![File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎82r] (178/522)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0002c5/IOR_L_PS_10_815_0178.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎82r] (178/522)")
File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [82r] (178/522)
The record is made up of 1 volume (244 folios). It was created in 1 Dec 1917-26 Jun 1922. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
REPORT ON THE BITUMINOUS DEPOSIT NEAR KIFRI.
By
Mr A. H. NOBLE
December, 1919
MAPS : T.C. 200 (A) Scale 1 inch to 1 mile.
T.C. 203
” n >)
T.C. 124 (A) Scale 1 inch to 4 miles.
INTRODUCTION.
» e< ^ USt 0 j the Civil Commissioner I visited the deposit at Kifri, which has been called
Kiin Coal , in order to report on prospects of working it profitably. My thanks are due to Captain
Douglas, A.P.O., Kifri, for kind hospitality and great assistance in my investigations.
v
PREVIOUS REPORTS.
Porro and Kissling examined this deposit in 1905 and give details of a number of trial pits which
were dug there and to which reference will be made later. At this time about 250 tons were mined
yearly.
Grosskopf reporting for the Turkish Civil List in 1910 stated that about 150 tons were mined.
Mr. J. Brown of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company examined the deposit for General Head
Quarters in June, 1918, and his very complete report makes it unnecessary to describe in detail the
location, geological formations and workings.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
A careful examination of the material and its mode of occurrence, leads one to the conclusion
that it is neither coal nor lignite, but a form of solid bitumen, usually known as “ Manja^ ”. There
seems to be a fracture or fault in the formation at the spot where it is found, along which the oil
was forced into the beds of the Upper Ears Formation and as the result of inspissation it now exists
as “ Manjak ” in the form of irregular masses, lenticles and interbedded deposits.
Enquiries were made of men who had worked in the pits and they stated that No. 1 pit (see
Mr. J. Brown's Report) had a depth of 300 metres and No. 2- pit about 100 metres ; that the pits
were dug vertically and that No. 1 had several galleries from it which ran some 70 metres. They
also stated that warm water came in at the bottom of No. I pit and some liquid bitumen was found.
The estimate of the depth is probably an exaggeration, but it seems likely that No 1 had a very
considerable depth.
PROSPECTS OF WORKING THE DEPOSIT PROFITABLY.
In order to come to a conclusion on this point, the following considerations should be studied :
(1) The deposit is “ Manjak" and not coal.
(2) The area in which workable masses may be expected is small—probably not more than
300 yards in length and with a breadth of perhaps 150 yards. Porro and Kissling describe a number
of test pits which were put down over a length of 900 yards, and which show that the deposit does
not extend in workable thickness much beyond the present workings.
(3) The deposit would have to be worked vertically. The Turks evidently went down a
considerable depth in Nos. 1 and 2 pits.
(4) The ground between Nos. 1 and 2 pits can be reasonably expected to contain workable
masses of the deposit and could be worked by opencast method.
. \ * %
CONCLUSIONS.
To sum up, the Manjak can be got out of the two large pits only by pumping them dry and then
continuing deep mining. Very little lateral extension is to be expected. A certain amount may be
expected in the area between pits Nos. 1 and 2.
If it is decided to work the deposit, the pits must be cleared of water and the ground between
them tested.
About this item
- Content
This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and maps and geological drawings, regarding the geological examination of regions in Mesopotamia and the prospect of petroleum [oil] in these areas.
Included in the volume are the following reports:
- ‘MESOPOTAMIA GEOLOGICAL REPORTS No. 7-11’ (‘No. 7’ is crossed out and replaced with ‘No. 8’), 1920 (ff 9-22)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No. 7 NOTES ON THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCES OF NORTHEN MESOPOTAMIA’, 1920 (ff 25-31)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No. 6 NOTES ON ZAKHO AND DOHUK [Duhok]’, 1920 (ff 41-44)
- ‘MESOPOTAMIA GEOLOGICAL REPORT 1919’, 1920 (ff 57-109)
- ‘REPORT OF THE BITUMINOUS DEPOSIT NEAR KIFRI’, 1919 (f 114)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 5. THE KIFRI DISTRICT’ (ff 115-116)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 4. RECONNAISSANCE REPORT ON THE COUNTRY ON THE RIGHT BANK OF THE RIVER TIGRIS BETWEEN BAIJI AND MOSUL’, 1919 (ff 122-129)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 3. RECONNAISSANCE REPORT ON THE EUPHRATES VALLEY BETWEEN HILLAH AND HIT’, 1919 (ff 131-143)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 2. PRELIMINARY NOTES ON THE JABAL HAMRIN’, 1919 (f 143)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 1 ON THE DISTRICT OF QAIYARAH [Al Qayyarah]’, 1919 (ff 146-151)
