• GEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT, FEDERAtED

MALAY ST ATES.

THE ·

Geology of South Peral{ NURTH SELANGUR, AND THE DIND1NGS,

WITIJ A

GEOLOGICAL SKETCH-MAP.

BY

J. 8. SCRIVENOR, Geologist , f'edemted Malny Stotes,

AND

W. R. JONES, D,Se.,

F01'1/7e1'ly Assislalll Geologist , F ,M.s.

KUA LA LUMPUR : PRINTED AT THE FEDERATED MA(.AY STATE UOVERNUE NT PRESS. . .

,

OON TENT'S.

T'AG R.

Introduction IX.

CHAPTER 1. Previous literature. 1

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II. Physica1 features and geneml geological sketch 5

];II. The granite and allied rocks

IV. '1' he kaolin· veins

V. The topaz allU cassitel'.ite.bcn.l'iug' rocks of

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Ulu Bakftll and Ulu P ej;rti 32

VI. The limestone

VII. The limestone hills

VIII. The chert series 52

IX. The cla,ys and boulder.cla.ys of Killt.L 54

X. 'rhe qmLrtzites, phyllites, llud shn,les 65

XI. The tertial'y deposits 72

XII. Recent deposits, includillg lLHuvifLl tin.depos its 8~

XIII. PrinciplLl mines and occunences of t in·ore ill South Peral;: 110

XIV. Tin.deposits in limestone . ..

XV. Mineralizn,tioll in Ulu Selangor

XVI. Prospects of mining ana other miner;).] dcvelop.

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ments . " 152

.. XVII. 'rhe prospects of tho milling industry III Ulll Selrtngor . . . 166

"XVIII. The toul'maline-corundlllll rocks 171

XIX. Minfll'alogicftlnotcs 177

" XX. 'rho origin of tho cloys and bonlllcr. e; ln,.l's 184

OHAl.'TEU I.

PREVIOUS LITERATURE.

V ERY little has been written on the geology of the districts with which this volume i ' conccrned. The following is a list of

publications of original work: Doyle, P'LtriCk.-" On some Tin.Deposits of the Malay P eniusula, "

Quart. J01W. Geol. S oc., Vol. XXXV, 1879, pp. 229, 232. de 1a Croix, M . . J. Errington.- " J~es Mines d' ]]jtain de Pe rak .'~

'(Presqu'ile de ·Malacca,.) Paris, 11Il1>rimerie Nationale, 1882. In this comprehensive work Mr. :Errington de Ia Croi x g ives

a b"ief description of the geology of the Kinta ValJey. See pp. 1 ~,

]3, l!>, 18,47,67-73, also the map and Plate II. M,·. Enington de la Croix published ~LU earlier papcr ill 1881 Oll

the saIne lines as this in No.7 of the J01wnal of the Stm-its B?,(I.-nch oj the .Royal AHixtic Soc'iety (JUlie , ] 881, pp. 1-10) .

Tenison "Voods, Rev. J. E.-" Geolog'y of the Malaysall Pcniu8nla." Natm'e, Vol. XXX, p. 7G, 1884.

A short letter in which the gmnite ranges of P ern.k arc stated to he flanked by lower limestone l'idg s, forming detachecl hilL. The, e are evidently the Kiuta limestolle hills. " Thel'e is n. pal::eo7.0ic sandstone, clayslate or gueis '08e formation lying betwecll thc limc­stone and the granite."

Tcnison Woods, Rev. J . E.-" Physical Geogrn,phy or th e NJalay 'n,1l

Peninsula." Nat'lwe, Vol. XXXI, p. ] 52, 1884. III this communication the Rev. J . E, 1'on.i.8on 'Woods ,'fl.ys t lmt a

"ecent volcanic rock occurs in the Kinta RiveI' Valley. Tenison Woods, Rev, J. E.- " Report on the Geology [Lnd Physioal

Geography of the State of P erak." P1·OC. L 'innaean Soc., N ew S01~th Wales, Vol. IX, Part 4 of proceedings.

