﻿170 



SMITH. 



The modern methods of mining and of treatment of asbestos are de- 

 scribed very fully by Cirkel 1S in reports of the Canadian Mines Branch. 



Manganese. — Scattered over the surface of the ground of the "eruptive 

 conglomerate" region of Nagpartian, one can see innumerable small nod- 

 ules of pyrohisite and limonite. For some time I was at considerable 

 loss to know just where these came from, for by digging beneath the 

 surface in certain spots at least, I could not discover any source, in fact 

 these nodules seem to lie only on the surface, some in stream beds, but 

 others also on the hilltops. A later examination of the sides of the 

 Xagpartian road where a great washout had taken pace, revealed many 

 very small veinlets of manganese oxide between the bowlders of eruptive 

 material. The matrix appeared to be a sort of tuff, quite soft and yield- 

 ing. The veinlets are approximately of a width corresponding to the 

 thickness of the surface nodules, all of which are more or less flat and 

 longer than they are wide. This surface materia] therefore simply 

 represents the concentrates found as the material below has weathered 

 and as the manganese veins became freed from the matrix. A sketch 

 of the actual ocurrence will best present these relations (fig. 16). 



* v «- /-^C _ » * 



[Width of veinlets 5 mm. to 50 mm.] 

 Pig. 16. 



There seems to be even a greater concentration of the manganese and 

 limonite in the Xagpartian hills, but the nature of the country and the 

 difficulties attending transportation preclude any probability of develop- 

 ment in that locality. 



Between Punta Xegra and Punta Blanca perhaps the best prospect 

 for the mining of this ore is seen. It is at this pont, within a very 



,s Cirkel, Fritz: Asbestos— Mines Branch, Dept. Int., Ottawa, Canada (1905). 



