Gold-bearing rocks of Mangalur greenstone belt,Gulbarga District,Karnataka

The Mangalur greenstone belt of Dharwar Craton, South India, is an Archaean schist belt dominated by metavolcanic rocks. The gold mineralization occurs within the metavolcanics and the fabric, mineralogy and geochemistry of these host rocks indicate that they were tholeiitic basalts regionally metamorphosed under medium to low-grade greenschist facies. The basic metavolcanic rocks occur as tholeiitic metabasalts and amphibolites. The rocks have undergone some fractionation and appear to be derived from melts generated by 10 to 25% melting of the mantle at depths 30 to 35 km around temperature 1200°C and pressure 12 kb. The source of gold is mainly in the basalts and not in the surrounding granites.