Manganese ores of the Ghoriajhor-Monmunda area, Sundergarh District, Orissa, India: geochemical evidence for a mixed Mn source

Abstract

Abstract The Proterozoic sedimentary manganese ores of the Gangpur Series, Orissa, India are of gonditic type and are variable in size, depth and grade of ore. The host sediments were deposited in a shallow shelf environment, as reflected in the variable clastic input into the sequence. Braunite and hollandite are the principal ore minerals, with bixbyite, rare jacobsite and rare vredenburgite. Manganese minerals in the gondites are spessartine and rhodite, together with quartz and aluminosilicates. Supergene weathering and enrichment of the ore horizon and gondite produced secondary ores composed of cryptomelane and pyrolusite. The geochemistry of the deposits shows Mn/Fe≈4, low trace element concentrations and arsenic enrichments that exceed 3000 mg kg −1 . These are interpreted as indicating a mixed hydrogenetic-hydrothermal source for the manganese oxides of the original precurser (pre-metamorphism) sediments. Regional metamorphism to amphibolite grade transformed this variable oxide-clastic sequence into manganese ores, sharply interbedded with gondites.