Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences
Title : | Petrogenesis of the Vanadiferous Magnetite Mineralization in the Channagiri Ultramafic-Mafic Complex: Implications for Ore Genesis and Exploration |
Area of research : | Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Ria Mukherjee, Indian Institute Of Science Education And Research (IISER) Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh |
Timeline Start Year : | 2023 |
Timeline End Year : | 2026 |
Contact info : | ria.mkrj@gmail.com |
Equipments : | Portable hand held XRF |
Details
Executive Summary : | The project aims to study magnetite layers from the Masanikere deposit of the Western Dharwar Craton (WDC), including surrounding deposits of Tavarikere, Ubrani, Gaurapur, and Hanumalapur, all belonging to the Channagiri Ultramafic-Mafic Complex. The aim is to understand their genesis and explore compositional heterogeneities or anomalies, particularly with respect to Cr and V, which are compatible in magnetite. The study will use a hand-held portable XRF (pXRF) to map the absolute abundances and distribution of Cr2O3 and the TiO2/V2O5 ratios across the magnetite layers. Vanadiferous-Ti magnetite bodies are reported from the upper stratigraphy of layered intrusions and greenstone belt complexes, where magnetite occurs as discontinuous bands, lenses, and veins associated with non-layered and massif gabbro-anorthosite complexes. The Ti-V rich magnetites from the Channagiri Ultramafic-Mafic Complex will be studied to understand parental magma and magmatic processes and tectonic settings responsible for forming these bodies. The Masanikere magnetitite layers are considered to have the potential for Cu due to the presence of disseminated sulfides like pyrites and chalcopyrites. It will be important to check the reasons for sulfide saturation in these magnetitites. In many layered mafic intrusions, the magnetitite ore bodies have been found to host Pd-dominated platinum-group element (PGE) ores that are associated with minor occurrences of sulfide minerals. A detailed petrographic study using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) will be conducted to screen the magnetitite layers for Platinum Group Minerals (PGMs). |
Total Budget (INR): | 50,00,000 |
Organizations involved