Occurrences of Manganese Mineralization in the Boringpadar-Amath Sector, Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt, Eastern India

In this paper, we have reported two bands of manganese ore and four bands of manganiferous quartzite for the first time to the southeast of Boringpadar and northeast of Amath area belonging to the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt, Eastern India. The main purpose of the study has brought to light an array of manganese mineralization with promising values, hosted in manganese ore and manganiferous quartzite. The manganese ores are represented by bluish-black to brownish-black, massive to foliated, metallic luster, nodular, and botryoidal forms whereas the manganiferous quartzite are hard, white to black, highly jointed, fractured, and brecciated which occurs at the contact of khondalite. The manganese ore and manganiferous quartzite bearing horizons are dominantly observed between the calc-silicate granulite and garnetiferous quartzite of Khondalite Group, indicating the stratigraphic, lithology, and structure controls. Bands of manganese ore and manganiferous quartzite are delineated which shows a predominantly syngenetic type of deposit but, at places, the epigenetic nature of mineralization is also noticed. Braunite, bixbyite, jacobsite, and manganite are represented as the primary minerals which are attributed to the high-grade metamorphic minerals whereas the secondary minerals are made up of psilomelane, cryptomelane, pyrolusite, and goethite and are formed in the low grades of metamorphism. The analytical results of bedrock samples show high values of Mn, Fe (total), SiO2, Al2O3, CaO and P2O5. The values of Mn and Fe (T) vary from 0.05 to 28.18 wt. % and 1.87 to 56.31 wt. % respectively whereas the Mn value ranges from 0.05 to 27.77 wt. % and the Fe (T) value ranges from 2.11 to 46.85 wt. % in the pitting/trenching samples.