Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c25.s6.30

v1.c25.s6.30

Many secondary deposits (the end-products of diverse steps of bio-geological degradation), such as of ferrous sulphate, alum, saltpetre or potassium nitrate etc. were utilised in ancient India, but their precise locations had not been recorded with the meticulous care that was later exhibited by the British geologists of the nineteenth century. Similar remarks can be made about the iron ore exploitation in ancient India. These deposits are plentiful even today and ubiquitous all over India. In ancient India these must have been mined by open cast method as it is done today. But we do not have the C-14 dates regarding the specific sites from which iron ore was exploited in ancient India before AD 1200.