Mineralogical and Geochemical Characterization of Geological Materials

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Geochemistry and Geochronology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 4692

Special Issue Editors

LNEG (National Laboratory for Energy and Geology), Mineral Resources and Geophysics Research Unit, Estrada da Portela, Apartado 7586, 2610-999 Amadora, Portugal
Interests: mineralogy; geochemistry; mineral resources; mining heritage; geoheritage; spectroscopy; XANES; synchrotron radiation
1. LNEG (National Laboratory for Energy and Geology), Mineral Resources and Geophysics Research Unit, Estrada da Portela, Apartado 7586, 2610-999 Amadora, Portugal
2. Mineral Resources Expert Group, EuroGeoSurveys, Rue Joseph II, 36-38, Box 7, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Interests: metallogeny of mineral deposits; mineralogy and mineral chemistry; geochemistry; critical raw materials; energy critical elements; synchrotron radiation; geoheritage

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Minerals focuses on geological materials, including igneous (granite, diorite, gabbro, rhyolite, andesite, basalt, dolerite, volcanic breccia, and tuff), sedimentary (breccias, conglomerates, sandstones, shales, mudstones, siltstones, limestones, and dolomites) and metamorphic (slates, phyllites, schists, gneisses, marble, and quartzites) rocks and soils.

Bearing in mind that mineral raw materials are essential in our daily life and that some are considered critical, furthering the knowledge and characterization of geological materials and their minerals is crucial also for recycling and issues relating to the circular economy and for the identification of new mineral potential and the search for new ore deposits. Moreover, exhausted mines are potentially targets for renewed interest and can contribute to the development of geological tourism and to the study on secondary raw materials or acid mine drainage neo-formed materials, promoting sustainable materials management and bringing new advancements to the mineralogy world.

Furthermore, to ensure a good preservation of our built heritage, such as monuments, buildings, and works of art, it is mandatory to carry out a preliminary study of geological materials, dyes, mortars, etc. Today, numerous techniques can help us to perform the mineralogical and geochemical characterization of such materials, e.g., XRD, XRF, SEM, DTA, TG, PLM, Raman, FTIR, or synchrotron-radiation-based analytical techniques.

This Special Issue aims to serve as a milestone to promote and increase the knowledge of geological materials and their applications, and we encourage all experts to submit their contributions. Of special interest are the characterization and degradation state evaluation of rocks, soils and minerals; soil contamination/remediation; acid mine drainage; historical mining and cultural heritage materials, geoarchaeology, geoheritage, and industrial heritage related to mining; characterization techniques, new materials and methodologies, best practices and case studies; critical raw materials, mineral resources, ores, mineral deposits, and mining; exhausted mines and geological tourism.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Dr. Teresa Pereira da Silva
Dr. Daniel P. S. De Oliveira
Prof. Dr. João Pedro Veiga
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • critical raw materials
  • ores, rocks, soils, minerals
  • mineral deposits and exhausted mines
  • geomaterials
  • mining
  • waste materials
  • acid mine drainage
  • mineral resources
  • secondary minerals
  • secondary raw materials
  • efflorescent minerals
  • ornamental stones
  • rock weathering
  • degradation phenomena
  • built heritage
  • mortars
  • geological tourism
  • mining heritage

