Some characters of the bedded chromite deposits of Kalrangi, Cuttack district, Orissa, India

Abstract

Mineralogy, size distribution of grains, and variation in chemical composition of chromitite occurring in four successive layers in serpentinite, near Kalrangi (85°45′ E:21°0′ N), Cuttack district, Orissa, have been studied to decipher the mode of formation of the ore bodies. The parent rocks are dunite-peridotite with olivine, olivine-enstatite and minor chromite, the minerals being completely altered to serpentine or talc-serpentine near the surface. The ore bodies are of bedded nature, composed entirely of chromite, and are confined to the top of the dunite-peridotite sheet. Grain-size variation of chromite in different layers in the vertical section shows straight line character which suggests accumulation of chromite grains by the process of magmatic sedimentation. The normal distribution of size variation of the chromite grains probably means that they are the products of a single magmatic cycle. Cr2O3 and MgO in chromitite decrease and FeO and Al2O3 increase in the vertical direction, which is expected when chromite crystallize from an ultrabasic magma in an undisturbed condition. Ideas of repeated injection and convection currents are negated by the absence of rhythmic layering and cyclic repetition of ultrabasics and chromite.