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History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c12.s1: Mining of Some Important Minerals

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c12.s1

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English

Contents

Mining of Some Important Minerals

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From the records of foreign travellers and historians like Megasthenes, Pliny, Fa Hien, Huen Tsang (7th century), Al Bīrūnī (11th century), Tavernier (1665-69) information on mining and trade of various metals and gemstones, use of steel and other alloys in India in the various ages is found. Techniques of mining copper, lead and zinc, gold and diamond, etc was well developed and the process of development continued till the beginning of Medieval period.

Copper Mining

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Old workings of copper mining of ancient times are found in various parts of the country e.g. Singhbhum copper belt, Bihar, Khetri Area, Rajasthan and Ambaji, Kumbaria in Gujarat (Fig.1).

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Mining for copper is known in the Singhbhum copper belt since about 600 B.C. (Sarkar, 1987). Numerous ancient pits, slag heaps scattered all along the belt bear testimony to the enterprise of the miners of the past. In the western part of the country in Rajasthan copper mining was done at Khetri during the Mauryan period around circa 300 B.C. The first recorded mention of copper mining is found in the Āin I Akbarī (Ain II p.194) written during the reign of Akbar by Sheikh Abul Fazal in 1590 A.D.

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Besides Khetri, in western part of the country copper mining was done in ancient times at Ambaji, Kumbaria in Gujarat and at Deri in Rajasthan. Extensive old workings for copper, lead and zinc ores, and for by product gold and silver extend over an area of 2 sq km to the north and north west of Ambaji village in Danta Taluk of Banaskantha district, Gujarat, Another small area of ancient working for the above metal spread over an area of 0.2 sq. Km is located at Deri on Abu Road Taluk of Sirohi district, Rajasthan. Also ancient workings are found at Watera, Pipla, Golia, Basanthgarh for copper (along with zinc) at Basanthgarh north of Ambaji in Sirohi district of Rajasthan between Abu Road and Sirohi. 14C radio carbon dating of the wood samples found in the old workings and of charcoal in slag dumps indicate that the earliest mining activity falls in the second Century B.C. The other dates are in 1100, 1200 and 1500 A.D (Shekhar, 1983)

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Literary evidences also of mining of copper at Ambaji and probably at Deri come from Jain literature of 11th century and onwards. Evidence of foreign travellers who visited the country between circa 200 B.C. and 150 A.D. attest to abundance of copper in India and their export to West Asian countries through the port of Barygeza (present day Broach in Gujarat).

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SCALE 1:5 000 000 100 0 200 400 km KHETRI RAKHA MINES MOSABONI

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Fig.1. Sites of ancient copper mines in India

Singhbhum Copper Belt

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In the long past a race of ancient people mined and smelted copper ores in the copper belt of Singhbhum some 2000 years ago (Dunn, 1937) which was the centre of industry and of comparatively high civilization. Names of localities like *Tama Pāhār* near *Rākhā* mines, and village called *Tamajuri* (specks of copper) point to ancient copper industry.

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Signs of original occupation by Saraks or Lay Jains exist who are said to be responsible for copper mining in Singhbum copper belt. Ball (1869 p.172) drew attention to many signs of original occupation of the district by Saraks or Lay Jains. There are many tanks and ruins which the villagers now refer to as of Sarak origin. He came to the conclusion that it was these Saraks who were responsible for the working of the mines. According to Colonel Dalton the Jain were driven out of Singhbhum more than 2000 years ago (Dalton, 1866 p. 164). The latest period of working in Singhbhum copper belt was probably between the third and sixth century as suggested by some old copper coins of the later Kushan type found at Rakha mines by Mr. Shoyer.

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Local legends go that the tower with three terraces found just South of Rakha Mines, which is the centre and most important part of the copper belt between Rajdah and Badia, is part of a fort situated on top of the ancient mines. This fort served as a watch-tower for the Rajah who was working the mines. Around the tower at least three terraces have been cut in the laterite. One of these terraces is 8 ft (2.4 m) wide and 3 to 4 ft (0.9 to 1.2 m) high. It is said locally that there were originally three entrances by tunnels, in the north, south and the east of the hill into a centre below the tower (Dunn, 1937).

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Copper is recorded to have been transported down the Subarnarekha river to Piple situated at its mouth which had copper as one of its chief exports. An old road used by the Chinese is said to have existed in Emperor Ashok’s time from the Subarnarekha river east of Ghatsila to Tamluk on the Rupnarain river and the mining of this area has been credited to Chinese.

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In ancient times workings descended up to ground water level. Almost entire copper ore was extracted except in pillars for support of walls (which indicates considerable skills, patience and large manual labour). Timbering was not done except for holding in place broken schists separated by greasy partings. Dunn (1937) writes “One of the stopes at the south end of No 1 level, Mosaboni broke through into an ancient working, about 60 feet (vertically) from surface. The working is about 4 feet wide across the lode but extended for only a short distance along it, as this point was, of course, the bottom of ancient workings. After breaking through, old rotten timber was found, fragments 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Timbering was not a usual practice of ancients, pillars being left to hold up the hanging wall. At this place the hangingwall was very broken, slabs of schists being separated by greasy partings and timber was probably used to hold up such loose slabs”.

