33 JONES: SOUTHERN COAL-FIELDS OF SATPURA GONDWANA BASIN. 



In sinking a well to the east of Bhandaria village, the following 

 rocks are said to have been passed through : — 



Ft. In. 

 Coal . ......... .10 



"White standstone . .30 



Coal ........... 1 6 



Shale . . . . . . . . . . -30 



White sandstone . . . . . . . . .120 



35 6 

 I believe these to be all exposures of the same set of seams, i.e., 

 that there is one (or more) main seam of coal about 5 feet in thick- 

 ness with one or two smaller irregular layers of coal above and 

 below. The seams in the Ghogra are probably part of the same. 

 There are two drawbacks to the usefulness of this coal, viz., the 

 large amount of interstratified shale accompanying the coal, and the 

 large quantities of pyrites present in the lower part of the main seam. 

 XL — The only other exposure in this area is at Barkoi village, on 



one of the roads from Umreth to Pachmarhi. 



This outcrop was discovered in 1852 by Dr. Jerdon 

 and Lieutenant Sankey. It was mentioned by Major Ashburner in his 

 report, and visited and reported on by Mr. Blanford in 1866 and by 

 Mr. A. Sopwith in 1867. The coal at this spot was worked for some 

 years, but owing to the difficulties of transport the works were even- 

 tually abandoned. 



At the time of my visit the workings had all fallen in ; but Mr. 

 Blanford who was able to enter them gives an account of them in his 

 report. 1 He states that there are 6 feet of good coal, and he had a 

 favourable opinion of the coal and the prospects of working it. He 

 gives the dip as averaging 3 , to south-south-west. In a well to the 

 north of the village 6 feet of coal are stated to have been met with 

 at a depth of 21 feet, but the outcrop to the north could not be found ; 

 it is quite probable that there is a roll in the beds to the north of the 

 village, and that the coal dips down to the north and extends for some 

 way at a short depth from the surface. 



1 Rec. Geol. Surv. India, XV. p. 132. 



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