Geological report on Limestone Exploration of Mudhvay Sub-block ‘C’, Lakhpat Taluka, Kachchh District, Gujarat Executive Summary Prepared for Commissioner of Geology & Mining Government of Gujarat Prepared by Geovale service Pvt. Ltd 56, Ideal villas, Kochpukur, Rajarhat Kolkata-700 156 West Bengal November, 2015 Geological Report on Limestone Exploration of Mudhvay Sub-block C, Lakhpat Taluka, Kachchh District, Gujarat Executive Summary Prepared for Commissioner of Geology and Mining, Gujarat Geovale Services Pvt. Ltd 56, Ideal Villas, Kochpukur, Rajarhat Kolkata - 700 156 West Bengal, India www.geovale.com E: [email protected] November, 2015 Executive Summary Mudhvay Sub-block C is part of the Mudhvay Block in the Lakhpat Taluka in the Kachchh District of Gujarat. It is a N-S elongated irregular polygonal block with an area of 2.591 km2 (251.9 Ha) having dimensions of approx. 2.4 km in length and 1.3 km in width. The Mudhvay Block has been part of regional exploration conducted by Commissioner of Geology and Mining (CGM) through a Rapid Reserve Assessment Survey (RRAS) in 2009. The Sub-block C was further explored in detail by Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) in 2014-2015, as a part of a “Mudhvay Block (1277 Ha) Detailed Exploration Program”. Cement grade nummulitic limestone occurs in the Mudhvay Block i n t h e Eocene - Oligocene Fulra Formation comprising of mostly numulitic limestone and Oligocene - Miocene Maniyara Fort Formation comprising of shale, calcareous clay with thin limestone bands, which are part of the Tertiary Platformal sediments of Kachchh. In the Mudhvay Sub-block C, the formation exposed in the northern part is that of Maniyara Fort Formation, while Fulra Formation is exposed in a small patch in the south -western part of the area. Fulra Formation is however, intersected throughout the block in all the drillholes. Fulra Formation having thicknesses ranging from 14 m to 60 m, forms the main mineralised body in the s u b - block. The overburden in the area, belonging mainly to Maniara Fort Formation and top soil, ranges from 4 m in the south to approximately 46 m in the northern part of the block. The block has a relief of 15 m, with altitude ranging from 22 m to 37 m above the MSL. The topography is gently rolling and a thin 1 – 3 m veneer of red brown soil overlie the Maniyara Fort Formation in most part of the Sub-block C. The block is located about 6 kms from the Kori Creek, which forms an estuarine inlet to the Arabian Sea, further south. The 3 kms buffer zone of Narayan Sarovar Wildlife Sanctuary is 2 kms to the south of the block. GMDC organized the topographic survey using Total Station theodolites and DGPS surveys to determine the boundary of the block and classified the block area as Government and Santhani Land. About 1.413 km2 (141 Ha, ~ 57%) of the total area of Mudhvay Sub-block C is government land, and about 1.087 km2 (108 Ha, ~ 43%) remaining land is Santhani Land (land allocated to landless persons) for agriculture purposes. 34 diamond core drillholes, totaling 3083 m have been drilled within the Mudhvay Sub-block C in a 400m x 400 m grid for 137 Ha (55% area) and at 200 m x 200 m grid for 113 Ha (45% area). 911 half split core samples of 1 to 2 m length each were pulverized to 150 microns at site and sent to Inspectorate Griffith’s (IG) wet chemical laboratory at Gandhidham in Gujarat for assay. Element suite determined at IG's laboratory include SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, TiO2, CaO, MgO, P2O5, Na2O, K2O, Cl, So3, R2O3 and LoI along with specific gravity on Dried Air basis using IS standard procedures. Geovale Services finalized the Geological Report of the Block based on the data provided by the CGM and GMDC. It carried out the 3D Geological Resource modeling of the ore body, using GEOVIA SurpacTM software. The ore body modeling process involved developing a geological database from the drillhole database, which has been validated by classical statistics and geo- statistics. Surpac allows the data visualization by creation of sections along desired