COAL. 81 



percentage in both Triassic and Carboniferous coal is partly due 

 to the Chinese practice already commented on. I feel sure that 

 the ash contents could be very considerably reduced by proper 

 mining methods. 



My analyses of the Moscovian coals as well as those given by 

 the French writers, show that they are semi-bituminous and yield 

 a coke of good quality. They are probably better than the Mesozoic 

 coals for steam-raising purposes. 



The friability of most of the Yunnan coals is a serious defect 

 and I agree with Lantenois that it is probably the result of general 

 geological conditions and not likely to improve with depth (La., 

 p. 403). However, the question cannot be settled definitely until 

 deeper mining is introduced. 



Future of Coal-mining in Yunnan. 



I regard Leclere's estimates of the amount of coal available 

 in Yunnan as vague conjectures and nothing more. We know 

 that a great deal of the country which he assumes to be coal- 

 bearing is built up of older formations in which coal does not occur. 

 At the present time it is impossible to arrive at any figures which 

 are likely to approach the truth, and until the fields are bored, 

 the most that can be said safely is that they are likely to contain 

 large quantities of coal. 



Yunnan coal has a future before it in the local market 

 for domestic purposes and metallurgical operations, but owing 

 to the land-locked position of the province, forming as it does the 

 western hinterland of continental China, I do not think that it 

 will ever attain much sale beyond the frontiers. 



The greatest consumption will doubtless be as fuel for the rail- 

 ways of the province. Indeed the Moscovian coal of the Si-yang 

 district is already so employed. Some of the French writers have 

 concluded that Yunnan coal will find a market in Tongking and 

 even in more distant regions, but it seems to me that it will need 

 a hard struggle to capture markets now supplied by Japanese and 

 to some extent by Indian and Australian coal. It must not be 

 forgotten that the coal production of Japan now exceeds that of 

 India, and that production in Japan has always exceeded home 

 requirements, so that a large tonnage is available for export and 

 sale at fairly cheap rates. 



