GEOLOGY & MINERAL RESOURCES OF

KARAULI DISTRICT

Karauli, the 32nd district of Rajasthan was formed on 19th July, 1997 by
carving out a part of Sawai Madhopur district, comprising tehsils of Karauli, Hindaun
Nandauti, Sapotara and Toda Bhim. The district lies in the north eastern part of
Rajasthan. stretching between 26° 02' to 27° latitude & 76° 28' to 77°25'longitude.

It is bounded in north by Dausa & Bharatpur districs, in west by Dausa & Tonk
district, in south by Sawai Madhopur district and in east by Dholpur & Bharatpur
districts and state of Madhya Pradesh. The district has an area of app. 4985 sq.km.
The district headquarter Karauli is 180 kms. from Jaipur and is well connected by tar
roads. State highway No.2 & 22 connect it with the other cities. Nearest rail head is
Gangapur city on Delhi Bombay main line of Western Railway. National highway No.
11 passes through northern top of district.
The district enjoys a plain topography except in north eastern part of the district
where Aravalli & Vindhyan ranges rise 300 to 500 mts. above m s I. The only major
river is Chambal which forms district and state boundary in east with MP . Other river
is Gambhiri emerging from hills of Nandauti tehsil & flowing though Hindaun and Toda
Bhim tehsils.
A major part of Karauli & Sapotara tehsils falls in reserve & protected forest.
Reserve forest also occur in northern part of Nandauti tehsil. The drainage system is
dendritic.
In the Karauli tehsil hills become more high and extensive. Hills & broken
grounds characterises almost entire area locally known as Dang.
The famous temple of Kela devi is situated 25 Kms. from Karauli, while the
world famous Shri Mahaveer ji temple is situated in Hindaun tehsil.
GEOLOGY
Geologically the district comprises rocks belonging to Pre Aravalli, Delhi &
Vindhyan Supergroup.
The generalised and modified litho stratigraphic sequence is as under:

RECENT Quarternary Alluvium

VINDHYAN Bhander Group Upper Bhander Sand
SUPERGROUP Stone
(570-1400M.Y.) Sirbu Shale
Lower Bhander Sand
Stone
Samaria Shale
Lower Bhander Limestone
Ganurgarh Shale
Rewa Group Upper Rewa Sand Stone
Jhiri Shale
Lower Rewa Sand Stone
 Panna Shale
Kaimur Group Sand Stone, Shale and
Conglomerate.

.........................UNCONFORMITY.........................
Semri Group Tirohan Hematite, Shale, Breccia and
Limestone, Suket Shale.

.........................UNCONFORMITY..........................
DELHI SUPER Alwar Group Quartzite, Conglomerate, Mica Schist.
GROUP
(1400-2000 M.Y.)
..........................UNCONFORMITY..........................
Intrusives. Granite & Basic Intrusive
BHILWARA SUPER Ranthambhor Quartizite Shale and Slate.
GROUP Group
(PRE-ARAV- Hindoli Group Shale, Slate, Phyllite, Limestone,
ALLI Dolomite, Marble, Schist and
FORMATION) Quartzite.
(>2500 M.Y.) and
Gneiss, Migmatite, Mica Schist
Garnetiferous Mica-Schist and
Amphibolite (Equivalent to Mangalwar
complex of Chittorgarh)
(AFTER G.5.!.)