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Occasionally tools and utensils of soapstone and pottery have been found in workings. Stone implements of ore-grinding have been found quite close to mines and are relics from an older age. The great extent of workings indicates the work of several centuries with the type of stone tools used for dealing with and excavating the hard rock encountered in many of these lodes and it is quite likely that the working was intermittent due to unstable working nature of those times.

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The workings are approached by adits driven in the hill side. The adits are 3ft (1.8 m) × 3ft to 8ft (1.8 to 2.6m) × 4ft (1.2m) in dimensions. The ore worked is sulphide but sometimes oxide have been worked which have extended down into sulphides.

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The stope width was 4 ft (1.2 m) and when timbering was done the timbers were 5-6 inches (12.70-15.24 cm) in diameter. Similar type of primitive mining was done by Nepalese miners in the nineteenth century as reported by Bose. (Bose, P.N, 1891).

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These miners extracted the vein stone by chisel and hammer to a maximum depth of 60ft (18m) which is the water level. The ore extracted was copper pyrites with copper contents of 20.31%. Drives were 4ft (1.2m) high × 3ft (1.8 m) wide. Chips of bamboo were used as lights. For grinding, the ore was placed on a flat rock, then broken and ground by a small flat stone which was shaped in such a way as to fit the hand comfortably.

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The smelting was done with charcoal. Ancient furnaces in the vicinity of slag heaps show that these were always made of clay with clay tuyeres. The slag heaps cover a long area between Rakha mines and Roam and have variable depths up to 1.8 m. A typical analysis of slag near Mosaboni contains only 0.26% copper which is as good as can be obtained from modern smelters.

Khetri Copper Area

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Lay Jains are believed to be responsible for mining copper in Rajasthan many centuries ago. Evidence of same type of work as in Rakha mines are found in a number of workings now known as Khetri copper mines in Rajasthan which occur in a long range of quartzite hills in Rajasthan. Along a length of 15 miles (24 km) numerous openings are met on the crest of these hills connected to underground excavations which in some cases open out into considerable underground excavations worked out areas. These in some cases are a few hundred feet long and up to 40 ft (12.19 m) wide. Tunnels fan out from these open excavations following rich lodes of ore and workings have reached to a depth of 500 ft (152.40 m) below the hill top. The underground galleries or tunnels are 5 ft × 4ft (1.5 m × 1.2m) or 4ft × 3ft (1.2 m × 0.91 m) and have their sides notched or cut so as to allow ingress and engress without the use of ladders. In order to get fresh air the ancients drove galleries to puncture the hill sides at several places and dilute the vitiated atmosphere. The age of these mines is reckoned to be Chalcolithic Age, (Bose, 1968).

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The ore was dislodged at the face by fire-setting and quenching it with water and thereafter it was extracted with chisel and hammer manually. The broken ore was transported out of the mine in baskets carried over the heads of a series of labourers.

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Brooke and Boileau have given excellent accounts of mining and smelting of copper in the Khetri area in their papers which give an insight into the mining techniques employed in the ancient days and are summarised below:

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As said earlier the ore was cracked at the face by fire- setting. For fire-setting at the face some 150-200 maunds (5.6- 7.5 tonnes) of fire wood was stacked in a compact manner which was set on fire, and immediately thereafter miners went out of the mine quickly lest they should be smothered in the galleries and meet with fatal accidents. On approximately the third day of fire-setting the miners went inside the mine to find that the rock/orebody at the face was cracked and split into huge masses by the violence of intense heat and when the workings were sufficiently cooled, they proceeded with the work of extracting the ore. Each face worker was provided with a lamp, a ‘gad’ or mining chisel and a small basket. The lamp placed upon workmen’s head not only provided illumination for the execution of his work but also enabled him by watching the glittering particles of metal to detach only such portions of the ore as might promise him the best remuneration for his labour. While at work the miner seated himself upon his heels with the lamp upon his head, the hammer in his right hand and the ‘gad’ in his left hand and the small basket upon his knee in which he received all the fragments of ore that were struck off by the chisel.

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The bamboo baskets of ore were passed along a chain of persons, usually 4 to 12 in number who set upon their haunches in the galleries or stood on the niches cut in the shafts, when the whole reached the foremost man, they moved upwards and again ranged themselves and this was continued until the mouth of the mine was reached.

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The confined posture, the lack of fresh air and the excessive heat in which the labourers worked took heavy toll of human lives which were usually extinguished at the early age of 30-40 years.

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The mines were worked only during eight months in each year beginning from October and the workings were suspended during the rains. Also the miners were obliged to work during the nights discontinuing their work early in the day for the excessive heat might otherwise be fatal. When the day work was completed the miners returned home with the proceeds of their labour which was collected at a public ‘cabūtra’ near the smelting furnace.

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The ore was finely powdered using ‘ghuns’ or heavy hammers weighing 32 to 34 pounds (14.51-15.42 kg) each. The ore had to undergo hammering three times before it was fine enough for roasting process. The powdered ore was next mixed with cow-dung and made into rolls about 4 inch (10.16 cm) long which was dried first in the sun and then roasted in the open air in a fire of cow-dung cake. The ore was then ready for smelting.

