30 HUGHES. KARANPURA COAL-FIELDS. 



Ironstone shales. 



This group ' constitutes the middle member of the Damuda series, 

 and^ as its name implies,, is distinguished by the occurrence of iron- 

 stones. In the Raniganj fields where they were first noted, they are 

 throughout almost of the same mineral character^ consisting of very 

 fine black carbonaceous shales, in which bands of concretionary argillace- 

 ous iron ore occur at intervals. In this field, — Karanpura — the shales 

 are far less carbonaceous, and in many places they are purely silicio- 

 argillaceous. The ironstone also does not yield such a- large percentage 

 of iron. 



This group never covers a broad patch of land, but occupies ' a 

 narrow band at the base of the Kaniganj group. 

 They are best exposed east of Nappo,- dipping 9° 

 to the west. 



Following up their extension in the direction of Badam, we find 

 that west of the BadmdM river, they become hidden by soil for some 

 wav. Indeed, they are rarely exposed afterwards. In the Sahar river 

 close to Chandol, a section of them is to be seen. And again in the 

 BaJcwd and Chundru. These fixed points are a clue to the probable line 

 of outcrop of the group in covered ground. In no other spots are they 

 exposed, so that very much is left to conjecture in laying down their out- 

 line. The holings made by the Agariahs (iron-smelters) in their search 

 for ore, may be taken as a probable index of the proximity of the iron- 

 stone group, especially when such holings correspond, or nearly so, with 

 the extensions of the lines of the fixed outcrops. 



The group is overlapped by the Haniganj rocks near Tendwa. On 

 the south side of the field, it is nowhere to be seen to the south of the 

 e mtral hills of the Panchets. 



In the CMndru, the rocks are very well exposed. There are 

 some concretionary bands, less ferruginous than the true ironstones, 

 and in them I discovered plant remains, chiefly stems, with markings 



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