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  • Occurrence, Emplacement & Origin of Apatite Deposits of Kasipatnam of Vishakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh, India

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    Purushottam Gupta
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    genesis of apatite magnetite veins in khondalites

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    OCCURRENCE, EMPLACEMENT & ORIGIN OF APATITE DEPOSITS OF KASIPATNAM OF VISHAKHAPATNAM DISTRICT ,ANDHRA PRADESH , INDIA

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    genesis of apatite magnetite veins in khondalites

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    132 visualizzazioni20 pagine

    Occurrence, Emplacement & Origin of Apatite Deposits of Kasipatnam of Vishakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh, India

    Caricato da

    Purushottam Gupta
    genesis of apatite magnetite veins in khondalites

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Scarica in formato PDF o leggi online su Scribd
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    ON THE OCCURRENCE, EMPLACEMENT AND ORIGIN OF THE APATITE DEPOSITS OF KASIPATNAM IN VISAKHAPATNAM DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH by R. Cnoupnurt® and K. C. Banerst, Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd., Planrung and Development Division, Sindri, Bihar (Communicated by Prof, S. C. Chatterjee, FNA) (Received 24 December 1974; after revision 4 May 1976) The paper describes the genesis of the apatite/pegmatite veins occurring along 1 preferred set of soints, traversing a central massif of charnockite and gneiss, wrapped around by Khondalite in an area bounded by Lat 18° 20'N and 18° J0'N and Long 83° S'E and 83° 15°E. ‘The apatite-pegmauites present a complex mineralogy with zonal assem= blages and wall rock metasomatism is intensive and structurally controlled, The origin of the apatite vein appears to be by injection of a pegmatitic fluid from 2 magmatic source. The source 1s not known since the material cannot be considered as having been derived from any of the rock types seen to occur in the area. However, the possibilities of a genetic link between the apatite bearing veins and carbonatite in the light of some proved carbo- ante complexes of the world have also been discussed. The mineralogy and geochemistry of the veins, however suggest an alkali syenitic association and the probability, therefore, is that a magmatic fraction enriched in volatiles was injected from a subjacent chamber filled with alkaline magma of intermediate composition, Iyrropuction Acuteness of the need and its relative availability in particular time and in a particular country are the two parameters that bestow a mineral with strategic importance. In a dominantly agricultural country like India, 1t is needless to emphasise the role of fertilizers in boosting up economic stability. Of the three dominant fertilizer- nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, India is at present producing a substan- tral amount in respect of the first one only. In respect of phosphatic fertilizers, the production is still far below the targeted figure, mostly because of indigenous raw materials’ scarcity. Most of the rock was being imported, but in the IV Five Year Plan, attempts have been made to reverse this trend. To what extent would this be possible, largely depends upon the development of acceptable indigenous resources, keeping in mind that, as on date, hardly 25 to 30 per cent of these resources are in an acceptable form. The country’s planned requirement of rock phosphates will be Present Address: Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Ltd., Udaipur. Vol. 42, A, No. 5 388 R, CHOUDHURI & K. C, BANERIL around 5 to 6 million tonnes by 1975 which is about double the present figures. Therefore, most of our hitherto proved resources would require either considerable beneficiation or will have to wait for adequate technological development enabling use of medium or low grade deposits. Moreover, the production pattern today is such that about 50 per cent of the total Rock Phosphates (Imported plus indigenous) are used in superphosphate production and the rest are diverted for complex fertili- lizers through the phosphoric acid route. During the next few years, the production of phosphoric acid would account for nearly 70 per cent of the Rock Phosphate con- sumption in India. The problem would therefore be further aggravated because the quality stipulations on the raw material for the presently used wet process phosphoric acid manufacture are far more rigid, not only in respect of its P,O, assay. but also in yespect of the associated minerals/impurities in it. In view of the above, every possible effort should be channelised in the direction of discovery of any kind of phosphate ores so that our planned production capacities are not limited on account of the shortage of this strategic mineral. Keeping the above objective in view, the present study embodies the genesis of the apatite bearing veins of the Visakhapatnam area. The study has an added significance, since the apatite bearing veins of the area show certain features, charac teristic of carbonatites, which have proved to be virtual store house for many other strategic minerals, apart from apatites. The occurrence of apatite-bearing pegmatite