The oldest rocks of Bhilwara Supergroup occuping a large part of the district exposed
in the central portion from North East to South West. The high grade metamorphic
rocks forming the basement includes granite gneises, migmatites, garnetiferous mica
schists etc. The low grade metamorphic rocks forming Hindoli Group comprise shale,
slate, phyllite limestone dolomite and quartzites. The Bhilwara Supergroup is
unconformably overlain by rocks of Delhi Supergroup and Vindhyan Supergroup.
The rocks of Delhi Suppergroup occupy North Western part of district exposed
as narrow strip between Toda Bhim and Lewale. The rocks include quartzite and schist
with basic intrusives. The general trend of these rocks is N 25° E-S25°W with
moderate to high dips due NW.
The Vindhyan Supergroup occupies a major part of the district. The rocks are
separated from the Bhilwara Supergroup by a major reverse fault known as Great
Boundary Fault. The lower most Semri Group is represented by basa I conglomerates.
Tirohan shale, breccia and lime stone having scatterd exposures. The Kaimur Group
comprises conglomerate to grity & pebbly sand stone exposed east of Hindaun. The
Rewa Group of rocks comprise alternate shale and sandstone horizons, while the
upper most Bhander Group occupies most extensive area in the district. The lower
most bed is Ganurgarh shales. Lower Bhander limestone occupies hill slopes. In
Karauli area. Sirbu shales with limestone and upper Bhander sand stone are youngest
formations. The sand stone is flaggy and mined extensively in the district.
The quarternary sediments representing scree, talus, aeolin & alluvial deposits
occupy a large part of the district occurring as thin to moderately thick layer.
MINERALS OF KARAULI DISTRICT
 The newly formed Karauli district has some very important nonmetalic mineral
deposits in the state. It has good resources of Silica sand, sandstone and quartz, besides
soap stone, limestone, red oxide, laterite etc. Karauli sandstone is well known for its
sclupture and engraving property. The red and spotted variety of Karauli sand stone is
exported to various countries i.e. Japan, Gulf & other Asian countries. Hindaun is the
main business centre for its processing. The details of the mineral deposits are given
below.
SOAP STONE
The soapstone in the district occurs in Morra-ka-Dungar ridge of Toda Bhim
tehsil. It is located 27 km. North-West of Hindaun, situated on the Nagda-Mathura
broad gauge section of the Western Railway. Talc deposits in the Morra-ka-Dungar
ridge are known for the last 125 years and these have been worked on a small scale
ever since. Between the village of Dhaota and Morra which are about 8 km. apart, the
talc deposits have been exposed at as many as seven localities near Dhaota,
Dwain, Kamalpura, Rajuli, Giarhi, Pura & Morra. Of these, the deposits of Dwain,
Rajauli and Garhi are fairly large. Most of the deposits in this area occur in the basal
part of the massive quartzite (Alwar Group) .
The talc occurs in lenses which vary in width from less than a metre to 20
metres and are exposed over lengths varying from a few metres to 40 metres. The
talc is generally pale to light green and pale greenish white in clour, cleaved to
locally compact & massive. The 'indicated' reserves oftalc from Dwain, Rajauli and
Garhi areas have been estimated at about 0.107 million tonnes for depth varying from
8m to 30m along dip. At present 5 leases are under production in the belt.
LIME STONE
About 25 kms. S.S.W. of Karauli the MohaliKeladevi lime stone belt is exposed
intermitently over a strike length of 16 kms. with 100 to 200 mts width. The limestone
is greyish, pinkish and purple in colour and is associated with chert bands at places.
The total reserves available in this area are 4.63 million tonnes with average
43.50% CaO. The area is leased out to M/s. Laxmi Cement Industries.
SILICA SAND
The important silica sand deposits are located in Pator-Sapotara area extending
from Ganeshwari to Machh villages over a strike length of 1 km. in Sapotara and
Karauli tehsils. Besides this the other occurrences are near Jon, Ghat, Parli and Badrela
in Toda Bhim tehsil.
In Sapotara and Karauli tehsils, silica sand is associated with Rewa sand stone
of Vindhyan Supergroup. It is white in colour and coarse grained and contain 92.26 to
95% silica. In Toda Bhim it occurs with Delhi Supergroup rocks.
LATERITE
