PART 4.] 
Ball ■■ Cupper of DIuMk&m and Sing Minna. 99 
Proprietory. —Singhbhum proper belongs to several members of tbe Porakat family, 
of whom the principal are the Koer of Seraikela and the Tkakur of Khursowa; they both 
give service to Government as Magistrates, but pay no tribute whatever for their estates. 
The Dugni Baboo in whose lands copper also occurs is a cadet of the same family. 
In the estate of the Rajah of Dhalbhum, the remainder of the copper localities, inclu¬ 
ding those at Landu and Rajdoha, are situated. 
The first company, confident in the productiveness of the mines, agreed according to 
M. Stffikr to pay the Rajahs of Seraikela and Dhalbhum Rs. 9,200 for the right to mine. In 
the prospectus of the second company the annual rent is stated to be Rs. 4,500. A con¬ 
siderable portion of this rent for the years while operations were being carried on is still due. 
Acting on a decree of tbe Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner, the Itnjah of Dhalbbtim has 
seized the bouses and engine of tbe company at Rajdoha; but the former have already fallen 
to pieces, and the latter uncared for and neglected will soon become worthless. 
Climate. —Tbe climate of Singhbhum is decidedly unhealthy; this point is one of no 
small importance where a number of Europeans might have to he employed. I have been 
informed that tbe employes of the two copper companies suffered much from fever. My own 
experience is, that natives of India, especially men from tbe north-west, suffer excessively 
from fever in Singhbhum; of course both Europeans and natives might, to a certain extent, 
become acclimatized, as has happened in other parts of India. 
IV.—Examples are not wanting in other parts of the world where ores of similar 
character and mode of occurrence to those of Singhbhum have been worked, with which a 
brief comparison may be usefully instituted. 
Copper Mines of JEisleben. —At Eisleben in Mansfeld, Prussian Saxony, tbe ore of 
copper extracted permeates a schist (Ivupferschiefer) which can be worked with as much 
regularity as a coal seam.* Notwithstanding the perfection of the machinery and the 
comparative ease with which tbe ore is extracted, it is a fact that the copper is manufactured 
at a loss. “ Every ton of refined copper as it leaves the works has actually cost more than an 
equal weight of metal could be purchased for on tbe spot from tbe merchant.” 
The profits of these great and unique mines (which more or less directly support 60,009 
people) are nearly all derived from the small proportion of silver which occurs in the ores and 
is extracted during the process at but little additional cost. The magnitude of the operations 
and the immense quantities of the copper ore which are smelted alone enable the work to 
be carried on with profit. 
In the copper ores of Singhbhum silver does sometimes occur as is shown by the assay's 
on page 96. But tlio amount is so small that it is extremely doubtful whether it could he 
extracted with profit. 
It has been stated that for the most part the underlie of the ores in Singhbhum corres¬ 
ponds with the dip of the schists ; but it can scarcely be said of them, owing to their steep 
inclination and irregular lateral extension, that they could he ‘ worked like a coal seam.’ 
South-West of Ireland. —Iu the south and south-west of Ireland copper ores occur 
disseminated throughout a zone of Devonian sandstones; for a long time it was doubted 
whether true metalliferous lodes existed, all the copper being supposed to occur “ as a mecha¬ 
nical deposit derived from the waste and destruction of some original mineral vein district.”! 
Recent deep mining operations which have been carried on with success have proved the 
existence of true lodes.J Thus there would appear to be a double mode of occurrence of the 
ore there, similar to that which has been supposed to be the case in Singhbhum. 
In the preceding pages the object sought after has been to give a simple statement of 
facts, from which those who may he interested will doubtless draw their own conclusions. 
In mining operations such as would be necessary iu Singhbhtim so much depends upon 
the regularity with which the ore occurs that no one could with any confidence venture to 
predict the result of excavation on a large scale. 
Courageous enterprise guided by the best professional skill in mining has both its trium¬ 
phant successes and its heavy losses and disappointments: until underground exploration has 
extended much• further in Singhbhum, it will he uncertain which fate awaits those who 
may at any future time venture upon copper mining in that district. 
* These mines are fully described in a paper by Mr. Jervis, Jour. Soi\, Arts, vol. IX, 1860-01. 
t Memoirs of Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland, explanations to sheets 200, 203, and pp. 278. 
\ Geological Magazine, vol. VII, No. 5, p. 211. 
