THE 
MANGANESE-ORE DEPOSITS OF INDIA 
PART I 
INTRODUCTION AND MINERALOGY 
CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTION. 
History of the investigation — Scope of this Memoir — Acknowledgments — Analy- 
tical work — The visitor to India — Literature of Indian manganese-ore deposits — 
Literature of foreign manganese-ore deposits. 
Nature of manganese— Origin of the word ' manganese' — Recognition as a 
new element — Distribution in Nature — In the mineral kingdom — In the vegetable 
kingdom — In the animal kingdom. 
Although it has long been known that ores of manganese exist in 
„ , , various widely separated parts of India, yet it 
History of the investi- ior>, i • , 
gation. was not until 1891 that any serious attempt was 
made to work them. In that year a syndicate, 
which later was formed into the Vizianagram Mining Company, Limited, 
fitarted work on the deposits of the Vizagapatam district, Madras, the first 
export of ore taking place in 1892 ; since then prospecting over various 
parts of India has led to the discovery of many other deposits, and to the 
opening up both of the newly discovered deposits and of those that were 
previously known and had been noticed in Ball's Economic Geology. 
The production of manganese-ore in India has increased almost con- 
tinuously from year to year, so that this country has taken a higher 
and higher place amongst the manganese-producing countries of the 
world. In 1906, India probably reached the first place, which she is 
likely to retain for at least the present year. Before the beginning of the 
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