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For smelting ore the furnaces were built locally. The furnace was cemented with clay and the nozzles of the bellows were built up in it. The nozzles were earthen tubes which were thickest at the furnace end and at the top of the thick part there was a small air hole usually closed with a piece of wet rag but opened now and then to clear the tubes. The other end of the tube was fixed to the bellow. The bellow valve was formed by two sticks at the mouth, which were opened when the bag was raised for the admission of the air and closed when the bellows were pressed down. The upper part of the furnace was built with rings of fire-clay about 10 inch (25.4 cm) deep. The bellows were worked on three sides whilst the fourth side was the opening to the furnace, in which a plate of fireclay was placed, at the lower part of which was a hole for stirring the molten metal and to allow it to flow out.

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After the furnace was lit, the roasted ore was gradually introduced alternatively with charcoal and a flux, called 'reet', the refuse from old iron furnaces.

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In conclusion it will be pertinent to say that copper mining in ancient times was done in almost all the areas where present day mining is being done. The ancients had the skill to explore for the ore deposit and mine only such portions which would be remunerative. Mining was done by firesetting and quenching to initiate cracks in the orebody followed by extraction of ore with chisel and hammer. Transport of broken ore was done in baskets carried over the head of labourers. Ventilation at the working face was not systematically organised; for fresh air often the underground tunnels were connected to the surface by shafts. The mining depth was limited up to the water table.

Gold Mining

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Mention of gold in India has been made in the *Ṛgveda*, the *Sūtras*, the *Purāṇas*, in the *Mahābhārata* and *Rāmāyaṇa*, in the Hebrew and Roman Scriptures and in Greek and Roman literatures. The Harappan culture of 3rd and 5th millennium B.C. testifies to the world the early activity in Kolar Goldfields.

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From the very earliest times gold has been produced in India by the inhabitants of the country either by mining the outcrops of gold bearing quartz veins or by washing sands for sparsely disseminated alluvial gold.

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In Raichur district, names of villages starting with 'Honnu' and 'Chinna' (which means gold in Old Kanarese) suggest gold mining. At Maski an ancient gold metallurgical plant was discovered barely 100 yards away from a cave containing Ashokan inscription. It is more or less certain that Phoenician traders carried away the gold from India in olden days.

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There appears to be little doubt that at some unknown period in the mists of Indian history (perhaps as far back as 2000 years ago) a race of people highly skilled in mining and metallurgy explored and prospected all the auriferous areas in South India. Ancient workings are so widespread that no reef carrying economic values appears to have escaped the attention of these early prospectors.

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The actual date when gold mining was started in India is not known. Hutti mine, which is probably one of the most ancient mines in the world dates back to the pre-Ashokan period. As per carbon dating done by Rafter of Australia in the year 1955, the age of the two samples of timber found in the old workings was estimated to be 1900 year old.

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It is noteworthy that practically all the working mines in India have been established only on deposits indicated by the existence of ancient workings. One of the foremost among them are K.G.F.. mines. The other mines are Hutti gold mine, Kudrikonda (South West of Hannnali), Jalagargundi North of Chitaladurg, Ajjanhalli and Bellora Mines (Karnataka State). North Anantpur and Jibutil mines (Andhra Pradesh), the Dharwar reef mine, Wynad district mines (Maharastra). *Fig.2* shows the locations where ancient workings of gold have been found.

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Fig.2. Sites of ancient gold mines in India

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Maclaren (1905) and Munn (1934, 1936) in their articles have given descriptions of the ancient gold mines which have been summarised

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(i) At Hutti, the old workings reached a depth of 640 feet (195.07 m) a depth unparalleled by another truly ancient working yet discovered in any part of the world. The difficulty of working must have been accentuated by the steepness of the reef and by the hardness of the rock, every inch of which was doubtless broken by the laborious method of “fire setting”, heating the rock with fire and dashing water over the heated surface. Pieces of charred wood used for this purpose are still to be found in the old workings.

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Beyond this evidence, that of a few vertical groovings on a shoulder of the hard footwall at Hutti, and that of a couple of tools found in the old workings at the same place, there remains no trace of the methods used in the extraction of quartz. The groovings are undoubtedly the results of the long continued attrition of haulage ropes. A scraper like tool was also found and similar tool was found at Oorgaum mine at Kolar (Smith, 1889). A chain of men handled from one to another vessel filled with water. A vertical shaft at Kabulayatkatti indicates that the ancients were not ignorant of some form of windless ‘whip’ or ‘whim’.

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At Wandalli some of the old workings were 100-150 ft (30.48- 45.72 m) long, 20 ft (6.096) wide and as much as 15 ft (4.5 72 m) deep. The old workings were reached at a depth of 380 ft (115.82 m) in No 3 shift.

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Smith (1931) writes in a report to His Exalted Highness, the Nizam’s Government.

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“I quote The Mining Journal — that the ancient miners had gone down over 400 ft (121.92 m) vertically in some of the hardest rock known to modern mining”.

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“The ancient miners took out all the pay ore at Wandalli down to 400 ft (121.92 m) level”.

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(ii) At Topaldoddi mine the ancients mined on very rich patches of good quartz without any continuity. There are large number of small pits honey-combed over this zone.

