Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary European Accounts c23.s1.5

c23.s1.5

The general character of the ore of these mines appears to range in the class, which the Comte de Bournon denominates *fer oxyde au maximum*; the *micaceous* kind is at times so highly oxidated, that it is nearly pulverulent, and the *ochrey* variety is almost a pure oxide; the compact species is rare, and fibrous *hematite* (No.19) is still more scarce; in every instance it is found near the surface, and all the varieties, except that of Magaila, yield excellent malleable iron.