General
Information
| Area |
: |
7,00,000
sq km |
| States |
: |
Parts
of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh |
| Headquarter |
: |
Nagpur |
| Address |
: |
AMD Complex,
Civil Lines, Nagpur - 440 001 |
| Contact
Person |
: |
Dr.
M. K. Roy,
Regional Director
Ph
: 0712-2564469
Fax:
0712-2561438
e-mail
: rdcr.amd@gov.in
|
The
Region was set up during 1958 as Western Region in a rented accommodation
at Nagpur and divided during 1988 into Western Region-I with
headquarter at Nagpur and Western Region-II with headquarter
at Baroda (now Vadodara). With the closure of Western Region-II
at Vadodara, the Region was subsequently named as Central Region
and the office and laboratories were moved into own premises
during 1994. The Region has residential quarters catering to
the requirement
of officers and staff.
Broad
Geological Features
Broadly
the following geological domains occupy
larger parts of Central Region.
(i)
Archaean to Lower Proterozoic basement craton
including Proterozoic granites of 2.2-2.5 b.y. age (Bundelhkhand,
Dongargarh and Malanjhkhand granites). Late Archaean
to Early Proterozoic sediments are bounded by rift zones/
mobile belts, which are metamorphosed to greenschist facies.
High-grade mobile belts related to lithospheric development, are
characterized by high grade rocks of granulitic to amphibolite
facies extending from eastern Madhya Pradesh to Chhotanagpur
Plateau and are covered by younger sediments. Other groups
of Lower Proterozoic rocks represent highly deformed
volcano sedimentary sequences. Proterozoic Supracrustal belts
of Kotri-Dongargarh Supergroup, Sakoli Group, Sausar Group
located on the west central part of Bastar craton and Mahakoshal
Group
form important tectono-metamorphic units.
(ii)
Middle
to Upper Proterozoic rift related sedimentary basins: These
were formed as a continental anorogenic environment related
to extensional tectonic regime and include the following basins
e.g. Abujhmar, Khairagarh, Indravati, Chhattisgarh, Khariar,
Ampani etc. Proterozoic basins which host major Unconformity
Related Deposits world over have extensively developed
in Central India and nine out of fourteen such basins come
under Central Region.
(iii)
Gondwana sediments of Palaeozoic-Mesozoic Era,
which were deposited in intracratonic-rifted basins, occupy
large parts of Central Region.
(iv)
Deccan traps of Mesozoic Era: They occupy
nearly 60% of the area of the Region.
Summary of
Investigations: Important Finds
A
major part of radiometric
survey was confined to Proterozoic supracrustals and the crystallines.
Some of the uranium deposits identified are
:
Bodal: It
is located in the Rajnandgaon district of Madhya Pradesh. The
host rocks are Proterozoic bi-modal volcanics. It is a vein type
of uranium deposit established over a strike length of 1000m
with a vertical depth upto 400m.
Jajawal: It
is located in the Surguja district of Madhya Pradesh. The host
rocks are Proterozoic crystallines. It is a vein
type of uranium deposit established in two sectors for 300m (Central
sector) and 485m (Western sector) upto a maximum vertical depth
of 400m.
Other
smaller uranium deposits identified are as follows.
|
S.
No.
|
Location
|
District
|
Host
Rock/ Basin
|
|
1
|
Dumhath
|
Surguja,
Madhya Pradesh
|
Proterozoic
crystallines
|
|
2
|
Dhabi
|
Surguja,
Madhya Pradesh
|
Syenites
within Archaean crystalines
|
|
3
|
Bhandaritola
|
Rajnandgaon
district, Madhya Pradesh
|
Proterozoic
Acid volcanics
|
|
4
|
Mogarra
|
Bhandara
district, Maharashtra
|
Khairagarh
sandstones
|
Investigations
in the Gondwana basins have resulted in locating uranium
shows at few places e.g. Lalbarra (Mandla district, Madhya
Pradesh), Polapather (Betul district, Madhya Pradesh). Although
exploratory drilling was carried out in these places, no tangible
resources of uranium could be established so far in the Gondwana
basins of Central India.
Apart
from uranium, surveys for Rare Metal
and Rare Earth (RMRE) bearing minerals
have resulted in identifying a rich source of xenotime (a yttrium
phosphate mineral containing heavy rare earths) in the riverine
placers of Siri River, Raigarh district, Madhya Pradesh and Nb-Ta
occurrences in pegmatites at Mundwal, Bodenar, Challanpara in
Bastar district, Chhattisgarh and Pandikimal-Jangapara in Jharsuguda
district, Orissa. These minerals have been / are being recovered
on a small
scale from these occurrences.
Present
Thrust areas of Investigations
Since
there are a number of Middle Proterozoic basins having unconformable
contact with the Lower Proterozoic / Archaean basement, they
are considered potential locales for unconformity related uranium
occurrences. With this concept in the backdrop, Indravati and
Chhattisgarh basins have been taken up for intensive investigations.
Other
facilities available at Central Region
Ground
Calibration Pads for Gamma ray spectrometers
An
unique facility, the only one of its kind in India, was established
by AMD in the civil airport at Nagpur for calibrating gamma ray
spectrometers both for airborne surveys and ground surveys. This
facility has been constructed wholly indigenously, as per the
specifications of IAEA and
is serving as a 'national facility' for calibration of
radiometric instruments by various organisations of the country
as well as for universities.
Analytical
laboratories
The
Region is equipped with
Physics
Laboratory
Chemistry
Laboratory
Mineral
Technology Laboratory
Petrology
Laboratory
XRF
Laboratory
Remote
Sensing Laboratory