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(iii) At Kadoni the ancients have taken away practically every thing down to 140 ft (42.67 m). There is a large old working 15 ft (4.57 m) deep and upwards of 60 ft (18.28 m) in diameter.

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(iv) In the South Maski field two chief lines of old workings exist, namely: (1) those in Maski village lands and (2) a very big working 409 feet (124.66m) long within the lands of Udbal. A map (Fig.3) prepared by Aubery shows a line of 13 old workings at Maski where one of the biggest old workings was 117 ft (35.66m) deep.

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At Chik Honkuni at the southern end of the inlier there are six adjacent old workings in all about 500 ft (152.4 m) in length.

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At the bottom of old workings at Hutti and other places in South India, about 10 ft (3.04 m) of broken ’chatties’ (clay pots) have been found which were used for bailing water.

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The old workings have also been found to have been filled up deliberately handpacked with large boulders and rock pieces and debris perhaps to conceal Fig.3. Map showing old workings at Maski (after Munn)

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mining work from the invaders or prevent in-flow of water and collapse of workings.

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In 1980 an old gold mine called Mangalur Gold Mine in Shorapur Taluk of Gulbarga district, Karnataka, was opened which was closed before the world War I The reclamation work revealed that the ancient people used wooden trolleys chassis (Fig.4) for tramming purpose and wooden rings (Fig.5) were used as turn table (Munn, 1934).

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There is clear evidence all over South India that wherever reefs, veins, or stringers of quartz occurred carrying anything over 2 to 3 dwts of gold to the ton, they did not escape the attention of early prospectors. They were systematically explored, prospected and mined. Mostly the depth to which mining was carried out was limited by water. Fire-setting was the means employed for extracting the ore and in the bottom of the old workings at Hutti as well as others wood ash and charcoal were found. The only suggestion as to the tools employed comes from a gouge like iron implement found at Hutti which apparently seems to have been fitted on to a wooden hat to make a pointed instrument. Windlasses and ropes were employed; one was unearthed at Hutti where the face of the rock was found to have been rubbed into grooves by the wear of the rope (Munn, 1934).

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Fig.4. Wooden trolley used by ancients for tramming

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Fig.5. Wooden rings used by ancients as turn table

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“Timbering of working places was understood and balks of babul (accasia arabica) were discovered. When the old workings at Hutti were first pierced at about 500 ft (152.4 m) an explosion of gas occurred, probably due to sudden release of pressure on the accumulated gases by old rotting timber.

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Water was the main problem that seems to have finally limited the mining operation in depth. A small spring in Hutti mine at 640 ft (195.07 m) brought their efforts to a close and at that level the presence of about 10 ft (3.04 m) of broken chatties (clay pots) was a clear evidence of how the ancients attempted to deal with this obstacle.

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Many saucer like depressions in the hard trappoid rock and large granite crushing stones mullackers some over a ton in weight scattered all over the Dharwar rocks, together with small pounding holes for initial crushing of the ore, give evidence of the metallurgical process prior to final panning. A large battery of these are to be found at Wandalli (Munn, 1934).

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The process of the extraction of the gold after the quartz had reached the surface are quite clear. The quartz was broken to about the size of a walnut in small cup shaped depressions in an adjacent dyke and was then introduced beneath great granite boulders which were rocked to and fro, crushing the quartz to powder by their own weight. The bottom rock on which crushing took place was preferably a diabase dyke, but where these were not available as at Wandalli, the harder Schist bands were used. The upper crushing stones were of intrusive diabase or of granite. Probably the boulders were transported to Wandalli from Yelagatti where they were formed by nature from porphyritic granite. Some of those boulders weighed more than 18 cwts. Crushing stones are occasionally found at considerable distances from quartz veins, and it would seem that it was only during the rains that crushing was effected near the workings where these were located at some distance from a water course.

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The final process of washing the gold was done in shallow wooden trays (Maclaren, 1905).

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The extraction of fine gold was carried out by adding mercury to a mixture of black sand and gold ore. They would rub the black sand mixture by adding a little common salt. In a little time the gold and mercury would form an amalgam and adding a little water to the mixture and agitating the dish, the particles of amalgam would come together and form a lump and black sand would be washed off. This lump of amalgam was rolled in a damp rag and after the superfluous mercury was squeezed off the rag, it was burned in a fire and a button of gold recovered. If the gold was found alloyed with silver or other base metals, it was hammered out between the two stones into a sheet. This sheet was coated with salt and with a little nitre (if copper was thought to be present). The plate was then laid between two layers of cow-dung and burned, the ash of the dung acted as a cupel and absorbed the base metals and left the pure gold (Bharat Gold Mines Ltd, notes, 1979).

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Judged by the standards then prevailing gold mining in ancient India was a highly developed industry. As regards the technique of mining, the method as common with hard rock mining for other metals was fire-setting and quenching with water to create a system of cracks in the rock enabling the extraction of ore with some scraper like tool. The excavations were supported by timber and pillars of ore were left to support the ground right from the top and the method of mining resulted in a series of open cuts as the top (Bose, 1968).

