GEOLOGY & MINERAL RESOURCES OF KARAULI DISTRICT

Karauli, the 32nd district of Rajasthan was formed on 19th July, 1997 by carving out a part of Sawai Madhopur district, comprising tehsils of Karauli, Hindaun Nandauti, Sapotara and Toda Bhim. The district lies in the north eastern part of Rajasthan. stretching between 26° 02' to 27° latitude & 76° 28' to 77°25'longitude.

It is bounded in north by Dausa & Bharatpur districs, in west by Dausa & Tonk district, in south by Sawai Madhopur district and in east by Dholpur & Bharatpur districts and state of Madhya Pradesh. The district has an area of app. 4985 sq.km. The district headquarter Karauli is 180 kms. from Jaipur and is well connected by tar roads. State highway No.2 & 22 connect it with the other cities. Nearest rail head is Gangapur city on Delhi Bombay main line of Western Railway. National highway No. 11 passes through northern top of district.

The district enjoys a plain topography except in north eastern part of the district where Aravalli & Vindhyan ranges rise 300 to 500 mts. above m s I. The only major

river is Chambal which forms district and state boundary in east with MP . Other river is Gambhiri emerging from hills of Nandauti tehsil & flowing though Hindaun and Toda Bhim tehsils.

A major part of Karauli & Sapotara tehsils falls in reserve & protected forest. Reserve forest also occur in northern part of Nandauti tehsil. The drainage system is dendritic.

In the Karauli tehsil hills become more high and extensive. Hills & broken grounds characterises almost entire area locally known as Dang.

The famous temple of Kela devi is situated 25 Kms. from Karauli, while the world famous Shri Mahaveer ji temple is situated in Hindaun tehsil.GEOLOGY

Geologically the district comprises rocks belonging to Pre Aravalli, Delhi & Vindhyan Supergroup.The generalised and modified litho stratigraphic sequence is as under:

RECENT Quarternary AlluviumVINDHYAN SUPERGROUP (570-1400M.Y.)

Bhander Group Upper Bhander Sand StoneSirbu ShaleLower Bhander Sand StoneSamaria ShaleLower Bhander Limestone Ganurgarh Shale

Rewa Group Upper Rewa Sand StoneJhiri ShaleLower Rewa Sand Stone

Panna ShaleKaimur Group Sand Stone, Shale and

Conglomerate.

.........................UNCONFORMITY.........................Semri Group Tirohan Hematite, Shale, Breccia and

Limestone, Suket Shale.

.........................UNCONFORMITY..........................DELHI SUPER Alwar Group Quartzite, Conglomerate, Mica Schist.GROUP(1400-2000 M.Y.)..........................UNCONFORMITY..........................

Intrusives. Granite & Basic IntrusiveBHILWARA SUPER Ranthambhor Quartizite Shale and Slate.GROUP Group (PRE-ARAV- Hindoli Group Shale, Slate, Phyllite, Limestone,ALLI Dolomite, Marble, Schist andFORMATION) Quartzite.(>2500 M.Y.) and

Gneiss, Migmatite, Mica Schist Garnetiferous Mica-Schist and Amphibolite (Equivalent to Mangalwar complex of Chittorgarh)

(AFTER G.5.!.)

The oldest rocks of Bhilwara Supergroup occuping a large part of the district exposed in the central portion from North East to South West. The high grade metamorphic rocks forming the basement includes granite gneises, migmatites, garnetiferous mica schists etc. The low grade metamorphic rocks forming Hindoli Group comprise shale, slate, phyllite limestone dolomite and quartzites. The Bhilwara Supergroup is unconformably overlain by rocks of Delhi Supergroup and Vindhyan Supergroup.

The rocks of Delhi Suppergroup occupy North Western part of district exposed as narrow strip between Toda Bhim and Lewale. The rocks include quartzite and schist with basic intrusives. The general trend of these rocks is N 25° E-S25°W with moderate to high dips due NW.

