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 Quarries are regulated by a special ordinance. They may be worked under permits granted in the same way and on similar terms as prospecting permits for mines, a firman being unnecessary.

(b) Resources and Output

Syria is commonly supposed to be rich in minerals, but, though there have been many mining projects, the actual output is worth perhaps barely 2,000,000 frs. a year, quarries included. In 1907 the gross revenue to the Government from mines and quarries (salt workings excluded) was 24,135 frs.; in 1908 (without Jerusalem) 37,091 frs. The following notes refer chiefly to minerals which are being or have recently been exploited.

Asphalt. The principal mine is that of Hasbeya, on the slopes of Mount Hermon, which has been worked intermittently for a number of years. About 100 tons, of the value of 50,000 frs., is the average output, which is exported to Hamburg. Asphalt is also obtained in smaller quantities from the Dead Sea (where it is found floating on the surface, and is collected by the Arabs, who pay for a permit) and from the vicinity of Latakia, but a concession held by a Greek for mines at Kefrie and other villages in this district was revoked in 1917 on the ground that no mining was being done. An asphalt and lignite mine near Jezzin, for which a concession was granted some forty years ago, is not being worked.

Lignite has been obtained during the war in the Lebanon district to the amount of about 100 tons a day. It is found in various places, but occurs in thin seams, is of poor quality, and in normal times would hardly repay working, except perhaps at Haitura, near Jezzin. According to a recent report (1918), coal has begun to arrive in Beirut from a mine at Bhamdun, twelve miles to the south-east.