The Mineral Resources Committee of the Imperial Institute has arranged for the issue of this series of Monographs on Mineral Resources in amplification and extension of those which have appeared in the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute during the past fifteen years.

The Monographs are prepared either by members of the Scientific and Technical Staff of the Imperial Institute, or by external contributors, to whom have been available the statistical and other special information relating to mineral resources collected and arranged at the Imperial Institute.

The object of these Monographs is to give a general account of the occurrences and commercial utilisation of the more important minerals, particularly in the British Empire. No attempt has been made to give details of mining or metallurgical processes.