FIELD

REPORT
FY 2016
Ore geology field work for Jaduguda Mines

Team Porphyroblast
Yashaswi Md Saif Satish Kumar Sudhanshu
Sumit Jain Aimol Siarlua Nobleson
 Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction__________________________________________________________________ 1
General Geology _____________________________________________________________ 5
Bhatin Mines _______________________________________________________________ 12
Narwapahar Mine of UCIL _____________________________________________________ 14
Team Porphyroblasts ________________________________________________________ 17
Pg. 01 Introduction

Introduction

History of Uranium mining

Some forty-five years ago, when Dr. Bhabha initiated the development of
nuclear energy, two decisions were taken; first was to construct CIRUS
reactor and second was to work on production of uranium metal fuel in
country. In year 1956, task of producing uranium metal was assigned to
group called Project Firewood. For producing nuclear fuel it was
necessary to search for the uranium deposit in country.

As early as in 1937 a sample of uranium is picked up by a prospector from

one of copper mines in singhbhum thrust belt. In 1960, a close examination
of this 160 km long mineral zone, out cropping on ridge of hill, which could
be sizeable potential, was revealed at Jaduguda. This turned out to be major
deposit and has remained best so far. In 1961, decision was taken to open
up mine and mill and in 1967 Jaduguda mine has become full-fledged
operational and is developed to depth to depth of 905m. The central shaft
serves as entry for men and material and main ventilation intake route.

Subsequently, three deposits at Bhatin Narwaphar and Turamdih located 3,

12, 25 KM north west of Jaduguda were taken up for underground mining
in 1986, 1995, 2002 respectively.

Mine construction work has already been started in Bagjata mine located 11
Km east of Mosaboni copper mine. Opening of an opencast mine at
Banduhurang, adjacent to Turamdih mine is in very advance stage and pre-
Pg. 02 Introduction

project activities for opening of another underground mine has been taken
up at Mohuldih, west Banduhurang mine. Shortly, there will be soon
operation uranium mines in singhbhum district of Jharkhand over a stretch
of 80 KM from in Bagjata in east to Mohuldih in west.

To meet the nuclear fuel demands of the country (20,000 MWe by 2020), it
has become necessary to exploit all the proven uranium reserve in the
country. Most the reserve in singhbhum thrust or gang to be taken up for
exploitation. UCIL intends to exploits the known deposits at Lambapur-
Peddagatta in the district of Nalgonda, Andhra Pradesh and Domiasiat-
Mawthabah in west Khasi hills district of Meghalaya.

The uranium ore in India is generally of low grade containing uranium

between 0.032 to 0.16Therefore, large quantity of ore has to be mined to get
reasonable quantity of uranium.

Banduburang is the first open cut mine and is being commissioned in 2007,
Bagjata is underground and has production started from 2008, though there
had been earlier small operations 1986-91. The Mohuldih underground
mine is expected to operate from 2010. The Pulivendula mine and mill
project in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh was approved in February
2007.
Pg. 03 Introduction

Indias uranium mines and mills

State, district Mine Mill Operating

from
Jharkhand Jaduguda Jaduguda 1967
Bhatin Jaduguda 1967
Narwapahar Jaduguda 1995
Turamdih Turamdih 2002 (mine)
Banduburang 2007
Bagjata 2008
Mohuldih 2010
Meghalaya Mawthabah Mawthabah ?
Andhra Pradesh, Lambapur- Seripally ?
Nalgonda Peddagattu
Andhra Pradesh, Tummalapalle Tummalapalle 2010
Kadapa
Andhra Pradesh, Pulivendula Pulivendula ?
Kadapa

However, India has reserves of 290,000 tonnes of thorium - about one

quarter of the world total, and these are intended to fuel its nuclear power
program longer-term

Uranium Mines

Name : - Jaduguda Mine

Location : - Latitude 220390 N
Longitude : - 860200 E
TOWN : - Jamshedpur
Post Office : - Jaduguda mines
Railway station : - Rakha mines railway station
Pg. 04 Introduction

District :- East Singhbhum

Most prominent and higher grade of ore is formed in footwall lode.

Geological disturbances are at footwall side. Faults, folds, and joints are
found at this side.

Depth Thickness and Inclination of Lodes:-

Name of lode Thickness Inclination

Footwall lode 5m-20m 450

Hangwall lode 3m-4m 450

Footwall lode confined to western side of shaft and also occurs in eastern
side of shaft. In footwall lode strike length decreases from 1000m to 600m
below 450m from surface.

In hangwall lode, strike length varies in between 300m-350m from

surface. Upto the depth of 250m no large variation is found in strike length
but reduces to 250m after the depth of 650m. It is completely uniform and
no disturbances are found.