This paper gives the author's views in some detail. '1'he commencement of the paper shows that t he succession is misunderstood, The " pal::eozoic cliL)'s" fr 'quently referred to fLl'e evidently weathered phyllites and shales. 0 11 p . 18 tho followi ng passage occurs:

.. Near Papan, ill the Kinta District , on tIl e road between Batll Gajah and Paprm, there 'iF! a small utting through a recent volcanic rock. It is basiLltic, ann the appeal'ftllCe is very i i ke the doleritic lavas of Australia. A. small sectioll showed crystals of augito ill. a glassy paste with n.bundance of microliths anrl ma,gneti te. I n t he drifts about thi.s neighbourhood I fonud many rounded w;],terWOl'll pebbles of basalt, the vesiclefl of which a l'e cither filled with zeolites or lined with chalcedony. I believe this i.' tll e fh'st discovery of recent volcanic rock in thi.s part of t he Malfty Pcnin snia, n,nd of coursc

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thel' Olll ,t he more t Ilftll thi. rmmple. It is most interestino, as showing the lOI'mer connection of this laud with 1he ffl'e:1t vol anie belt whi('h 1'1111>1 thl'ongh .'11111n.11·", .Tayit au(l t.h o islands to th(\ east.wll.nl. Wha.tpvPI· connection t.here was h:18 110W completely dierl ou t nor does it lLppear probable that. its manilestation has .in fLny imporRLnt degree modified t.he physical geography of the P eninsuhL."

The fact thfl.t the tourmaline·corundum rocks are more abuud:1nt in this part of the Kinta. Valley than elsewhere makes m think it very prohable that they wero tho b:Lsalt referred to. I have not seen Itny baR~lt thero myself, hut not vel'Y long iLgO a nl1mber of tourmaline·corundum rocks figured ill thc Per:1k Musenm :18 "tmp rooks" from Kinta.

de Morgan, M. J.- " Note sur la Geologie et sur l'industrie Minicre du ROYll.ume de Perak et des pays Voisins." (Pre 'qu'lle de Malaeea. ) Pari., Ch. Dounod, 1886 (extrait rlos Annales des Mines, Mar .. Avril, 1886).

The first part of this paper is largely eoncel'lled wit h K int It, Plate VIn is a beautifully clear map of the Kint.!L V:1lley, and Plate IX gives some equally clear sections, blt t the limestone is shown above the schists.

Wl'ay, L., jun.- " Tho Tin Mines [Lild the Mining' Industries of POl'uk," Ch. II. Pel'ak lIlnsewrn Nol es, No.3, pp. ] 9.22, 1894.

Chapter n of tLi. work is a keteh of the geology of P rak ::md inclurles Kinta.

Wl'ay, I.;., jun.-" 'fhe Black Limestone of Kantun ing," P emlc ;U11SetWI Notes, No.1 , p. 29, 1893.

In thi s paper MI'. Wmy sa.ys "ill the schi stose heds bcneath the limestone, graphit~ lut8 been fOllnd n.t Bn,tn GrLjah." MI'. 'Wmy refcrs to carbonaceous shales, which n.re not 1I1JCO mmOU, but they arr above the limestolle.

Collot, O. J. A .-" Etude Miniere ct, Politiq Ll 8m les Etats Federes Malais." Brussels, Libraire Falk Fil ', 1903.

This book cont,ains the author's vi ws of the geology of the miliing (listricts, including Kinta (pp. 73.95), but, unfortlll1fLtely. he hn.s the succession wrong (pp. 79·80) .

On p. 81 is a photograph showing limestone bed-rock iu a mine fLt Rawang, Ulu Selangor.

Mons. Collet's work, which is little known, i. well worth reading. Penrose, R. A. P. , jlln.- " 'fhe 'I'in.Deposit s of the M::Llay P ellinsulrL

with special reference to those of t he Kinta District. " Jom'nalof Geology, Ckicago , Vol. Xl, No.2, pp. 135.154, 1903.

