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GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA February 15, 2019
Gold mining in India: The way Forward
Structural control of gold-quartz-sulfide mineralization at

Kunderkocha gold deposit, East Singhbhum, Jharkhand
by
Dr. Manoj Kumar Ozha
Department of Earth and Environmental Studies
National Institute of Technology Durgapur
Dr. M. L. Patil
Retd. Executive Director
HGML., Lingasugur, Raichur
Prof. Hari Shankar Pandalai

Department of Earth Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Venue: DR. T. THIMMAIAH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

1
"Structural control of gold-quartz-sulfide mineralization at
Kunderkocha gold deposit, East Singhbhum, Jharkhand”
“History of the Kunderkocha gold deposit
The deposit preserves three gold bearing lodes: Ore Reserve (as on 01/04/2018):
(i) Main lode, between 1st and 5th level (42 m, 132 m along dip) 3846 t @ 8.5g/t
(ii) Zebra lode, between 1st and 4th level (24 m, 136 m along dip) 19978 t @ 4.16 g/t
(iii) Adit-5 (X-2 lode; between 1st and 2nd level ) (36 m, 52 m along dip) 30996 t @ 1.5 g/t
Total Ore Reserve (as on 01/04/2018): 54790 t @ 2.96 g/t
Main lode Zebra lode
The main lode is hosted within the carbonaceous phyllite, while the other two occurs in the
Fuchsite bearing phyllite.
Why Kundarkocha? The gap in research
 Highly anomalous gold-bearing veins  No structural work vis-à-vis gold
 Within auriferous sulfides (viz., pyrite, mineralizations
arsenopyrite, and chalcopyrite)
 Lattice gold  Lack of petrography of the host rocks
 Nano-particles  No micro-structural data.
 Also as native gold
 Earlier studies:  Why Au mineralization is also found
 Structural and lithological control on within the Green Phyllites
mineralizations  Phenomena/mechanism vis-à-vis
 Indications of gold precipitation from
pyrite during metamorphism (Sahoo
enrichment/release of Au within/from
and Venkatesh, 2014) the auriferous sulfides is still not
 Mineralization is confined to the properly understood.
carbonaceous phyllite
Objective of the present study
 Delineate the mine-scale geological features, to understand their possible control on
mineralization.
 Petrography of the rocks (including quartz veins) and associated sulfide ores to
understand the mineralogical control, if any, upon mineralization within the deposit
Geology
 Low grade metamorphic rocks

 Mostly phyllite and at time schist
 Host rocks:
 Carbonaceous phyllite
 Fuchsite bearing phyllite
 Different quartz veins
 The rocks exhibits more than one phase of deformation:
 Planar and linear structures
 Bedding (S0), penetrative axial plane schistosity (S1),
crenulations/fracture cleavages (S2).
 Intersection lineation (S0/S1 and S1/S2)
 Shearing is very common in the mine
Preliminary results
Representative rock exposure from the mine

Preliminary results
Structural Maps
 First level, second level, and Adit section
Map of the First level is shown
Structural Data
 Plots includes S1 foliation
 ß2-axis of the mesoscopic F2 folds are sub-parallel to
the dip direction of the S1/S2 foliation
 The axial planes of F2 folds strike N30°W and dip
60°NE
 Recline F2 fold
 The shears are predominantly N30°W and dip
40°NE
 Shearing is parallel to the axial plane of F2 folds
Preliminary results
Petrography
 The rocks of the Kunderkocha mine hosts at least three generations of texturally
distinct quartz veins and pyrites:
 Pyrite-1 (Py1): Warped by the pervasive S1 foliation and is overgrown by later
pyrite (viz. Py2) and having quartz fringes at their boundaries
 Pyrite-2 (Py2): Overgrowing Py1 and associated with quartz-calcite veins and
disposed parallel to S1 schistosity
 Pyrite-3 (Py3): Within the veinlets of quartz parallel to S2 schistosity
Conclusions
 At least two phases of deformation, giving rise to F1 and F2 folds that are represented by
sulfide-rich quartz veins
 F2 folds are reclined with axis plunging 500/N60E
 Different generations of quartz veins are hosted within the carbonaceous and Fuchsite
phyllites
 Mineralization in the carbonaceous phyllite is more intense as compared to the Fuchsite
phyllite, which manifest mineralogical control
 The reduced nature of the carbonaceous phyllite, may have resulted in early syngenetic
sulphide that may have aided localization of precipitation of metals during subsequent
mineralizing and remobilizing hydrothermal events
 Most importantly shear zones have favoured/acted as conduits for the mobilization of
hydrothermal fluid and thus sulphide mineralization
 Shearing parallel to the axial planes of F2 folds has localized the quartz veins which
concentrated gold in the veins (quartz)
 Gold may have been re-mobilized by dissolution of pyrite of first generation in the
carbonaceous phyllite
 Possible growth and breakdown of pyrite grains during deformation events, which might
have facilitated the precipitation of gold from sulfides
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India

• M/s Manmohan Minerals Industries Pvt. Ltd. during the
course of fieldwork
• Mr. Rajkumar and Mr. Dibyajyoti Nath (M.Sc students
of IIT Bombay)
• Mr. Binay Das
Thank you

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GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA February 15, 2019

Gold mining in India: The way Forward

Structural control of gold-quartz-sulfide mineralization at

Prof. Hari Shankar Pandalai

Venue: DR. T. THIMMAIAH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Total Ore Reserve (as on 01/04/2018): 54790 t @ 2.96 g/t

Main lode Zebra lode

 Low grade metamorphic rocks

Representative rock exposure from the mine

Map of the First level is shown

• Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India

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