Width increases due to low angle strike fall along which molybdenum
mineralisation has taken place. Rock fall occurs in western side due to
molybdenum. In centre portion of Jaduguda epidorite interveins the strata
hence causes ore loss.
Pg. 05 General Geology

General Geology

Uranium mineralisation in Jaduguda is confined to sheared rock types of

Singbhum Thrust Zone. Geologically, the thrust belt is constituted by
Archean metasediments such as mica-schist, quartzite, phyllites and
altered tuffs. The rocktypes in this zone are broadly classified into two
groups the older Chaibasa stage of rocks consisting of meta-sediments
and the younger Dhanjori stage of rocks consisting of metavolcanics.
During shearing, the older Chaibasa stage of rocks is thrust over younger
metavolcanics of Dhanjori. As a result, the younger Dhanjori stage of
rocks lie below the older Chaibasa stage of rocks. The thrust contact
between two stages of rocks is severely sheared and brecciated. Uranium
occurs in this sheared zone in very finely disseminated form.
Pg. 06 General Geology

ROCKTYPES: -

The rock types seen in Jaduguda hill from north to south are

Garnetiferous-muscovite schist
Quartzite (cherty)
Muscovite-kyanite-quartz schist C
Mylonite
Quartz breccia
Conglomerate (autoclastic)
Quartz-chlorite-biotite-apatite-uraninite schist (Granular rock)
Chlorite-biotite-quartz rock

Talc-chlorite schist

Coarse grained quartzite

Epidiorite with intermittent thin quartzite

These rocks are of varying thickness both along strike and dip. Of all the
rock types, the cherry quartzite bed of Chaibasa stage, because of its
persistency, is considered as MARKER BAND. It is about 2m wide.

HOST ROCK
Though all the rocktypes around Jaduguda contain some amount of
uranium, the economic concentration of uranium is confined to only the
following metasedimentary rocks of Chaibasa stage
Pg. 07 General Geology

1. Autoclastic conglomerate
2. Granular rock
From uranium concentration poit of view, the best mineralised rocktypes
are the autoclastic conglomerate. The micaceous schists are poorest in
uranium content.

All mineralised rock types show schistosity when examined as thin section
under microscope. Even the granular rock, which is composed of chlorite-
biotite-quartz-tourmaline-apatitie-ilmenite-magnetite and uraninite, is seen
to be schist under microscope.

It has also been observed that, there are zones of granular rock and
autoclastic conglomerate in the mine where the imprints of shearing are very
little. Such zones are normally devoid of uranium.

The associated accessory minerals found along with uranium are the
sulphide minerals of copper, nickel and molybdenum. Magnetite is also
another accessory mineral abundantly found along with uranium. The
uranium ore of Jaduguda is amenable to direct leaching by acid with about
94% recovery.

OREBODY CONFIGURATION
Mineable mineralisation at Jaduguda is confined to two principal lodes
known as Footwall Lode (FWL) and Hanging wall Lode (HWL) - extending
as veins following the general trend of the schistosity. Persistence of lodes
is fairly uniform both along strike (N3200) and dip (towards NE) with an
Pg. 08 General Geology

average inclination of about 400. Both the lodes are parallel and separated
from each other by a distance of about 80m.

FOOTWALL LODE (FWL):

It is the principal lode in Jaduguda Mine with a strike extends of about

1000m near surface, but gradually reduced to 600m at 495ml. However, no
further shrink is observed up to a depth of 685ml. This lode has been
prospected up to a vertical depth of 720m and is expected to continue up to
a depth of about 900m. The FWL is not uniform either in width or
concentration of uranium minerals.

The western side of the lode is rich in uranium concentration and the
maximum true width of about 10m. The grade varies from 0.06% to 0.1%
eU3O8. In this zone, there are at least two prominent parallel strike slip
shears which are mineralised with molybdenum. About 1m wide rock
around this shear zones is highly crushed and pose rock fall problem during
mining. However, the in-house geo-technical study carried out in this area
has helped in designing the support pattern.

SKETCH OF WESTERN SIDE OREBODY

Pg. 09 General Geology

In the eastern side, the average true width of FWL is about 2.5 to 3m. The
grade varies from 0.075 to 0.06% eU3O8.

The footwall lode is cut across by a basic intrusive (epidiorite) in the central
portion. The width of this intrusive varies from 10 to 25m and has a general
shift towards west in deeper levels. This results in loss of ore of about 20m
strike length in Footwall Lode.

The hangwall side rocks of FWL are quite competent. In the footwall side,
the talc-chlorite schist (shear zone) rock is highly friable and soft. The width
of this

Zone varies from 2 to 30m resulting in instability to any development

headings in the footwall side.

HANGWALL LODE (HWL):-

The HWL is present only in the eastern side of the mine. It is extended over
a strike length of about 300m in the upper levels. This lode is continuous
along strike up to 295m vertical depth. Below 295ml, a low grade patch of
about 50m strike length occurs in the centre of the ore body. As a result, the
mineable strike length of HWL is reduced to only 250m in deeper levels
stretched over two separate blocks along the strike.

