Alphonse CHOSSON (Romans 1838-1907), geologist, chief mining engineer. Autograph letter signed, 4 pp. in-8, "Malatia" [Malatya, Turkish Kurdistan], 30 December 1865. Letter written during his geological and mineralogical mission to Turkey for the Ottoman government (from 1863 to 1866), illustrated with sketches. "...] Since then, I have made a quick visit to the Argana copper mine. This mine consists of an immense deposit of copper pyrite and iron pyrite, located at a shallow depth below the ground [he illustrates his point with a geological section] [...] This gallery, which has not been maintained, has collapsed and water has invaded the workings to a height of 15 to 20 metres above the level of the gallery [...]. The ore is thoroughly roasted in grate boxes and then subjected to black copper smelting in furnaces about 3 m high. We do not cast for matte. As a result, black copper is very poor and contains a very high proportion of iron, which makes refining very difficult. The fuel is very damp wood. Coal is totally unknown here [...]. From Argana I came to Malatia to find out about a supposed new mine found by the Pasha of Kharpont. This is a lie! This mine is old and was worked about 25 years ago by Afens Pasha; it is known as the Tépé-Khan mine, 8 hours from Malatia. Only 8 to 10 months were worked there with the help of the armed forces; when the troops withdrew, the Kurds destroyed everything that had been done and the miners were forced to withdraw [...]. The neighbourhood is made up of Kurdish villages that do not recognise the authority of the government. Yesterday they brought me a fossil found in the limestone near Malatia; it looks like a nautilus [he illustrates his point with a sketch]. I intend to visit the site to find others and get a better idea of the species [...]".