PROTON-INDUCED X-RAY EMISSION STUDIES OF TWO REPRESENTATIVE FERROMANGANESE OXIDE ORES FROM EASTERN INDIA

Precambrian ferromanganese oxide deposits of India and Brazil were formed in optimum favorable geological situations at specific period of evolution. Two representative ferromanganese oxide ore samples have been collected from different mines of Precambrian Bonai-Keonjhar belt, Eastern India, and were irradiated with 3 MeV proton beam from a 3 MV pelletron accelerator at Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India. The spectral data were analyzed by using GUPIX software package. About 20 major, minor and trace elements including Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Mo and Pb were quantified in these ores. The obtained Mn/Fe ratio and the content of the trace elements were used in interpreting the initial formation environment of the depositional basin.