114 HUGHES : WARDHA VALLEY COAL-FIELD. 



Section XVI. — Manganese, 

 Manganese. — In connection with the question of iron manufacture, 

 it is of interest that a deposit of manganese ore exists within the limits 

 of the field. The place and mode of its occurrence has been pointed out. 

 Analysis gives — 



Loss on heating ... ... ... ... 8 - 5 



Oxide of manganese ... .... ... ... 446 



Iron-oxide and alumina... ... ... ... 6'8 



Sand and clay ... ... ... ... 40*1 



1000 



It occurs only in limited quantity. 



Section XVII. — Fire clay. 

 Fire clay. — No attempt has been made to test any of the clay accom- 

 panying the measures ; but there can be no doubt that, as in other fields, 

 it will be found to answer for the purpose of making into fire-bricks. 



Messrs. Burn and Company, at their pottery works in Raniganj, 

 have succeeded in producing very excellent bricks from the fire-clay 

 that is found in the pits of the Bengal Coal Company ; and they are 

 now executing an order for the newly-projected Bengal Iron-Works 

 Company. The bricks were tested in the Mint at Calcutta at two 

 different times ; on the first occasion the results were not quite satisfactory, 

 but on the second, when the defects that had been observed in the 

 bricks were remedied, they stood the tests that they were submitted to 

 perfectly, shewing no sign of cracking or vitrification. The Manager of 

 the Bengal Iron-Works Company, who was present at the trials, agreed 

 in the favorable estimate formed of their quality.* 



Section XVIII. — Building stones. 

 Building stones. — The Kamthis afford sandstones suitable for all 

 sorts of building purposes, and one of the finest displays of their appli- 



* Records, Geological Survey of India, 1875, vol. VIII, page 18. 



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