Ancient gold mining area, explored since the late 18th century, but not successfully mined before 1880.
The gold fields comprise a set of four sub-parallel NS-trending lodes in the middle part of the NS-trending Kolar schist belt, which is about 80 km long and 3-4 km wide. Greenstones in this area are represented by amphibolites which are surrounded by gneisees on the eastern and western sides. Additionally, a thin band of banded iron formation runs almost N-S in the western part of the belt. The lodes, from east to west, are named Champion lode, McTaggart East lode, McTaggart West lode and Oriental lode. The former two consist of quartz veins with very low sulphide contents, which include free grains of native gold. The latter lodes are rich in sulphides and only contain microscopic gold as inclusions in arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite.
References:- Genkin, A.D., Safonov, Y.G., Boronikhin, V.A., Naumov, V.B., Vasudev, V.N., Rao, B.K., Chernyshev, I.V., and Nosik, L.P. (1984): New data on the mineralogy and geochemistry of a gold ore field of Kolar India. Geologiya Poleznye Iskopaemye Drevnikh Platform, Materialy Indo-Sovietskogo Simpoziuma o Nauke Zemle, 4th, 82-99.
- Econ Geol (1989) 84:2155-2172.
- Econ Geol (1994) 89:1552-1566.
- Mishra, B., and Panigrahi, M.K. (1999): Fluid evolution in the Kolar Gold Field: evidence from fluid inclusion studies. Mineralium Deposita 34, 173-181.
- Sakhti Saravanan, C. & Mishra, B.. (2009): Mineralium Deposita 44, 597-605.
http://www.ias.ac.in/epsci/jun2001/1340.pdf 104 entries listed. 35 valid minerals. 2 type localities (valid minerals).
