Search

With >90 known deposits containing original reserves of >2400 Mt of sulfide ore, the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) is the largest volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) province on Earth. In these evolving mineral systems, texturally different pyrite exhibits characteristic mineralogy and trace element fingerprints. Pyrite (Py-1), which is well preserved in the polymetallic ores that crystallized at the earliest stage of VMS deposit formation, consists of kernels of pyrite framboids surrounded by concentric colloform bands and ended by faceted outlines. It is rich in some metals like Pb, Zn, Sb and As (mostly hosted as nano-to-micron-sized particles, including galena, tetrahedrite and arsenopyrite) but depleted in Cu, Co and Bi. In contrast, pyrite from the pyritic and Cu-rich ore overprinted by late fluids exhibits spongy-looking (Py-2) or homogenous (Py-3) cores surrounded by external facets with crystallographic continuity across the whole single grains due to re-crystallization. Py-2 is depleted in most trace elements with the exception of Au and Bi, which occur both in solid solutions and as nano-to-micron-sized inclusions. Py-3 has the highest Cu, Ag, Co and Ni (mainly associated to nano-to-micron-sized particles of tennantite, chalcopyrite and gersdorffite) and the lowest Au contents in the form of native gold. The progressive increase in metal contents from inner to outer parts of Py-1 matches with the onset of the economic metal endowment of VMS deposits in the IPB, whereas Py-2 and Py-3 are associated with metal shoot processes that led to both leached and high-grade ores, very likely when mafic rocks were emplaced into the footwall of the deposits., Gobierno de España, Science Foundation Ireland, Depto. de Mineralogía y Petrología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

With >90 known deposits containing original reserves of >2400 Mt of sulfide ore, the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) is the largest volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) province on Earth. In these evolving mineral systems, texturally different pyrite exhibits characteristic mineralogy and trace element fingerprints. Pyrite (Py-1), which is well preserved in the polymetallic ores that crystallized at the earliest stage of VMS deposit formation, consists of kernels of pyrite framboids surrounded by concentric colloform bands and ended by faceted outlines. It is rich in some metals like Pb, Zn, Sb and As (mostly hosted as nano-to-micron-sized particles, including galena, tetrahedrite and arsenopyrite) but depleted in Cu, Co and Bi. In contrast, pyrite from the pyritic and Cu-rich ore overprinted by late fluids exhibits spongy-looking (Py-2) or homogenous (Py-3) cores surrounded by external facets with crystallographic continuity across the whole single grains due to re-crystallization. Py-2 is depleted in most trace elements with the exception of Au and Bi, which occur both in solid solutions and as nano-to-micron-sized inclusions. Py-3 has the highest Cu, Ag, Co and Ni (mainly associated to nano-to-micron-sized particles of tennantite, chalcopyrite and gersdorffite) and the lowest Au contents in the form of native gold. The progressive increase in metal contents from inner to outer parts of Py-1 matches with the onset of the economic metal endowment of VMS deposits in the IPB, whereas Py-2 and Py-3 are associated with metal shoot processes that led to both leached and high-grade ores, very likely when mafic rocks were emplaced into the footwall of the deposits.

Depto. de Mineralogía y Petrología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

This paper reports the first-ever study on nanoscale mineralogy in pyrite from the volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits of the Iberian Pyrite Belt, southwestern Iberian Peninsula. It targeted colloform-textured grains formed at low temperature in the distal part of a polymetallic (Pb-Zn) massive sulfide lens hosted in felsic volcanoclastic rocks from the Masa Valverde deposit, and euhedral-textured grains (re)-deposited by higher temperature fluids in the Co-Au rich stockwork hosted in black shales of the Filón Norte orebody of the Tharsis deposit. The results acquired by a combination of techniques for mineral microanalysis and characterization (i.e., reflected light, FE-SEM, EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, HRTEM-STEM and TEM-EDS) show that trace amounts of metals (Au, Ag, As, Pb, Sb, Cu, Co) are incorporated as both lattice-bound and into nanoparticles (NPs). The mode of occurrence is strongly related with the evolutionary history of the mineralization. In the colloform pyrite collected from the massive sulfide lens, a rhythmic banding/oscillatory zonation with up to 3 wt% As, 5,000 ppm Pb, 1,070 ppm Sb and 750 ppm Cu is defined by the coexistence of several nano-sized layers (5 to 100 nm) and NPs (<100 nm) containing all these metals. The NPs include galena [PbS], tetrahedrite [(Cu,Fe)12Sb4S13)] and arsenopyrite [FeAsS] that exhibit euhedral and less frequently anhedral (i.e., droplet-like) morphologies being both randomly and preferentially oriented with respect to As-rich pyrite bands they are usually associated with. These features suggest formation of the NPs via direct deposition from the hydrothermal fluid(s) or low-temperature melts entrained in them as well as exsolution of trace elements originally dissolved in the As-rich pyrite structure. Additionally, some of these NPs are connected to late fractures disrupting the chemical zoning in colloform pyrite documenting a third genetic type of NPs related to late infiltration of fluids post-dating pyrite formation. I, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)/FEDER, FIB-HRTEM, Depto. de Mineralogía y Petrología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