The laterite occurs near village Bajna, Gathra in Sapotra tehsil capping over
Rewa sand stone of Upper Vindhyan Supergroup. One lease near village Bajana is
under operation. Its main consumer was M/s. Jaipur Udyog Limited, a cement industry,
which is closed since long.
RED OXIDES
It is exposed near Rodhai village of Karauli tehsil. One lease has been
executed in the area. At present the production is closed.
OCHRES
Both red and yellow ochres are available in the district. These are found associated
with quartzites of Bhilwara Super group. The main localities for red ochres are
Narayanpura & Tantwara in Sapotra tehsil, Kachrauli in Karauli tehsil. Yellow ochre is
only located near village Kherata of Karauli tehsil.
IRON ORE
Near village Karuali about 7 km. east of Hindaun, Iron ore deposit occurs in the
banded hematite chert of Kaimur Group of Vindhyan Supergroup. Three abondoned
workings and few minor excavation for iron ore are present in this area. The samples
from these old working show 55.93 to 63.78% Fe, 3.32 to 6.94% Si02.
SAND STONE
Karauli sand stone is an excellent building stone as it is amenable to receive
good polish and intricate carving meant for lattices and arches. The sand stone occurs
in the form of hill range crossing across the district. Most of the quarries are situated
in nearby areas of Karauli and Sapotra tehsils. The sand stone is fine to medium in
grain size, compact and moderately hard and has good splitting property by which
almost smooth surface bearing slab of 5 to 10 cm thickness can be obtained.
Recently Mines & Geology Department has identified 5 splittable sandstone
blocks viz. Bhauapura-Ratiapura (10 sq. kms.) Kasara (2.88 sq.km.) Chobe ki
Guwari (4.88 sq.km.) Mokanpura-Berda( 2 sq. km.) and Bhakri ( 5 sq. km.) of
about 25 sq.km. total area. These are 10 to 40 km. away from Karauli town and
well connected with tar road. After drilling up to 15 mts. depth it has been proved that
2 to 3 splittable sand stone zones of about 3 m thickness occur below 1 to 2 m depth
from the surface, with 2 to 4 m intervals between each successive zones. Sand stone is
red and buff in colour, fine grained and bedded in nature. These blocks are out side
forest & lease hold areas.
Important sand stone mining localities are Bhadurpura & Madibhat in Sapotra
tehsil where as Parasari, Makanpura, Barda, Bhanpura and Maon villages are in
Karauli tehsil. Other localities are Godi-ka-Gaon, Moder, Langare, Gurdha, Ghanwar,
Ratimpura, Keshpura, Albat-ki-Guwadi, Dewari Piparan, Makori, Karshai, Kashare,
Sewali of Karauli tehsil; Chamble-ki-Guwadi, Lohara in
Sapotra tehsil. Besides in Rajoli , Kamalpura village of Toda-Bhim, Bapoti, Mangrol &
Tali hill of Sapotra tehsil, sand stone is quarried for millstone because of its greater
hardness and massiveness.
About 138 mining leases were in working conditions from which an
inexhaustible supply of the most excellent roofing and flooring slabes have been
obtained. Most of the material is processed in 62 cutting & polishing units.
MINERAL BASED INDUSTRIES
Because of the abundence and extensive quarrying of splittable sand stone the
cutting and polishing units are the most important mineral based industries in the
district. Hindaun is the main business centre for processed sand stone with 16 sand
stone cutting, 8 polishing and 23 both cutting & polishing units working.
 Five lime kilins are working in the district 3 at Karauli , one each at Toda Bhim
and Hindaun. There is further scope for setting up of more such units as the demand for
cut & polished sand stone is increasing day by day.
POWER & GROUND WATER
Electricity is available in district from 132 KV line from Kota & 220 KV line
from Jaipur. Hindaun is the main grid station.
The district has fairly good ground water potential in the more than 75% of the
area. The depth of water table ranges for 6 to 27 mts. deep below ground level. Though
in general the quality of ground water is good there are some saline patches in Nandauti
and Hindaun blocks.
MINERAL ADMINISTRATION
There is an office of mining engineer at Karauli, which looks after the mineral
administration work. The geological work is looked after by the office of
superintending geologist Kota. During the year 1997-98 one project has been proposed
as under: 'Evaluation of Sand stone deposits in Sawai Madhopur and Bundi districts
and study of non splittable sand stone for sawing purposes.