The Vindhyan Supergroup occupies a major part of the district. The rocks are separated from the Bhilwara Supergroup by a major reverse fault known as Great Boundary Fault. The lower most Semri Group is represented by basa I conglomerates. Tirohan shale, breccia and lime stone having scatterd exposures. The Kaimur Group comprises conglomerate to grity & pebbly sand stone exposed east of Hindaun. The Rewa Group of rocks comprise alternate shale and sandstone horizons, while the upper most Bhander Group occupies most extensive area in the district. The lower most bed is Ganurgarh shales. Lower Bhander limestone occupies hill slopes. In Karauli area. Sirbu shales with limestone and upper Bhander sand stone are youngest formations. The sand stone is flaggy and mined extensively in the district.

The quarternary sediments representing scree, talus, aeolin & alluvial deposits occupy a large part of the district occurring as thin to moderately thick layer.MINERALS OF KARAULI DISTRICT

The newly formed Karauli district has some very important nonmetalic mineral deposits in the state. It has good resources of Silica sand, sandstone and quartz, besides soap stone, limestone, red oxide, laterite etc. Karauli sandstone is well known for its sclupture and engraving property. The red and spotted variety of Karauli sand stone is exported to various countries i.e. Japan, Gulf & other Asian countries. Hindaun is the main business centre for its processing. The details of the mineral deposits are given below.

SOAP STONEThe soapstone in the district occurs in Morra-ka-Dungar ridge of Toda Bhim

tehsil. It is located 27 km. North-West of Hindaun, situated on the Nagda-Mathura broad gauge section of the Western Railway. Talc deposits in the Morra-ka-Dungar ridge are known for the last 125 years and these have been worked on a small scale ever since. Between the village of Dhaota and Morra which are about 8 km. apart, the talc deposits have been exposed at as many as seven localities near Dhaota, Dwain, Kamalpura, Rajuli, Giarhi, Pura & Morra. Of these, the deposits of Dwain, Rajauli and Garhi are fairly large. Most of the deposits in this area occur in the basal part of the massive quartzite (Alwar Group) .

The talc occurs in lenses which vary in width from less than a metre to 20 metres and are exposed over lengths varying from a few metres to 40 metres. The talc is generally pale to light green and pale greenish white in clour, cleaved to locally compact & massive. The 'indicated' reserves oftalc from Dwain, Rajauli and Garhi areas have been estimated at about 0.107 million tonnes for depth varying from 8m to 30m along dip. At present 5 leases are under production in the belt.LIME STONE About 25 kms. S.S.W. of Karauli the MohaliKeladevi lime stone belt is exposed intermitently over a strike length of 16 kms. with 100 to 200 mts width. The limestone is greyish, pinkish and purple in colour and is associated with chert bands at places. The total reserves available in this area are 4.63 million tonnes with average 43.50% CaO. The area is leased out to M/s. Laxmi Cement Industries.SILICA SAND

The important silica sand deposits are located in Pator-Sapotara area extending from Ganeshwari to Machh villages over a strike length of 1 km. in Sapotara and Karauli tehsils. Besides this the other occurrences are near Jon, Ghat, Parli and Badrela in Toda Bhim tehsil.

In Sapotara and Karauli tehsils, silica sand is associated with Rewa sand stone of Vindhyan Supergroup. It is white in colour and coarse grained and contain 92.26 to 95% silica. In Toda Bhim it occurs with Delhi Supergroup rocks.LATERITE

The laterite occurs near village Bajna, Gathra in Sapotra tehsil capping over Rewa sand stone of Upper Vindhyan Supergroup. One lease near village Bajana is under operation. Its main consumer was M/s. Jaipur Udyog Limited, a cement industry, which is closed since long.RED OXIDES

It is exposed near Rodhai village of Karauli tehsil. One lease has been executed in the area. At present the production is closed.

OCHRES

Both red and yellow ochres are available in the district. These are found associated with quartzites of Bhilwara Super group. The main localities for red ochres are Narayanpura & Tantwara in Sapotra tehsil, Kachrauli in Karauli tehsil. Yellow ochre is only located near village Kherata of Karauli tehsil.

