GEOLOGY AND MINERAL EESOUECES OF SIKHIM. 67 



mining village like that of Pachikhani it is easy to distinguish the 

 house of a miner (belonging to the caste of Mangar) from that of a 

 smelter (Kami). Scarcely any mining work is done during the rains, 

 and even in the working season, which extends from October to June, 

 an occasional heavy shower often puts a stop to it for days. On the 

 occasion of my last visit to the mines (11th April 1891), I found only 

 a few women dressing the ore, and there was no one woi'king at the 

 mines owing to the heavy rainfall of the previous day. The number 

 of men, women, and children who find employment one way or 

 another — mining, dressing the ore, smelting, &c. — probably does not 

 exceed 300 any day. 



The miners work in gangs on their own account and not for hire, 

 each gang under a headman. For every five seers of copper turned 

 out, one goes to the Kami or the man who conducts the smelting, and 

 four remain as the share of the miners. The whole of the copper 

 turned out must be sold to the party who has the lease of the mines, 

 called taJcsari, at a price fixed by him. The average annual outturn 

 at Pachikhani is estimated at about 6,000 dharnis, or 450 maunds of 

 copper, valued at Rs. 12,000, at the rate of Rs, 2 per dharni, whicli is 

 the price paid by the lessee to the miners. If we take the average 

 number of the men, women, and children maintained by the mines at 

 200, Rs. 60 falls to the share of each individual ; which, considering 

 that but little mining work is done during the rains, is a very fair wage. 

 Indeed, the mining jieople here are probably better off than in most 

 other parts of India. They are well housed, well clad, and well fed, 

 and the women make a fair show of trinkets. 



2. — Ore locations. 



Copper ores occur at the following localities : — 



1. PachiJchaiii. — The only place besides Rathokhani where 

 copper ores are worked at present. The old mines, which are now 

 deserted, were situated close to the junction of the Rorochu and the 

 Rahrichu just by the Gantok road. The mines worked at present 

 occur a mile further north, about 3 miles south of Pakyang, also clo^e 

 to the Gantok road. The roofs of the galleries iu the old Pachikhani 

 have fallen in, as is the case with all deserted mines. At the entrance 

 of one of the galleries I found stalactitic and stalagmitic deposits 

 stained green by carbonate of copper, also traces of copper pyrites in 

 slaty rocks. The dip is north-eastern ; but, on the cast side of the 

 Rorochu, it is E.S.E, The stream probably marks the position of a 

 fault. 



The new Pachikhani stands on slaty shales which have a greenish 

 hue when wet, but appear grey when dry. These are superposed by 