This is a very interesting paper il1ustra.ted I y nurnet·ou s photo. graphs. MI'. Penrose evidently thought alluvium to be IrLrg'cly devrloped in the Killt!t District, which he sta tes lUI S no rletiuij'e boundaries (p.140) . On p. 145 :1 list of minerals associa.tecl with the tin·ol·piu Kinta is given. Among these hOJ'llbJ.cule mul apphirc [1,1'e mentioned, which] have not :vet seen, fLlt hough pOOl' specimens of [1,pphire have beclJ found :1t 'hclldr.iang in t he IlrLtall g PadlLng

District. Rhodochrosi.te also, mentioned on p. 147 ftS occllrring in limestone with till-ore, I bftve been a,s yet unablE) t.o prove. A stfttement on p. 139 shows thftt Mr. P elll'OSe thought that cel'trtln sandstone beels he saw wero youngol' thall tho limo,'tollo, but 1)0

appears to have a.lso thought thorn to be younger than the granite, so it is doubtful if he refers to the weathered quart7.itos .

'fhe author also refers to Bl'u 'oh, but state' that h d id not visit this locality, his remarks beiug ba.sed on ,' pecimens of ore and rook (pp. 147, 148) .

F.twns, Sydney.- " Tin-Deposits of the ·Worlel." 'fhe Mini?1f1 Jo~wnal (publishers), London, 1905.

Rumbold, W . R.- " '1'he '1'ln-peposits of the Kint[L Valley. " Read before tile American Institute of Mining Engineers. l~eprinted in the Mining JmM'nal, 1906, Vol. LXXX, p. 460.

Mr. Rumbold gives a section of the Kinta Valley and describes briefly alluvial deposits, the tin-deposits .in ' limestone and granite, and disousses their origin.

Noyes, H. H erbert .-" Tin Deep-leads in Selangor." 1I1ining Jo~wnal , Vol. LXXIX, 1906, J.Jondon, p. 690.

'This is n, shor t f1rticle in whioh the writer states that it is the invariable c ust~ 111 oE the Chinese to forsake stmJl1ifel'o ll s country when tho, hallow: aud easily-worked el opo, its of alluvial t. in-ore fl l'C' [tpproachino' exhaustion . He illustmtes t.ho difficul ty of working tllO deepel' deposits which, he say'", to bis certain lm owlodg are present iu the Serend.ah Valley.

"Val'uford J.Jock, C. G.-" Mining in M.:Llaya for Gold and Tin, " T,olldon, 1907.

J ohnsen, A.- " ·Sekunc1are ZwillingslamelJen im ZillU ·tc ill ." Centj'alblatt JUj·. Min. Geol. ~md ' Pc~la,eont, 1908, p. "1,26.

This refers to cas'siterite from Selangor. Wolff, ·W .-" 1m Malaiischen UrwaJd und Zillugebirge. " Berlin,

1909. Roux-Brahis, J .- " -mtude du District Staunifcre de 'reHah ."

Bordeaux. Gounouilh ou, 1910. Osborne, F. Dougla.s.·-" Tin Resources of the Empir ." l~ead

before tIle Society of Arts, London. 31st January, Unl. Scrivenor, J . B.-" 'The Lahat 'Pipe' in P erak" Quaj·t. Jom·.

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G-eol. Soc., LXV, pp. 382-389, 1909. "'Tho Tourmaline-corundum Rocks of Kintn .. "

• Q~~aj't. J07~j'. Geol. Soc., J.JXVI, pp. 43- -449. 1910.

" The Gopeng Beds of K inta." Quaj·t. J om·. Geol. Soc ., LXVIII, pp. 140-163, ] 912.

" On ;Lll Occurrence of Native Copper wit h Tin-ore in the Federated MfLlflY State,"." Mining N[aga~ine , XV, pp. 299-301, 1910.

