Rahul Khantwal (E-4044)

Executive Trainee (Geology)

DIOM, NMDC Ltd.

ADDITIONAL EXPLORATION
WORK IN
DEPOSIT - E (VIRGIN DEPOSIT)
Donimalai Iron Ore Mine

Location
Donimalai area is located in Sandur Schist
Belt of Precambrian age.
Deposit-E : Situated in the eastern part of
BMMX Deposit.
An ellipsoid shaped deposit trailing
roughly NS with a length of approx. 400m
and average width of 100m.

E- DEPOSIT

General Geology of Donimalai

Donimalai iron ore deposits : located in the south-east portion of Sandur Schist Belt of
Precambrian age.
The rock formations of the region consist of phyllites, the well known banded hematite
jasper and quartzites, and basic igneous rocks which have been generally
metamorphosed to the green-schist facies.

The detailed stratigraphy of Sandur schist belt was presented by Mishra (1978)
and Roy and Biswas (1983) is as follows:
Laterites
Calcite veins
Recent
Iron ores
Quartz veins/Pegmatites
Dolerite/Diabase
Donimalai Formation
Banded iron formation
Shales with tuffs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Krishnanagar Formation

Metavolcanic rocks (metabasalt,

meta-andesites, chlorite schists)

ORE TYPES OCCURRING IN DONIMALAI

Code

Ore Type

Description

Hard Ore

The ore in this type is hard and compact with or without laminations.

Medium hard
Laminated Ore

This is comparatively softer with laminations of limonite and hematite.

The inter-laminar plains contain brown to yellow earthy limonitic
matter.

Soft Laminated Ore

Soft, biscuity and easily amenable to fragmentation The ore is lamellar,

essentially consisting of haematite while blue dust occupies interlaminar spaces.

Flaky/Friable Ore

Consists primarily of red ochre and soft ore. It also occurs in pockets and
alternate bands in other ore types. This type of ore occupies deeper
levels of ore body and generally rests against shale or BHQ at the
bottom.

Blue Dust

Consists primarily of bluish powdery ore

Lateritic/Limonitic
Ore

This ore type is essentially hematite ore laterised with fragments of

unaltered or partially altered hematite ore averaging +55 % Fe.

Deposit E
Virgin area on eastern side of BMMX
deposit, i.e. towards south eastern part of
Donimalai deposits

Undulatory topography

Most part covered by regolith and

lateritic ore

Rare fresh exposures with some

patches of partly weathered BHQ bands

Exploration Details

During 2007-09, the following exploration work

was carried out:
Drilling
: 439.00 Mts. in 12 boreholes
Logging
: Borehole wise with total
meterage of 439.00Mts.
Sampling
: 165 nos.
Chemical Analysis
: 165 nos. for Fe, SiO2,
Al2O3, P and LoI.

Borehole No.

Location

Inclination

Collar R.L
(in mts)

Depth
(in mts)

E1

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -9 (East)

Vertical

992.798

48.00

E2

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -10A (East)

Vertical

999.026

40.00

E3

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -8 (East)

Vertical

983.474

28.00

E4

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -10 (East)

Vertical

997.024

26.00

E5

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -8A (East)

Vertical

987.305

29.00

E6

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -9 (East)

Vertical

994.161

31.00

E7

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -9 (East)

Vertical

991.942

83.00

E8

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -9A (East)

Vertical

996.687

60.00

E9

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -10 (East)

Vertical

999.309

30.00

E10

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -9 (East)

Vertical

999.542

20.00

E11

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -9 (East)

Vertical

999.191

18.00

E12

MMXS-CROSS
SECTION S -8 (East)

Vertical

980.27

26.00

Total 12 nos.

439.00

BORE HOLE LOG

DEPOSIT E TOPOGRAPHY (Schematic)

Ore Zone

 On the basis of Fe content, the ore are

grouped into 3 categories, viz.;
Feedable ore; above 58% Fe,
Sub grade ore; above 54%, and less than
58% Fe, which could be blended during
production, and
Low grade ore; above 45% and below 54%
Fe.
Below 45% Fe content is considered as waste
as per IBM Guidelines

Ore Type wise Reserve, incidence and Grade in Deposit E

Ore type

Grade
Category

Reserve in
LT

Average Grade (in %)

Incidence
Fe

SiO2

Al2O3

LOI

Blendable
ore

>58% Fe

6.1

48.14

61.84

3.93

2.43

0.035

3.15

Sub-grade
Ore

>54%; <58%
Fe

2.43

19.2

56.38

2.77

5.55

0.036

5.89

Low-grade
Ore

>45%; <54%
Fe

4.13

32.66

50.65

9.04

5.67

0.052

5.92

Total

>45% Fe

12.66

100

57.14

5.37

4.09

0.041

4.58

Approach

Thank You