veins in the charnockitic country rock in the Kasipatnam area of Visakhapatnam district, A.P. has added a degree of geological interest to the terrain that is beyond what is normal, owing to a char- nockite-khondalite complex in the Eastern Ghats, where such lithology is pervasive The feasibility of economic exploitation of the apatite, demonstrated by the com- ‘mencement of small scale mining by a local entrepreneur early in the nineteen sixtees, attracted the attention of the Fertilizer Corporation of India, which was looking for indigenous raw material for phosphatic fertilizer. Beyond a little information regarding the extent of the veins being worked, and some preliminary prospecting and reconnaissance reports, nothing much regarding the geology of the area was known. The reports of some unusual mineral assemblages provided an incentive to the authors to work out the controls and genetic aspects of mineralisation in the hope of rationally extrapolating these concepts and to establish their economic potential. Locat GroLocy In the present area, the dominant lithounits are, khondalites, charnockites, calc-silicates, granitic gneisses, granites and apatite bearing pegmatites, all reflecting the typical assemblages of the Eastern Ghats. The essential units of the geology and their relationship pertinent to the present discussion is shown in Map (Fig. 1). In the absence of intrinsic way-up evidence of stratigraphic facing in these rocks, it is not possible to deduce the stratigraphic sequence in the area without extensive integration of results from work done outside the area studied here. ‘A central massif of charnockite and gneiss is wrapped around by khondalite. The charnockite massif occurs in an antiform with a SW trend, modified by cross OCCURRENCE, EMPLACEMENT & ORIGIN OF APATITE DEPOSITS 389 yo sees | {cgay ryporeccns soma ap even 8 Fic. 1. Generalised geological map of the area, folding to a dome towards the south-western closure. The enveloping khondalite is internally folded into a tight synform. Extensive fracturing in the charnockite is dominated by a set of master joints, transverse to the axis of the antiform, in which are emplaced veins of apatite and apatite-pegmatite. (See Fig. 2). The khondalites are clearly metasediments. The charnockite, occupying two third of the total area is made up of rocks whose dominant mafic minerals are pyroxene (both ortho- and clino-), biotite, garnet, hornblende and opaques. The rocks can be broadly described under the headings, pyroxene granulite (basic) and gneissic charnockite (intermediate to acid). The charnockites contain irregular patches of 390 R. CHOUDHURI & K. C. BANERIL MOSLIKONDA 8 yeaa : <= SSR | DARBANDAM HONDA Sg? i = Kol Shorampuram —Litkavelosa it KONDAPART! KONO: 2 Reguiabolase Ros tebe eRe n gua Kandpart [Thames pit Pane m0 TALE Fic, 2. Map showing distribution and names of the apatite veins of the area. rock having granitic composition and conformable metasedimentary calc-silicates (Choudhuri & Banerji 1974), quartzite and the whole assemblage is suspected also to have been derived from a sedimentary complex. Magmatisation and potassic metasomatism are widespread and there is enough evidence to suggest a metasomatic transition of charnockite to gneiss of granitic composition. ‘The charnockite-khondalite relation is transitional with leptynites demarking the passage zone. The total metamorphic assemblage is of the granulite facies, OCCURRENCE, EMPLACEMENT & ORIGIN OF APATITE DEPOSITS 391 characterised by the high pressure anhydrous charnockite-khondalite association modified by diapthoretic migmatisation Move oF OCCURRENCE OF APATITE/PEGMATITE VEINS ‘The veins of apatite-bearing pegmatite and of pure apatite have been found in most cases to be strictly parallel to a preferred set of fractures trending approximately NW-SE and having a steep (75°) south-westerly dip. However, a few veins forming an isolated group near Regulavalasa, have a trend N10°W. Most of the veins are confined to rocks of charnockitic affinity. A few veins, however, eg., B-9, SR2&2(Figs. 1 & 2) show a cross-cutting relationship with the cale-granulite bands while Nand vein has been found to be confined exclusively to the khondalite. The mineralised fractures trend almost normal to the regional strike in the area. Immediately around the mineralised fractures, there are a number of closely spaced parallel but barren fractures. This feature appears to be quite significant and will be discussed later. The veins usually occur in the form of lenses (Fig. 3) ranging in length from a few metres to 150 m. The thicknesses of these veins also vary considerably from a few cm to 2.5 metres. However, the variation in width of the veins when com- pared with their length, appears insignificant. The lenses are frequently arranged in an en-echelon pattern with occasional sinistral or dextral drift, Ia many cases major veins have been found to be accompanied by parallel minor veins. How- ever, evidences of sinuous nature together with pinch and swell structures (Fig, 4) at depth have also been noticed in a few cases such as in a pit southeast of Rb, y in Regulavalasa and also in a pit near SR, vein in Sitarampuram. STRUCTURAL AND TEXTURAL FRAME WORK OF APATITE BEARING PEGMATITE AND THE WaLL Rock Most of these veins show distinct zonal arrangement (Figs. 5 & 6) (lateral and vertical) of symmetrical as well as asymmetrical type. The