STATISTICAL INFORMATION OF KARAULI DISTRICT FOR 1996-97.

S.No. Minerals No.of Production SaleValue Revenue
leases (thousand tonnes) (thusandRs.) (thousand Rs.)
Major Minerals
1. Silica sand 33 52.93 5293.00 635.19
2. Soap Stone 5 4.10 287.00 299.71
3. China/white 3 10.79 1126.00 134.85
clay
4. Laterite - 0.04 4.80 1.86
5. Red Oxide 1 - - 18.77
6. Fire Clay 1 - - 1.60
7. Limestone 1 - - -
Minor Minerals
1. Sand Stone 117 890.78 16034.16 26723.61
2. Masonary 90 364.96 14598.64 730.75
Stone
3. Limestone 15 31.50 2362.80 315.05
(Burning)
4. Millstone 5 1.31 235.98 39.35
5. Bajri - 137.44 5497.96 189.14
6. Fullers earth - - - 1.64
7. Others - - - 1126.14
Total : 30147.66

Unpublished Geological Reports of Karauli District

(A) Geological Survey of India & Others.
Author - Title
Thiagarajan, R.; 1954 Report on certain deposits of talc
in jaipur and Sawai Madhopur
districts.

Chandak, G.j.; 1964-65 - A note on the Karwari iron ore

deposit near Hindaun district
Sawai Madhopur.

Chandak, G.j. ; 1964-65 - Investigation of the talc deposits in

Morar-Ka-Dungar ridge, district
Sawai Madhopur

Singh, S.P.; 1974-75 - Geology of Bayana jatwar-Weir

area, Bharatpur and Sawai
Madhopur districts.

Maharaja Singh, H.j.& Sinha, P.N.; 1975-76 - Report on the geology of Guneshri
Sapotra-angapur-Kailadevi areas
of Sawai Madhopur district.

Ghosh, S.S & Sharma, A.K.; 1985-86 - Systematic geological mapping of

Pre-Aravalli rocks in parts of
Jaipur, Sawai-Madhopur, Tonk &
Ajmer districts.

Maharaja Singh, H.J.; - A Report on the geology of

Kirmani, I.R.;Dr. R.V.G. Nair; 1977-78 Doulathpur, Barel, Karanpur areas
of Sawai-Madhopur districts.

Singh, S.P. & Sinha, V.P.; 1976-77 - Geology of Aund- Toda,Bhim-

Gijgarh area, SawaiMadhopur and
Jaipur districts

Sinha, V.P.; 1977-78 - Report on geology of the area

around Ranoli, Garhmoran
Gudha & Torda, Sawai
Madhopur & Jaipur districts.

Mishra, S.P.; 1969-70 - Report on the investigation for

phosphorite in Sawai- Madhopur
district.

(B) Department of Mines & Geology, Udaipur.

Dave, Y.N.; 1954 - A report of mineral survey of
Shahbad, Karauli and Sawai-
Madhopur area.

Kulshrestha, N.P.; 1959-60 - Investigation for limestone in

Maholi Kela-devi area.

Keshwani, K.B. and - A report on lime stone deposit near

Bhargava,K.D.; 1957-58 Maholi and Leela Dungri , Near
Karauli

Nagpal, G.R.S.; 1962-63 - Prospecting report of clay and

glass sand deposit of Budhreta
area, tehsil Toda Bhim.

Surana, R.L.; 1965-66 - A report on investigation of

limestone deposit at Maholi-Kela-
devi area.

Dayal,R.; 1978-79 - A report on assessment of silica

sand occurrences in Patar Sapotra
area and lime stone deposit in
Chhan area.

Dayal, R.; 1980-81 - Search for economic minerals near

villages Gangapur, Kurgaon,
Wazirpura, Mohanpura, Saroli.