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Evidence of the use of earthen pitchers for bailing water and use of wooden trolleys for transport and windlass for hoisting have been found.

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Ventilation was not systematic. For fresh air the ancients depended entirely on natural ventilation.

Lead, Zinc and Silver Mining

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Lead, zinc and silver mining has been done in India from ancient times. Table 1 gives the radio-carbon dates in years before present (b.p.) for remains found associated with mining and smelting at Rajpura Dariba, Rampura-Agucha, Zawar Table 1- Radio-carbon dates in years (before the present) for remains found associated with ancient mining and smelting of lead-zinc- Silver.

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(After Paliwal, Gurjar and Craddock 1986)

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| Sample Description | Date (bp) identification |
| DARIBA | |
| East Lode 4m to 5m depth, wood sample | 2215 ± 85 Acacia sp. |
| South Lode 100 m depth, timber support | 3040 ± 150 Aogeissus sp. |
| East lode 100 m, timber support | 2365 ± 85 Bamboo |
| South Lode 100 m depth rope | 2100 ± 280 ____ |
| AGUCHA | |
| Wood support from 30 m depthM 2240 ± 60 Terminalia sp | 2240 ± 280 ____ |
| ZAWAR | |
| Balaria mine 10 west stope 1st level 415 MRL timber | 170 ± 50 Terminalia sp. |
| Mochia Mine | 2360 ± 50 Terminalia sp. |
| Zawar Mala mine | 2410 ± 100 ____ |
| Timber from Launder | 1920 ± 50 ____ |
| Timber from Scaffold | 2120 ± 60 ____ |
| Zinc smelting site charcoal | 230 ± 60 Artocarpus sp. |
| Base of debris heap in old Zawar site charcoal | 80 ± 60 ____ |
| INGALDHAL, Karnataka | |
| Copper mine 30 m to 40 m depth, wood | 1810 ± 35 |

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(Rajasthan) and Ingaldhal (Karnataka). Radio carbon dating of mine timber and charcoal shows that large scale mining took place between 3000 years (late Chalcolithic - early Iron Age in India) and 1800 years ago to a maximum depth of 254m for lead, silver and zinc with a further phase for zinc at Zawar and lead and copper at Rajpura- Dariba from the 13th century to late 18th century. (Paliwal, Gurjar, Craddock, 1986). Investigations of the mines at Zawar show that about 2200 years ago sphalerite production took place at Zawar though it would have then been roasted to oxide and combined with copper to make brass by the cementation process rather than via the metal (Willies, 1987).

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Fig.6 shows the locations where evidences of large scale ancient mining of lead, zinc and silver have been discovered and have been described by many authors including Willies (1984, 1987), Paliwal, Gurjar and Craddock (1986), Craddock, Freestone, Gujrar, Hegde and Sonawane (1985). Also Hindustan Zinc Limited in [Figure: SCALE 1:5000000 100 0 200 400 km RAMPURA AGUCHA RAJPURA DARIB DERI ZAWAR AMBAMATA]

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Fig.6. Sites of ancient Lead, Zinc and Silver mines their leaflets and publication have given information on the history of mining and smelting at Zawar, Rajpura-Dariba, Rampura-Agucha,etc. Radio carbon dating of the remains of wooden stairways, haulage scaffolds, stagings and other artefacts retrieved from the ancient mines indicate that lead-zinc mining existed as far back as 500 B.C.

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The rocks of Zawar area constitute a part of the Precambrian Aravali system and include and assemblage of low grade metamorphosed calcareous, arnaceous and agrillaceous sediments. Dolomite which is the principal host for lead and zinc is sharply inclined into steep ridges above the valley bottom. All the dolomite ridges are extensively honey-combed with ancient workings which follow the plunge of the orebody downward from the outcrop for several hundred metres with no access from the valley side.

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The remains of wooden stairways, incline haulage scaffolds, staging and dainage leats survive in the Zawarmala mine. Samples taken here for carbon-14 dating from a haulage scaffold and a drainage leat reveal that these are 2000 years old (Table 1).

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At Rajpura-Dariba ancient mines in the form of vertical shafts, inclines, underground galleries, underground open stopes and open trenches are found scattered all along the strike of lead-zinc orebody. Radio-carbon of pieces of mine timber, rope and bamboo basket from the ancient workings here indicates that these mines were in production approximately 3000 years ago. A piece of lead metal recovered from the slag dump was found to contain 97.5% lead and 150 ppm silver indicating thereby that the smelting technology was advanced.

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At Rampura-Agucha the ancient mine workings are preferentially located at the northern limit and the hangingwall of the deposit. A piece of wood from the mine workings has been carbon-dated at 2240 years before present (b.p.). Analysis of some of the slag samples suggests that zinc or zinc oxide was being deliberately produced here 2000 years ago.

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In his paper entitled ‘Ancient Zinc-Lead-Silver mining in Rajasthan, India’, Willies (1987) has given detailed description of ancient mines at Zawar, Rajpura-Dariba and Rampura-Agucha which is summarised below:

Zawar Zinc Mines

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Ancient mines at Zawar are found both opencast and underground. A rough and conservative calculation suggests that perhaps 250000 tonnes of zinc concentrates were extracted from some 2.5 million tonnes of ore in the total mined area, before modern mining commenced. Fig.7 shows a plan of the old workings at Zawarmala mine and Fig 8 presents a view of an ancient stope (Willies, 1987).

