SOME ACCOUNT OF THE TIN MINES AND THE 

 MINING INDUSTRIES OF PEEAK. 



By L. Wray, Jun. 



Chapter IV. 

 AURIFEROUS ALLUVIAL TIN MINING. 



In several countries alluvial tin is associated with gold, 

 and the same thing occurs in Perak. Tlie gold districts are 

 Upper Perak, the northern portion of Kuala Kangsar, the upper 

 l^art of the Plus valley, and parts of Batang Padang. In all 

 these places the gold is mixed with the tin, but it would appear 

 that the source of the two minerals is not the same in most 

 cases. The tin having been derived from the granitic rocks and 

 the gold from the older schistose beds. In part of Kuala Kang- 

 sar, near Sungei Cherakoh, the gold may have come from the 

 granite, and in other localities part of the tin may have come 

 from the stratified rocks, but broadly speaking the sources 

 are distinct. At the present time it cannot be said with any 

 degree of cei-tainty from which of the schistose beds the gold 

 is derived, that is to say not the position of the aurifei'ous 

 formations in che series. It would appear that it is the older 

 beds, but even this is open to doubt in certain localities. Near 

 Kamuning for instance it would appear that the top beds, and 

 near Bukit Mas the bottom beds of the series are those which 

 yield the gold. 



The occurrence of the gold within an auriferous area is very 

 capricious. In one valley there may be an abundance, and in 

 the next, with only perhaps a watershed of twenty feet or so 

 high to divide them, thei'e may not be a trace of gold, while 

 the tin sand in both may be of the same character and from 

 undoubtedly the same source. 



At the present time there is hardly any gold -working to 

 speak of except in the district of Batang Padang. In this 

 district there is now and has been for many years past a con- 

 siderable amount of gold won from the alluvial deposits. It 

 does not pay any duty and there is no account kept of the 

 export, so that it cannot be stated how much is really raised per 

 anni;m. It is mostly bought by Chinese shop-keepers from the 

 miners, and sent direct by them to China. It is of very good 

 quality and commands a fair price locally. 



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