- ‘APPENDIX. Translation of a Captured Document. Report of a Tour to the Coal Area and Petroleum Springs in the Zone of the Sixth L. of C. Inspectorate’, 1919 (ff 156-158)
- ‘No 13. Notes on the Jabal Gilabat [Qilabat] between Chinchal-al-Kabir and Qarah Tappah’, 1919 (f 164)
- ‘No 14. Notes on the Jabal Hamrin between Qarah Tappah and Table Mountain’, 1919 (ff 164v-167)
- ‘No. 10. Notes on the Geology of the Country between Tazah Khurmatu and Tauq [Tukhama Khulu]’, 1919 (ff 182-185)
- ‘REPORTS ON THE PROSPECTS OF PETROLEUM IN THE BAGHDAD WILAYAT [Vilayet]’, 1918 (ff 187-201)
- ‘Report No 9. Oil in the Kirkuk Anticline’, 1919 (ff 204-205)
- ‘No 3. Report on the Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Jab-al-Khanuqah, S.E. of Sharqat [Ash Sharqat]’, 1918 (f 207)
- ‘No 4. Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Jab-al-Qaiyarah and its continuation, the Jab-al-Najmah’, 1919 (ff 208-209)
- ‘No 5. Possibilities of Obtaining Oil in the Jab-al-Mishrak [Al Mishraq] and Country West of Hammam Ali [Hammam al Ali]’, 1919 (ff 210-211)
- ‘No 6. The Country between Mosul and Quwair [Al Kuwayr] on the Greater Zab, and its Prospects as Oil-producing Territory’, 1919 (ff 211v-212)
- ‘Report No 7. Sulphur near the Confluence of the Greater Zab with the Tigris’, 1919 (f 213)
- ‘No 8. Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Quwair Dome’, 1919 (ff 213-214)
- ‘Appendix to Report No. 4, on the Jab-al-Qaiyarah Oil-field’, 1919 (f 214v)
- ‘Report on the prospects of obtaining Oil in the Jabal-Hamrin and Jabal- Makhul between Tikrit and Sharqat’, 1918 (ff 217-218)
- ‘Odd Notes on the Country between Tikrit and the Jabal-Hamrin and Jabal Makhul’, 1918 (ff 219-220)
- ‘PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE PROSPECTS OF PETROLEUM IN THE BAGHDAD WILAYAT’, 1918 (ff 233-236).
Also included in the volume are the following maps and geological drawings:
- ‘TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT MESOPOTAMIA No 8’, 1920 (f 20)
- ‘To ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT MESOPOTAMIA No 8 ON THE SULAIMANIYAH DISTRICT’, 1920 (f 21)
- ‘TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT MESOPOTAMIA No: 7a. THE WATER RESOURCES OF THE MANDALI-BADRAH DISTRICT’, 1920 (f 30)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (MESOPOTAMIA) No 7 NOTES ON THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCES OF NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA’, 1920 (f 31)
- ‘TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT No 6’, 1920 (f 44)
- ‘TRANSVERSE SECTION. JABAL HAMRIN’ (f 88)
- ‘Diagrammatic Section across Jabal Hamrine [Hamrin] in the Table mountain area, shewing [showing] relationship of Pos Tertray [Post-Tertiary] Gravel to the Tertainis [Tertiaries]’ (f 168)
- ‘Red Clay & Sandstone Series Transverse section across Jabal Gilbat’ (f 169)
- ‘QĀRAH TAPPAH’, 1918 (f 170)
- ‘CHINCHĀL-TALISHĀN’, 1918 (f 172)
- ‘SHAHRABĀN’, 1917 (f 174)
- ‘MANSURĪYAH AL JABAL’, 1918 (f 176)
- ‘1 Diagrammatic Section N[orth]. of the Tuz Khurmatu’ (f 183)
- ‘2 Diagrammatic Section oposite [ sic ] Sulaiman Beg, just N[orth]. of the stream’ (f 183)
- ‘3 Diagrammatic Section oposite [ sic ] Sulaiman Beg just S[outh]. of the Stream’ (f 183v)
- ‘Transverse Section across Jabal Nasaz near Gil’ (f 185)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL MAP OF NAFT KHANA DISTRICT OF MESOPOTAMIA’ (f 198)
- ‘THE PETROLEUM DEPOSITS OF HIT’ (f 199)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN N.E. MESOPOTAMIA’ (f 200)
- ‘SECTION FROM SHAHRABAN TO CHAH SURKH [Chiya Surkh]’ (f 201)
- Transverse Section Maps of Jabal Hamrin and Jabal Makhul (f 220).
The volume comprises internal correspondence between British officials of different departments. The principal correspondents are: the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; the Under-Secretary of State, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ; the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Baghdad; officers of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau; and officers from the Petroleum Department.
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (244 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 246; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [82r] (178/522), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/815, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100151508900.0x0000b3> [accessed 8 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100151508900.0x0000b3
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100151508900.0x0000b3">File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎82r] (178/522)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100151508900.0x0000b3"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0002c5/IOR_L_PS_10_815_0178.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0002c5/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/815
- Title
- File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:19v, 22r:29v, 32r:43v, 45r:87v, 89r:167v, 177r:182v, 184r:184v, 186r:197v, 202r:219v, 221r:245v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence