Archean Rare Metal Pegmatites In Zimbabwe And Western Australia

Lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites are important resources for rare metals. For Cs, only the LCT pegmatites with the zeolite group mineral pollucite at Bikita (Zimbabwe Craton) and Tanco (Superior Province Craton) are of commercial importance. Common characteristics of world-class LCT pegmatite deposits include their Meso- to Neoarchean age and geological setting within greenstone belt lithologies on Archean Cratons. This study presents the first coherent and comparative scientific investigation of five major LCT pegmatite systems from the Yilgarn, Pilbara and Zimbabwe Craton. For the evaluation of their Cs potential and of the genetic concepts of pollucite formation, the pegmatites from Wodgina, Londonderry, Mount Deans and Cattlin Creek were compared to the Bikita pollucite mineralization. The integration of the new data (e.g., geochronological and radiogenic isotope data) into the complex geological framework: 1) enhances our knowledge of the formation of LCT pegmatite systems, and 2) will contribute to the further exploration of additional world-class LCT pegmatite deposits, which 3) may host massive pollucite mineralisations.

This special volume offers a snapshot of the latest developments in mineral exploration, in particular, geophysical, geochemical, and computational methods. It reflects the cutting-edge applications of geophysics and geochemistry, as well as novel technologies, such as in artificial intelligence and hyperspectral exploration, methods that have profoundly changed how exploration is conducted. This special volume is a representation of these cutting-edge and pioneering methods to consider and conduct exploration, and should serve both as a valuable compendium of the most innovative exploration methodologies available and as a foreshadowing of the form of future exploration. As such, this volume is of significant importance and would be useful to any exploration geologist and company

During the last decade, software developments in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) provoked a notable increase of applications to the study of solid matter. The mineral liberation analysis (MLA) of processed metal ores was an important drive for innovations that led to QEMSCAN, MLA and other software platforms. These combine the assessment of the backscattered electron (BSE) image to the directed steering of the electron beam for energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to automated mineralogy. However, despite a wide distribution of SEM instruments in material research and industry, the potential of SEM automated mineralogy is still under-utilised. The characterisation of primary ores, and the optimisation of comminution, flotation, mineral concentration and metallurgical processes in the mining industry by generating quantified data, is still the major application field of SEM automated mineralogy. However, there is interesting potential beyond these classical fields of geometallurgy and metal ore fingerprinting. Slags, pottery and artefacts can be studied in an archeological context for the recognition of provenance and trade pathways; soil, and solid particles of all kinds, are objects in forensic science. SEM automated mineralogy allows new insight in the fields of process chemistry and recycling technology.

Summarises the history, geology and minerology of all known pegmatites in Western Australia, as well as providing specific geodetic locations of these deposits and their owndership, where known.

This is the first comprehensive book on the geological characteristics of giant metallic deposits that provides solid facts rather than rapidly changing theories. The book provides abundant material for comparative research in metallogeny, practical information for the explorationists as to where to look for the "elephants", and inspiration for commodity investors.

Volume 50 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry treats Beryllium and its cosmogenic isotopes. This volume includes an overview of Be studies in the earth sciences and a systematic classification of Be minerals based on their crystal structure. It treats the analysis of these minerals by the secondary ion mass spectroscopy as well as experimental studies of systems involving Be. Moreover, this volume reviews the behavior of Be in the Solar System, with an emphasis on meteorites, the Moon and Mars, and the implications of this behavior for the evolution of the solar system. It gives an overview of the terrestrial geochemistry of Be and discusses the contamination of the environment by this anthropogenic toxin. It reports use of the longer lived Be-10 to assess erosion rates and other surficial processes and how this isotope can yield independent temporal records of geomagnetic field variations for comparison with records obtained by measuring natural remnant magnetization, be a chemical tracer for processes in convergent margins, and can date events in Cenozoic tectonics. It reviews applications of the shorter lived isotope Be-7 in environmental studies as well. Residual phases include acidic plutonic and volcanic rocks, whose geochemistry and evolution are covered, while granitic pegmatites, which are well-known for their remarkable, if localized, Be enrichments and a wide variety of Be mineral assemblages, are reviewed. Not all Be concentrations have obvious magmatic affinities; for example, one class of emerald deposits results from Be being introduced by heated brines. Pelitic rocks are an important reservoir of Be in the Earth's crust and their metamorphism plays a critical role in recycling of Be in subduction zones, eventually, anatectic processes complete the cycle, providing a source of Be for granitic rocks.

Summarises the history, geology and minerology of all known pegmatites in Western Australia, as well as providing specific geodetic locations of these deposits and their owndership, where known.