572 
MAXGANESE DEPOSITS OF INDIA: MINING. [PaRT II[ : 
the Kandri; Mansar, and Balaghat deposits, are being worked, these 
being the best examples of deposits well worked. 
It will have been gleaned, however, from the earlier portions of this 
chapter, that many of the Indian manganese-ore 
Deposits often badly deposits have been very badly worked. In my 
paper ' Manganese in India ', p. 107, I wrote : — 
' ore has often been recklessly extracted to meet present demands and contracts 
without any regard either to geological considerations or the future working of the 
deposit. This has frequently resulted in the subsequent discovery, either that the 
waste or mati has been dumped on to the hidden extension of the ore-body, or 
that so much dead-^^ ork will be necessary before the miner can work at a slightly 
increased depth, that it becomes a matter of doubt if the deposit can any longer be 
profitably exploited : such want of foresight and reckless woi king leads, of course, to 
a grievous waste of the country mineral resources.' 
Since this was written I have been able to revisit some of the deposits 
in the Central Provinces. I was pleased to find a general improvement in 
the methods of work, although there were still some deposits left to 
which the foregoing was applicable. I have also since visited some of the 
Sandur deposits, and some of those of Mysore. The Sandur deposits were 
being worked with some care and forethought. So also were some of 
those of Mysore ; but not the majority. The majority were being worked in 
a very careless fashion ; but, considering the fact that these deposits 
do not extend to any depth, this is not a matter of much consequence. In 
working loose detrital deposits, however, it must be very difficult to tell 
which ground has been worked over and which not, if the waste is dumped 
immediateAy by the side of an excavation and on top of ground not worked 
over, as noticed on page 565. I have heard it remarked that working 
some of the Mysore deposits is like digging for potatoes. The simile was 
meant to apply to the irregular distribution of the ore in the lateritoid 
masses. But it is more aptly applied to the deposits of detrital ore, 
where fragments, pebbles, and boulders of ore lie scattered through a 
clayey soil ; except that in some cases the workings are much Jess regular 
than digging for potatoes would be if the digger did not wish to leave a 
considerable proportion of his potatoes in the ground. 
Not only is there in India a strong tendency to work the manganese - 
ore deposits in a very wasteful way, especially 
Waste of smalls and dust. ^j^^ beginning of work by a new operator, 
but there is also a tendency to waste a considerable proportion of the 
ore won. To begin with, all ore at all small in size, say below one inch 
jn diameter, is in most cases thrown away irrespective of quality, 
