Mining industry

Including Geology and the Geological Survey of India

Related articles

• Kolar Gold Fields
• Earthquakes
  • 1819 Earthquake at Kutch
  • 1897 Assam earthquake
  • 1905 Kangra earthquake
  • 1934 Bihar earthquake
  • Quetta earthquake

External links

General

• "History Of Mining In India - Circa 1400 - 1800 And Technology Status" by S Bagchi and A K Ghose Indian Journal of History of Science 15(1):25-29, May 1980 insa.nic.in
• Geology and India, 1770 - 1851: a study in the methods and motivations of a colonial science by Andrew Grout 1995 Ph D Thesis, School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. academia.edu

Coal

• There was coalmining in Cutch near the towns of Seesagud, and Mandaree.
• '"Dwarkanath Tagore: Rabindranath's grandfather played lead role in the history of coal mining in India'" by Vikram Doctor, September 17, 2012 The Economic Times, now an archived page. The first application to mine coal was made in 1770. Includes reference to mine in Burdwan at Raniganj, at Naraincoory, close to Raniganj, at Munglepore, where there were indigo plantations, and in Assam

Diamonds

• "Early Records of Diamond Mining in India" Extended Abstract of a paper by Fareeduddin and R.H. Sawakar for the 10th International Kimberlite Conference, Bangalore 2012.
• Diamond In India: Historical Review Of Diamond Geology And Mining by Rafal Swiecki, geological engineer. Click at the bottom of the page for more pages. www.minelinks.com/alluvial, now archived.
  • Includes Map of Diamond Fields in India
• Diamond Mines of the World: India's Diamonds of Golconda Allaboutgemstones.com, now archived.

Gold

• "Colour of money" by P. Anima, June 21, 2013 The Hindu. "When the British scoured the mountains and valleys of Malabar for gold". Source: Regional Archives Kozhikode

Rubies and Jade

• "The Expedition to the Ruby Mines of Upper Burma (A Short Sketch)" by Captain W. N. Lloyd, R.A. Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution Volume 15 1888. (Scroll past the Contents pages) ruby-sapphire.com, now archived.
• "Fire-Hearted Pebbles from Burma" by C.M. Enriquez, reprinted from Asia Magazine, October, 1930, Vol. 30, No. 10, pp. 722–725, 733. , is about the ruby mines of Burma and the Burma Ruby Mines Company. Palagems.com
• "Burma’s jade mines: An Annotated Occidental History" by Richard W Hughes. ruby-sapphire.com.

Salt

• Khewra Salt Mines of Pakistan 14 June 2007 All Things Pakistan, now an archived website

Individuals

• Richard Dixon Oldham 1858-1936, the first Director of the Geological Survey of India from Roger Bilham’s Earthquakes and Tectonic Plate motions
• "Sir Lewis Leigh Fermor's Diary: Life in Colonial India" The Geological Society. Sir Lewis joined the Geological Survey of India in 1902, and was the Director officially 1932-1935, and unofficially for some years earlier. He was the father of well known travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor. Retrieved 14 August 2014
• "Why Palaeolithic man avoided the Western Ghats, and other discoveries by an accidental archaeologist" by Vinita Govindarajan Aug 10, 2017. scroll.in. Robert Bruce Foote was a geologist and archaeologist and "the father of Indian prehistory".

Historical books online

General

• The India officer's and trader's pocket-guide. In purchasing the drugs and spices of Asia and the East-Indies: With practical directions for the choice of diamonds, and an accurate account of the Chinese touch-needles [by W. Lewis] ... To which are prefixed, a complete account of the officers privilege ... and the duties of, and drawbacks on, East India goods. Compiled from Authority by H D S. 2nd edition 1789 Archive.org. Chinese touch-needles were used to estimate gold purity.
• Vazeeri Rupi, the silver country of the Vazeers, in Kulu: its beauties, antiquities, and silver mines. Including a trip over the lower Himalayah range and glaciers. With numerous illustrations by J. Calvert. 2nd Edition 1873 Hathi Trust. Kulu (Kooloo), Punjab is situated in the hills between Kashmir and Simla.
• A Manual of the Geology of India
  • First edition 1879, and later: Volume I: Peninsular Area by H B Medlicott and W T Blanford 1879; Volume II: Extra-Peninsular Area by H B Medlicott and W T Blanford 1879; Part 3. Economic Geology by V. Ball. 1881 Contents Includes sections on Diamonds, Gold etc etc. Part 4 Minerology: Mainly Non-Economic by FR Mallet 1887. All Archive.org.
  • Second edition 1893 and later. A Manual of the Geology of India: Stratigraphical and Structural Geology 2nd edition revised and largely rewritten by R D Oldham 1893 Archive.org. [This is probably a revision of Parts 1 and 2, published 1879]; A Manual of the Geology of India : Economic Geology by the late V. Ball. Pt.1, Corundum by T.H. Holland. 1898. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. A revision, in separate parts, of Part 3 of A Manual of the Geology of India.
  • Third edition, revised and largely re written by Sir Edwin H Pascoe, under the title A Manual of the Geology of India and Burma, published c 1950-1964. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III. Archive.org.
• A Bibliography of Indian Geology being a list of books and papers, relating to the geology of British India and adjoining countries, published previous to the end of A.D. 1887 by R. D. Oldham 1888 Archive.org
• A Bibliography of Indian Geology and Physical Geography With An Annotated Index Of Minerals Of Economic Value: Part I A Bibliography 1917 Archive.org by T.H.D. La Touche 1917 Archive.org. Incorporates Oldham’s listings.

