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Jaduguda, Bhatin, Turmadih (Turamdih), Banduhurang, Bagjata and Narwapahar (Naroapahar) |
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Jharkhand, India |
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U REE
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Super Porphyry Cu and Au
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The Jaduguda, Bhatin, Turmadih (Turamdih), Banduhurang, Bagjata and Narwapahar (Naroapahar) uranium mines are distributed over an interval of ~100 km along the generally NW-SE-trending curvilinear Singhbhum shear zone in Jharkhand state, in the vicinity of the city of Jamshedpur in northeastern India. The copper deposits of the Mosaboni Copper Belt are located within this same interval, with uranium being recovered from the copper tailings from some of these mines.
The Singhbhum shear zone, which is over 160 km long and 1 to 10 km wide, marks the boundary between the Archaean Singhbhum cratonic nucleus to the south and the Proterozoic fold belt to the north. The Singhbhum craton is an Archaean granite-greenstone terrain comprising: (i) extensive, composite granite-tonalite batholiths known as Singhbhum granite complex and (ii) the metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks of the Iron Ore Group (that include banded iron formations hosting major iron ore deposits), and associated mafic sills and dykes.
Several Proterozoic volcano-sedimentary basins also overlie the cratonic nucleus, including the Dhanjori Group immediately to the southwest of the Singhbhum shear zone in the vicinity of the copper and uranium mineralised sections of the structure. The Proterozoic rocks of the adjoining North Singhbhum Fold Belt, immediately to the north of the shear zone, are predominantly composed of siliciclastic rocks of the Singhbhum Group and Proterozoic volcanosedimentary rocks of the generally east-west-trending Dalma volcanic belt.
The Singhbhum shear zone cuts across the rocks of the Archaean Iron Ore and Singhbhum Group, and the Proterozoic Dhanjori Group. The metamorphosed/sheared rocks within the shear zone comprise chlorite, biotite, sericite, kyanite-quartzite or kyanite-sericite schists, metaconglomerate, tourmalinite, and 'soda granite' or feldspathic schist.
A characteristic example of the Singhbhum group of uranium deposits, Bagjata, is located 25 km SE of Jaduguda, within the shear zone, close to the boundary between the Singhbhum Group and the southeastern fringe of the Dhanjori Group. The host assemblage includes quartzites and meta-volcanic rocks of the Dhanjori Group, feldspathic schist ('soda granite'), garnetiferous muscovite schist, and kyanite-bearing quartzite or kyanite-sericite schist and brecciated quartz-albite-biotite rock. The meta-volcanics are represented by chlorite and amphibole schists with minor epidote and apatite, and albite-oligoclase porphyroblasts adjacent to contacts with feldspathic schist. The feldspathic schist comprises quartz and albite with varying amounts of biotite, chlorite, and muscovite, with common accessory epidote, tourmaline and apatite. The muscovite schist is predominantly composed of quartz and muscovite with garnet porphyroblasts, while the kyanite-quartzite and kyanite-sericite/muscovite schist occurs as bands and/or pockets, generally along the north-northeastern boundary of the shear zone.
Uranium and copper-bearing minerals in the Bagjata uranium deposit are mostly restricted to the chlorite and biotite schists, although low-grade uranium mineralisation is also found in the garnetiferous muscovite-sericite schist. Uraninite is the main uranium ore mineral, along with some Ti-U complexes (brannerite) and unidentified U silicates. The REE bearing minerals include monazite, epidote-allanite and unidentified REE oxides and/or carbonates. Although allanite occurs both in biotite schist and chlorite schist, the former is the main host to allanite.
The Pb-Pb dating of uraninite and sulphide provides ages of ~1.6 to 1.5 and ~1.77 Ga respectively, although multiple events of hydrothermal fluid flux and mineral growth are evident, with the earliest REE possibly having been introduced at 1.88 Ga, with a late REE rimming on pre-existing epidote-allanite at ~1 Ga.
At Jaduguda, there are two prominent, parallel ore lenses within sheared Proterozoic sediments of the Singhbhum shear zone, the Footwall and Hangingwall Lodes. These lodes both dip at ~40° NE, extend to down-dip for >880 m, and are separated by a 100 m wide barren zone. The Footwall lode, which is the better mineralised, extends over a NW-SE oriented length of ~600 m, while the Hangingwall Lode has a strike length of ~250 m.
The Bhatin mine is located ~4 km NW of Jaduguda, separated by a major north-south strike-slip fault which offsets the Singhbhum shear zone. Ore occurs within a 2 to 10 m thick lens that dips at 35° in a similar setting to that at Jaduguda.
The Narwapahar mine is located 12 km NW of Jaduguda. Several ore lenses extending over a strike length of ~2.1 km are known, with uranium minerals occurring as discrete grains within chlorite-quartz schist associated with magnetite. These lenses are have thicknesses of 2.5 to 20 m and dip at 30 to 40°.
The Turamdih deposit is 12 km NW of Narwapahar. A number of erratically distributed lenses occur within feldspathic-chlorite schists containing discrete uraninite grains.
The Banduhurang deposit represents the western extension of the Turamdih ore lenses and has been developed as a large open pit, unlike all of the others which are underground operations
Estimated 'reserves' within this group of deposits (Pal et al., 2011) amounts to ~215 Mt of ore containing 66 000 tonnes of recoverable U3O8. This would suggest an average grade of ~0.3 kg/t U3O8. The highest grades of 0.67 kg/t U3O8 are from the Jadaguda deposit, with 80% of the reserve being at grades of 0.15 to 0.49 kg/t U3O8. Approximately 27% of the low grade reserve (0.15 to 0.2 kg/t U3O8) is recoverable from the tailings of the Mosaboni, Surda, Rakha and Tamapahar copper mines.
The most recent source geological information used to prepare this decription was dated: 2011.
This description is a summary from published sources, the chief of which are listed below.
© Copyright Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, storage or dissemination prohibited.
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Selected References:
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Pal D C , Barton M D and Sarangi A K, 2009 - Deciphering a multistage history affecting U–Cu(–Fe) mineralization in the Singhbhum Shear Zone, eastern India, using pyrite textures and compositions in the Turamdih U–Cu(–Fe) deposit: in Mineralium Deposita v.44 pp. 61-80
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Pal D C and Rhede D, 2013 - Geochemistry and Chemical Dating of Uraninite in the Jaduguda Uranium Deposit, Singhbhum Shear Zone, India—Implications for Uranium Mineralization and Geochemical Evolution of Uraninite: in Econ. Geol. v.108 pp. 1499-1515
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Pal D C, Chaudhuri T, McFarlane C, Mukherjee A and Sarangi A K, 2011 - Mineral Chemistry and In Situ Dating of Allanite, and Geochemistry of Its Host Rocks in the Bagjata Uranium Mine, Singhbhum Shear Zone, India - Implications for the Chemical Evolution of REE Mineralization and Mobilization: in Econ. Geol. v.106 pp. 1155-1171
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Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd (PorterGeo) provides access to this database at no charge. It is largely based on scientific papers and reports in the public domain, and was current when the sources consulted were published. While PorterGeo endeavour to ensure the information was accurate at the time of compilation and subsequent updating, PorterGeo, its employees and servants: i). do not warrant, or make any representation regarding the use, or results of the use of the information contained herein as to its correctness, accuracy, currency, or otherwise; and ii). expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or conclusions contained herein.
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