constituent zones of the individual apatite bearing pegmatite body are in a sense monomineralic. These zones are represented successively from the wall towards the core by clinopyroxene (salite)-biotite/vermiculite—K-felspar (barium-bearing)—apatite with magnetite and chert. All these quite sharply defined zones are sometimes found to occur together but also often form more restricted combinations. The wall rock, imme- diately adjacent to the pegmatite body also shows some sort of zonal arrangement of minerals (Fig. 7). ‘The planes dividing the zones of contrasted mineral assembla- ges show marked parallelism with the fractures occupied by pegmatite, while the constituent minerals of different assemblages define the foliation. Moreover, the zonal arrangements of the mineral assemblages are restricted to the space defined by the outer margin of the pegmatite body on one side and theimmediately adjacent Unfilled fractures on the other. The zonal wall rock alteration in the way mentioned above has been found to be a very constant feature, quite independent of the Pattern of development of zones in the main pegmatite body. 392 R, CHOUDHURI & K. C. BANERIT The zone of alteration of the wall rock is a complex of several assemblages arranged in a sequence of sub-zones: (1) clinopyroxene (salite)-potash felspar (barium-bearing)-biotite (2) potash felspar-quartz (3) potash felspar-quartz-clinopyroxene (ferrosalite)-plagioclase-biotite. Another more conspicuous feature worth consideration is the occurrence of minor apatite veins symmetrically zoned, in a faithful replica of the major veins between the subzones 1 and 3 and it appears as if the entire sequence has been repeated on all scales. Fig. 7 depicts the feature very clearly. Apatite occurs either as perfectly crystalline or massive bodies near the core. Individual crystals frequently attain exceptional dimensions, the maximum length observed being 75 cm in a sample collected from Raju’s main pit (RM Pit). A gigantic hexagonal apatite prism was observed in Rb, vein with a basal diameter of 25 om, though its length could not be precisely determined. Usually the crystals are arranged in a criss-cross fashion with or without vacant interspaces. Occa- sionally they show radiating arrangement as in RM pit. The prismatic apatite crystals taper towards the hanging wall, frequently abutting against the massive apatite. Sometimes the void spaces of the apatite veins are filled up by late ceryptocrystalline silica as in Sitarampuram (SR, vein), Budi area (B, vein etc.). Sporadic occurrence of perfectly developed crystals of barite in association with apatite/salite has been observed. Crystals of apatite are found to be incorporated in barite while the latter itself is found to occur as segregated pockets or inclusions in salite zone. The magnetite bodies have been usually found to occur either in intimate asso- ciation with the apatite, biotite/vermiculite or independently. Sometimes they form al zones shown by some of the apatite bearing pegmatite (c.g., 4/2 K-felspar (barium-bearing ) occurs as coarse crystals varying in size from a few millimeters to as large as 20 cm. They are randomly oriented and occur in intimate association with apatite; when exclusive of apatite, hyalophane also forms distinct Zone. As already mentioned, barium-bearing felspar is also found in the outer subzones of the wall rock apart from its occurrence in the pegmatite body itself. Perfectly developed crystals of zircon are conspicuous in some veins, parti- cularly in 4/2 vein of the area, and also to some extent, in Micky and Nand veins They occur in intimate association with the apatite and are restricted to the contact of apatite with the outer salite zones. The zircon crystals range in size from micto- scopic scale to as large as 8 cm in length. Rao et al. (1969) also observed the occurrence of zircon in the present area in the outer part of the apatite bodies. Allanite, similarly, has been found to be associated with the inner apatite zones. The massive (Srj.) vein or crystalline (Nand vein) aggregates usually form sporadic Pockets; but occasionally narrow, almost imperceptible allanite zones develop near the core, their prismatic crystals interlocked with that of apatite. CHouDHURI & BANERIL Proc. Indian natn. Sei. Acad., Vol. 42, A, Plate TL Fics. 3-6. 3. Lensoid nature of the apatite vein. 4. Figure. showing pinch and swell structure of the apatite vein. 5. Apatite bearing vein showing zonal arrangement of Salite (S), Hyalophane (H) and apatite (A). 6. Two apatite bearing veins with intervening wall rack show- ing zonal arrangement. Explanation given in the sketch (6a). Biotite/vermiculite has been found to be developed in between the inner apatite/K-felspar zones and the outer ferrosalite zones, though all the zones may not be developed simultaneously. The biotite books sometimes attain considerable dimensions; one such from RM pit measures 60 cmx 70 cmx 60cm. These large books of biotite have been found to be developed randomly from the inner side of the salite zones. Proc. Indian natn, Sci. Acad., Vol. 42, A, Plate 1V Cuovpuur! & BANERII ‘soumaviy off Jo aunieu parvoys oy) or uNUIOd ayeautad or peoRIpE AforvipaWiWU! 490A |IeH ByX UI UONLI[O} Jo HUA “OL “sr x Iod oUeIg “jerounw Sunsa-aid wos Joye ydiowopvd amo.88e Sunrsa1 9m PU NONst) ssomssHO UY pawunAIe alnoIG PAUEYS

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