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Gems.

Dr. Cotter visited the Ruby Mines of Mogok and Katha in the Ruby Mines; Katha Katha district, in order to collect specimens district, Burma. of the waste sands from the separating pans and sorting sheds. Samples were collected of all the waste from the washing plants; these have been carefully examined by the Chemical Assistant, Maung Hla Baw, but no trace of any previously unknown minerals was discovered nor was anything of commercial value

found in the waste.

Gold.

Gold-washing is occasionally practised on the sides of the hills between Samram (lat. 22° 44′ 2′′; long. 86° 4′) and Basulitocha, in Seraikela State.

Seraikela State : Bi

har and Orissa.

Graphite.

Midway between Rajore and Dandia Dr. Heron reports that a small incline has been driven to a distance Rajputana. of about 15 feet into a specially graphitic band in a limestone which here forms the base of the Delhi system. The graphite is, however, too contaminated with clayey matter to be of economic utility.

Two irregular beds of graphitic material averaging a foot in thickness and separated by a yellow quartz vein occur at Bar Railway Station. Three small pits have been sunk on the bed, shewing it to have a strike extension of 100 feet. One of the pits is over 40 feet deep and passes out of the graphitic deposit. The graphite has so far been found too impure for sale.

Half-a-mile south-west of Ajitgarh are six small pits, about 10 feet deep, sunk in a band of graphitic or carbonaceous schist just above the base of the Delhis. This material likewise is too impure to be of any commercial value. Two small pits have been sunk for the same purpose at Cheriabarh, one mile north of Jawaja.

About a mile south of Lotiana, along a line immediately below the south-east side of the summit, quite extensive workings of graphite exist. The bed is a graphitic or carbonaceous mica-schist, dipping north-west into the hill at 75°-85°, with a maximum thickness of 10 feet including 1 feet of grey quartzite in the middle. This maximum is near the south-western end of the ridge, and the

bed thins out rapidly towards that end and more gradually towards the north-eastern end. The pits, 20 in number, are in the form of square inclines, and are in many cases double, the medial quartzite band forming a partition. They are from 20 to 30 feet deep and are said to be connected laterally by drives along the graphite bed. The roof consists of micaceous quartzite and is very insecure. One hundred and fifty coolies are said to have been employed at one time in extracting and conveying the graphite, but it is difficult to understand why so much work was done on such poor material.

Iron and Steel.

The Indian Tariff Board having requested the assistance of the Geological Survey in their consideration of the question of protection for the Steel industry in this country, Dr. C. S. Fox was requested. to draw up a note on the raw materials available for that industry in India. Extracts from his note are to be published as an appendix to the Tariff Board's report.

Bihar and Orissa.

Kaolin.

The working of china-clay is a flourishing industry in Seraikela, one of the Feudatory States of Bihar and Seraikela State: Orissa. This material is derived mostly from the granite and is found along its margins at several localities, among which are:-Chapra, Mundakati, Bharatpur, Gengemri, south of Samram, Ghagi, Koludih, Rangamatia, Jaspur and Raghunathpur.

Chitral.

Lead.

In addition to the Chapari locality (see Copper, Chitral, p. 24) galena also occurs at Gazan high up on the left. bank of the stream draining from the Tui Pass in Chitral.

Rajputana.

Magnetite.

A piece of magnetite weighing 5 pounds was brought to Dr. Heron from a place half-a-mile north of Kalade (survey sheet 168). It is derived from a quartz vein, probably a segregation in the coarse magnetite-bearing granite. which characterises that locality.

Mica.

In October, 1922, Mr. G. V. Hobson was deputed to the Nellore district, Madras Presidency, to inspect the Nellore Madras. ; mica mines with a view to ascertaining whether there had been any improvement in the methods of mining due to the action of the Mica Inspection staff, and whether the latter had justified their existence. The conclusion arrived at was that the establishment of this Mica Inspection staff had not resulted in any improvement in mining methods. Their chief duties appeared to be in connection with the collection of royalties, and as revenue officers they may be considered to have justified their existence.

Orissa.

In January, 1923, Mr. Hobson returned to the Kodarma mica. area in the Hazaribagh district, Bihar and Kodarma; Bihar and Orissa, to complete the inspection of the mines in this area commenced last season. On the completion of this inspection, the views formerly expressed were confirmed, the necessity of mine plans and sections being more apparent. It was further concluded that the system of contractworking is undesirable and encourages mining on unsound lines. Its discontinuance would do much to prevent unmethodical grabbing which is causing waste, and would assist any scheme to reduce mica thieving which is ruining the industry.

Kanara district; Madras.

In May, 1923, Mr. G. V. Hobson visited Mangalore in the South Kanara district to examine an occurrence of mica reported from the Uppinangadi and Upidi taluks of this district. The majority of the points from which mica had been reported were inspected, but the breaking of the Monsoon curtailed the investigation. In none of the cases reported had mica in situ been found; this was true with regard to all cases visited, and from enquiry the same appeared to be true of those not visited, the mica found being surface mica accumulated in the soil. This surface mica was neither abundant, nor of good size. Much of the mica seen was badly buckled, cross-grained and otherwise flawed, and none of it would cut more than" No. 1" in size.

Ochre.

It occurred to the writer some time ago that the powdery hæmațite which exists in enormous quantities in Bihar and Orissa and

which is at present not being utilised for the manufacture of pig iron, might have a considerable potential value as a paint-material or ochre. Attempts on a laboratory scale to convert it from its present dark steel-grey colour to that of red ochre by intensive weathering with moisture, air and carbon dioxide, have not, so far, been successful. If such a conversion were possible, the result would be of far greater value than any smeltable iron ore. This is a line of research which offers great possibilities.

Pyrite.

Dr. Heron inspected a mine from which iron pyrites is extracted at a small village named Goari (Guaria, 26° Kharwa Rajputana. 12'; 74° 30'), 1 miles east of Kharwa in Rajputana. The deposit was found during the digging of a well, which has been widened and deepened to form a shaft 75 feet deep. The ore occurs in one of the pegmatite veins which happens to cut across the shaft about half-way down, the country rock being wellbedded flaggy tremolite schists. The vein "dips" at a low variable angle towards the north and its underlying portion has been brecciated by a tolding movement and the breccia cemented by the sulphides pyrite and chalcopyrite and an undetermined mineral; chalcopyrite is much subordinate to the iron sulphide. About 2 feet of the vein is sulphide-bearing. Two levels, 35 feet and 10 feet long, have been driven but pass out of the vein which "dips" below them. The mine is equipped with two oil-engines, a smaller one lying outside; these were used for working pumps which have since been removed, and are now employed for lighting the shaft by electricity. Dr. Heron remarks that such brecciation of pegmatite is unusual in the district and is not likely to be more than a local crushing of limited horizontal extent.

Kyweinzu; Henzada district, Burma.

Road Metal.

Rao Bahadur Sethu Rama Rau was requested to examine the Kyweinzu quarries near Mezaligon in the Henzada district. The rocks exposed are hard fine-grained sandstones suitable for roadmetal, of which there is an abundant supply.

Mr. B. B. Gupta was instructed to examine the Shinmataung Hill Range north of Pakokku town in order to discover road-metal. A very suitable hill

Shinmataung: Pa

kokku district, Burma. of olivine basalt, already previously mapped by

Mr. K. A. K. Hallowes, was found about 14 miles north of Pakokku, north-east of the village of Kyansein. The basalt of this hill, it is expected, will make an excellent road-metal.

Large quantities of good road-metal are available in the country west of Hyderabad in the form of epidiorite which traverses the gneiss in numerous dykes

Hyderabad; Deccan.

and appears to be tough and durable.

Salt.

Rann of Kachh.

ex

At the request of the Government of Bombay an officer was deputed to investigate the anticipated haustion of the brine wells in the Little Rann of Kachh, in view of the falling off of the supply of brine near the. edge of the Rann. Rao Bahadur Vinayak Rao was deputed for this purpose.

Salt is being obtained at Kharaghoda close to the south-eastern border of the Little Rann, the brine being pumped from shallow wells. Mr. Vinayak Rao advised a line of borings at regular intervals across the Rann from Kuda in the Dharangadhra State and from Tikar a few miles further to the west. No borings were put down during the field season 1922-23, but with the generous assistance of the Dharangadhra Durbar a line of shallow wells was dug north-east of the Kuda salt-field at intervals of approximately one mile. The depths varied from 4 to 9 feet, the material passed through consisting of three or four layers of stiff bluish and black clay containing crystals of selenite, overlying a brine-bearing gritty sand. Analyses of the brine by the Department of Industries show that the brine becomes more concentrated towards the middle of the Rann, and that the percentage of chloride remains much the same in the constituents of the brine from all the wells. Deeper systematically arranged borings are necessary to prove the presence of deeper brine sands or deposits of salt.

There is little doubt that the brine in the sand has been imprisoned by the overlying clay. The latter contains some cerithiids. and a Cyrena-probably Cyrena impressa Deshayes-, while in the sand

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