Heavy Mineral Concentration and its Importance along the Attrai River, Dinajpur, Bangladesh

Abstract

Heavy minerals investigation along the Attrai river sand of Dinajpur district, Bangladesh consists of biotite, chlorite, epidote, garnet, hornblende, kyanite, monazite, rutile, staurolite, tourmaline and zircon from non-opaque and hematite, ilmenite, limonite and magnetite from opaque fraction where garnet and magnetite claim the highest position in non-opaque and opaque group, respectively. The heavy minerals have a wide range of economic potentialities but the observed percentage of study area is only 1.54% which does not qualify as potential with the other known potential zones in Bangladesh. The investigation shows that, major portion of the clastic concentration likely to have been derived mainly from crystalline igneous and metamorphic rocks and a considerable part might have contributed through older sedimentary province. The orientation pattern of heavy mineral deposit suggests that, the possible sources lie in the west, north-west and in the northern side of Bangladesh.