STATE UNIT: TELANGANA

PROJECT: FERROUUS MINERALS

SUPERVISORY OFFICER: J. P. Mohakul, Superintending Geologist

Mission-IIA Mineral Resource Assessment Item No. 139

Field Season Year FSP Number
ME SR TGN 2016 105
2016-2017 Type Code Com. Code Region Code State Unit Year of Sl. No.
code/Mission Initiation
Participating Unit(s)/ Region (s)
FM SR TGN
Division/ Project Region State Unit Division/Project Region/ SU Division/Project Region/ SU
Geographic Information
State (Code) District (s) Degree Sheet (s) Toposheet (s) Mineral/ Tectonic Belt, Basin
etc.
TGN Adilabad 56M 56M/15, 56M/16 Upper Gondwana

Personnel 2G
Name of item in-charge Devasheesh Shukla
Name of other officers Munmun Chakraborty
Title Reconnaissance survey for Manganese in Siddapa Gutta between
Surgapalle and Ravalpalli areas in the Pranhita-Godavari basin, Bijjur
and Dahegaon mandals, Adilabad district, Telangana.
Stage G4
Key words Manganese, Upper Gondwana, Chikiala Formation
Objective (s)/ Projected To delineate the extent and various bands of mineralised zones.
Outcome

Total duration of item One Year (FS 2016-17)

Item linked with XIIth/CGPB
Whether GPM item is taken up in toposheets already No
covered by GCM or vice versa
Whether the item is a spinoff of any other item Yes, STM (FS 2010-12)
Whether item is collaborative No
Whether the item is sponsored No
If yes, Name of the sponsor No
Outsourced work component, if any (specify) Drilling, 500 m

Nature and Quantum of work and time schedule

a) Expected Year of
Total Work Work
completion
Nature of Work workload already proposed for
b) Circulation of final
envisaged completed FS 2016-17
report
(1) Aerial Reco. a) March 2017 New Item
PGRS 1: 25/50,000 (sq km) 400 b) September 2017 400
(2) Geological Survey
LSM 1:12,500**(sq km) 100 100
(3) Technological
(a) Surface exploration
PT (Cu m) 100 100
PTS (Nos.) 100 100
(b) Sub surface exploration
Scout Drilling (m) Outsource 500 500
CS (Nos.) 150 150
(4) Geochemical Survey
BRS (Groove/Chip) (Nos.) 200 200

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 (5) Petrographic/Mineragraphic
Studies (Nos.)
PS## 10 10
ORM 10 10
PCS (Major oxides, 20 20
Trace element)
EPMA## 10 10
(7) Chemical Analysis* 450 450
(All REE)
*Chemical Lab, SR, Hyderabad, ##Petrology Lab, SR, Hyderabad. **Boundary coordinates and borehole locations
to be fixed by DGPS.

Timeline proposed for each work component

Field Studies
Name of the officer Expected field stay Expected period of field work
(number of days) From To
Devasheesh Shukla, Senior Geologist 120 April 2016 March 2017
Munmun Chakraborty, Geologist 120 April 2016 March 2017
Supervisory Officer: J. P. Mohakul, 15 April 2016 March 2017
Superintending Geologist

Laboratory Studies
Activity From To
Pre-field laboratory component and reconnaissance for the April 2016 September 2016
assignment under consideration, finalization of report of the
previous field season and planning for current programmes
Geological study (fieldwork and collection, processing of samples April 2016 March 2017
and their submission)
Geophysical study (consultation of interpreted geophysical data) April 2016 March 2017
Chemical study (last date of sample submission ) 30th April 2017
Chemical study (acquisition of analytical data) April 2016 May 2017

Report Submission
Submission of the first draft of report 30th June 2017
Scrutiny of the report 1 July to 31stAugust 2017
st

Finalization of the report September 2017

Circulation of the report 30th September 2017

Operational Expenses
Heads Geology Drilling
POL Rs. 1,50,000/- Rs. 25,00,000/-
WAGES Rs. 3,25,000/-
OC Rs. 1,00,000/-