Sharma, J.P.; Swami, S.K. & - Reconnaissance for silica sand

Purohit, S. N.; 1986-89 and other economic minerls
around villages Sapotra. Nandauti
etc.
PRECIOUS & SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES IN
RAJASTHAN
INTRODUCTION
The minerals having special physical ,properties like beauty, purity, durability and
rarity are classed as gem stones. India has been recognised since ages, as one of the
most important gem bearing areas of the world and has been producing a variety of
precious and semi precious stones such as diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald,
chrysoberyl, alexandrite, aquamarine, topaz, amethyst, garnet moon stone, sunstone etc.
Most of the Indian precious and semi-precious stones produced have been readily
marketed in the international market fetching attractive prices.
GEMSTONE RESOURCES OF RAJASTHAN
Rajasthan is endowed with rich potential of precious, semi-precious and ornamental
stones. The most important stones that could be mined and marketed may be classified
as follows.
(1) PRECIOUS STONES: Emerald, aquamarine and Chrysoberyl.
(2) SEMI-PRECIOUS STONE: Amethyst, garnet, coloured tourmalines, staurolite,
kanite, andalusite, apatite, sphene. iolite, gedrite and quartz.
A brief descritpion of some of the precious and semi-precious stone occurrences are
given below:
(A) PRECIOUS STONES
(i) EMERALD: It is the most valuable of all precious stones and is a transparent
variety of beryl with the well known emerald green colour. In India emerald production
is reported from Rajasthan alone. First discovery of this precious stone was made in
1973 by a private prospector in Kalaguman area. Subsequently the discovries of
emerald deposits at Bubani, Rajgarh, Tikhi and Gamguda were made.
Rajasthan emerald belt extends for about 185 km. from Gamaguda in Rajsamand
district to Budani in Ajmer district. In all these occurrences the geological"melien" is
idential and is restricted to the contact of beryl beari ng pegmatites and the metau
Itramafites. The concentration of emeralds are found to be very sporadic and highly
variable. The crystals are often fractured and enclose fine dusty or veil like
inclusions.and the flawless dark green completely transparant crystals are very rare.
Prospecting for emerald was done by National Mineral Development Corporation
in 1969-70 around Gamguda by pitting and trenching but with out much success. The
Geological Survey of India also did some work in 1976-77. The state Department of
Mines & Geology also carried out investigation around Ghata, Thoria and Padasli area
of Udaipur district in June 1979 to evolve some quide lines for emerald prospecting.
ii) CHRYSOBERYL: Greenish yellow to honey brown transparent chrysoberyl has
been reported from the beryl bearing pegmatites near Govindsagar in Kishangarh area
and also from Lohagal near Ajmer. The possibility of its association with the beryl
bearing pegmatites of Ajmer Rajnagar emerald belt is bright.
(B) SEMIPRECIOUS STONES
(i) GARNET: Rajasthan enjoys monopoly position in India in garnet of gem variety.
The mineral is almendine garnet of red and violet or purple colours. Garnet deposits are
located at several places in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Rajsamand and Tonk districts. The most
important gem variety garnet is found in Tonk district. A 11 km. long belt runing NE-
SW to N-S exists between Kalyanpura to Rajmahal in Tonk district where most of the
garnet mines are located. Besides this belt, scattered occurrences are at
Ragunathpura, Raote, Tordisagar and Bagri. The total length of garnet belt from Mavl
in Udaipur district to Bagri in Tonk district is nearly 250 km. with varying width of 17
to 40 kms. The garnet is found associated with medium to high grade regionally
metamorphosed pelletic sediments of Aravalli age.
II) EPIDOTE: Epidote with its pistachio green colouroccurs associated with
chrysoberyl near Govindsagar, Sarwar and north of Marwar.
II) TOURMALINE: The tourmaline occurs localised within the pegmatites which
intrude the volcanosedimentary sequences of the Aravalli and Delhi Supergroup as
well as the units of the Banded Gneissic complex over a strike length of 300 km.
from Jaipur to Udaipur through Ajmer , Bhilwara , Tonk and Pali districts distributed
over a wide zone of 100 km in an approximately NNE-SSW direction. Though gem
quality rubellite and other blue-green and yellow varities have not been reported,
from several localities.
III) AQUAMARINE: Aquamarine is the sea blue or sea green variety of beryl. The
yellow beryl is known as Heliodor. All these varieties have been found in Toda
Raisigh Bagri, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Hanotia, Jhopra and Botunda localities of Tonk
district.
The State Department of Mines & Geology carried out investigtions in Botunda-
Toda Raisingh area during 1969-70 and 70-71. Some more work was done in
