Records oj llte Geological Survey of India. 
91 
[vor,. irr. 
2,—Ok the Copper of Dhalbhum and Singhuhum, by V. Bali, B. A., Geological 
Survey of India. 
The district of Singhbhum, first, brought to the notice of the British in the year 1820, 
when the internal disturbances rendered interference necessary, was not placed permanently 
under British officers until 1836. In the interval that elapsed between these two periods, 
the discovery of copper and ancient native copper mines appears to have been made. 
The first published intimation of the existence of copper in Dhalbhum was given in 1833 
in a paper by a Mr. Jones* who was engaged in making researches regarding the coal of 
Bengal. He writes—" I have reason to suppose copper may be found in Dhalbhum near Bag- 
waha (Rajdoha) in a stream called Gura Nadi that empties itself into the Subanrika.” Whether 
this supposition, which subsequent investigation has proved to have been well founded, was 
based on information received from natives or from personal observation we are not informed. 
In the year 1854, the existence of extensive copper deposits which had been much 
worked by the ancients in the above-named districts was forcibly impressed upon public notice 
by Captain now Colonel J. C. I laugh ton, Assistant to the Governor General’s Agent in the 
South-West Frontier.f 
In the same year the mines were visited by II. Ricketts, Esq., c. s., who proposed to 
Government that “ a small sum be expended in working for a short period in order thoroughly 
“ to test the produce and to show the people of the country how to turn the veins to the 
“best advantage.” 
M. Studir in the paper printed herewith details the circumstances under which he came 
out to this country and the steps which led to the formation of the first Singhbhum Copper 
Company. Since his return to Europe, this company ceased operations in 1859; and a second, 
formed on the ruins of its predecessor, lasted only from 1862 to 1861, when it also was 
dissolved. 
In 1857, M. Durrschmidt published a report (with a map) on the “copper mines of 
Singhbhum.” All the important part of the information is derived from Colonel Haughton 
and M. Stahr. Some of the minor details would he of interest only to persons purposing 
to re-open the works. Speaking generally, this report takes a ranch more favourable view 
of this prospects of mining than was justified by the facts available at the time. 
In the prospectus of the second or Hindostan (Singhbhum) Copper Company, a number 
of analyses and opinions regarding the quality of the ore by various assayers and others are 
quoted. These or rather a portion of them will be found incorporated in the following pages. 
The fact of the copper ores having been worked by the ancients has been above alluded to. 
It is probable that the greater number of old excavations enumerated in the table on p. 100 
are of considerable antiquity. ElscwhereJ 1 have discussed the reasons which have led me 
to the conclusion that the ancient workers were an early Aryan race called Sarahs. 
Within recent years a rude kind of working has been undertaken by the local rajahs 
and 'zemindars. But in consequence of poverty of the ore, Hooding of the mines, want 
of labor (the pay perhaps being neither liberal enough nor regularly bestowed), or finally, as 
has sometimes been the case, sudden discovery on the part of the rajahs that their dignity 
was being compromised by the work, all such operations have been discontinued. 
Geology .—In order to render the following account intelligible, it will he necessary to 
give a brief sketch of the geology of the district in anticipation of the full account of it, 
which will be published when the examination of the whole area shall have been completed. 
The rocks of Singhbhum, so far as they have been examined, are referable to two 
formations. The metamorpliie, consisting of granitic and foliated gneiss, schists, &c., and 
the snb-metamorphic, consisting of slates, quartzites and schists, which latter are sometimes 
not lithologically distinguishable from those belonging to the metamorpliie. 
In Manbhum, exclusive of the coal-fields, something less than four-fifths of the area is 
occupied by metamorpliie rocks. In the remaining fifth at the south of the district the 
* Asiatic Researches, vol 18, p. 170, 1888. 
t J. A. S. B., XXIII, p. 103, 1854. 
t Proo„ A. S, B„ June 1869, p. 170, 
