The Dongargarh lavas, erupted over a broad time span from ∼ 2462 Ma to ∼ 1367 Ma, comprise an interlayered sequence of felsic to mafic volcanic rocks and sedimentary formations. The early volcanic rocks, dominated by rhyolites (Bijli) with subordinate dacites, andesites and basalts (Pitepani), are subalkaline and show calc-alkaline trends. The rhyolites are enriched in LREE, Zr, Th, Cr and depleted in LILE, Ti, Sc, Y, Ni. The early lavas show REE patterns varying from LREE enriched, highly fractionated in the rhyolites to progressively less fractionated flat patterns in the mafic members, consistent with a derivation of the felsic to mafic lavas through progressively higher degrees of partial melting of a common source. Fractionation of olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase also played an important role in the generation of the range of mafic to felsic magmas. A possible crustal contribution in the generation of the voluminous early rhyolites is indicated from the ratios of LILE and LREE in which the rhyolites show low Sr and high Ce, similar to other crustally derived lavas. The late volcanic rocks (Sitagota and Mangikhuta), on the other hand, are relatively unfractionated, compositionally restricted, more primitive magmas, dominated by basalts with minor andesites, showing tholeiitic affinities. The Sitagota lavas have high Mg number, lesser abundances of Ba, Rb, K, Th and Zr, but are enriched in Sr, V, Ni, Cr, Sc than the other members of the Dongargarh suite with comparable Mg number. Their flat unfractionated REE patterns also support their primitive character and their derivation through higher degrees of partial melting of a common mantle source. Although all the Dongargarh lavas show a close chemical affinity with island-arc magmas in all discriminant diagrams and show a similar fractionation of the alkaline earth elements (AE) Rb, K, Ba relative to the incompatible HFSE, the associated sediments point to a stable continental margin tectonic environment, suggesting that the Dongargarh lavas were erupted in a continental rift setting rather than in an island arc. The arc-like geochemical signature of these lavas is suggested to be a manifestation of an earlier episode of hydrous metasomatism of the Precambrian mantle which enriched it in LILE and LREE and made it similar to the source of IAB. The primitive nature of the late volcanics are attributed to a complex subvolcanic plumbing system whereby the lavas gained fast access to the surface without any significant crustal interaction.