The average true width of this lode is about 2.5m. Unlike footwall lode,
hangwall lode does not show much variation in grade and width. No major
Pg. 10 General Geology

geological disturbance is observed in HWL. Both footwall and hangwall

side rocks of this lode are fairly competent.

Exploration holes drilled from surface by AMD do not show any indication
of hangwall lode below 555ml. Development of 620ml has also confirmed
the gradual disappearance of this lode with depth below 555ml.

MINERALOGY: -

The primary uranium minerals in Jaduguda are uraninite and pitchblende.

The common secondary uranium mineral is autonite. The uranium minerals
are associated with a wide variety of sulphides of copper, nickel, cobalt,
molybdenum, arsenic, bismuth. Apatite and magnetite are common
associates and found as high as 10% to 15% at places.

PROMINENT STRUCTURAL FEATURES

The principal planar structures in Jaduguda mine are foliation planes, joint
planes and shear planes.

The foliation planes are the dominant planar feature in the mine. Since these
planes do not show any abrupt anisotropy, they do not affect the stability of
rock.

There are three sets of joint planes present in the rocks.

Pg. 11 General Geology

J1 - The most prominent one is nearly parallel to foliation strike but

having dip 300 to 500 towards SW (opposite to the uranium
lode). A few of them are nearly vertical.

J2 - The second set of joints are the dip joints which are vertical or
having dip 300 to 500 towards NW or SE.

The principal shear planes are confined to western side only. These are the
low angle strike-slip shears mineralised with molybdenium nearly parallel
to the foliation dip and makes an angle of 150 to 200 with the foliation strike
of the rock. The width of this zone varies from few mm to 80mm.

Of the above planar features, the molybdenum shear plane, J1 and J2 are
treated as discontinuity planes (from geo-technical point of view). These
planes, in combination, create some unstable blocks specially in the western
section of the mine.
Pg. 12 Bhatin Mines

Bhatin Mines
The Bhatin deposit located 4 km northwest of Jaduguda deposit. A major
fault occurs between two deposits. The Bhatin mine came into production
in 1986. The ore body has a thickness of 2 to 10m and an average dip of 30
to 400. The geology is similar to Jaduguda deposit. The host rock is chlorite-
biotite schist. The small deposit is developed using adits and inclines and is
mined using the cut and fill method. Trucks are used for transport the ore to
the Jaduguda mill.

TYPE OF OPENING: -

In Jaduguda mine, mine entry is from a shaft. This shaft serves the purpose
of ventilation as well as men riding and material handling. The circular,
concrete-lined main mine shaft has a diameter of 5 metres and it sunk to a
depth of 640 m. It was sunk in two stages- the first stage went to a depth of
315 m and the second stage from 315m. Later, an auxiliary third shaft to a
further depth of 350 m was sunk. The three shafts together to a depth of 990
m.On top of the shaft and on the surface is a 41-m concrete tower that houses
machinery. Two multi-rope friction winders control the skip and the cage.
The skip can haul 5 tonnes of ore at a time from a loading station situated
605 m below the surface. The cage has two decks to transport men and
materials.

In Bhatin mine, mine opening is an adit. Adit 4 serves the purpose of

travelling of men and material handling. After entering the mine from adit
4 a decline is used (at an angle of 450) to reach various levels by skip. There
Pg. 13 Bhatin Mines

are seven levels in Bhatin mine. Double-drum winder is used to haul skip in
the incline.
Pg. 14 Narwapahar Mine of UCIL

Narwapahar Mine of UCIL

Narwapahar Mine is the first fully mechanized mine operating since April
1995. This is a
trackless mine
with a decline
access to
underground and
ramp accesses to
the stopes. This
permits use of
large diesel
powered underground equipment resulting in high productivity, eliminating
fatigue of workmen and providing a good working environment. Diesel
traction and Electro-hydraulic Drill Jumbos are used for drilling. The
capability to drill long and parallel holes has improved drilling productivity.
The mucking of blasted ore and waste is carried out by diesel powered Load
Haul Dump Loaders and transported by Low Profile Dump Trucks.
To be able to utilize the high productive capacities of these machines,
adequate back-up in terms of service vehicles such as passenger carriers,
explosive vans, service and carriage trucks have been deployed. These make
Narwapahar one of the most modern mines in India.
Pg. 15 Under Ground Maps of Bagjata Mines

Under Ground Maps of Bagjata Mines

Pg. 16 Under Ground Maps of Bagjata Mines
Pg. 17 Team Porphyroblasts

Team Porphyroblasts

1. Yashaswi (13GG20033)
2. Sumit Jain (13GG20028)
3. Md Saif (13GG20013)
4. Satish Kumar Sudhanshu(13GG20023)
5. Aimol Nobleson Siarlua