Ore petrography of low-grade siliceous manganese ores from the Bonai-Keonjhar belt, Orissa, India: The influence of mineral-fabric on their beneficiation

Low grade siliceous manganese ores from the iron ore group of the Bonai-Keonjhar belt, Orissa, India are found mostly in shear zones. The ore characteristics of siliceous manganese ore samples from three differ- ent mines, viz. the Shankar (Barbil OMC lease hold area), the Sone-Patuli (Patmunda, OMM lease hold area), and the Musaghar (Roida, OMDC lease hold area), were studied. These siliceous manganese ores are of three types, respectively: (i) spongy-granular; (ii) massive-mosaic; and (iii) hard-mylonitized. The spongy-gran- ular type contains granular, saccharoidal quartz and the major manganese mineral present is pyrolusite. The second type contains well crystallized quartz and cryptomelane, while the third has cherty, fine grained quartz (mylonite) along with romanechite. All three ores were subjected to physical beneficiation under similar conditions. Both gravity and magnetic separation techniques were employed. The mineral-fabric of the ores has been correlated to the extent of their beneficiation using these physical techniques. Of these three ores only the spongy-granular type responded well to upgrading. The feed with 22% Mn content could be upgraded to 44% with a 28% yield and a 49% recovery. The good response to beneficiation of the spongy- granular sample could be due to the large euhedral crystals of pyrolusite and the friable nature of the sac- charoidal quartz. This study reveals the influence of mineral-fabric on beneficiation of low grade ore, siliceous Mn ore in particular.

The Cretaceous Turn of Geological Evolution: Key Evidence from East Asia

this work focuses on one of the critical points of Earth＇s history when the Solar System passed through the most distant point of its galactic orbit. During this event, Earth may have suffered from maximum extension, associated with its relative proximity to the Sun at that time, followed by long-term contraction related to its later distancing. This paper is based on generalized data on the Cretaceous evolution of the Earth as a whole and of East Asia in particular. The evidence suggests that major geological processes at this time may be interpreted as transitional changes in the state of Earth. A liquid nature of its core may have reacted to the gravitational and electromagnetic transformations. When the cosmic changes took place at 135-120 Ma, more turbulent flows in the outer core would have favoured the rise of voluminous magmatic plumes and associated fluid flows. These would substantially transform the mantle, crust, hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere. In particular, plume-related melting of overlying subducting slabs and lower continental crust could have initiated numerous adakitic melts that formed the East Asian Adakitic Province. These and associated juvenile events produced numerous metallic ore, coal, gas and oil deposits. The Cretaceous is one of the most significant resource-producing periods.