Background information
The Gondwana sediments along the Wardha-Pranhita-Godavari valley received attention due to the presence
of coal fields which were first described by Hughes (1877). Apart from coal geological survey and exploration
works were carried out in the Proterozoic Penganga Group for manganese. In Adilabad district, the works were
carried out by Nageswara Rao and Dutt (FS 1955-56) and Nageswara Rao and Shah (FS 1957-58) in Purana and
Gondwana sediments and paleontological studies respectively. Roy et al (1990) reported todorokite rich oxide facies
of manganese ore in the limestone of the Penganga Group in Adilabad district. These oxides are reported to be of
hydrothermal or volcano-sedimentary marine origin (Bandopadhyay, 1996). These lithofacies assemblages of
Penganga are suggested to vary from shallow to deep marine deposits (Mukhopadhyay and Chaudhuri, 2003). Such
occurrence of carbonate hosted Penganga manganese is well known and a number of geological works were carried
out (Gutzmer and Beukes, 1998).
The Proterozic sediments in the Bijjur and Dahegaon mandals of Adilabad district are stratigraphically
overlain by Upper Gondwana sediments (Rudra, 1982; Jain and Roychowdhury, 1987; Prabhakar, 1987). Most of
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the works in these areas were concentrated on sedimentalogical and paleontological aspects of Upper Gondwana
Group (Nageswara Rao and Dutt, FS 1955-56; Srinivasa Rao, et al., 1976; Jain and Roychowdhury, 1987;
Prabhakar, 1987). This sedimentary sequence in PG valley is well known for its vertebrate faunas (Jain and
Roychowdhury, 1987). Upper Gondwana in PG valley is described as Maleri, Kota and Chikiala groups by King
(1881). Later works revised the sequence and recognised King's "groups" as formations. Sengupta (1966), Kutty
(1969), Rudra (1982), Jain and Roychowdhury (1987), Dasgupta (1993) and Veevers and Tewari (1995) divided the
Upper Gondwana Group into six formations viz. Yerrapalli, Bhimaram, Maleri, Dharmaram, Kota and Gangapur
(?=Chikiala). Compilations by Veevers and Tewari (1995) suggest unconformable contact between piedmont
breccia-conglomerate of Chikiala Formation and underlying Kota Formation. The relationship of the Gangapur and
Chikiala formations are debated in earlier works. Lakshminarayana (1996) differentiated the pebbly and
conglomeratic sedimentary sequence of Chikiala Formation from white to greyish white argillaceous sandstone and
silty clay of the Gangapur Formation.
Thematic mapping on 1:25000 scale was carried out by Ramana Murthy et al. (2012) during which they
mapped the Pakhal and Gondwana rocks in the TS 56M/15 and 16 and identified at least three bands of stratabound
manganese horizons in the Chikiala Formation exposed between Surgapalle and Ravalpalli. The lower most unit
about 10m thick (200-210 m above msl) and is in coarse grained sandstone, middle is about 20m thick (240-260 m),
in moderately indurated khaki coloured coarse grained sandstone interbedded with pebbly sandstone/conglomerate
and upper unit of about 10m thickness (270-280 m) as capping on the ridge with similar lithological setup as that of
middle horizon. The manganese rich horizons are parted by pebbly to coarse grained quartzite of 10m to 40m
thickness. Field and petrographic studies shows the occurrence of manganese (Pyrolusite and Cryptomelane) as
cement within the sub-rounded to angular quartz, feldspar and rock fragments as disseminated/irregular patches (~1-
5 cm width) in sandstone-conglomerate. The source of manganese for such disseminated occurrences are understood
to be from the manganese interbedded present within the brecciated chert beds of the Penganga Group exposed in
the NNW-SSE trending outcrop 0.5 km west of New Rawalpalli and south of Mutlaguda (Ramana Murthy et al.,
2012, Satyapal et al., 2013).
It is thus proposed to carry out mineral investigation (G4 stage) for manganese ore in the Upper Gondwana in
the area falling in the TS Nos. 56M/15 & 16 during the FS 2016-17 in the area bounded within A= 19°20';
79°46'13''; B= 19°20'; 79°48'58''; C= 19°09'32''; 79°55'55'' and D= 19°08'24''; 79°53'57'' to know the areal extent of
various mineralised bands/horizons occurring at different stratigraphic levels within the Chikiala Formation which is
exposed in the Siddapa Gutta. After delineation of the mineralised zones, 5 to 6 scout drills at 100m strike interval
up to a vertical depth of 70m-90m may be carried out to know the strike continuity of the zones.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Hughes, T.H. W. (1877); Wardha valley coalfields Memoir Geological Survey India, 13 (1) (1877), p. 71.
 King, W. (1881); The Geology of Pranhita-Godavari Valley, Memoirs. Geol. Surv. India, v.18, pt.3, pp.
151-311.
 Nageswara Rao, C. and Dutt, D. K. (1955-56); Examination of the Kota-Maleri beds of Adilabad district,
Hyderabad State. Unpublished report, Geological Survey of India.
 Nageswara Rao, C. and Shah, S.C. (1957-58); Progress report for the field season 1957-58: Examination of
the Upper Gondwana beds of Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh. GSI Unpublished report.
 Sengupta, S. (1966); Paleocurrent and depositional environments of the Gondwana rocks around
Bheemaram-A preliminary study, Geological Society of India Bulletin, 3, pp. 5-8.
 Kutty, T. S. (1969); Some contributions to the stratigraphy of the Upper Gondwana Formation of the
Pranhita-Godavari valley, Central India. Journal Geological Society of India, 12, pp. 33-48.
 Srinivasa Rao, K., Sreenivasa Rao, T. and Silekar, V.S. (1976); Geology of parts of Adilabad, Khammam
& Warangal Districts, Andhra Pradesh, Bastar District, Madhya Pradesh and Chanda district, Maharashtra
(Godavari Valley Project). Geological Survey of India, Progress report for the Field Season 1975-76.
 Roy, S. (1981); Manganese deposits: London, Academic Press, 458p.
 Rudra, D. K., (1982); Upper Gondwana stratigraphy and sedimentation in the Pranhita-Godavari Valley,
India: Quarterly Journal of the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Society of India, v. 54, pp. 56–79.
 Jain and Roychowdhury (1987); Fossil vertebrates fro the Pranhita-Godavari valley (India) and their
stratigraphic correlation. In: McKenzie, G.D. (ed) Gondwana Six: Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and
Paleontology. Geophysical Monograph 41. American Geophysical Union, pp. 219-228.

