Geology, Petrography, and Mineralization of Sedimentary Hosted Strata-Bounded Barite Deposit at Gunga, Khuzdar District Balochistan, Pakistan

Abstract

Gunga deposit is a type of sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) deposit located in the northwest of Khuzdar Knot within the Kirthar Fold Belt (KFB) in the south-west of Khuzdar city. This deposit is formed during the late Triassic-Jurassic period due to rifting of the Gondwana supercontinent. being hosted with the Anjira Member of Jurassic Shirinab Formation, hosted the Strata bounded barite mineralization in these deposits contact with the siliceous and iron-rich gossan zones. The Baritic zone indicates the complex replacement of silica with the continuous silicification which is followed by massive to brecciated type Barite. Petrographically, barite has a very fine to coarse grain texture, anhedral to euhedral crystal shape, and forms dendritic crystal structure In the Back Scattered Electron (BSE) images, the crystal morphology of Barite exhibits well-developed elongated crystal structures with medium to coarse grain texture. Energy Dispersive X-rays (EDX) graphs indicates the high peaks of Ba, S, and O elements associated with sub-peaks rock-forming mineral elements (Si, Al, Na, K, and Ca) along with sub-peaks of ore-forming mineral elements (Pb, Zn, Fe, P, and Ni).