46 HOLLAND: MICA DEPOSITS OF INDIA. 



The nearest convenient railway stations for most of the mines are 

 Giridih on the East Indian Railway, 45 to 60 miles distant, Gaya 

 about 20 miles from the north-west face of the belt, and Nawadih, 

 now named Jha-Jha, 4 miles from the north-eastern end of the field. 

 The largest quantity of material finds its way most conveniently 

 through Giridih, to which the freight by road adds very seriously to the 

 cost of the mineral, and is a serious tax on the industry. But the 

 proposed line from Katrasgarh to Gaya will run through the mica-fields, 

 and when constructed will be a great assistance towards the develop- 

 ment of mining. 



The schist belt forms an irregular scarp, with a series of ghdts 

 leading from the gneissic upland of North Haziribagh to the Gangetic 

 plain ; the comparatively rapid action of the rivers has contributed to 

 the irregularity of the surface-features, and has opened the country in 

 a way which facilitates the detection of the pegmatite-veins as well as 

 the processes of mining for mica. In this respect the Bengal mica- 

 bearing belt possesses an advantage over the principal Madras field, 

 which is situated on the flat, partly alluvial, plains of the Nellore 

 district (see p. 59). 



Prospects of the area. — Although the Bengal area has been 

 worked for many years, and possibly the majority of available good 

 veins have been attacked, the mining has been for the most part 

 superficial, and there is no likelihood of early exhaustion. With a 

 few exceptions the mines are very shallow, and most of them are mere 

 worm-like excavations which have done practically nothing towards 

 following the pegmatite sheets along the strike. Work has been 

 carried only so far as the " books " of mica can be traced, and large 

 quantities of pegmatite, containing doubtless mica as good as that 

 removed, still remain untouched. The choice bits near the surface 

 have been picked out, and the time has come for more systematic 

 working with recognised modern mining methods. With the judicious 

 outlay of sufficient capital, the industry is_ capable of indefinite 

 development, and it appears to be altogether two early to consider the 

 possible limitation of the resources of this field, 

 ( 36 ) 