directions and defining ore-waste contact by manual on-screen digitization. The two stage solid modeling of the ore body by wire-framing the digitized cross sections and block modeling (50m x 50m x 10 m blocks) on the basis of geostatistically derived parameters allows estimation of 3D ore volume and block wise grades. Resources and grades have been derived using both Krigging and Inverse Distance Squared methods. Limestone of Fulra Formation is the main mineralised body considered for Geological Resource estimation. Though the specific gravity ranged from 2.2 to 2.6, a bulk density of 2.25 has been used as advised by the CGM, Gujarat for the tonnage determination of the limestone ore body. A cut off grade of 37% CaO and thickness of 1.5 m has been applied to determine the resource volume and grade for every Surpac block. In Mudhvay Sub-block-C, GMDC carried out General Exploration (G-2 Stage) exploration. The Geological Resource of limestone in the Block has been classified based on the Minerals (Evidence of Mineral Contents) Rules, 2015 notified by the Ministry of Mines. The total Geological Resource esatablished in Mudhvay Sub-block B is 325 Mt of Indicated Mineral Resources (UNFC – 1997, 332 category). The following table summarises the grade wise Indicated Geological Resource (UNFC 332) of Mundhvay Sub-block C. Table 1: Summary Resource Classification: Mudhvay Sub-block C Kriging Inverse Distance CaO% Range Volume Volume (m3) Tonnes CaO% (m3) Tonnes CaO% < 37.0 3650000 8212500 35.85 5600000 12600000 29.89 37.0 -> 40.0 17050000 38362500 38.99 12300000 27675000 39.09 40.0 -> 42.0 22400000 50400000 41.23 23350000 52537500 41.23 42.0 -> 44.0 38750000 87187500 43.04 36700000 82575000 43.20 > 44.0 62500000 140625000 45.84 66400000 149400000 45.98 Grand Total 144350000 324787500 43.31 144350000 324787500 43.29 The following table provides the summary information about Mudhvay Sub-block C. Table 2: Summary Information Table: Mudhvay Sub-block C Name of the Block Mudhvay Sub-block C Location Summary Village Mudhvay Taluka Lakhpat District Kachchh State Gujarat Area Summary Size of the block (Sq km) 2.519 Boundary coordinates Point Easting (UTM) Northing (UTM) Latitude Longitude C-01 469188.164 2624733.942 23° 43' 59.9313" N 68° 41' 51.6687" E C-02 469676.945 2624886.005 23° 44' 04.9094" N 68° 42' 08.9220" E C-03 470037.123 2624463.292 23° 43' 51.1884" N 68° 42' 21.6750" E C-04 470224.759 2623862.543 23° 43' 31.6664" N 68° 42' 28.3460" E C-05 470543.327 2623327.187 23° 43' 14.2794" N 68° 42' 39.6360" E C-06 470578.944 2622655.681 23° 42' 52.4463" N 68° 42' 40.9420" E C-07 469227.975 2622387.757 23° 42' 43.6432" N 68° 41' 53.2506" E Accessibility Nearest rail head Bhuj Road State Highways and two lane metalled roads connecting the block area with Ahmedabad via Bhuj. Airport Rudra Mata Domestic Airport, Bhuj Port Kandla Port near Gandhidham Power Akrimota Thermal Power Project of GMDC at Nani Chher Village in Lakhapat Taluka Hydrography Local drainage West/Northwest Rivers Mudhvay Nala Climate Average rainfall ( June-September) 100 mm Temperature (winter - max and min) 350C and 80C Temperature (summer - max and min) 400C and 220C Topography Toposheet Number 41 A/10 Nature of surface Gently rolling terrain sloping towards west Cadastral Summary Government Land 1.413 Sq Km (~57%) Santhani Land 1.087 Sq km (~43%) Forest Area NIL Exploration Summary Regional geological mapping (agency, scale) Geological Survey of India; Scale - 1:500000 Regional exploration (RRAS) Agency Commissioner of Geology and Mining, Gujarat Block exploration (agency) Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Number of drillholes 34 Total metereage 3083 Resource Summary (Mineral Evidence Rule) Resource (UNFC categorisation, tonnage) G2, 332, 325 Mt Average grade 43.2% Limestone thickness 14 to 60 m (57.5 m average thickness) OB thickness 4 to 46 m Structure - strike and dip Strike: ENE-WSW; Dip: 30 to 70 towards NNW Faults None Figure1 : Mudhvay Sub-block C (blue polygon) and Mudhvay Block (red polygon) are shown in the Google Earth imagery of Western Kachchh 7 .