned their allotments, and among those remaining in pos- session, as already stated, the means of proftiing by their right are ex- tremely limited and imperfect. The decree of the Emperor grants, what has never yet been conceded to any foreign- ef.the right of making purchases of estates in this ter- ritory. tt has been started as one obstacle to the success of this Company, that the appearanceof their agents in Brazil, with the view of making purchases, will i-ilce the owners to ask to enormous a price for them as will defeat the object. But this diffi. culty ifs answered fairly enough, by observing that the Company will require only to p-urchase one, or at most two estates, and that the sompetition of the immense number of proprietors, dispersed over a district 400 miies long by 200 miles broad, anxious to sell what has hitherto proved to them to be unproductive property, wil admit the afents of the Company into possession on sufficiently easy terms. (Considering the well-known wealth of thir province, even allowing for the usua:l hazards attendant on mining as a science, this under-. taking appears to present as fair an opening for tie extension of Bri- tish capital and industry as any of the same kind that bas been of- fered to the public. MINING ASSOCIATOk FOR BRAZIL.