16 
Records of (he Geological Survey of India. 
[vol. VII. 
There was no time, and perhaps no necessity, for me to make an exhaustive examination of 
the capabilities of the entire province; hut my work would have been personally more satis¬ 
factory if, by more extended research, I had been able to assure myself that no essential points 
had escaped the observation of my predecessors. 
Acting upon the orders conveyed by letter through Colonel Ramsay, c. n.. Commissioner 
of KumaOn—“ to report generally upon the quantity and quality of the ores and fluxes in the 
neighbourhood of Ramgarh, Khairna, Kaladhungi, and Deh-chaurx”—I proceeded as soon 
after the cessation of the rains as possible to examine each locality indicated. 
Colonel Drummond, Dr. Oldham, and Messrs. Henwood, Sowerby, Barret, Davies, 
Watson, and Bauerman have expressed views as to the prospect of Kaladhungi and Deh- 
chauri furnishing ore and flux, and I find on comparing their opinions that with the excep¬ 
tion of Mr. Henwood in 1855, aud Mr. Bauerman in 1873, they entertain the belief that ore 
is very plentiful. In this belief I coincide. I have only to temper tho too high estimate 
formed of the quality of the oro. 
Ramgabh. 
Under this heading it will be convenient to refer to several places in the same geological 
region, but at some distance apart—namely, Pahli, Losbgiani, Hatful Khan aud Parwara. 
Palrii .—This locality is near the Ramgarh suspension bridge and on the right bank of 
the Kalapani river. I am sorry to say there was no means of gaining any knowledge as to 
the existence or quality of ore other than by the examination of some waste heaps near the 
mouths of two deserted galleries. A sample of ore was brought in and analyzed. It yielded 
421)3 per cent, of iron. This is but a low percentage, and may be accounted for by supposing 
that the waste mass from which the ore was picked out contained only poor specimens. At 
Natua, Khan and other localities where the same variety of ore (micaceous kmmatite) occurs 
the average percentage of iron is much greater, 
Loshgidni. —Iron-ore has been extensively wrought near Loshgianf. There are two 
distinct beds, tho Gwalakuri and the Khanipaka. The ore, which is least rich in iron, is 
that of tho Gwalakuri bed. 
Its outcrop is well defined, and by clearing away a little earth, I was enabled to obtain 
what I consider a fair sample of tho ore, which is a rather dense brown haematite, yielding 
52'4 per cont. of iron. The minimum thickness of the bed is 8 feet. I have not been able 
to find any reference to the quality of this iron in any of tho books which I have consulted. 
I suspect that its external appearance, which is certainly not indicative of such a high per¬ 
centage, as analysis shows it to contain, condemned it in the eyes of those to whom the 
soft, bright, micaceous haunatites of tho neighbourhood had recommended themselves. 
The Khanipaka bed is distinct from that of Gwalakuri, although ou almost the same 
horizon. It has been largely mined by the natives, and tho number of shafts that have been 
sunk to reach tho oro is something extraordinary. 
I was anxious to obtain access to some underground workings, in order to estimate the 
thickness of the bed ; but when I saw that the only means of descent was by a rope down 
which one had to slide to a depth of 80 to a 100 feet, and then come up again hand 
over hand, and that the shaft was neither straight nor dressed, I was obliged to acknow¬ 
ledge that to gain my end would necessitate the performance of a feat somewhat beyond 
my powers. In consequence, I can merely repeat what the natives told me, that tho bed 
varied from G to S feet in thickness. A large amount of the ore is stacked in the yard 
adjoining the partly erected furnace near the village of Ramgarh. It seemed unnecessary 
to have the percentage ot iron determined, as it appears to be of quite as high a value as the 
Natua Khan ore, the analysis of which will be found further on. 
