Gold in the beach placer sands of Chavakkad-Ponnani,Kerala Coast,India |
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| Authors: | Bibhuranjan Nayak |
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| Institution: | (1) Beach Sand Mineral Section, Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Industrial Estate (P.O.), Pappanamcode, Trivandrum, 695019, India;(2) Geoscience Division, Centre for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Trivandrum, 695031, India |
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| Abstract: | Although sporadic mining of placer gold from river beds is not uncommon in India, there is no documented literature on the
occurrence of gold in the beach placer sand deposits of the country. While characterizing the heavy minerals of the Chavakkad-Ponnani
(CP) beach placer sands along the North Kerala coast, the association of gold with the pyriboles in these sands has been observed.
A native gold grain of about 25 μm was seen to occur as an inclusion within an amphibole of hornblendic composition. The pyriboles
of the CP deposit are angular to sub-angular indicating a nearby provenance that may be in the upstream reaches of the Ponnani
River in the districts of Malappuram and Palakkad or further north in the auriferous tracts of the Wynad-Nilambur or Attapadi
regions. It is argued that the occurrence of native gold in CP deposit is not a freak occurrence and that it warrants thorough
investigation of all the pyribole-ilmenite-rich placers to examine the possible presence of gold and its abundance in the
beach placers of northern Kerala coast. |
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