IRON ORENear village Karuali about 7 km. east of Hindaun, Iron ore deposit occurs in the

banded hematite chert of Kaimur Group of Vindhyan Supergroup. Three abondoned workings and few minor excavation for iron ore are present in this area. The samples from these old working show 55.93 to 63.78% Fe, 3.32 to 6.94% Si02.SAND STONE

Karauli sand stone is an excellent building stone as it is amenable to receive good polish and intricate carving meant for lattices and arches. The sand stone occurs in the form of hill range crossing across the district. Most of the quarries are situated in nearby areas of Karauli and Sapotra tehsils. The sand stone is fine to medium in grain size, compact and moderately hard and has good splitting property by which almost smooth surface bearing slab of 5 to 10 cm thickness can be obtained.

Recently Mines & Geology Department has identified 5 splittable sandstone blocks viz. Bhauapura-Ratiapura (10 sq. kms.) Kasara (2.88 sq.km.) Chobe ki Guwari (4.88 sq.km.) Mokanpura-Berda( 2 sq. km.) and Bhakri ( 5 sq. km.) of about 25 sq.km. total area. These are 10 to 40 km. away from Karauli town and well connected with tar road. After drilling up to 15 mts. depth it has been proved that 2 to 3 splittable sand stone zones of about 3 m thickness occur below 1 to 2 m depth from the surface, with 2 to 4 m intervals between each successive zones. Sand stone is red and buff in colour, fine grained and bedded in nature. These blocks are out side forest & lease hold areas.

Important sand stone mining localities are Bhadurpura & Madibhat in Sapotra tehsil where as Parasari, Makanpura, Barda, Bhanpura and Maon villages are in Karauli tehsil. Other localities are Godi-ka-Gaon, Moder, Langare, Gurdha, Ghanwar, Ratimpura, Keshpura, Albat-ki-Guwadi, Dewari Piparan, Makori, Karshai, Kashare, Sewali of Karauli tehsil; Chamble-ki-Guwadi, Lohara in

Sapotra tehsil. Besides in Rajoli , Kamalpura village of Toda-Bhim, Bapoti, Mangrol & Tali hill of Sapotra tehsil, sand stone is quarried for millstone because of its greater hardness and massiveness.

About 138 mining leases were in working conditions from which an inexhaustible supply of the most excellent roofing and flooring slabes have been obtained. Most of the material is processed in 62 cutting & polishing units.MINERAL BASED INDUSTRIES

Because of the abundence and extensive quarrying of splittable sand stone the cutting and polishing units are the most important mineral based industries in the

district. Hindaun is the main business centre for processed sand stone with 16 sand stone cutting, 8 polishing and 23 both cutting & polishing units working.

Five lime kilins are working in the district 3 at Karauli , one each at Toda Bhim and Hindaun. There is further scope for setting up of more such units as the demand for cut & polished sand stone is increasing day by day.POWER & GROUND WATER

Electricity is available in district from 132 KV line from Kota & 220 KV line from Jaipur. Hindaun is the main grid station.

The district has fairly good ground water potential in the more than 75% of the area. The depth of water table ranges for 6 to 27 mts. deep below ground level. Though in general the quality of ground water is good there are some saline patches in Nandauti and Hindaun blocks.MINERAL ADMINISTRATION

There is an office of mining engineer at Karauli, which looks after the mineral administration work. The geological work is looked after by the office of superintending geologist Kota. During the year 1997-98 one project has been proposed as under: 'Evaluation of Sand stone deposits in Sawai Madhopur and Bundi districts and study of non splittable sand stone for sawing purposes.

STATISTICAL INFORMATION OF KARAULI DISTRICT FOR 1996-97.

S.No. Minerals No.of leases

Production (thousand tonnes)

SaleValue(thusandRs.)

Revenue(thousand Rs.)