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 6270 KiB  
Article
Copper-Bearing Mineralisation in the Upper Devonian Limestones: A Case Study from the Historical Teresa Adit in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, Poland
by Agnieszka Ciurej, Monika Struska, Anna Wolska, Marek Szczerba and Janusz Olszak
Minerals 2023, 13(1), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13010054 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1762
Abstract
The studied copper ore deposit is located in Miedzianka Mountain (Świętokrzyskie Mountains, central Poland). This deposit was exploited from the 13th century to the 1950s; therefore numerous historical adits are currently present. One of these is Teresa adit (established in 1805), consisting of [...] Read more.
The studied copper ore deposit is located in Miedzianka Mountain (Świętokrzyskie Mountains, central Poland). This deposit was exploited from the 13th century to the 1950s; therefore numerous historical adits are currently present. One of these is Teresa adit (established in 1805), consisting of underground mining corridors and natural cave developed in the Upper Devonian limestones, partially transformed by mining works. Samples of copper- and rock-forming minerals in limestones collected at seven sites within the richest copper-bearing mineralisation in this adit were studied with petrographic investigation of thin sections, micro-area chemical analysis (EDS), and XRD. This study shows the presence of various minerals: (a) Cu-Fe sulphides (relics of chalcopyrite) and Cu sulphides (covellite, chalcocite), (b) Cu-Fe oxides (cuprite and hematite), (c) Ca and Cu carbonates (calcite, azurite, and malachite), (d) clay minerals (Fe-Mg illite), and (e) micro-crystalline silica (quartz). For the first time in the studied deposit, we described chalcopyrite relics in cuprite pseudomorphosis, hematite with admixture of vanadium in pinkish-creme veins in limestones, and the presence of an admixture of Fe-Mg illite and microcystaline silica within cracks of limestones. In addition, for the first time, unit cell parameters of malachite and azurite from Miedzianka Mountain were determined, indicating very low substitutions of atoms other than Cu in their structures. We suppose that the minerals studied were formed during three types of copper mineralisation processes: (a) hydrothermal (relics of chalcopyrite), (b) secondary weathering (chalcocite, covellite, cuprite, hematite), and (c) adsorptive mineralisation (azurite, malachite). The latter stage is related to residuum, which consists of a mixture of Fe-Mg illite and micro-crystalline quartz, which was formed during the dissolution of limestones in karst processes in some crevices. We proposed a model of the formation of copper carbonates in the adsorption stage of the copper-bearing mineralisation in Miedzianka Mountain deposits. Two generations of calcite veins (older—red calcite and younger—crème-pinkish calcite) were also detected. Mineralogical–petrographical studies of samples revealed a high scientific and educational value. Due to the fact that the Teresa adit is planned to be made available to geotourists, this work is worth presenting to the public either in the adit and/or in a local museum in Miedzianka village. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 3877 KiB  
Article
Artificial Thermal Quenching and Salt Crystallization Weathering Processes for the Assessment of Long-Term Degradation Characteristics of Some Sedimentary Rocks, Egypt
by Marzouk Mohamed Aly Abdelhamid, B. G. Mousa, Hassan Waqas, Mohamed Abdelghany Elkotb, Sayed M. Eldin, Iqra Munir, Rashid Ali and Ahmed M. Galal
Minerals 2022, 12(11), 1393; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111393 - 31 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1371
Abstract
This research aims at investigating the deterioration of limestone rocks due to the influences of thermal quenching and salt crystallization weathering tests and predicting their long-term durability. Therefore, six types of limestones were quarried from different provinces of Egypt and subjected to 50 [...] Read more.
This research aims at investigating the deterioration of limestone rocks due to the influences of thermal quenching and salt crystallization weathering tests and predicting their long-term durability. Therefore, six types of limestones were quarried from different provinces of Egypt and subjected to 50 cycles of thermal quenching and 25 cycles of salt crystallization weathering processes. The porosity, Schmidt hammer rebound hardness, ultrasound pulse velocity, Brazilian tensile strength, and uniaxial compression strength were determined before and after weathering processes. In addition, the mathematical decay function model was developed to evaluate the degradation rate of samples against weathering processes. Results proved that the cyclic salt crystallization deteriorates the physico-mechanical characteristics of the studied limestone more strongly than the thermal quenching cycles do. The decay constant and half-life indexes obtained here indicate that the degradation rate differs for various limestone specimens under thermal and salt weathering processes. This model also showed that the deterioration rate of the studied rocks was higher during cyclic salt crystallization in comparison with thermal quenching. Therefore, the rock degradation rate and or long-term durability under cyclic thermal and salt processes can be estimated accurately. These results show that the studied limestones can be used as building stones in regions exposed to frequent cyclic thermal and salty weathering conditions for long periods without degradation. However, partial attention should be given to LSG limestone rocks characterized by increased porosity and water absorption characteristics. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

1. Title: Microbillay mediated cave carbonate formation – microtextural and geochemical evidence

Authors: Márta Polgári (Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Hungary), etc.

2. Title: New strategies in archaeometric provenance analyses of volcanic rock grinding stones
Author: Lluís Casas (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain), etc.

3. Title: Fast elemental analysis of heavy mineral suites by scanning electron microscopy
Author: Jim Buckman (Heriot-Watt University, UK), etc.

4. Title: Unleashing the Potential of Combined XRD-NIR Technique for Effective Mineral Exploration and Mining
Authors: Sheida Makvandi, Evelien Rost, Matteo Pernechele (Malvern Panalytical; the Netherlands)

5. Title: Accurate identification of the binders in historic mortars by the combination of microscopic and microanalytical techniques
Authors: Luís Almeida, António Santos Silva, Rosário Veiga and José Mirão (University of Évora, Portugal; National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, Portugal)

Back to TopTop