"Notes ou Cassiterite in the Malay Peninsulrt. " Jlfin'ing]f(~ga~ine, XVI, pp. 11 -120, 1011.

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Se1'il'enol'. J.

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R -" Geologi;;t's J-{.epol't of Progress, September, 1903-Jamlltry, 1907." KUILIn, Lumpur,

. Government Press. 1907. ",]~ho Origin of Tin.Deposits." Kllo,]n, TJllmpUl',

Government Press, Hi09. "Notes on Prospecting for

Federated MahLY States." Government Press, 1911.

" '1'he Geological History PeuinsnliL." Q1ta1·t. J om'. LX'IX, ] 913, pp. 343·371.

Tin-ore in the Kuala Lumpur,

of the Malay Gool. Soc., Vol.

" '}'11e '1'opaz·be:tring rocks of Gunong Bakau." Q1t:1-1·t,..To'/t1· . Geo/.. Soo., Vol. LXX, ] 914, pp. 363·381.

., The Deposits of Tin-ore in the Limestone of the Kinta VfLUey, PerfLk, Federated MalfLY States. Ipob, 1914.

"The Junction of the Malayan Gondwana Clays witll the Mesozoic Granite of the Malay Peninsula. Geol. Ma,g. ; 191.4, pp. 309-311. •

JOIlf'R, W. n" .. - " CI;LYs of Econom ic Impol't,mc(> in t.he l"ederated Malay States," Kuab Lumpur, Government Press, 1915.

"Mineralir.ation ill MalaY1L. " ~l'he Mining lIfagadne, OctobeJ'-December, 1915. .

"'1'he Origin of 'ropaz and Ca,ssiterite in Ma,)aya,," Geol, Mag" June, 1916, pp. 255-260.

"~r'j; e Secondary StfLlllliferoll s Deposits of the lCint1L District, " Q1ta1't . J01t1'. Geol , Soo" Vol. JJX)qr, pt, 3, pp. 165-197,

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CHAP'l 'EH II.

PHYSICAL FEA'I'UH,ES AND GENEI~AL GEOLOGICAL SKETCH.

T HE main physical fe. tures of South P eral.. and N ortll Seh.ngor Lm.y be sULl1marized as follows : On the ea,st is a portion of the

Main Granite Range of the P eninsula, that extends from Negri Semuilall to a little-known par t of the P eninsula beyond the source of the Perak River, the highest peak being Kerbau or Ria1l1 (7, 160 feet). Othcr granite ranges are the Kledang Range 0 11 the west of Kinta (highest peak P~ninj'Lu, 3,469 feet) and the higher nwge on the west of tIle Perak River that stl'otcbes northwards past '1'aiping [LIld ends neal' Grik, in Upper Pemk (highest pefLk in the south, GUllong Bubu, 5,434 feet, S.W. of Kuala Kangsar ). A few isolated outcrop,' of granite are known ; for instance, the large outcrop ~tt Tapah, and the granite hill at KmLhL Selangor, and, most extensive ·of all , t he Dindings. In Kinta, at the foot of the Ma,in Range ,we the limestone hills. Further south, beyond Tapab, on desceuding from the granite hills, a rough jungle-covered country is entered, stretching fa.r down into Selallgor and containing hills of quartzite and shale (e.g., Besut 1,420 feet, BehLhL 1,450 feet). '1'0 the west ofthi~ quartzite and slu. le country is a broad plain about 50 feet cLbove sea-level, alld composed of recent detritus. This ex tends nort,hW[Lrds, past the g ufLl'tll ite hills, through Lowcr Perak, into IJarut. Iu SiHangor slIIi111 q uartr.ite and shale hills rise £1'0111 this pIa,in and t he avaibhle evidence lea ves no doubt that they ~Ll1d the ICuala, SollLu!:,or gl'Ctnite were once islands III

the sea like Puliw Augsa of the present chty. Although covering [L large area. it happens thctt it is pOlSs ible to

