part 2.] Ball: Discovery of a locality for copper in the Narbada Valley. 68 
schist associated, with quartzites. In some of the beds of the latter the component grains are 
very distinct. These rocks belong to the Bijour series. 
I found that the underlie of the deposit corresponds to the dip of the strata, amounting 
to from 50° to 55° north, the strike being at this particular point east and west. The ore, 
I believe—as I found also to be the case in Singbhutn*— does not occur in what can be truly- 
called a lode, but as a constituent of the schist which it permeates throughout a thickness of 
at least sis feet. This was the thickness exposed at the time of my visit; but according to 
Mr. Maynard’s calculation this should he increased by eight feet; thus making in all fourteen 
feet as the thickness of the schist permeated by the ore. 
There is, as usual, in such deposits, a tendency to the formation of nests and pseudo-lodes ; 
hut this, I believe, to he due to subsequent action—seggregation—and that the copper should 
be regarded as a constituent of the schist as originally deposited. 
The ores on the back of the lode, as is generally the case, consist principally of the blue 
and green carbonates (Azurite and Malachite). As the mining progresses, nests of the grey 
oxide become more abundant, and there are also some traces of the red oxide. Pyrites (the 
yellow metal of mining phraseology) has not yet been reached, nor can it be until a depth 
sufficient to have ensured its protection from the decomposing effects of atmospheric action 
has been arrived at. 
The extension of the ore downwards or “ to the deep” can only be determined by mining. 
As to its lateral extension we found some stains of the carbonates on the same bed of schist 
fully 100 yards to the east of the present drift. 
Trenches cut across the strike of the rocks to a depth of three or four feet would pro¬ 
bably be sufficient to prove the lateral extension sufficiently for all present purposes. 
As to the quality of the ores, the assay of five specimens by Mr. Tween yielded the 
following percentages of copper: No. 1, 47'8 ; No. 2, 21’2 ; No. 3, 320; No. 4, 25'4; 
No. 6, 12-6. 
Two specimens sent to the mint gave the following result:— 
A B 
Copper 
... 3275 
23-1 
Iron 
... 2-50 
5-4 
Earthy matter 
... 64-75 
71-5 
100- 
100- 
These results must be considered eminently favorable. The quantity in which the oi'e 
occurs, the cost of its extraction and transmission to market,f are the elements which 
now remain to be ascertained in order to determine the full importance and value of the 
discovery. 
The last accounts which I received from Mr. Maynard represent the mine as progressing 
favorably. Under his energetic management there is a prospect thus of anew industry being 
started in the Narbada valley. 
* See Records of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. JIT, pt. 4, p. 94. 
t It does not of course come within the scope of this notice to discuss the question as to whether it would pay 
best to export the ore in the form of ‘ regulus,’ or attempt the manufacture of copper on the spot. 
