[43] Koert, W.: “Iron-Ore Resources of the World,” Stockholm, 1910.
Sedimentary beds of oolitic ore of some extent are reported in the provinces of Chih-li and Kiang-si, but they are of low grade.
Bedded siderite ores similar to the Coal Measures ores of England have been mined for many years in Shan-si Province and smelted in native furnaces. In Hunan Province, also, this type of ore is mined.
The principal iron ores of Manchuria are magnetites that occur as a series of deposits in a northwest-southeast belt south and southeast of Mukden, in southern Manchuria. They are interbedded with schist, gneiss, and porphyry. In this belt are the An-shan-chang deposits that are now being developed by Japanese interests affiliated with the South Manchurian Railway, and the Miaor-kow deposits operated by a Sino-Japanese company, the Pen-hsi-hu Coal & Iron Co., Ltd. The southern Manchuria magnetite belt is reported to contain reserves amounting to about 500 million tons.[44] Much of the ore is of low grade.
[44] Wang, C. F.: “Coal and Iron Deposits of the Pen-hsi-hu District, Manchuria,” Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., 1918.
India.
—Iron ores of four types are found in India[45]: (1) lenses of specular hematite with some magnetite, occurring in quartz-hematite and quartz-magnetite schist of the Dharwar series and other older rocks; (2) granules of magnetite and hematite scattered through granite and schist; (3) clay ironstones in the Coal Measures of Bengal; and (4) lateritic ores.
[45] de la Touche, F. E.: “Iron-Ore Resources of the World,” Stockholm, 1910.
The hematite-magnetite lenses interlayered with iron-bearing schists are the most important of the Indian ores, although it is only recently that they have been exploited. The Tata Iron & Steel Co. owns the principal deposits of this type, including Mayurbhanj, in Bengal, where mining is being conducted at present, and the large undeveloped deposits of the Raipur district, Central Provinces. Important deposits of this type are also found in southern India.
Magnetite and hematite derived from the disintegration of schist and granite are now being used by the Bengal Iron & Steel Co., of Barakar. They consist of surface accumulations of iron sands and are found in various parts of India. Clay ironstones scattered through shales were formerly used by the Bengal Iron & Steel Co., but its supply of these is exhausted. Lateritic iron ores lying at the surface are widespread but undeveloped.