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 Prabhakar, M. (1987); Palynology of the Upper Gondwana deposits of Rampur area, Pranhita Godavari
basin, Andhra Pradesh, India. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India, 32, pp. 114-121.
 Roy, S., Bandopadhyay, P.C., Perseil, E.A., and Fukuoka, M. (1990); Late diagenetic changes of
manganese ores of the Proterozoic Penganga Group, India. Ore Geology Reviews, v. 5, p. 341-357.
 Dasgupta, K. (1993); Some contributions to the stratigraphy of the Yerrapalli Formation, Pranhita-Godavari
Valley, Deccan, India: Journal of the Geological Society of India, v. 42, pp. 223–230.
 Veevers, J. J., and Tewari, R. C. (1995); Gondwana Master Basin of Peninsular India Between Tethys and
the Interior of the Gondwanaland Province of Pangea: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America
Memoir 187.
 Bandopadhyay, P.C. (1996); Facies associations and depositional environment of the Proterozoic
carbonate-hosted microbanded manganese oxide ore deposit Penganga Group Godavari rift basin India.
Journal of Sedimentary Research, 66, pp. 197-208.
 Lakshminarayana, G. (1996); Stratigraphy and structural framework of the Gondwana sediments in the
Pranhita-Godavari valley, Andhra Pradesh. Gondwana Nine, vol 1, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd.
Ninth International Gondwana Symposium, pp. 311-330.
 Gutzmer, J. and Beukes, N. J. (1998); The manganese formation of the Neoproterozoic Penganga Group,
India-revision of an enigma. Economic Geology, 93, pp. 1091-1102.
 Mukhopadhyay, J. and Chaudhuri, A.K. (2003); Shallow to deep-water deposition in a Cratonic basin: an
example from the Proterozoic Penganga Group, Pranhita-Godavari Valley, India. Journal of Asian Earth
Sciences 21, pp. 613–622.
 Ramana Murthy, P.V., Ch.Durga Rao, Satyapal, Madhavan, R., Tripathy, V. (2012); Final report on
Specialised Thematic Mapping in the rocks of Penganga Group of Pakhal basin in parts of Adilabad
district, Andhra Pradesh. Unpublished report, Geological Survey of India, Hyderabad.
 Satyapal; Tripathy, V., Madhavan, R., Ramanamurthy, P.V., Ch. Durga Rao, Ray, A.K. (2013); First report
of Manganese from Upper Gondwana, Pranhita-Godavari Basin, Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh.

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