Copper in Ancient India c12.5

c12.5

Turning to the *Hazaribagh* district near the Singhbhum district geological evidences point unmistakably to ancient copper mining on an extensive scale. There is a place in this district which is known as Bāragundā, “so called from the fact of its being the site of 48 (bāra-gundā) ancient copper mines.” Ball says—“the excavations which mark the position of these ancient mines are situated along a line of outcrop of metamorphic rocks which form a ridge, about three fourths of a mile long between the villages of Parsabera and Bāragundā.” He continues—“we are not in possession of any information as to who the ancients were who made the numerous excavations at Bāragundā of which ample evidence is still to be seen. These workings extended all along the outcrop and from their over-lapping in places it would appear that the deposit was not limited to one line of strike. Though in some cases the samples show that the ore occurred as a constituent of the schist, others seem to justify the conclusion that there are one or more distinct lodes parallel to the bedding.”¹