Radioactive mineral deposits in india

A brief presentation on the radioactive mineral deposits and REE mineral deposits in India.

1. RADIOACTIVE MINERAL DEPOSITS IN INDIA Presented by:- Arvind Shukla M.Sc.(Final),Applied Geology Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of Allahabad Email:[email protected]

2. INTRODUCTION The term 'radioactivity' originates from the Latin term 'radius', meaning 'rod' or 'ray' and 'activity. Radioactivity was discovered in 1896 by the French physicist and professor Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. Antoine Henri Becquerel ( 1852-1908) who shared the Nobel Award in 1903 with Pierre and Marie Curie for the discovery. Radioactive Minerals are discrete minerals of Uranium and /or Thorium as uraninite ( of U) and thorite (of Th ). They also occur in notable quantity like mineral of Rare Metals ( Nb , Ta, Li, Be, Sn , W etc)

3. TYPES OF RADIOACTIVE MINERALS Broadly divided in- Primary Secondary Primary minerals are those formed directly from magmas , hydrothermal solution and groundwater. Example- Uraninite , Thorianite Secondary mineral are formed due to remobilization of elements from primary minerals, their transportation in solution and later precipitation due to oversaturation in oxidizing or supergene environment . Example- Thorogummite ( Th , supergene environment)

4. Some example of Radioactive Minerals- Autunite (Hydrated calcium uranium phosphate) Brannerit e (Uranium Titanate ) Carnotite (Potassium Uranium Vanagate ) Monazite ( A mixed REE & Th phosphate) Thorianite ( Thorium oxide) Uraninite ( Uranium dioxide)

5. OCCURRENCE OF RADIOACTIVE MINERALS Occur in very low content in different rock types- Magmatic or igneous rocks (~2ppm in the crust) Sedimentary rocks Metamorphic rocks of low grade like phyllite and schist In the magmatic rocks , they usually concentrate in acidic, plutonic rocks which include granitoids –pegmatite, and volcanic rocks like rhyollites and acid tuffs. Minerals like monazite and zircon also occur in placer derived from such magmatic rocks.

6. Continued…. Amongst the sedimentary rocks , sandstones, pyrite-bearing Quartz -pebble conglomerates and phosphatic and carbonaceous rocks are good hosts for uranium minerals. Low grade metamorphic rocks like Phyllite and schist subjected to metasomatic alterations involving addition of volatiles within the structurally weak zones are loci for uranium minerals Thorium minerals occur generally in acidic igneous rocks and high grade metamorphic rocks and placers derived from these rocks.

7. MAJOR TYPES OF URANIUM DEPOSITS- Based on the geological setting and economic significance the uranium deposits in India occur in following main types: Hydrothermal or vein type Sandstone type Unconformity –proximal type Stratabound carbonate -hosted type Other type

8. INDIAN OCCURRENCES- Majority of these resource occur in 3 Uranium Provinces: Singhbhum Uranium Province Mahadek Uranium Province Cuddapah Uranium Province Singhbhum Uranium Province- This province is located in Eastern Region. All the occurrences are of vein type. The Uranium occurrences are spread over 180 km long arcuate Singhbhum shear zone and important deposits are as follows:

9. Continued….. Jaduguda: Located in East Singhbhum district. It is the first place where exploration was done. The mineralization is associated with conglomerate and chlorite schist of Singhbhum group of Proterozoic age . Bhatin : It lies 2 km west of Jaduguda along the Singhbhum shear zone. Mineralization is associated with brecciated quartzite and biotite chlorite schist, which are highly sheared. Mining is in progress. Narwapahar : It lies 10 km west of Jaduguda along the Singhbhum shear zone. The host rock for uranium mineralization is chlorite-quartz schist and the mineralization is spread over 2000 meters along the strike .

10. Continued…. Turamdih : A cluster of deposits located nearly 20 km west of Jaduguda. Uranium mineralization is associated with chlorite quartz schist. Mohuldih : Located 5 km west of Turamdih . The host rock is tourmaline bearing quartz schist, quartzite and chlorite quartz schist. Bagjata : It is located nearly 25 km South East of Jaduguda. Mineralization is hosted by quartz chlorite biotite schist Other smaller uranium occurrences along this shear zone, in a similar geological set up are: ( i ) Kanyaluka (ii) Garadih (ii) Nimdih (iv) Rajgaon and (v) Nandup .

11. 2) Mahadek Uranium Province: This province is located in the Northeastern Region . The Cretaceous Mahadek Formation in Meghalaya contains the largest and richest sandstone hosted uranium deposit of the country. Domiasiat : Located in West Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya. It is a sandstone type deposit in which mineralization occurs in Lower Mahadek arkosic sandstone with abundant carbonaceous matter and pyrite nearer to the granitic basement contact. Wahkyn : It is located 10 km WSW of Domiasiat in a similar geological set up . The mineralization occurs over a large area on both banks of Wahblei river.

12. 3)Cuddapah Uranium Province: This province is located in the Southern and South Central Regions . It contains the Proterozoic unconformity related uranium deposit. Cuddapah basin also hosts a unique stratabound uranium deposit. Some of the uranium occurrences identified in southern region are: Tummalapalle Rachakuntapalle - It is located 12 km south of Pulivendla in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh. The host rocks are phosphatic , siliceous dolostones of Vempalle Formation of Cuddapah Supergroup . It is a unique type of stratabound deposit hosted in carbonate rocks and occurs over 6600 m strike length.

13. ( ii) Gogi : It is located in Gulburga district of Karnataka . The host rocks are deformed limestones of Bhima Group and the basement granites. It is a structurally controlled vein type of deposit. Lambapur : It is located in the Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh . Mineralisation is hosted by Srisailam quartzite. Peddagattu : It is lying in very close proximity to Lambapur deposit. Same geological setting.

14. THORIUM DEPOSITS- In the form of the mineral. Monazite that is associated with other beach placer minerals like Ilmenite , rutile , garnet, sillimanite and zircon, occur at many places along the East and West Coasts of India. Monazite contains about 9-10% of ThO 2 Indian Occurrences- Chhatrapur-Gopalpur in Orissa Bhavanapadu-Kalingapatnam-Bhimunipatnamin Andhra Pradesh Mavalakurichi , besides Teri inland placers, in Tamil Nadu Chavara in Kerala Ratnagiri in Maharashtra .

15. RARE METAL –RARE EARTH DEPOSITS: Deposits of rare metal minerals: Columbite -tantalite (for Nb -Ta) Cassiterite ( Sn ), spodumene-lepidolite (Li) Beryl (Be) OCCURRENCE- Mainly in the pegmatite belts of Bastar (Chhattisgarh) Malkangiri (Orissa), Marlagalla (Karnataka) And in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan Deposits of Rare Earths, in the form of minerals, xenotime and monazite- Occur in the riverine placers of the Siri River in the Jashpur district (Chhattisgarh) Deo River in the Gumla district (Jharkhand)

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