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Coll 6/11 'Hejaz-Nejd Affairs: Economic Development in the Hejaz' [‎151r] (302/504)

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The record is made up of 1 file (250 folios). It was created in 23 Dec 1929-12 Aug 1937. 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. .

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!>• recorded on both records and map as soon as received* Twenty five
samples are being sent to frulaan and Picard* Londin and twenty one
duplicate samples to Ledoux A Co Hew York* The results should be here
within two or three months from the time of despatching the samples* I
have instructed Ledoux A Co to send results in duplicate* one list being
s .t to me and the other to His jSxeellency Sheikh Abdullah Suleiman*
Mecca*
1 wish to emphasize the fact the results of these samples will
but suggest the gold contents as they are of material which are undoubted
ly been hand sorted by the ancient workers and considered of too low
value to be saved* The samples from among the milling dumps and slag
heaps are from ore after the values had considerably been extracted*
Only be clearing out the bottom of the ancient workings in many
places and sampling these places can the real value and the ore left be
ascertained*
7 ) ^lant and extraction the ????“
extensive ralx a® may be seen by the map* There xxx milling of the ore
was done* The ore was first broken into in hand operated horizontal
disc mills made of lava* Some mortars of lave were also used for
coarse breaking* The ore was crushed to sand-like fineness and then
washed to obtain the free gold* Dumps of both the coarse pieces and
sand tailings are scattered over all the area shown on the map* The
photographs show how there are many small dumps up to 4 metres deep
instead of one large dump*
To the Kast of the min© hill are a number of slag dumps which prove
that a part of the or© was smelted* Doubtless a certain amount of
copper was obtained and the ore valued for this metal instead of the gold*
The copper carbonate minerals indicate this conclusion* I picked up a
typical piece of pur© copper from the slag heaps* Gold would not likely
have been obtained by smelting as it would be mined with the copper and
iron* and the ancients would not have the facilities and knowledge for
separating it*
As previously mentioned samples were taken from the coarse quartz
dumps, the sand tailings and quartz lying among slag heaps. These
samples should give on indication of the efficiency of the ext. &ction
methods*
%
There are but ruined walls to show where the extensive buildings were
situated* There are many of these among the quartz dumps but none amonf
the slag heaps*
the ancient workings in as many places as possible, say at every ten
meters along each vein* Then careful sampling and measuring of each
place should be done* If these samples show sufficient values then a
shaft should be sunk and a level turned off at, say* 30 meters below the
resent lowest workings* Sach vein should be drifted on and samples
taken at each 1*6 meters* But this is a development programme for the
future and it would require a few thousand pounds expenditure* Tests to
determine the most efficient methods of extracting the values should be
made* If the sampling after clearing showed good values it is possible
that an American Company might be found which would undertake further
devel^ment as above^oted provided favourable terms could be obtained.

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Content

This file mostly consists of copies of Foreign Office correspondence, which have been forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India. The correspondence, most of which is between Foreign Office officials and either the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard) or His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires at Jedda (Cecil Gervase Hope Gill, Albert Spencer Calvert, and Alan Charles Trott), relates to the economic development of the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia). Other correspondents include the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Trenchard Craven William Fowle) and officials of the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.

The opinion expressed by British correspondents near the beginning of the file is that the unsatisfactory state of the country's finances is a result of its complete dependence on the pilgrimage for income. Much of the file is concerned with various projects (such as water and mineral surveys) sanctioned by Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] in order to explore other sources of revenue.

Items of discussion include the following:

  • News that Ibn Saud intends to establish a power station for the purpose of providing Mecca and Jedda with electricity.
  • Ibn Saud's wish to establish a state bank, preferably a British bank, to improve the financial situation in the country.
  • Four reports on the country's water and mineral resources, produced by American engineer and geologist Karl Saben Twitchell in 1932 (copies of three of the four reports are included).
  • The British Minister at Jedda's thoughts on how the economic unification of the newly-formed Saudi Arabia will progress.
  • Proposed improvements to Jedda's water supply.
  • The establishment of an 'Arabian Steam Navigation Company' by the Saudi Government.
  • Details of the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate's concession with the Saudi Government for the exploitation of gold and other minerals, which was negotiated by Twitchell, signed in December 1934, and ratified by Ibn Saud in February 1935.
  • Reports of anti-Ibn Saud propaganda in the Indian Muslim press.
  • Details of the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate's activities in Saudi Arabia.
  • The history of the Ahrar movement in India, its political party, Majlis-i-Ahrar-i-Islam, and its reported condemnation of the recent Saudi mining concession.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (250 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 251; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-251; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 6/11 'Hejaz-Nejd Affairs: Economic Development in the Hejaz' [‎151r] (302/504), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2077, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100038032900.0x000067> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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