In Bengal, about 6 miles N.E. of the town on the read to Bugodhur, a place on the Grand Trunk Road, is the "Silwar Hill, almost deserves to be called an iron mountain. It stands at the bed of a valley, through which runs the Kunbur river, all along the course of which stream good iron-ore is found in large quantities. About 5 or 6 miles north of Hazaribagh, on the Burbi road, is Sedgua, and here, close to the road, is coal of a very good quality. Iron-ore has been traced in the Kunbur valley for a dis tance of nearly 30 miles, and the ore is said to have yielded 75 per cent. of the finest metal. So plentiful is the ore, that the Kol and Santa, who work it to procure the material for making kodalies, hatchets, etc., for exportation to the neigh bouring districts, never do more than dig a hole to the depth of two, or it may be three feet. Coal, although found near the station, can be procured in any quantity from the banks of the Damuda, and wood can be drawn from the forests and jungles of the Ramgurh plateau.
Hazaribagh iron-ore appears to be of the finest quality, and contains not less than 80 per cent, of pure metal. It also contains a slight admixture of manganese, which would be very useful as a flux where the finest steel, such as would be re quired for guns, is manufactured. There is a surface of 500 square miles of this ore in the Damuda coal -fields, extending from ten miles south of Hazaribagh on to Turi, and underneath this rich deposit is a layer, supposed to be about 20 feet in extent, of the finest coal in India.
The Agaria, Kol, Santa!, and other jungle races smelt with charcoal only, and make no use of the enormous deposits of coal ; their out-turn perhaps amounting to about a maund in a couple of days. A very large quantity of iron of a very fine description is found near Chuttra, one of the principal towns in the Hazaribagh district. Coal is often found within 5 or 6 miles of this place, viz. in the Mahanadi river.
The iron-ores of the Panjab are produced along its N.E. mountain frontier, as well as iu the lower hills of the Sulimani and Waziri ranges, and those to the S.E. of the Bunnu district, and to some extent in the Salt Range on the other side of the province, in the hilly portion of Gurgaon district, and in the districts of Simla, Kangra, Dehra Ismail Khan, and Hazara in the Debli district.
The Mahrtili Hill, which yields iron-ore, is one of that group of outliers that forms a continuation as it were of the Aravalli range.
Along the Himalaya frontier, the principal places of production are the Hill States of the Simla district, Jubal, Dhami, Bashahr, and Rampur. At
Suket, Chamba, and Mandi, iron is largely pro duced, and the mines at Shil, Kot Khai, Futteh pur, and Bhir Bangal of Kangra • are famous. Mines are worked along the whole range, both on the north and south faces, from the Sutlej to the RaVi. Under the Sikh rule, this iron was ex tensively used for gun-barrels.
At Kanigorum, in the 1Vaziri Hills, it is found also as a htematito in several parts of the Salt Range, and in the Chichaili range, on the other side of the river. The cutlery of Nizamabad and Gujerat is, however, exclusively manufactured with imported steel.
The Kamaon ores arc from an argillaceous band containing large quantities of red hzematite, the ore-bed being 10 to 20 feet thick, and extending for a long distance. The surface deposits supply the greater proportion of ores used by the smelters, but much labour is necessary in tho collection.
Magnetic iron-ore is found in considerable quan tity about 30 miles N.E. of Dharinsala, Kangra district, close to the sanatorium of Dalhousie. Of the ores of the Chamba Hills, and in the divisions up to the Hazara district included in the Kashmir territories, the best is found at Reyasi in Jammu ; the ore found at Sonf and Kutyar, in Kashmir proper, is not so good.
In the hills due north of Peshawur is the source of the fine Bajaur iron which is used in the manu facture of the gun-barrels of Kohat and Jammu, and in the formation of steel for the blades of Bokhara and Peshawur. • At Sikbhar, in the Darjiling district, is a valu able magnetic iron-ore.
Iron is obtained from the ore found in Shorn Cacharri Mehaul, in Gholagat Sub-division, in Assam, about 15 or 18 feet under the surface of the ground.
In Pegu, ore is found in the slope of a mountain called Popah, about 3000 feet in height, 15 miles inland from the river Irawadi, on its left bank. The ore is found in large quantity in nodules, and is collected and smelted by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages. They use no flux of any description in smelting. Price 4 rupees per ton, delivered at the neighbouring furnaces.
" There is a large variety of ores of iron in the Tenasserim Provinces, some of which are uncom monly rich in metal.
Iron-ore abounds in the S'han states, and to the south of Mandalay in the district of Pagang. To the west of Sagaing, for miles up the Irawadi river, the ore abounds, a rich haematite. Tin is found in the Shan States to the south of Mandalay.