Major Minerals1. Silica sand 33 52.93 5293.00 635.19

2. Soap Stone 5 4.10 287.00 299.71

3. China/white clay

3 10.79 1126.00 134.85

4. Laterite - 0.04 4.80 1.86

5. Red Oxide 1 - - 18.77

6. Fire Clay 1 - - 1.60

7. Limestone 1 - - -

Minor Minerals

1. Sand Stone 117 890.78 16034.16 26723.61

2. Masonary Stone

90 364.96 14598.64 730.75

3. Limestone (Burning)

15 31.50 2362.80 315.05

4. Millstone 5 1.31 235.98 39.35

5. Bajri - 137.44 5497.96 189.14

6. Fullers earth - - - 1.64

7. Others - - - 1126.14

Total : 30147.66

Unpublished Geological Reports of Karauli District

(A) Geological Survey of India & Others.Author - TitleThiagarajan, R.; 1954 Report on certain deposits of talc

in jaipur and Sawai Madhopur districts.

Chandak, G.j.; 1964-65 - A note on the Karwari iron ore deposit near Hindaun district Sawai Madhopur.

Chandak, G.j. ; 1964-65 - Investigation of the talc deposits in Morar-Ka-Dungar ridge, district Sawai Madhopur

Singh, S.P.; 1974-75 - Geology of Bayana jatwar-Weir area, Bharatpur and Sawai Madhopur districts.

Maharaja Singh, H.j.& Sinha, P.N.; 1975-76 - Report on the geology of Guneshri Sapotra-angapur-Kailadevi areas of Sawai Madhopur district.

Ghosh, S.S & Sharma, A.K.; 1985-86 - Systematic geological mapping of Pre-Aravalli rocks in parts of Jaipur, Sawai-Madhopur, Tonk & Ajmer districts.

Maharaja Singh, H.J.; - A Report on the geology ofKirmani, I.R.;Dr. R.V.G. Nair; 1977-78 Doulathpur, Barel, Karanpur areas

of Sawai-Madhopur districts.

Singh, S.P. & Sinha, V.P.; 1976-77 - Geology of Aund- Toda,Bhim- Gijgarh area, SawaiMadhopur and Jaipur districts

Sinha, V.P.; 1977-78 - Report on geology of the area around Ranoli, Garhmoran Gudha & Torda, Sawai Madhopur & Jaipur districts.

Mishra, S.P.; 1969-70 - Report on the investigation for phosphorite in Sawai- Madhopur district.

(B) Department of Mines & Geology, Udaipur.

Dave, Y.N.; 1954 - A report of mineral survey of Shahbad, Karauli and Sawai-Madhopur area.

Kulshrestha, N.P.; 1959-60 - Investigation for limestone in Maholi Kela-devi area.

Keshwani, K.B. and - A report on lime stone deposit near

Bhargava,K.D.; 1957-58 Maholi and Leela Dungri , Near Karauli

Nagpal, G.R.S.; 1962-63 - Prospecting report of clay and glass sand deposit of Budhreta area, tehsil Toda Bhim.

Surana, R.L.; 1965-66 - A report on investigation of limestone deposit at Maholi-Kela-devi area.

Dayal,R.; 1978-79 - A report on assessment of silica sand occurrences in Patar Sapotra area and lime stone deposit in Chhan area.

Dayal, R.; 1980-81 - Search for economic minerals near villages Gangapur, Kurgaon, Wazirpura, Mohanpura, Saroli.

Sharma, J.P.; Swami, S.K. & - Reconnaissance for silica sandPurohit, S. N.; 1986-89 and other economic minerls

around villages Sapotra. Nandauti etc.

PRECIOUS & SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES IN RAJASTHANINTRODUCTION

The minerals having special physical ,properties like beauty, purity, durability and rarity are classed as gem stones. India has been recognised since ages, as one of the most important gem bearing areas of the world and has been producing a variety of precious and semi precious stones such as diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, chrysoberyl, alexandrite, aquamarine, topaz, amethyst, garnet moon stone, sunstone etc. Most of the Indian precious and semi-precious stones produced have been readily marketed in the international market fetching attractive prices.GEMSTONE RESOURCES OF RAJASTHANRajasthan is endowed with rich potential of precious, semi-precious and ornamental stones. The most important stones that could be mined and marketed may be classified as follows.(1) PRECIOUS STONES: Emerald, aquamarine and Chrysoberyl.(2) SEMI-PRECIOUS STONE: Amethyst, garnet, coloured tourmalines, staurolite,

