1068 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF INDIA : DESCRIPTIVE. [ pART IV : 
at A (Fig. 82) a mass of manganese-ore was being worked. A large part 
of this mass consisted of crumbly spandite-rock ; every stage in the 
passage ( f this into manganese-ore was to be found, the final product 
being a vesicular psilomelane with numerous vesicles averaging aboiit 
to 8 inch in diameter. Some of these vesicles are empty and 
then are found to contain water when freshly broken open ; some con- 
tain a brownish black powder and some shining black braunite, usually 
traversed by thin veinlets of psilomelane. 
The quantity of ore visible in this part of the pit was not very large. 
As shown in Fig. 82 this band of ore continues right across the eastern end 
of the mine ; it was also being worked at L as shown in Plate 49, 
which is a photograph of this part of the mine. 
Besides the ore-bands mentioned above there were obscure exposures 
of manganese ore at several points round the sides of the pit, while 
little bands and nodules of ore were of frequent occurrence throughout 
the soft rocks. 
In addition to the main pit there are several excavations to the 
north, but as none of these were being worked and time was limited, 
I did not examine them ; but they had evidently been excavated in 
similar soft lithomargic rocks. 
In the process of formation of manganese-ore from spandite-rock 
the first variety of marketable value formed is 
Nature and qualitj of the composed of hard grey vesicular psilomelane 
with a large quantity of a soft brownish black 
powder, and often a few scattered specks of braunite. This variety passes 
into that most characteristic of Kodur (A. 334), namely, a vesicular 
liard grey psilomelane with some of the vesicles empty, some filled with 
brownish black powder, and some with braunite. These patches of 
braunite seem to be able to grow at the expense of the p.silomelane, 
so that patches up to 1 to 3 inches across are sometimes formed in 
the psilomelane. Another variety, not found in any quantity, is com- 
posed largely of black facetted braunite with a little interstitial psilome- 
lane. 
Two specimens of ore were selected for complete analysis. A. 334 
is the typical ore mentioned above. A. 336 is a porous dirty ore, 