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Ancient workings are found at the outcrops on the ridge of Zawarmala, some 120 m deep below the surface. At the surface mine workings occur at intervals of 50 m or so on either side of narrow valley formed by denudation of an anticline at the top of the ridge. Most are very small openings directly into the host beds, inclined at up to 40°. Only a few shafts are visible at the surface. At one of the mines, known as Pratap khan the entry to the mine is from a small quarry, obviously the result of opencast working of ore. Excavations have been done by ‘gads’ (pointed chisels) and traces of ‘gad’ marks are common in the quarry, and in the [Figure: ZAWARMALA MINE Modern 70m level modern raise Long Stope Wide Stope Timber Chamber Main Chamber Double Arches Promonontory N Top Chamber Oldest Workings 0 metres 20]

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Fig.7. Plan of old workings at Zawar Mala mine. The most notable feature of the mine is the development of path ways and steps.

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Fig.8. A view of an ancient stope at Zawar

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Based on his observation Willies (1987) opines that it is evident that there are atleast two stages of mining: the main section with the pathway is 10-20 m wide x 2 m high which seems to cut through older much smaller ramification of tunnels, small chambers, and small climbing shafts. Most of the works seems to have been done by hammer and ‘gad’, exploiting weaknesses in the partially sheared dolomite. There is evidence of fire-setting near the entrance in the hollows in the roof, and at the bottom of workings. Waste debris is held back by carefully built stone walls, mortared with clay.

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Deep underground extensive workings exist at Zawarmala which can be followed up dip to very close to surface. The highest, perhaps, the oldest workings are formed of small arched chambers, some 3 m across and approximately 3 m high. Access is very constricted, at times one has to crawl to pass through it. It is blocked entirely at the upper end. The method of excavation seems to have combined fire-setting and hammer ‘gad’ work, with possibly the use of small picks to extract ore in narrow places. Another old and highest working is some 30 m long and 5 to 8 m high and wide. There are characteristic fire hollows in the walls, and rounded roof and pillars of firesetting. The sloping floor has been worked up dip by means of ‘benching’ using fire holes on three benches following each other. Lower still in the workings, the mine has been worked almost entirely by fire setting with very little ‘gad’ work evident. The pillars are 5 to 10 m apart and upto 5 m high, often infilled partially and sometimes wholly with dumped waste. Through the area a clear and well made path has been made, with stone and wood steps where it is steep. A sample of wood from the area has given the age 2149 years before present.

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At another place the area has double arching, one set above the other. Evidently the upper arches were formed in the original advance-dip, the lower by reworking towards the up-dip.

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Another stope 20-30 m across about 2 m high on average, with only occasional pillars is found. In this stope fireset holes are found both lateral, and in the floor and also in the roof. Timber props have been used both to hold up roof flakes and to stablise waste on the slope. Shallow trenches have been dug to convey water inflows to the path, and there are wooden launders for a similar purpose. One launder measured 5 m long u-section 30 x 30 cm. A radio carbon age of one launder gives 1920 years before present.

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At the bottom of ‘wide stope’, the ‘finger-stope’ has been developed. These are fireset inclines, about 3 m diameter, and sometimes 5 m or more of characteristic rounded section and driven down-dip at 30-40 degrees inclination. They follow richer shoots of ore. The substantial crossection presumably allowed cold air to flow at the floor and hot air to return at the roof level. No brattice was used. This decline was worked in two benches. Samples from a ‘timber chamber’ yielded an age of 2120 years.

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Another big chamber 30 m across and perhaps 20 m high was developed on the dip. It is likely that work continued using firesetting to widen the stope after the limiting depth was reached, no doubt coinciding with the removal of pillars between the two finger stopes. Burnt wood residues suggest an age of 2180 years before present.

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There are large amounts of burnt wood fragments of small sticks 50 cm or more long and 5 or 6 cm diameter, including bamboo and acacia. Fragments of reed and/or split bamboo carrying baskets were found. Several pottery lamps were found in form like small plant pots. These contain oil residues of vegetable origin and probably used cotton seeds as moderator. Their position on ledges, or near the pathway suggests that the lamps had semifixed location rather than being carried. Small jars for carrying drinking water or oil were found and some large jars probably used for carrying water out of the mine were also found.

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“One has a mental picture of some hundreds of persons at work, some carrying fuel or support timber in, and ore and rock waste out, probably using baskets carried on the head, with others conveying water in a similar way. ... specialised skilled men would include the fire-setters and timber men who constructed morticed ladders and steps etc.”

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Fire-setting was the major means of extraction. The characteristic holes created by the fires suggest that the main impact was in the floor with a reduced effect the higher above the fire the flames climbed producing the characteristic arched roof form. Thus sinking a decline was the preferential mode of attack, whilst working up - dip was done by creating and driving forwards holes in the floor. A typical depth affected by a single burn seems to have been 5 cm. Many large pieces of rock, sometimes too heavy to lift, suggest mechanical breaking methods were used, probably using iron tools and perhaps a battering ram. ‘Gad’ and wedge marks were observed mainly in narrow slits.

