472 On the Experimental Copper Mine in Kumaon. £June, 



The mining ground lies in two ravines, both on the western face of 

 the hill, and about 500 yards apart, separated by a low ridge, the direc- 

 tion of the ravines being nearly east and west. The most northern of 

 the two, and in which the village is situated, is where the old mine called 

 the Rajah Kan was. The right, or northern side of the ravine is of 

 dolomite, the left being talcose schist, which forms the ridge separa- 

 ting the two. The southern ravine is known by the name of Chumittee, 

 and is full of old excavations ; the formation is talc, bounded on the south 

 by a dolomite limestone, and on the north by the low ridge of talcose 

 schist through which in one or two places granite protrudes. Besides 

 these, there are several other localities on the same hill where copper has 

 been extracted ; one very promising situation is an old mine known by 

 the name of the Dandu Kan, or hill mine, about four miles from Pokri, 

 and there are also many other places in the Pergunnah of Nagpoor, 

 where copper is known to exist. 



The experimental works now in progress were commenced in Janu- 

 ary last, and consist of two adits, or galleries, one in each ravine ; that 

 in the northern, or Rajah Kan ravine, has been driven and secured 

 with timber to a distance of 1 49 \ feet from the entrance ; the gallery is 

 six feet high by three feet wide, and the frames, which are oak branches 

 of three and a half to four inches diameter, are placed from two to two and 

 a half feet asunder ; the top and side sheeting are also of oak branches, 

 the diameter of which is about two and a half inches. The gallery is being 

 carried in with a slope of one inch per foot nearly on the ruins of an 

 old working, which has been roughly secured with timber, but has long 

 fallen in. The soil is an alluvial deposit filled with masses of rock, 

 chiefly of dolomite, and the water proceeding from the gallery is slight- 

 ly impregnated with sulphate of copper. When about sixty- three feet 

 from the entrance the superincumbent soil gave way, and fell in on the 

 head of the gallery ; this breach has been cleared and converted into a 

 rough shaft, which at present answers for the purpose of ventilation, 

 but as it is directly in the line down which the water runs in the rainy 

 season, it will probably be necessary to close it. 



In the Chumittee ravine a gallery has been driven and secured with 

 timber to a distance of 1 1 1 feet from the entrance ; it is in size and 

 mode of timbering exactly similar to the other, the slope averaging 

 only half an inch per foot. The first seventy-five feet were driven 

 through talc slate, with occasional beds of quartz, in which were small 

 quantities of copper pyrites ; the next six feet passed through an old 

 working which apparently went down obliquely, and had been regularly 

 timbered with deal ; on reaching this working, traces of copper were 

 found, but were lost on entering it. The next twenty-four feet went 



