182
Class 1 . —MINING AND MINERAL PRODUCTS.
[United
s
_d
„ fee. 4 '$ c
Estimated
O)
ew X
£C a
£
e ss .s
Workable
© ®
.2 a>
Area in Acres.
©
Is en
05
4)
■STS 5
s-g
S ^ D
7) %
-rS 3
H’S'3
g'SS
1. Northumberland and Dur-ham District:—
Newcastle Coal-Field
2. Cumberland and West-
500,000
18
80
7
moreland, and West Ridingof Yorkshire:—
Whitehaven and Akerton
80,000
7
8
2,000
Appleby (three basins ) •Sebergham (Cumberland)
17,000
1
3
3
Kirkby Lonsdale .
3. Lancashire , Flintshire, and
2,500
4
17
9
•
Lancashire Coal- Field
380,000
75
150
10
6,000
Flintshire ....
120,000
5
39
9
200
Pottery, North Stafford-
40,000
24
38
10
shire.
Cheadle ....
10,000
4, Yorkshire, Nottingham-shire, Derbyshire , &c.:
GreatY orkshire Coal- Field
050,000
12
32
10
Darley Moor, Derbyshire .Shirley Moor
| 1,500
.
shire:—
Coalbrook Dale, Slirop-
12,000
17
40
shire.
16,000
3
Brown Clee-liill . .
Titterstone, Clee -hillLickev I-Iill, Worcester -
1,300
5,004
650
3
shire.
Bewdley ....6. South Staffordshire:—
45,000
Dudley and Wolverhamp-
• 65,000
11
67
40
1,000
ton.
tershire:—
40,000
9
30
15
40,000
5
33
21
cestershire:—
Bristol.
130,000
50
90
36,n00
17
37
,
1,500
4
15
7
9. South Welsh Coal-Field .
600,000
30
100
9
12,000
Clyde Valley . .
Lanarkshire . .
South of Scotland, several
!1,000,000
84
200
13
6,000
small areas.
Mid-Lothian . .
1
24
94
4,400
East Lothian . .Kilmarnock . .
60
180
40
13
30
6,000
Ayrshire ....
1 •
21
Dumfries Coal Region
45,000
10
55
6
M. Irish Coal-Fields: —
Ulster.
500,0 0
9
40
6
Connaught ....
200,000
150,000
8
23
1,000,000
The principal coal areas of Europe , apart from those ofthe British islands, are those of Belgium, France, Spain (in the Asturias), Germany (on the Ruhr and Saare),Bohemia, Silesia, and Russia (on the Donetz ). Of thesethe Belgian are the most important, and occupy twodistricts, that of Lifege and that of Hainault, the formercontaining 100,000, and the latter 200,000 acres. Ineach the number of coal-seams is very considerable, butthe beds are thin, and so much disturbed as to requirespecial modes of working. The quality of the coal isvery various, including one peculiar kind, the Flenucoal, unlike any found in Great Britain, except at Swan-sea . It burns rapidly with much flame and smoke, notgiving out an intense heat, and having a somewhatdisagreeable smell. There are nearly fifty seams of thiscoal in the Mons district. No iron has been foundwith the coal of Belgium .
The most important coal-fields of France are those ofthe basin of the Loire , and of these, St. Etienne is thebest known and largest, comprising about 50,000 acres.
In this basin are 18 beds of bituminous coal, and in theimmediate neighbourhood several smaller basins, con-taining anthracite. Other valuable localities are inAlsace , several in Burgundy, much worked by very deeppits, and of considerable extent; some in Auvergne , withcoal of various qualities; some in Languedoc and Pro-vence , with good coal; others at Arveyron; others atLimosin; and some in Normandy . Besides these aremany others of smaller dimensions and less extent, whoseresources have not yet been developed. The total areaof coal in France has not been ascertained, but is pro-bably not less than 2,000 square miles. The annualproduction is now at least 4,000,000 tons.
There are four coal districts in Germany , of the car-boniferous period, besides several districts where moremodern lignites occur. The principal localities for truecoal are near the banks of the Rhine, in Westphalia ; onthe Saare, a tributary of the Moselle; in Bohemia ; andin Silesia. The total annual production exceeds 2,750,000tons.
Of these various localities, Silesia contains very valua-ble and extensive deposits of coal, which are as yet butlittle worked. The quality is chiefly bituminous, thebeds few in number, but very thick, amounting in somecases to 20 feet. Some anthracite is found. Bohemia iseven more richly provided than Silesia, the coal measurescovering a considerable area and occupying several basins.More than 40 seams of coal are worked, and several ofthese are from four to six feet thick.
The basin of the Saare, a tributary of the Moselle , nearthe frontier of France , affords a very important andextensive coal-field, which has been a good deal worked,and is capable of great improvement. No less than 103beds are described, the thickness varying from 18 inchesto 15 feet. It is estimated that, at the present rate ofextraction, the basin contains a supply for 60,000 years.On the banks of the Ruhr , a small tributary to theRhine, entering that river near Dusseldorf , there isanother small coal-field, estimated to yield annuallynearly 1,000,000 tons. The whole annual supply fromPrussia and the German States of the Zollverein , orCustoms’ Union , is considered to exceed 2,750,000 tons.
Hungary and other countries in the east of Europe contain true coal-measures of the carboniferous period;but the resources of these districts are not at present de-veloped. On the banks of the Donetz, in Russia , coalis worked to some extent, and is of excellent quality,but it belongs to the older part of the carboniferousperiod.
Spain contains a large quantity of coal, both bitumi-nous and anthracitic. The richest beds are in the Astu-rias , and the measures are so much broken and alteredin position as to be worked by almost vertical shaftsthrough the beds themselves. In one spot upwards of11 distinct seams have been worked, the thickest of whichis nearly 14 feet thick. The exact area is not known,but it has been estimated by a French engineer thatabout 12,000,000 of tons might be readily extractedfrom one property, without touching the portion existingat great depths. In several parts of the province thecoal is now worked, and the measures seem to resemblethose ^ of the coal districts generally. The whole coalarea is said to be the largest in Europe , presentingupwards of 100 workable seams, varying from 3 to 12feet in thickness.
There are in North America four principal coal-areas,compared with which the richest deposits of other coun-tries are comparatively insignificant. These are the greatcentral coal-fields of the Alleghanies ; the coal-field ofIllinois, and the basin of the Ohio ; that of the basin ofthe Missouri; and those of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick ,and Cape Breton . Besides, there are many smaller coal-areas which, in other countries, might well take rank asof vast national importance; and which, even in NorthAmerica , will one day contribute greatly to the riches ofvarious States.
The Alleghany, or Appalachian coal-field, measures 756miles in length, with a mean breadth of 85 miles, andtraverses eight of the principal states in the American