TIN DEPOSITS OF THE MALA V PENINSULA 



139 



elsewhere on the peninsula. Occasionally strata of a fine- 

 grained, friable sandstone occur on the lower slopes of the 

 mountains, which appear to be younger than any of the other 

 rocks mentioned. The granitic rocks and limestone, however, 

 are the formations most commonly seen in the few places where 

 any rocks appear through the soil. 



All the rocks, especially those of a granitic nature, are much 



Fig. 2. — Tin diggings in the alluvium at foot of granitic iiills, Kinta district, 

 Perak, Malay peninsula. 



decayed, often to a depth of many feet, and the detritus from 

 them has formed large areas of alluvium in the mountain valleys 

 and along the lowlands on the coast. Much of this alluvium 

 contains more or less oxide of tin or cassiterite in particles and 

 fragments of varying size, forming what might be termed "tin 

 placers," and it is from these deposits that the mass of the tin 

 of the Malay peninsula is derived. Tin also occurs in the 

 granitic rocks and limestone, as will be 'more fully described 

 farther on, but though these rocks were doubtless the source of 

 the alluvial tin, yet the ore in them is at present worked to only 

 a very small extent. 



