98 
Records of the Geological Harvey of India. 
[VOL. III. 
It may be argued with an apparent amount of plausibility that the ancient mines, their 
number and extent, indicate a prosperous condition of the industry at some former period. 
We do not, however, know under what circumstances they were worked. In the early 
times to which they seem chiefly to belong, copper may have possessed a value relative to 
the precious metals much higher than it does at present. ' And, again, although it may have 
paid parties of natives to work with their simple furnaces which could without loss be 
relinquished when the supply of ore failed and others be erected in a new locality, we 
cannot feel assured that it would prove proportionally profitable to a European Company, 
whose chief prospect of success would depend on the possibility of applying machinery 
for the extraction and reduction of the ore continuously in one place. 
With regard to the experience gained by the companies, beyond M. Stcehr’s and 
M. Durrsehmidt’s papers, there seems to be now no accessible information. Without being 
able to refer to the records of either of the companies, it is impossible to form any estimate 
of what their working expenses amounted to. 
Copper was manufactured during the time of the second company and forwarded to 
Calcutta, but what proportion its price in the market bore to the cost of its production 
I have been unable to ascertain. 
M. Stoehr’s opinions on the first company and on the proposition to form a second are 
printed herewith. He concludes that notwithstanding the disadvantages, some of the old 
mines might be worked profitably, but for that purpose so colossal a company* was not 
suited. But moderate expectations, such as M. Stflehr speaks of, axe not generally sufficient 
to attract speculators and capitalists ; and a really economical enterprise such as might easily 
be carried out on the continent of Europe is scarcely practicable here. 
III.—Local circumstances .—Position of Mines. On all sides the range in which the 
copper ores occur is Surrounded by broken hilly country, which is drained by a number of 
rivers of sufficient dimensions to seriously impede traffic during the rainy season. 
The only made road in the vicinity of the mines is the one between Cliaibassa and 
Midnapur. It is unprovided with bridges: the portion of it in Singhbhum and Dhalbhum 
alone is (May 1869) in fair condition. 
In reference to the roads, Colonel Haughton, who was anxious to represent the pros¬ 
pects of a mining enterprise in the most favorable light possible, wrote“ From the dig- 
“ gings at Kumeraraf there is a good road only 85 miles in length to Tumlook. The distance 
“from Landn or Jamjura to the Cossye river at Dhee Kullianpur is about 70 miles; and that 
“ river might, it seems probable,_be available for water carriage during short periods in the 
“rains, as the Damuda is at points far above those where it is ordinarily navigable. There 
“ is every facility for the construction of a good road to Dhee Kullianpur or to Midnapur, 
“and in fact there was formerly a Government route in nearly the same direction. * * * 
“ The distance from Tumlook md Midnapur would be about 132 miles.” The copper which 
was made in 1862-64 was not despatched by either of these routes but vid Purnlia to Raniganj, 
the distance of which place from Landu being 130 miles, and the roads little better than 
cart tracks. 
Should the proposed direct line of railway vid Midnapur to Bombay be opened up, the 
copper mines will probably be rendered much more accessible than they arc at present. 
Labour .—Coolies can be obtained in abundance. The Chuta Nagpur Bhangas were 
found to be the best workmen. 
Fuel .—The supply of wood to be obtained in the immediate neighbourhood is limited, and 
a few years would exhaust the timber on the bills composed of the copper-bearing rocks. There 
is, however, a considerable amount of heavy timber on the rises to the Chota Nagpur plateau. 
The discovery of coal at Midnapur is a fact which may prove favorable to the pros¬ 
pects of working the copper with profit. 
Lime .—The only lime which was used for fluxing the ore was manufactured from 
‘kunkur.’ No hope of any more regular or economical source can ho held out at present. 
Some calcareous schists do, indeed, exist near Cliaibassa, but in them the quantity of other 
minerals mixed up with the carbonate of liine is so great as to make it doubtful whether 
they could be successfully burnt for lime. 
* Thu capital of the Cml or Hindostau Copper Company wan e i co/jni) in J l,uuu shares, 
t The most eastern locality. 