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Fire-setting must have created major ventilation problems. the combination of particulate material, and oxides of carbon and of sulphur, and of high humidity, must have made working conditions difficult.

Zawar Mochia

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Mochia has a series of parallel almost vertical ore bearing beds outcropping as a high ridge for a strike length of nearly 7 km. Beds and oreshoots have been removed across a total maximum width of around 30 m, but this varies considerably. Most of the ridge is characterised by trench type workings or by inclines and shallow shafts; use of round pointed ‘gads’, and of wedge ended chisels was common and fire-setting has also been used producing characteristic ovoid gallery sections and rouded hollow depressions in walls or roofs, or gallery ends. Small timber stemples, fitted in natural crannies or in holes seem to have been used for climbing, and for supporting waste overhead.

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At the western end of the open workings of Mochia, as well as smaller trench workings a large opencast quarry has been developed, 30-40 m wide at its deepest. It is between 10-40 m wide and at least 300 m along the strike. The method of extraction seems to have been to cut upwards and behind individual beds, causing them to fall to the quarry floor. Packs of rubble stone are to be found in two places, built up to provide access to the last working places. Hammer and ’gad’ or some form of pick seems to have been used.

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Underground ancient working are found almost to river level, to a depth of almost 200 m. Iron ‘gads’ a draw hoe for filling baskets, an iron pestle, woven basket work, rope and timber have been recovered.

Boroi Magra

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This ridge has a number of shallow workings and some deep ones. The use of small martars locally is established which were cut into the rock near shafts, as a means of crushing ore down to coarse sand size.

Rajpura-Dariba Mines

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At Rajpura-Dariba metamorphic calc-silicate rocks derived from mineralised sandy dolomite rocks of pre-cambrian age form conspicuous rigdes, with the plain formed from much greater thickness of more easily weathered graphite schist.

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There are three lodes in the deposit: the East lode, the North lode and the South lode. Boreholes have proved ancient workings on the East lode at a depth of 254 m, with a sample of timber at this depth radio carbon dated at about 1840 years before present. Ancient working are also found on the South and North lodes, with radio carbon dates for wood samples from South lode from 3120 to 2200 years.

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Lead was the chief product, for silver refining, but some copper, probably from secondary mineralization ore, was mined as late as 1831. Metallurgical waste includes lead slags, litharge from silver refining and copper slags but no zinc slag, of both ancient and medieval periods.

North Lode

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Both opencast and underground methods are apparent. The earliest workings appear to have been by narrow shafts sunk in ore-bearing beds following apparently irregular deposits. Shafts are common in pairs, often at intervals of only a few metres, and have climbing footholds (Fig.9). Some shafts have been sunk in the softer graphite schist to meet the hangingwall of the calc- silicate at a depth of 8-10 m.

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On the hanging wall side of lode particularly some of the pairs of shafts have been joined and enlarged and fitted with large beam slots to form working and hauling platforms. These open out below into large stoped areas 10-12 m high and as wide. There is an example of a cross-cut driven probably to locate another ore-bearing bed a few metres away.

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Evidence of beneficiation methods is found in quartzite river pebbles. Deep mortars were found in the rock in one of the mine openings. Iron pestles might have been used, but stone hammers found would have sufficed.

South Lode

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The South lode has only one mine opening (old or ancient), but the surface shows many infilled trenches. Probably the quarrying is post-medieval. Underground at a depth of around 100m a number of ancient workings have been intersected; mainly following shoots of lead ore in the footwall of the calc silicate and the underlying graphite schist. These workings are predominantly fireset, mostly near vertical. In one small section timbers up to 25 cm diameter and over 4m long were found, partly worked on the ends by an adze to allow them to drop into slots. This type of timber may have been used either for heavy support, or for spanning large vertical opening, as in one case, a rectangular section shaft 3.5 m × 2.8 m in size, Another chamber had a 3m long timber morticed ladder linking one level with another, with rungs about 45 cm apart. Nearby firesetting used a timber plarform so as to attack the wall above floor level.

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A shaft like chamber was some 20 m high, 7 m wide at the bottom and 5 m higher up. A ladder about 3m long links it to another opening.

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The two shafts around have ensured air circulation, whilst the timber beams across the main part of the shaft would have continued to divide air flows as well as providing ladder stagings.

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Fig.9.A view of chimney foot-holds

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The workings continue below water table for some 80-90 m at least. For drainage, presumably oxen or buffalo may have been used on the very large shafts to draw water. Remains of woven baskets, and ropes about 2.5 cm diameter have been found in the workings.

East Lode

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More recently extensive timber work on the east side has been revealed for a length of atleast 150 m, radio carbon dated at about 2200 years before present. — “Removal of water from the pit would have been done by human labour, but the use of oxen on wells in this area today suggests their use in the past too”.

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There are some small and some large mortar holes each about 30 cm across and up to twice as deep with rounded bottoms. These were undoubtedly worked as stamps, using timber shafts presumably shod with timber or iron, to pummel the ore. At this lode probably silver rich oxidised lead deposit of anglesite or cerussite was worked.

