“I see by a cablegram from Mr. Means that he has found good tin on other areas. There are about 4 square miles of about 2,600 acres that have been proved to carry tin since I left there.”
REPORT ON THE N’GELL RIVER TIN DEPOSITS, NORTHERN NIGERIA
By Mr. H. W. Laws
The N’Gell River, which is one of the sources of the Kaduna, rises in the pagan town of N’Gell on the highest watershed of the country.
Black oxide of tin is found in large quantities in the bed of this river where it is not deeply covered with gravel, and in the various streams flowing into it, especially those coming in from the south. The ore undoubtedly has a very local origin, it is derived largely from the denudation of the small tin-bearing quartz veins in pegmatite granite on the sources of the tributaries known as Nos. 1 and 2 streams, and lode matter containing massive crystals of tin is also breaking down in the neighbourhood of Nos. 4 and 5 streams. All these it will be noted are on the south side of the river.
For the purpose of discussing these tin deposits as a mining proposition, the river may be conveniently divided into three portions:
A. The headwaters of the N’Gell River (sections 49 and 50 on plan) with Nos. 1, 2, and 3 streams.
B. The portion of the N’Gell River flowing through the Niger Company’s area for a distance of 2½ miles with the tributaries known as Nos. 4, 5, and 6 streams, and
C. The portion of the N’Gell River flowing for a distance of six miles through section 46 and 36 to 40 on the plan.