June 1979 to March 80 and on the basis of that work it has been seen that the areas
falling north of Toda Rai Singh are most promising while areas near Lakholai and
Baori villages are also potential.
IV)AMETHYST: The mineral quartz occurs in numerous forms and beautiful
colours which are used as semi-precious stones. Amethyst is purple
or violet coloured crystalline variety of quartz. Occurrences of amethyst in
Rajasthan have been reported from Singhana (jhunjhunu), Kishangarh(Ajmer)
Niwai (Tonk), Isarda( Sawai-Madhopur)
V) TOPAZ: Geological survey of India has reported presence of topaz in Sirohi area
during investigation for wolframite.
VI) CORUNDUM: Corundum deposit in Rajasthan is reported only near villages Juali
& Hanotia in Tonk district Corundum crystals in Juali area are found occuring as
dissemineted grains and crystals at the contact of schists with pegmatite intrusions.
VII) ALUMINO-SILICATE GEM: Gems quality Kyanite, granulite and andalusite
occur over wide areas within the metamorphosed pelitic to psammopal itic assemblages
of the Aravalli and the Delhi Super groups as typically seen in the Khetri copper belt.
Cruciform andalusite (Chiastolite) has been reported from the Khetri-Kolihan belts.
VIII) CORDIERITE-GEDRITE ROCKS: Cordierite gedrite rocks, associated with
Khetri copper belt form excellent semi precious stones. Large acicular stellate
aggregates of gedrite/anthophyllite set in a cordierite rich matrix takes good polish and
can be used in the manufacture of ash trays, beads and other fancy items.
IX) APATITE & FLUORITE: Apatite and fluorite some times used as semi-precious
stones due to their, beautifuJ coJour5. Apatite generally occurs in green colour where
as fluorite occurs in various shades of green, blue, violet, white and colourless varities.
Occurrrences of apatite are reported from Sikar and Udaipur district, while fluorite are
from Jaipur , Sikar, Dungarpur and Jalor district.
GEOLOGICAL 'MILIEU' FOR GEMSTONE
The gemstones occur in diverse geological'milieu' but remarkably localised in the high
grade Archaean granulire belts of India. Burma and Sri Lanka. Some of the important
precious and semi precious stones that occur are given in the Table-1
GRADING OF GEMSTONES
The commonly accepted grade of precious and semi-precious stones as per international
market demands are the following:
1. FACT GRADE: Perfect colour, transparency, hardness and flaw less gems.
2. CABOCHON GRADE: Slightly inferior in quality, in colour and transparency. The
asterated and chatoyant stones should have the required optical effect to produce
"Star" or Cat's eye' effect.
3.CARVING GRADE: Gems with exceptional size, colour, transparency and should
with stand to carving or engraving.
4.TUMBLING GRADE :Translucent to opaque stones with flaws and enclusions are
included.
5. RUN-OF-MINE GRADE: Includes all grades
(Grab lots)
SCOPE FOR GEMSTONE-BASED INDUSTRIES IN RAJASTHAN
Jaipur is world famous for cutting and polishing of coloured precious gems as well as
the manufacture of a variety of semi-precious stones on a large scale. Thousands of
artisans are engaged in processing of all kinds of precious and semi-precious stones
such as emerald, ruby, sapphire, chrysoberyl, alexandrite, aquamarine, amethyst,
garnet, iolite, moonstone, sunstone, star diopside, star ruby, enstatite-cat's-eye,
bronzite, labradorite, etc. Excellent carving work is also carried out from all types of
gems. Jaipur is famous for quality cutting and carving. Manufacture of beads from a
variety of semi-precious stones and manufacture of fancy items such as ash trays,
cameos, is carried out on a large scale. In recent years, Jaipur has taken a lead in the
export of precious stones studded gold and silver jewellery and also silver jewellery
made out of cheap semiprecious stones and has contributed in a spectacular way to
the achievement of Indian export of gems and jewellery.
SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT
Precious and semi-precious stones are being processed in most of the places in Jaipur
manually by several thousand skilled workers. It is understood that large scale
production of beads, faceted and cabochon gems is carried out under the direct
supervision of the manufacturers or exporters. Semi-precious stones such as garnet,
amethyst, moonstone, etc. are given to outside artisans for the ,manufacture of beads,
ash trays, etc. By this methods of manual processing, the cost of production per carat
cannot be brought down when compared with the manufacturing costs seen in Japan,
Germany, Taiwan, Thailand, etc. There is lot of scope in the following fields:
1. Faceting of Transparent Gems.
2. Bead making equipments
3. Carvi ng
4. Cabochon making.
Statistical Information for Gem stone In Rajasthan.
S.No Mineral No.of leases Production Sale Value Revenue
(Thosand Rs.)
1. Aquamarine 1 Nil Nil Nil
2. Emerald 3 3.81Kg. 22860 2.0

3. Beryl -

4. Gamet: 9 585.0Kg 73.12 47.59

Gem 216.0Ton. 216.0
Abrasive