PART IV

The Mining of Copper

The copper deposits, like iron ores, are found in great quantities in different places. So the quantity of ores in each mine can be accurately estimated before it is opened and its working generally runs no risk. Thus, the mining of copper should be taken up as a government enterprise, as was always the case in China, and financed and worked by the International Development Organization. The richest copper deposits in China are found along the border of Szechuen and Yunnan on the Yangtze River. The government copper mine in Chaotung, in the northeastern corner of Yunnan, has been working for many centuries. Cash, the standard currency of China, was made mostly of the copper from Yunnan province. The currency still absorbs an enormous quantity of copper. Owing to the difficulty of transporting the Yunnan copper, most of the metal for currency is being imported from foreign countries. Besides currency, copper is very commonly used for many other purposes and when the industries in China are developed the demand will increase a hundred times. So the demand for this metal will be very great in the market of China alone. I suggest that production on a large scale should be adopted and modern plants should be installed in copper mines. How much capital to be invested in this enterprise should be decided by experts after careful investigation.