A Bibliography Of Indian Geology And Physical Geography With An Annotated Index Of Minerals Of Economic Value: Part II An Annotated Index 1918 Archive.org

• Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India and Records of the Geological Survey of India are available on the websites Archive.org. Readers in North America may be able to also access them on Google Books. For some Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India in respect of earthquakes, refer the pages on earthquakes above
  • Contents of the volumes of Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India to 1910, and Records of the Geological Survey Of India to 1912. Center for Research Libraries. pdf
• Transactions of the Mining and Geological Institute of India Archive.org. Catalogued as Transactions. From Volume I for 1906.

1906: I, 1907: II, 1908: III. 1909: IV, 1910: V, 1911: VI, 1912: VII,1913: VIII, 1914, June: IX Part 1, 1915, June: X, Part 1, 1916 XI, 1917: XII, 1918: XIII, 1919: XIV, 1920: XV, 1921, July: XVI Part 1, 1922, February: XVI Part 2, 1922, May: XVII Part 1.

• India's Mineral wealth: A guide to the occurrences and economics of the useful minerals of the Indian Empire by J Coggin Brown. Oxford University Press, London, 1936. Link to a pdf download Digital Repository of GIPE, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, India.
• Jungle Life in India: or, The Journeys and Journals of an Indian Geologist by V Ball Geological Survey of India 1880 Archive.org

Coal

• "Notice of the Newly discovered Coal Mine", page 178 Gleanings in Science, Volume 1 1829 Google Books
• "Description of the North West Coal District, stretching along the Damoda", page 261 Gleanings in Science, Volume 1 1829 Google Books
• "On the Coal field of Palamu" page 217 Gleanings in Science, Volume 2 1830 Google Books
• The Mining Engineer Volume 32 1906-1907, page 203 (computer page n284) mentions the Giridih Coal- Field, Bengal
• The Giridih Coal-Fields pages 293-309 From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, Volume II 1938, first published 1888.
  • Article "The Giridih Coalfields" from Kipling.org.uk

Diamonds

• "The Diamond Mines of India" Chapter 8, The Diamond by W.R. Cattelle 1911 Archive.org
• Travels in India by Jean Baptiste Tavernier, baron of Aubonne, tr. from the original French edition of 1676, with a biographical sketch of the author, notes, appendices, etc., by V. Ball. 1889 Archive.org Volume 1, Volume 2. Includes an account of diamond mining in India at the time of his visits, including 1652

Gold

• My visit to the goldfields in the South East Wynaad by Samuel Jennings 1881 Archive.org
• Chapter VII Gold from Gold, Sport, And Coffee Planting In Mysore by Robert H. Elliot 1898 Archive.org.
• "The Gold Mines of India" [at February 1898] page 117 The gold mines of the world : containing concise and practical advice for investors gathered from a personal inspection of the mines of the Transvaal, India, West Australia, Queensland, New Zealand, British Columbia, and Rhodesia by J H Curle 1899 Archive.org

"The Gold Mines of India and the Malay Peninsula" page 210 The Gold Mines of the World (2d Ed., 1902): Written After an Inspection of the Mines of the ... by J H Curle 1902 Archive.org

"The Gold Mines of the East" page 204 The Gold Mines of the World: Written After an Inspection of Nearly Five Hundred Mines in ... by J H Curle 3rd edition 1905 “almost entirely rewritten”.

• Madras District Gazetteers: The Nilgiris by W Francis 1908 Archive.org, page 13 (digital page n23) gives a history of gold mining in the area around Wynaad in the Nilgiris which had been abandoned by the early 1900’s. Mentions the Alpha Gold Mining Company, the Phoenix, Balcarres and Richmond mines and the Indian Glenrock (Wynaad) Co.

Rubies

• Burmah No 2: Correspondence respecting the Ruby Mines of Upper Burmah presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty 1887 Archive.org
• "Burma Rubies" page 153 Precious stones and gems, their history, sources and characteristics by Edwin William Streeter 6th Edition 1898 Archive.org

Tin

• Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal: no 6: Report on the Tin and Other Mineral Productions of the Tenasserim Provinces 1852 Archive.org

Recommended Reading

• Science and the Changing Environment in India 1780-1920: A Guide to Sources in the India Office Records by Richard Axelby and Savithri Preetha Nair 2009. For a review of this book see Research guides reading list. The guide is arranged in eleven chapters including one in respect of geology. Section A is "Mineral Resources" and the introduction to this reads: "Of the minerals which detail the discovery and extraction of the mineral resources of India, those on coal and iron are arranged geographically. There follows lists of sources for other minerals and metals, including copper, diamonds and precious stones, gold, lead, limestone, oil, stone, shale and slate, tin , silver, saltpetre, borax and antimony. Further reports on the mineral resources of India are in the series of publications of the Geological Survey of India. " This chapter is eleven pages long and covers a lot of references.