84 
BALL AND SIMPSON: COALFIELDS OF INDIA. 
occur in the neighbourhood of the village of Kurasia ; their respect- 
ive thicknesses are 13|, and 8 feet. From the following analyses 
it can be seen that the coal is of excellent quality : — 
13J feet CS feet 
scam. seam. 
Moisture 2-20 6-84 
Volatile matter .... 2G-95 25-59 
Fixed carbon ..... G4'65 59-95 
Ash 6-20 7-62 
Although no estimate of the total quantity has been put forward 
there is little doubt that in this field there is a large and valuable 
reserve of fuel. As, however, it lies fully 30 miles distant, over 
difficult country, from the nearest railway line (Bengal-Nagpur 
Railway, Katni-Bilaspur branch) its resources are not likely to be 
requisitioned for some time to come, 
Koreagarh. — This independent area of Barakars is a small basin 
of which merely the outline has been traced. It lies rather more 
than 2 miles to the south-east of the Kurasia field and covers about 6 
square miles. 
No seams of any value have been noticed, but Hughes con- 
sidered it highly probable that with closer search they will be proved. 
The Chhattisgarh coalfields. — These fields are situated in the 
Chhattisgarh Division and the neighbouring tributary states on the 
north. The area comprises some 2,500 square miles, but is con- 
nected on the north-west with the Sarguja fields. Over a large 
portion of the ground the coal-measures are overlain by younger rocks. 
The former are exposed in three distinct areas : — (1) in t,he 
neighbourhood of Korba, (2) on the Mand river, (3) in the vicinity 
of Rampur on the Eeb river. 
Korha. — This portion of the Chhattisgarh coalfields stretches 
through the village of Korba in an east and west direction for 
some 36 miles with an average width of about 8 miles, but also 
extends far to the north being practically continuous with the 
Lakhanpur coalfield. It was first visited by W. T. Blanford,^ in 
1870, who reported favourably on the thick seam outcropping in 
the Hasdu river near Korba. In 1886 boring exploration was 
undertaken under the superintendence of W. King,^ who found 
» Mem., 0. S. I., Vol. XXI, p. 204 (1885). 
8 Rec, Q. S. I., Vol. Ill, 54-57 (1870). 
8 Rec, G. a. I., Vol. XIX, 223 (1880), XX, 198 (1887). 
