Journal of Geological Society of India (Online archive from Vol 1 to Vol 78)

T. C. Devaraju ¹, R. H. Sawkar ², R. P. Viljoen ³, T. L. Sudhakara ², M. G. Omkesh Murthy ², S. Vijaya Kumar ², R. G. Vijaya Vikram ²

Affiliations
1 Rajamangala', Saptapur, Haliyal Road, Dharwad - 580 001, IN
2 Ramgad Minerals and Mining Pvt. Ltd., Baldota Enclave, Hospet - 583 203, IN
3 School of Geosciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, ZA

Abstract

The ultramafic-mafic rocks of the Archaean Holenarasipur greenstone belts of the western Dharwar craton in southern India has been explored for PGE and base metal mineralization. This initiative was prompted by the overall favourable geological setting and the presence of anomalies of Pt (10-27 ppb) and Pd (8-21 ppb) in several of the stream sediment samples collected from different parts of the belt. The exploration programme consisted of field examination and analysis of over 276 samples collected from a range of mafic-ultramafic rocks in four main exploration blocks of the belt viz. Yedegondanahalli, Bantaratalalu, Yenneholeranganabetta and Bettadasatenahalli. The investigation has revealed weak mineralization with 10 to 111 ppb Pt, 16 to 166 ppb Pd and 40 to 277 ppb of (Pt+Pd). Anomalies were located in serpentinite, amphibolite and sill/dyke-like bodies of hornblendite. Two small patches of sulphide mineralisation located in the belt, in the Yedegondanahalli and Yenneholeranganabetta blocks, are Cu dominated (>1.0 wt% Cu) and analyze up to 0.3 wt% Ni, 0.09 wt% Co, 40 ppm Ag and 0.5 ppm Au.

Keywords

Ultramafic-Mafic Rocks, PGE-Base Metal Exploration, Holenarasipur Belt, Dharwar Craton.

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