n38 
MAJfGA.VESE DEPOSITS OF INDIA: ECONOMICS. [PaET III: 
were given their true market values where used, the true order of value 
of the first constituents would probably be found to be coal, petroleum, 
pold, manganese-ore, salt, and saltpetre. If we take the mineral pro- 
duction for 1906 and give the following values : — coal Rs. 7-8 per ton, 
petroleum 5 annas per gaUon, salt spot price (avoiding duty), saltpetre 
I85. Gd. per cwt. c.i.f. value ^, manganese-ore its c.i.f. value, and mica its 
f.o.h, value -, the following are the values of the eight chief mineral 
products : — 
Coal 4,891,625 
Petroleum 2,928,190 
Gold 2,230,284 
ilanganese-ore ....... 1,502,471 
Salt . 420,901 
Saltpetre .•?21,207 
Mica 258,782 
Rubies 96,867 
Even the comparison of the c.i.f. value of manganese-ore with the 
~, , „ market values of the seven other mineral 
The ferro-manganese 
value of the Indian man- products noticed above. is not a fair one, 
sanese-ore production. ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^ -j ^.^j^^ ^^^^ 
ganese-ore is the value of the substance only before it is ready for use. 
Coal needs no working up, except when it is to be converted into coke, 
and is ready as soon as mined for the purpose for which it is used, 
namely as fuel. The petroleum is valued after it has been sufficiently 
refined and is ready for lighting purposes and as a fuel. The salt and 
saltpetre are valued after being refined, so as to be ready for human 
consumption and the manufacture of gunpowder, respectively. The 
mica when valued has been separated from its matrix and cut into 
shapes and sizes and is ready for use, except in the case of the scrap 
from which micanite is manufactured. The rubies have been separated 
from their accompanying minerals and need no further treatment 
except cutting. The gold is only in the form of bullion ; but it is 
(jiven practically its full value and has been won from its ore after 
complex metallurgical treatment. For the value of the manganese-ore 
to be fairly comparable with that of the other constituents it should 
therefore be valued after it has been converted into ferro-manganese, 
1 The mean of the prices quoted during 1906 for crude saltpetre in the Engineer- 
ing and Mining Journal. 
2 I have given the f.o.b. value of the mica because I do not know the cost of 
sending it to Europe. This can for;n only a small portion of the total value of the 
•ui'a, however, so that the f.o.b. value is not much less than the c.i.f. value. 
