120 
Records of the Geological Survey of India , 
[vol. VIII, 
Some of the seams in the Kelu valley may very possibly contain good coal, but they 
are difficult of access, being thirty-six miles, as the crow flies, from the Mahanadi. Carts, if 
they could get over the ground at all, would have to travel probably not less than sixty miles. 
To Sambalpur the distance by any possible route would not fall far short of 100 miles. 
Still more unfavorably situated as regards roads are the seams in northern Hingir to the 
west. The Kurket river there, however, would afford a means of transport during the rains. 
I saw a large boat being built at Eabo on the Kurket, so that navigation is so far possible ; 
indeed, the river bed, thence to its junction with the Mahanadi, contains no serious obstructions 
of any kind. 
So little is yet known of the coal of the Talchir field, that it would be impossible at 
present to institute a fair comparison* between the two. Unless the coal of our field is of 
better quality it could not compete successfully in Cuttack owing to the much greater dis¬ 
tance it would have to travel. At the same time the Mahanadi is closer to the eastern end 
of the Baigarh and Hingir field than it is to any part of the Talchir field, and the Brah- 
mini, owing to obstructions, is not much better as a means of transport than the Ebe or 
Kurket would be. 
The prospects of the ultimate development of this coal-field depend altogether on the 
future extension of a line of railway into that part of the country. If the project for con¬ 
necting Calcutta with Nagpur, by a direct line, be ever carried out, this field will attain 
considerable importance, should the borings, which must first be made, prove the existence of 
abundant and good coal, and of their doing so, there is, I think, a fair prospect. 
Assays op CoAtsf- 
Moisture. 
Carbon. 
Volatile. 
Ash. 
Durlipali No. 4 of Sec. 
... 53 
26'4 
36-5 
37-1 
Durlipali No. 9 of „ 
... 11-8 
50-2 
36-8 
13- 
Lakanpur 
... 9'2 
33-4 
34-4 
32-2 
Dibdorah 
... 9-9 
39-9 
33-6 
26-5 
Dulunga 
... IT 
45-2 
33-6 
21-2 
Mograpali 
... 11-2 
46-1 
40- 
13-9 
Ikon. —Within the Barakar group there are, as has been indicated on a previous page, two 
and possibly three zones of ironstones. Assays have not been yet made, but some of the ores 
appear to be good. As to quantities, so far as superficial examination goes, I think at 
Kodaloi and some of the other localities on that horizon there is a large supply which could 
be easily worked. Of the abundance of ore in the hills at Bampur, east of the Ebe, I have 
already expressed my doubts, but on these points it is impossible, without some preliminary 
clearing of the ground, to speak with certainty. 
The zone of ironstones which runs with the south-west boundary, at the top of the 
Barakars, seemed to bo thin and poor. 
In the upper sandstone series ironstones also occur, but are seldom used by the native 
Lohars. In several instances I found that the Lohars of villages which, owing to wood 
being abundant, were situated within the upper sandstone area, procured their ore from the 
Barakars some miles distant. Except towards the frontiers of the Hingir highlands, there are 
few Lohars villages in that zemindari, but in no part of the country which I have visited are 
they so abundant as in Bampur. At many of the large villages there are furnaces, but the greater 
* Selected coal from the Talchir field has been found to answer fairly well in small steamers on the Cuttack 
canals. Its cost, owing to expensive carriage, was, however, too high, 
f By Mr. Tween. 
