Pedogeochemical survey for uranium mineralization in parts of Igarra Schist belt, Southwestern Nigeria

Pedogeochemical survey for uranium mineralization in Dagbala-Atte district, Igarra schist belt, southwestern Nigeria was carried out. The concentrations of As, Au, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, U and V in the residual soils were subjected to univariate and multivariate analyses and plotted on geochemical distribution maps to delineate possible U-mineralization areas. Histograms and box plots showed the elements are log-normally distributed with threshold values of 9.47 %, 10.8, 1589, 2.98, 45.6, 31.0, 0.68, 8.59, 122 ppm and 10.6 ppb, respectively for Fe, As, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, U, V and Au. Correlation matrix revealed a strong correlation between U and each of Fe, Mo and Pb indicating close primary association among these four elements. Factor analysis revealed association of U, Mo and Pb implying possible occurrence of U in the granitic rocks of the area. Geochemical maps showed that the strongest U anomaly occurred in the northeastern part of the district that is underlain by granitic gneisses with numerous unmapable granite-pegmatite veins, which possibly are the host of the U mineralization. Copious geological study of these granite-pegmatite veins is recommended. Keywords: Anomaly, box plots, correlation matrix, geochemical distribution map, uranium mineralization.

Tourmalines of the Velence Granite Formation and the surrounding contact slate, Velence Mountains, Hungary

Three distinct paragenetic and compositional types of tourmaline were described from the Velence Granite and the surrounding contact slate. Rare, pitch-black, disseminated tourmaline I (intragranitic tourmaline) occurs in granite, pegmatite, and aplite; very rare, black to greenish-gray, euhedral tourmaline II (miarolitic tourmaline) occurs in miarolitic cavities of the pegmatites; abundant, black to gray, brown to yellow or even colorless, acicular tourmaline III (metasomatic tourmaline) occurs in the contact slate and its quartz-tourmaline veins. Tourmaline from a variety of environments exhibits considerable variation in composition, which is controlled by the nature of the host rock and the formation processes. However, in similar geologic situations, the composition of tourmaline can be rather uniform, even between relatively distant localities. Tourmaline I is represented by an Al-deficient, Fe3+-bearing schorl, which crystallized in a closed melt-aqueous fluid system. Tourmaline II is a schorl-elbaite mixed crystal, which precipitated from Li- and F-enriched solutions in the cavities of pegmatites. Tourmaline III shows an oscillatory zoning; its composition corresponds to schorl, dravite, and foitite species. It formed from metasomatizing fluids derived from the granite. This is the most abundant tourmaline type, which can be found in the contact slate around the granite.

Phosphate Mineral Associations from the Tres Arroyos Aplite-Pegmatites (Badajoz, Spain): Petrography, Mineral Chemistry, and Petrogenetic Implications

ABSTRACT In the Tres Arroyos granite-pegmatite system (Badajoz, Spain) a zoned aplite-pegmatite field occurs, with poorly evolved, intermediate, and Li-rich dikes intruded into metasediments, close to the contact with the Nisa-Alburquerque granitic batholith. A large variety of Fe-Mn phosphate minerals occur in the poorly evolved aplite-pegmatites; Al-phosphates occur mainly in the intermediate and Li-rich dikes. The Fe/(Fe + Mn) ratio of the Fe-Mn phosphates is the highest reported for aplite-pegmatite fields in the Central Iberian Zone, suggesting a low degree of fractionation for the poorly evolved aplite-pegmatites that host these minerals. In contrast, the high F contents observed in crystals of the amblygonite–montebrasite series from the intermediate and Li-rich aplite-pegmatites indicates a higher fractionation degree for these dikes. The relatively common occurrence of phosphate minerals in the three types of aplite-pegmatites from Tres Arroyos attests to a significant availability of P in the pegmatitic melt. In this granite pegmatite system, P first started behaving as a compatible element, thus favoring the crystallization of discrete phosphates, during the crystallization of the poorly evolved aplite-pegmatites. In more fractionated melts, where Fe-Mn-(Mg) contents were extremely depleted, P was still available, allowing the crystallization of the Al-phosphates, mainly of the amblygonite–montebrasite series, in the more evolved intermediate and Li-rich aplite-pegmatites. Subsolidus replacement of the early phosphate phases, such as those of the amblygonite–montebrasite series, by lacroixite, together with the presence of late Ca- and Sr-bearing phosphates such as jahnsite-(CaMnFe), whiteite-(CaFeMg), mitridatite, and goyazite, attest to a high activity of metasomatic fluids in the Tres Arroyos granite-pegmatite system. Consequently, variations in the phosphate mineral associations and in their chemical compositions reflect well the fractional crystallization processes suffered by the pegmatitic melts from the poorly evolved up to the Li-rich dikes, as well as the subsolidus history of the Tres Arroyos system.

Rare earth elements and stable sulphur (δ34s) isotope of baryte mineralization in Liji Area, Northern Benue trough, northeastern Nigeria

The Liji area lithologically consists of inliers of granite and pegmatite members of the Pan-African granitoids surrounded by Cretaceous sedimentary deposits of Bima, Yolde, Pindiga and Gombe Formations. Epigenetic fracture-filling baryte mineralization hosted by granite, pegmatite and Bima Sandstone were delineated, sampled and analyzed for rare-earth elements (REEs) and stable sulphur isotope geochemistry. The REEs of the distal (unaltered) rocks indicated normal values (26.15-36.81 ppm) before mineralization was marked by enrichment of light rare-earth elements (LREEs) (27.94 ppm) relative to the heavy rare-earth elements (HREEs) (5.34 ppm) and negative Eu anomalies typical of calc-alkaline granites of Pan-African age. The baryte separates were marked by enriched LREEs and depleted HREEs with pronounced positive Eu anomalies indicating the invasion and consequent deposition of baryte-rich hydrothermal fluid under oxidizing conditions in the N-S and E-W striking fractures. Stable sulphur isotope of the baryte gives values that ranged from 18.3 - 19.8o/oo CDT indicating that the source of sulphur is from ocean water and not from magmatic, fresh water and connate water sources from the nearby granite, pegmatite and sandstone. Keywords: Baryte, Mineralization, Hydrothermal, Liji, REE, Sulphur-Isotope.