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Nagaur

Assessment tract permissive of mixed stratabound potash-bearing salt and halokinetic potash-bearing salt in India-Pakistan

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Geologic information

CountryIndia-Pakistan
Deposit typemixed stratabound potash-bearing salt and halokinetic potash-bearing salt
Evaporite basinNagaur
Basin typecontinental rift basin
Geologic unitHanseran Evaporite Group-Salt Range Formation
Tectonic settingdivergent margin
Age
Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic
Ediacaran(?)-Cambrian
[no defined epoch]-Cambrian Series 2
Minimum:Paleozoic-Cambrian-Cambrian Series 2
Maximum:Neoproterozoic-Ediacaran(?)
Commodities
Minerals
Potassium minerals:
Notes:Extent of area underlain by Neoproterozoic potash-bearing salt and salt structures.

Economic information

Known K sites?Yes
Mining?No
Exploration?Yes
Identified resources?Yes
Feature typesalt
Quality of informationC: Commonly less than twenty sources of information are available, and detailed information is limited or much of the information is not tied to specific location.
Assessment year2008
Assessment depth3km
AssessorsTeam E: Mark D. Cocker, Greta J. Orris -- team lead, Gregory T. Spanski, Jeffrey C. Wynn (USGS)
Qualitative assessmentR6: Tract is unlikely to be developed based on the available data in the opinion of the assessors; very little positive information exists.
Tract delineationThe Nagaur tract consists of an area underlain by Neoproterozoic potash-bearing salt and salt structures as determined using the geologic maps of Pakistan (Qureshi and others, 1993) and Rajasthan (Kumar and Chandra, 2005) in conjunction with a generalized diagram showing the distribution of the salt (Kumar and Bakliwal, 2005).

Reference information

Nearby dataIndia
CommentsReported potash mineralization is low grade and continuity is uncertain; very little information for most of the tract.
References
Alam, G.S., Hussain, A., and Asrarullah, 1976, The mapping of Warcha and Kalabagh salt mines and potash investigations, Punjab, Pakistan: Pakistan Geological Survey Records, v. 40, 14 p.
Ahmad, Z., 1969, Directory of mineral deposits of Pakistan: Pakistan Geological Survey Records, v. 15, pt. 2, 220 p.
Asrarullah, 1980, Phosphate, potash and natural gas occurrences in Pakistan, in Lee, A.I.N., ed., Fertilizer mineral occurrences in the Asia-Pacific region: Honolulu, East-West Resource Systems Institute, p. 66-77.
Banerjee, D.M., Strauss, H., Bhattacharya, S.K., Kumar, V., and Mazumdar, A., 1998, Isotopic composition of carbonates and sulphates, potash mineralisation and basin architecture of the Nagaur-Ganganagar evaporite basin (north-western India) and their implications on the Neoproterozoic exogenic cycle: Mineralogical Magazine, v. 62A, p. 106-107.
Bhatti, M.I., Khan, I., and Karimullah, 1954, Survey of potash resources in West Pakistan: Science and Industry, v. 4, p. 21-24.
Central Treaty Organization, 1963, Symposium on industrial rocks and minerals, Lahore, Pakistan, 1962, Proceedings: Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), 458 p.
Das Gupta, S.P., 1996, Marwar Supergroup evaporites, Rajasthan, in Bhattacharyya, A., ed., Recent advances in Vindhyan geology: Geological Society of India Memoir 36, p. 49-58.
Gee, E.R., 1945, The age of the Saline Series of the Punjab and of Kohat, in Symposium on the age of the Saline Series in the Salt Range of the Punjab, Poona, December 29-30, 1944, Proceedings: India National Academy of Science Proceedings, v. 14, pt. 6, sec. B, p. 269-311.
Gopal, R., 2007, Three-dimensional mapping of Hanseran evaporite bed from Bouguer anomaly over Ganganagar Basin, Rajasthan: Journal of the Geological Society of India, v. 70, p. 1003-1014.
Jones, C.L., 1970, Potash in halitic evaporites, Salt Range, West Pakistan: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 700-D, p. 140-145. (Also available at http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp700D.)
Jones, C.L., and Asrarullah, 1968, Potential for potash and other evaporite mineral resources in West Pakistan: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 68-153, 17 p.
Kovalevich, V.M., Marshall, T., Peryt, T.M., Petrychenko, O.Y., and Zhukova, S.A., 2006, Chemical composition of seawater in Neoproterozoic; Results of fluid inclusion study of halite from Salt Range (Pakistan) and Amadeus Basin (Australia): Precambrian Research, v. 144, p. 39-51.
Kumar, V., and Bakliwal, P.C., 2005, Potash in India: India Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 65, 131 p.
Kumar, V., and Chandra, R., 2005, Geology and evolution of Nagaur-Ganganagar basin with special reference to salt and potash mineralisation: India Geological Survey Special Publication 62, 151 p.
Kumar, V., and Singh, U.P., 1998, Polyhalite resources in Nagaur-Ganganagar evaporite basin, Rajasthan with special reference to its utility as potash fertilizer: Indian Minerals, v. 52, p. 45-52.
Lal, B., and Singh, V.N., 1998, Electrical soundings; an aid to potash exploration programme in the Nagaur Basin, Thar Desert, India: Indian Minerals, v. 52, p. 123-128.
Qureshi, N.H., 1963, Industrial minerals and rocks of west Pakistan; Review of mining activities, in Symposium on Industrial Rocks and Minerals, Lahore, Pakistan, 1962, Proceedings: Ankara, Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) and Turkey Mineral Research and Exploration Institute, p. 34-49.
Ramakrishna, T.S., Satyamurthy, K., and Murali, N.C., 1995, A critique on the geophysical efforts for locating potash in northwestern Rajasthan: Indian Minerals, v. 49, p. 251-264.
Sant, V.N., and Pant, A., 1980, A note on the known resources of phosphate and potash in India, in Lee, A.I.N., ed., Fertilizer mineral occurrences in the Asia-Pacific region: Honolulu, East-West Resource Systems Institute, p. 20-33.
Singh, S.P., and Singh, B.P., 2010, Geothermal evolution of the evaporite-bearing sequences of the Lesser Himalaya, India: International Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 99, p. 101-108.
Strauss, Harald, Banerjee, D.M., and Kumar, Virendra, 2001, The sulfur isotopic composition of Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian seawater; Evidence from the cyclic Hanseran evaporites, NW India: Chemical Geology, v. 175, p. 17-28.
Stuart, Murray, 1919, The potash salt of the Punjab Salt Range and Kohat, and suggestions regarding the origin and history of the rock-salt deposits of the Punjab and Kohat: India Geological Survey Records, v. 50, pt. 1, 28-56 p.
The Reporter, 2007, Ethiopia; Indian company to develop potash mine: Addis Ababa, The Reporter Web page, accessed September 2, 2009, at http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200712170678.html.
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