The Phalaborwa (Palabora) Igneous Complex (PIC), South Africa, has been mined for the last six decades for copper and phosphate, among others commodities. As a result, more than 4500 Mt. of mining wastes have been deposited in waste rock dumps (WRDs) and tailing impoundments. This study aims to investigate the potential of the PIC wastes (WRDs and tailings) as a secondary resource of rare earth elements (REE) and its possible processing options, by means of both mineralogical and geochemical determinations, using X-ray diffraction (XRD), petrographic and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) and electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA). The samples were also submitted to a REE leachability assay based in a sequential extraction procedure. Phoscorites and carbonatites are major lithologies in the WRDs and contain a notable concentration of REE, of which 0.2 and 0.1 wt%, respectively, would be easily extractable. The mineralogical results show monazite as the main REE-mineral (∑REE 60 wt%), while fluorapatite and calcite are the most important REE-bearing minerals (∑REE 1 and 0.5 wt%, respectively) for their abundance. On the other hand, the tailings are comprised mostly by monomineralic particles of calcite, dolomite, pyroxene, fluorapatite, magnetite and phlogopite. Based on the geochemical results, the extraction of REE from monazite, fluorapatite, calcite and dolomite, from tailings produced by both the Cu and the phosphate mines, might produce up to 5.65 and 1.75 kg of REE per ton, respectively. Therefore, tailings from PIC have the potential to become an asset. An approach to circular economy by re-processing mining wastes would extend the lifetime of the PIC mines and their benefits, while reducing the waste of resources and their environmental impact., Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN), Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa, UNESCO, Science Foundation Ireland, Technology and inovation agency, South Africa, National Agency for Research and Development, Depto. de Mineralogía y Petrología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

This paper reports the first-ever study on nanoscale mineralogy in pyrite from the volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits of the Iberian Pyrite Belt, southwestern Iberian Peninsula. It targeted colloform-textured grains formed at low temperature in the distal part of a polymetallic (Pb-Zn) massive sulfide lens hosted in felsic volcanoclastic rocks from the Masa Valverde deposit, and euhedral-textured grains (re)-deposited by higher temperature fluids in the Co-Au rich stockwork hosted in black shales of the Filón Norte orebody of the Tharsis deposit. The results acquired by a combination of techniques for mineral microanalysis and characterization (i.e., reflected light, FE-SEM, EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, HRTEM-STEM and TEM-EDS) show that trace amounts of metals (Au, Ag, As, Pb, Sb, Cu, Co) are incorporated as both lattice-bound and into nanoparticles (NPs). The mode of occurrence is strongly related with the evolutionary history of the mineralization. In the colloform pyrite collected from the massive sulfide lens, a rhythmic banding/oscillatory zonation with up to 3 wt% As, 5,000 ppm Pb, 1,070 ppm Sb and 750 ppm Cu is defined by the coexistence of several nano-sized layers (5 to 100 nm) and NPs (<100 nm) containing all these metals. The NPs include galena [PbS], tetrahedrite [(Cu,Fe)SbS)] and arsenopyrite [FeAsS] that exhibit euhedral and less frequently anhedral (i.e., droplet-like) morphologies being both randomly and preferentially oriented with respect to As-rich pyrite bands they are usually associated with. These features suggest formation of the NPs via direct deposition from the hydrothermal fluid(s) or low-temperature melts entrained in them as well as exsolution of trace elements originally dissolved in the As-rich pyrite structure. Additionally, some of these NPs are connected to late fractures disrupting the chemical zoning in colloform pyrite documenting a third genetic type of NPs related to late infiltration of fluids post-dating pyrite formation. In con