kanite, andalusite, apatite, sphene. iolite, gedrite and quartz.A brief descritpion of some of the precious and semi-precious stone occurrences are given below:(A) PRECIOUS STONES(i) EMERALD: It is the most valuable of all precious stones and is a transparent variety of beryl with the well known emerald green colour. In India emerald production is reported from Rajasthan alone. First discovery of this precious stone was made in 1973 by a private prospector in Kalaguman area. Subsequently the discovries of emerald deposits at Bubani, Rajgarh, Tikhi and Gamguda were made.Rajasthan emerald belt extends for about 185 km. from Gamaguda in Rajsamand district to Budani in Ajmer district. In all these occurrences the geological"melien" is idential and is restricted to the contact of beryl beari ng pegmatites and the metau Itramafites. The concentration of emeralds are found to be very sporadic and highly variable. The crystals are often fractured and enclose fine dusty or veil like inclusions.and the flawless dark green completely transparant crystals are very rare.

Prospecting for emerald was done by National Mineral Development Corporation in 1969-70 around Gamguda by pitting and trenching but with out much success. The Geological Survey of India also did some work in 1976-77. The state Department of Mines & Geology also carried out investigation around Ghata, Thoria and Padasli area of Udaipur district in June 1979 to evolve some quide lines for emerald prospecting.ii) CHRYSOBERYL: Greenish yellow to honey brown transparent chrysoberyl has been reported from the beryl bearing pegmatites near Govindsagar in Kishangarh area and also from Lohagal near Ajmer. The possibility of its association with the beryl bearing pegmatites of Ajmer Rajnagar emerald belt is bright.(B) SEMIPRECIOUS STONES(i) GARNET: Rajasthan enjoys monopoly position in India in garnet of gem variety. The mineral is almendine garnet of red and violet or purple colours. Garnet deposits are located at several places in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Rajsamand and Tonk districts. The most

important gem variety garnet is found in Tonk district. A 11 km. long belt runing NE-SW to N-S exists between Kalyanpura to Rajmahal in Tonk district where most of the garnet mines are located. Besides this belt, scattered occurrences are at Ragunathpura, Raote, Tordisagar and Bagri. The total length of garnet belt from Mavl in Udaipur district to Bagri in Tonk district is nearly 250 km. with varying width of 17 to 40 kms. The garnet is found associated with medium to high grade regionally metamorphosed pelletic sediments of Aravalli age.

II) EPIDOTE: Epidote with its pistachio green colouroccurs associated with chrysoberyl near Govindsagar, Sarwar and north of Marwar.II) TOURMALINE: The tourmaline occurs localised within the pegmatites which intrude the volcanosedimentary sequences of the Aravalli and Delhi Supergroup as well as the units of the Banded Gneissic complex over a strike length of 300 km. from Jaipur to Udaipur through Ajmer , Bhilwara , Tonk and Pali districts distributed over a wide zone of 100 km in an approximately NNE-SSW direction. Though gem quality rubellite and other blue-green and yellow varities have not been reported, from several localities.III) AQUAMARINE: Aquamarine is the sea blue or sea green variety of beryl. The yellow beryl is known as Heliodor. All these varieties have been found in Toda Raisigh Bagri, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Hanotia, Jhopra and Botunda localities of Tonk district.

The State Department of Mines & Geology carried out investigtions in Botunda-Toda Raisingh area during 1969-70 and 70-71. Some more work was done in June 1979 to March 80 and on the basis of that work it has been seen that the areas falling north of Toda Rai Singh are most promising while areas near Lakholai and Baori villages are also potential.IV)AMETHYST: The mineral quartz occurs in numerous forms and beautiful colours which are used as semi-precious stones. Amethyst is purple

or violet coloured crystalline variety of quartz. Occurrences of amethyst in Rajasthan have been reported from Singhana (jhunjhunu), Kishangarh(Ajmer) Niwai (Tonk), Isarda( Sawai-Madhopur)

V) TOPAZ: Geological survey of India has reported presence of topaz in Sirohi area during investigation for wolframite.

