88 HOLLAND: MICA DEPOSITS OF INDIA. 



the surface at a cost of something less than 8 annas a ton. Common country- 

 made gunpowder is found to be sufficiently effective in the slopes, and, being also 

 much cheaper, is preferred to dynamite. An estimate made from the results of the 

 last quarter's work shows a yield at the rate of 4olbs. of rough, or 10 lbs. of dressed 

 mica, per ton of pegmatite stoped. The dressed mica was valued at an average 

 price of 12 annas a pound ; so each ton of pegmatite mined yielded dressed mica 

 worth R7-8 plus waste worth about Rl-i-t, a total of B9-6 per ton. The 

 general characters of the pegmatite-vein being worked are now well established 

 for a length of over 300 feet, showing an average thickness of 40 feet, with mica 

 noticeably concentrated towards its selvages. It was formerly worked by natives 

 who mined only on the foot-wall margin, as the much richer deposits, now proved 

 by cross-cuts to occur near the hanging wall, were not noticed by them on account 

 of this edge of the surface-outcrop being concealed by the overburden. 



This last statement is the only one on which the writer feels at 

 present free to offer comment. It illustrates the contention, iterated 

 in preceding paragraphs, that the native method of mining does not 

 turn the natural resources of the ground to full account, and, from 

 the Government's point of view, this, in view of what we know of the 

 limited nature of our mica resources, is a serious consideration. The 

 owner of mineral rights, whether a Zemindar, Jaghirdar or the 

 Government, naturally wishes to make the most of the minerals 

 available, and the writer contends that the native method of mining 

 not only results in the destruction of much good mica within reach, 

 but is incapable of exploiting and working out the full resources of a 

 pegmatite-vein. The principles of mining formulated in more highly 

 developed countries are the result of sharp competition and ex- 

 perience ; their proper observance consequently permits a lower 

 average working charge at shallow depths, and, therefore, of profit- 

 able operations to greater depths. There is, of course, a judicious 

 medium in this as in all thing , and whilst the present system is 

 pernicious and wasteful in one direction, the writer would like to add 

 }o this advocacy of better organization, a warning against over- 

 capitalizing a small industry, and against the danger of swamping a 

 small market by large output. The latter, however, is a danger 

 which ultimately brings its own cure, for a reduction in prices by 

 abundance of supply will tend to suggest new uses for the mineral. 



( 7? ) 