look oyer the greater part of the country with which this volume is concerned from one of our hill-stations, the bungalows on Kledang. and from the trigonomehical beaeon just ttbove t.hem, whence one obtains the most extensive view. 1i'o1' becwty, and for interest, the view from Kledang would be hard to surpass. Its chief interest is in the fact that to the west of the rang' lies the P erak Valley with the river winding <Lll1ong Malay kampongs, giving place to virgin jungle at no great distance from the stream, a vctlley in which there has been little change for many years, which is essentially a Mahty country and agricultural, while on t he east is wha,t we know as the Kint,a Valley, the richest tin-producer in the world and supporting a large Chinese population. Here virgin jungle is not easy to discover 'between the mountain l'lLU~es: imsiei1d iLre splashes of whit.e, yellow, i.Jrowu, retl , and the sparkle of innumerable pools warkiug the site of old Uliniug operations, tLud in tl10 cen tre, t he sorn bl'e g reens vf l'uhbel' -el:l t[Ltes.

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\ L nigh t also the coutrast is lllainhLiued. From the P erak V'Llley no 'OLIllJ COllles aud rarely ,L ligh t. The I{inta Valley on the other h llnd

is ltbhLze with lights marking: the sites of towns and mining villages, eeLcb iL constellation tbat Ol1e lea1'1ls to recognize readily.

The P erak Valley is flanked ou the west by the granite range of which, iu the south, Bubu is the principal peale This range dies ,Lway ill the vicinity of PILrit and gives place to a broad flat plain extendillg as far as the sea. '1'0 the south. west, however, the plain is broken by the grauite hills of the Dindings. To the sou th of the Dil1c1ings oue can see the Pulau Sembilau, and beyond them, on a very clear day, Pulau Jarak, an island far out in the ·Stra.its of MfLlacca,

1 }1'rolll the summit ()f Kledang, the peaks of the Klec1aug Range t o the north Clm be followed beyond CMmor, aud the limestone hills 011 t he border of the K .ita and Kuala Kangsar Districts ,u'e visible, Southward is Guuong Hijau, the lllst granite peak of the range, which is then succeeded by low quartzite and shale hills that can be followed beyond Trouoh and culminate in the distant quart.zite hill, Bukit 'l'unggal. Beyond these. quartzite hills one can catch a glimpse of the P erak River between Tcluk .Anson and its mouth, where it flows past the fla t laud of Bagan Dato' to the left of which the horizon is uubroken hy any hill until one comes to Changkat J ong', :111 outlier of the quartzite hills in tIle Lower Pemk and Bi1ta,llg P cLdu,ng Distriets, wIlich are n1cltrly visible from Kledang, i1nd of the quarhite hills in North Schmgol', which belong to the Si1l1le group lLUd Ci1n be dimly discel'lleu uuder gOGd atmospheric conditions h OIll the same mountaiu.

To the left of the .Batang Pac1fLllg qultrt \lite hill l:l, but mnch Ileare]', i::; the granite IlIa"u; of Rujallg MehLka, jut.t ing out fro m the l\i aill Ha11g-e with Kltlllpar at its foot.. On the left of Bujang Mi'lhLku, the limestone hill s begin and one Ci1n distiugui i:lh the pass that leu,ds over to Chendriang from KuahL Dipang. 'Ihen follow t he great gmnite ltJoun1ains of the Main RiLll ge wi th Clmbang (5,610 feet) and K Cl'ball , conspicuous, the former fol' what I\ppear ' to. be its isohLted conical peak, which is really the end of a long r idge given off from the higher mountains behind, the latter for i ts great height ,Lnd rugged outline. .