VI) CORUNDUM: Corundum deposit in Rajasthan is reported only near villages Juali & Hanotia in Tonk district Corundum crystals in Juali area are found occuring as dissemineted grains and crystals at the contact of schists with pegmatite intrusions.

VII) ALUMINO-SILICATE GEM: Gems quality Kyanite, granulite and andalusite occur over wide areas within the metamorphosed pelitic to psammopal itic assemblages of the Aravalli and the Delhi Super groups as typically seen in the Khetri copper belt. Cruciform andalusite (Chiastolite) has been reported from the Khetri-Kolihan belts.VIII) CORDIERITE-GEDRITE ROCKS: Cordierite gedrite rocks, associated with Khetri copper belt form excellent semi precious stones. Large acicular stellate aggregates of gedrite/anthophyllite set in a cordierite rich matrix takes good polish and can be used in the manufacture of ash trays, beads and other fancy items.

IX) APATITE & FLUORITE: Apatite and fluorite some times used as semi-precious stones due to their, beautifuJ coJour5. Apatite generally occurs in green colour where as fluorite occurs in various shades of green, blue, violet, white and colourless varities. Occurrrences of apatite are reported from Sikar and Udaipur district, while fluorite are from Jaipur , Sikar, Dungarpur and Jalor district.GEOLOGICAL 'MILIEU' FOR GEMSTONEThe gemstones occur in diverse geological'milieu' but remarkably localised in the high grade Archaean granulire belts of India. Burma and Sri Lanka. Some of the important precious and semi precious stones that occur are given in the Table-1

GRADING OF GEMSTONESThe commonly accepted grade of precious and semi-precious stones as per international market demands are the following:

1. FACT GRADE: Perfect colour, transparency, hardness and flaw less gems.

2. CABOCHON GRADE: Slightly inferior in quality, in colour and transparency. The asterated and chatoyant stones should have the required optical effect to produce "Star" or Cat's eye' effect.

3.CARVING GRADE: Gems with exceptional size, colour, transparency and should with stand to carving or engraving.

4.TUMBLING GRADE :Translucent to opaque stones with flaws and enclusions are included.5. RUN-OF-MINE GRADE: Includes all grades

(Grab lots)SCOPE FOR GEMSTONE-BASED INDUSTRIES IN RAJASTHANJaipur is world famous for cutting and polishing of coloured precious gems as well as the manufacture of a variety of semi-precious stones on a large scale. Thousands of artisans are engaged in processing of all kinds of precious and semi-precious stones such as emerald, ruby, sapphire, chrysoberyl, alexandrite, aquamarine, amethyst, garnet, iolite, moonstone, sunstone, star diopside, star ruby, enstatite-cat's-eye, bronzite, labradorite, etc. Excellent carving work is also carried out from all types of gems. Jaipur is famous for quality cutting and carving. Manufacture of beads from a variety of semi-precious stones and manufacture of fancy items such as ash trays, cameos, is carried out on a large scale. In recent years, Jaipur has taken a lead in the export of precious stones studded gold and silver jewellery and also silver jewellery made out of cheap semiprecious stones and has contributed in a spectacular way to the achievement of Indian export of gems and jewellery.SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT

Precious and semi-precious stones are being processed in most of the places in Jaipur manually by several thousand skilled workers. It is understood that large scale production of beads, faceted and cabochon gems is carried out under the direct supervision of the manufacturers or exporters. Semi-precious stones such as garnet, amethyst, moonstone, etc. are given to outside artisans for the ,manufacture of beads, ash trays, etc. By this methods of manual processing, the cost of production per carat cannot be brought down when compared with the manufacturing costs seen in Japan, Germany, Taiwan, Thailand, etc. There is lot of scope in the following fields:1. Faceting of Transparent Gems.2. Bead making equipments3. Carvi ng4. Cabochon making.

Statistical Information for Gem stone In Rajasthan.S.No Mineral No.of leases Production Sale Value

(Thosand Rs.)Revenue

1. Aquamarine 1 Nil Nil Nil

2. Emerald 3 3.81Kg. 22860 2.0

3. Beryl -

4. Gamet:Gem Abrasive

9 585.0Kg 216.0Ton.

73.12 216.0

47.59