Physico-chemical characteristics and therapeutic potential of Chutrun thermal springs in Shigar Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan)

Current studies were performed to evaluate the physico-chemical characteristics and therapeutic potential of Chutrun thermal springs located in the North-west of Shigar Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan). Thermal springs with different mineral contents have been used by people for bathing and health purposes since old timings. The mineral water of these springs contains elements like sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium as chlorides, fluorides, sulphates, phosphates and bicarbonates which may be responsible for cure of various diseases. Chutrun hot springs have 7.21–7.8 pH, 40–42° C Temperature, 300–310 ppm TDS, 3.1–6.7 ppm DO, 278–285 ppm hardness, 1.62–2.42 ppm turbidity, 250–260 ppm alkalinity, 500–516 ppm conductivity, 12–18 ppm sodium, 3.8–4.1 ppm potassium, 80–82 ppm calcium, 20 ppm magnesium, 9.6–12 ppm chlorides, 3.4–3.9 fluorides, 260–282 bicarbonates and 80–85 ppm sulphates. Absence of E.Coli and faecal coliforms indicated that waters from thermal springs are free from organic wastes contaminations. Water from thermal springs of Chutrun was unsuitable for drinking purposes due to the presence of high fluoride content and also small amount of total coliforms which may be due to the presence of environmental bacteria and non-protective measures during sampling but it was found suitable for bathing and other body contact activities.

Processing of Malachite from the Shigar Region of Gilgit-Baltistan by Optimizing Some Operational Parameters of Floatation

In this study, optimal operation parameters for the extraction of copper (Cu) from malachite ore of the Shigar region of Gilgit-Baltistan were identified. The effects of some operational parameters on Cu recovery has been identified. The pulp density (25%) and other parameters are kept constant throughout the process. Crushing and grinding were carried out and obtained the desired size range of flotation. The sample of malachite ore has been overwhelmed using roll and jaw crushers. The final product of roll crusher was finer than that of jaw crusher. It has been observed that more fines were obtained with increasing grinding time. After a certain time, there is little effect on grinding. With decreasing particle size, copper recovery increased. At 50 µm the recovery is almost 90% while at 325µm, recovery decreased to 46%. With increasing pH copper recovery is increased and at 12.5% pH, maximum recovery (up to 90%) has been achieved. The optimum parameters for the copper extraction from malachite ore of the Shigar valley are the pH 12.5%, 50-micron particle size and grinding time of 25 minutes.

Towards a revisitation of vesuvianite-group nomenclature: the crystal structure of Ti-rich vesuvianite from Alchuri, Shigar Valley

Vesuvianite containing 5.85 wt% TiO2from an Alpine-cleft-type assemblage outcropped near Alchuri, Shigar Valley, Northern Areas, has been investigated by means of electron microprobe analyses, gas-chromatographic analysis of H2O, X-ray powder diffraction, single-crystal X-ray structure refinement,27Al NMR,57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy and optical measurements. Tetragonal unit-cell parameters are:a= 15.5326 (2),c= 11.8040 (2) Å, space groupP4/nnc. The structure was refined to finalR1= 0.031,wR2= 0.057 for 11247I> 2σ(I). A general crystal-chemical formula of studied sample can be written as follows (Z= 2):[8–9](Ca17.1Na0.9)[8]Ca1.0[5](Fe2+0.44Fe3+0.34Mg0.22)[6](Al3.59Mg0.41)[6](Al4.03Ti2.20Fe3+1.37Fe2+0.40) (Si18O68) [(OH)5.84O2.83F1.33]. The octahedral siteY2 is Al-dominant and does not contain transition elements. Another octahedral siteY3 is also Al-dominant and contains Fe2+, Fe3+and Ti. The siteY1 is split intoY1aandY1bpredominantly occupied by Fe2+and Fe3+, respectively. The role of theY1 site in the diversity of vesuvianite-group minerals is discussed.