Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary European Accounts c23.s3: Iron Mines of the District of Panna

c23.s3.1

The best mines of the Panna district are near Brijpur, the ore is common argillaceous lying in a thin stratum, between beds of reddle and yellow earth (No.22) the former below, and the other above it; both these earths adhere slightly to the tongue, and fall to pieces in water, but do not form a paste, the former dissolves rapidly, the latter after a slight ebullition falls first in flakes, and finally into powder; on calcination the yellow earth assumes a lively colour—like English red, and they both would form useful pigments; the ore yields bad and brittle iron; but there is another kind of red ore exploited and smelted at the village of Simmeriya which produces better metal.