Rampura-Agucha Mines

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Here the ancient mine workings are preferentially located at the northern limit and in the housing wall of the deposit. A piece of wood from the mine working has been carbondated at 2240 years b.p. (*Table 1*)

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A timber recovered from 30 m depth is dated 2356 years before present. Deep workings were formed in the centre of the lode and shafts have been sunk particularly on the hangingwall side to reach the lode at depth.

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Most of the workings of ancient age (Fig 10) so far revealed are opencast, down to contact zone, with some 30-40% extraction on one section across the width (130m) of lode, to some 15 m depth. Slag dumps occupy some 1800 sq.m. of surface area and are approximately 1 m deep. Analysis of the slag suggests that zinc oxides were being deliberately produced there some 2000 years ago.

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There is much silver refining debris. It is guessed that silver content in the deposit worked was as high as 15%.

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The weathered gneiss was presumably cut by wedged end chisels rather than ‘gads’... on one section of the 375 m berm on the east side of the pit, seven remains or carbonised traces of woven baskets were found (Fig.11). In the same location timber supports, with verticals morticed into sole plates have been found (Fig. 12). In other areas shafts with footholds had been sunk working almost vertical shoots of ore in a joint or possibly a shear zone... "Galleries visible seem to have been of walking height, the chisel marks in the usually soft rock clearly visible".

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Rajasthan was a major mining province some 3000 years ago, with production on a substantial scale continuing 1200 years, under sometimes extreme technical difficulties. Smelting and silver refining were equally technically advanced. Zinc smelting was done as early as 9th century (and there are slight indications of much older origins). It was perfected as an industrial scale process around the beginning of 13th century, in all probability at Zawar. Fig. 13 shows the clay retorts scattered around the ruins of Zawar which were used for zinc smelting. The early miner located the ore and continued to assure himself that he was mining ore not waste. With poor illumination the main judgment between ore and waste would have been by the heft or “Weight”.

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For the extraction of ore, metal tools were used in India from an early date. India had iron available for the tools about 2900 years ago (Hegde, 1981) and though a copper based tool has been reported for another area (Allchin, 1962) iron seems to have predominated as wedge tipped chisels, pointed ‘gads’ hammer pestles and draw-hoes. In hard competent rocks firesetting was widely used first to create a system of cracks which were exploited to extract the ore by chisels or ‘gads’.

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Shallow mining or outcrop mining seems to have depended mainly on the use of hammer and ‘gad’ exploiting weaknesses exposed by weathering. Firesetting was occasionally used at shallow depth, and clearly predominated in the hard rocks unaffected by leached solutions at depth.

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The problem of roof support at Zawar was simple as the rock is fairly uniform in quality and of high competency. At depth where the rocks are much less weathered, the arched openings are much larger than earlier higher working, and spans of flat roof are up to 20-30 m. Many pillars have been removed by retreat working, in a systematic manner, allowing the maximum depth to be achieved at the earliest with less risk or rock instability and water inflows. At Rajpura-Dariba where rock is weak, large timbers have been used to support both the wall and the roof; and stemples and props seem carefully shaped for the purpose.

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The great depth attained at Rajpura-Dariba shows that the practical and economic system of water control had evolved. It is noticeable that on Zawar Mala, with one exception, the openings are placed well up from the floor of the valley so [Figure: to Hurda OPEN PIT line ancient pit waste tips irrigation Rampura base Agucha Tank Agucha N River Mansi to Bhilwara 0 metres 800]

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Fig. 10. Plan of old workings at Rampura-Agucha as monsoon water does not rush in the mine. Care must also have been taken underground not to allow water to run to the bottom by the use of launders to bring water to a convenient transport point, and the use of finger stopes and discrete shafts allowed retreat from flooded sections. Most water must have been removed by hand bailing and lifting from the mine, using pots or leather bags. Animals might have been used on deep shafts for winding water.

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Fig. 11. A woven basket

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For ventilation usually the miners relied on natural ventilation. But there are evidences in pairs of shafts and linked finger stopes to suggest that intake and return airways were separated particularly at Zawar Mala and at Rajpura-Dariba.

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There is clear evidence of late but still ancient mining in Zawar Mala, above the probable contemporary water table, worked by classical retreat methods, including pillar removal and the system was perhaps deliberately planned.

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For transport of ore and material the ancients used good paths and ladderways for large number of people to move round continuously. Rope haulage system have been in use at Rajpura- Dariba, where ropes of 2.5 cm diameter have found. At Zawar mala especially systematic transport systems were developed, with well developed zig-zag paths on slopes, assisted by stone or wood steps or ladders on steeper sections. The size of the passage on the main routes would have allowed loads to be carried in baskets on the head.

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For lighting oil lamps were used and there is evidence to show that lights in fixed positions were used at least at Zawar Mala.

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Beneficiation process began at the fire-hole or forefield. Since good ore was notably ‘heavy’ a competent miner would sort it out into waste or ore at the site of its production. Crushing of the ore in the stone mortars and picking with hand was the common method of ore beneficiation.

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Fig.12. Vertical supports morticed into sole plates

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Specialists included firemen and timber men and the supervisory staff. Efficient trade and marketing of minerals/ores would have been organised nationally and internationally.

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