Below the Main Range are the limestone hill s with their white cliffs and i1'l'egular contolll's. Between Bujang MeIaka ,md Gopeng is one gl'OUp rising to 2,080 feet. 'rhen comes a gap, followed by ~L few small isolated hills alld then a large group inclucliug Lanno, Rapat, and Tcrcndam, 'rhis group is bounded on the north by cliffs trending east and west and is followed by ILnother gap. The next group is formed by the hillR near Ampang and 'Iambul1 , and is flanked on the west by It line of smaller hills. F inally, in the nor th , 11.1'0 the two hills, Kuallg and Kautang.

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Betwcen the M,Lin l~~Lllge and the KlechLll.g RlLll ge is the Kinta Valley, a broad tract of country with [L small strefLIIl, the Kinta River, that does 110t look Citpa,ble of hfwi ng excavated such ~tn enormous trough.

1!-'rolll Kledal1g rolling coutours can be detected here and there in the valley, but it appears to be one fairly fbt stretch of country. If we travel over it, however, we find that this is not the ClLse. To the north of I poh the country is undulating, Between Ipoh, 'I'amhun, and Arnpang it is almost level, hut for the limestone hill '. South of Ipoh the Kinta River winds through agricultural ],lnd for a. time and then enters lL long tract of fhLt, swampy ground . Until Batu Gaj l1h is reached tili!; rises on the we,· t through lllining hLlld to thc Klcdang R'Lnge and the spur tlutt separate ' the J olmll YfLlle.y from thc main vurt of the range. On the OGLHt it termhw,te' abmptly 'L!pinst hilly land composed in part of sh::l1e and luartllite, and in part of limes tone. At Batu Gajah the Hlining land on t he west nelLl' t.he Kinta River ends and gives place to shale and quartllite hills that extend [LS far as Tanjong 'I'oalang to the south and to the nor th as far as ." Redhills." This r<1u ge of hills form s . a watershed b tween the Johan etlid Kinta on the one hand etnd the Mendrus etucl Siputeh on the other, draining the Pusing a,ud Siputeh mine-fields. . On the east the hilly land is cut through by the Sungai Raia. fwd continues until the drainage of the K!LlUpal'. River is reltchec1.

As the eye tmvels along the Rintlt Valley <Lnd beyond Kampar towltrcls the sea one ca,lls to miud the evideuce tlmt has been obtained of a rccent elevation of .the P eniusula . 'I'here is evidence at Bltglm Dato' in the forUl of a beach 'ome miles inland. '1'here is further evic1enue .in Kilc1ah ; but the most striking testimony has been found ill Perlis, where the ddu1'is of ;t beadlwas found in et lill1estone ca.ve, . 11 milcs inland [Lml abollt 300 feet ::Lboyc sea-level. This cavc is in Bukit Chuping and is one of those from which phosphate is obt lLined. Now if the land were to sink again so that the sea could wash more shells ltnd remains of crustacea into tllis Cf1ve, It couple of aneroid baromete rs n.nd ::L comparison with known heights show that 110t only would the Kinta Valley , the limestone hills ltml some of the shale and quartzite hills, bc ullderthe sea, but the Kleda.ng Rf11lge would be all island. On the eitst of the is1alld would be a narrow strait covering the sites of Ipoh, Ch elllOl', SU11gai Siput, and Sala,k North, aud connecting with the PeraIc River Yalley, which would ~tl ' o be under sea water for a large part of its course, near Kuala Rangsar. 'I'lle Klcdallg island would have sOlIlewhat the sa,me relation to the Main .Range as Pulau Pangkor has 1,0 the Dilldings Lo-day, and the Hat country of Matang, north of the Dindillgs, the fiat country between the Dindillgs [LIld the Bel'11am _River, [LIld its continuation in the KlH~la SClangor Distl'i ct, woulll bc under about 40 fathollis of sea water. It is at Jeas.t prohLble thaI, what we call the Kiuta V<Lllcy 1I0W is not '.L vfLlley fOl'mell by the Kill LlL H,i vel', lJut ,L pltLiu of lU~1l'ille

u.clludlLtion, aDd th,Lt Lbe reId river vZlll eY I:i lLl't:) those in ille graniLe

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