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Minerals
Special Issues
Mineral Deposits Related to Mantle Rocks
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Mineral Deposits Related to Mantle Rocks

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2020) | Viewed by 17453

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Giovanni Grieco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: chromitites; mineral deposits; acid mine drainage; critical metals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mantle rocks host important mineral deposits that are not yet well constrained in terms of both genesis and exploration, such as chromite, PGM, and magnetite among metallic ores; and olivine, talc, and magnesite among industrial minerals. Lateritic nickel is also closely related, through pedogenetic processes, to mantle rocks. These deposits underwent a hard to unravel sequence of very different processes, leading to their present-day features. These comprise but are not limited to mantle magmatism and metasomatism, CO2 and/or water-rich fluids percolation, extensive ductile and fragile deformation, erosion, weathering, and pedogenesis.

Exploration targeting in this environment is a major challenge as mineralogical, geochemical, or structural clues are often fuzzy and misleading, and the primary picture is usually obliterated by a long and intricate tectonic and metamorphic history.

While acid mine drainage is usually not a major environmental concern related to these deposits, the presence of asbestos fibers can be important, and the peculiar geochemical signature of mantle rocks can lead to an anomalously high background concentration of heavy metals, whose release and spread can be strongly enhanced by exploitation.

This Special Issue invites contributions that can provide new insights into the formation, modification, remobilization, and environmental concern of mantle rocks-related mineral deposits. Contributions on exploration targeting and beneficiation technology improvements are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Giovanni Grieco
Guest Editor

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

  • Mantle rocks
  • Mineral deposits
  • Metallic minerals
  • Industrial minerals
  • Chromite
  • PGM
  • Lateritic nickel
  • Magnetite
  • Talc
  • Olivine
  • Exploration
  • Environmental concern
  • Beneficiation

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 6774 KiB  
Article
Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Ultramafic Rocks from Rachoni Magnesite Mine, Gerakini (Chalkidiki, Northern Greece)
by Evangelos Tzamos, Micol Bussolesi, Giovanni Grieco, Pietro Marescotti, Laura Crispini, Andreas Kasinos, Niccolò Storni, Konstantinos Simeonidis and Anastasios Zouboulis
Minerals 2020, 10(11), 934; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10110934 - 22 Oct 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3106
Abstract
The importance of magnesite for the EU economy and industry is very high, making the understanding of their genesis for the exploration for new deposits a priority for the raw materials scientific community. In this direction, the study of the magnesite-hosting ultramafic rocks [...] Read more.
The importance of magnesite for the EU economy and industry is very high, making the understanding of their genesis for the exploration for new deposits a priority for the raw materials scientific community. In this direction, the study of the magnesite-hosting ultramafic rocks can be proved very useful. For the present study, ultramafic rock samples were collected from the magnesite ore-hosting ophiolite of the Gerakini mining area (Chalkidiki, Greece) to investigate the consecutive alteration events of the rocks which led to the metallogenesis of the significant magnesite ores of the area. All samples were subjected to a series of analytical methods for the determination of their mineralogical and geochemical characteristics: optical microscopy, XRD, SEM, EMPA, ICP–MS/OES and CIPW normalization. The results of these analyses revealed that the ultramafic rocks of the area have not only all been subjected to serpentinization, but these rocks have also undergone carbonation, silification and clay alteration. The latter events are attributed to the circulation of CO2-rich fluids responsible for the formation of the magnesite ores and locally, the further alteration of the serpentinites into listvenites. The current mineralogy of these rocks was found to be linked to one or more alteration event that took place, thus a significant contribution to the metallo- and petrogenetic history of the Gerakini ophiolite has been made. Furthermore, for the first time in literature, Fe inclusions in olivines from Greece were reported. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Deposits Related to Mantle Rocks)
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16 pages, 5810 KiB  
Article
The Formation of Dunite Channels within Harzburgite in the Wadi Tayin Massif, Oman Ophiolite: Insights from Compositional Variability of Cr-Spinel and Olivine in Holes BA1B and BA3A, Oman Drilling Project
by Giuseppe Cocomazzi, Giovanni Grieco, Paola Tartarotti, Micol Bussolesi, Federica Zaccarini, Laura Crispini and Oman Drilling Project Science Team
Minerals 2020, 10(2), 167; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10020167 - 13 Feb 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4552
Abstract
Holes BA1B and BA3A were drilled into the Wadi Tayin Massif, southern ophiolite complex of Oman, a fragment of the Tethyan oceanic lithosphere obducted onto the Arabian continent. Within the sequence, we have studied a portion of the shallow mantle, composed mainly of [...] Read more.
Holes BA1B and BA3A were drilled into the Wadi Tayin Massif, southern ophiolite complex of Oman, a fragment of the Tethyan oceanic lithosphere obducted onto the Arabian continent. Within the sequence, we have studied a portion of the shallow mantle, composed mainly of strongly serpentinised harzburgite that embeds dunitic levels, the biggest being over 150 m thick. The formation of thick dunitic channels, already approached via published structural and mathematical models, is here investigated with a mineral chemistry approach. We focused on Cr-spinel, the only widespread phase preserved during serpentinization, whose TiO2 content displays a wide variability from low in harzburgite, (TiO2 < 0.25 wt. %), typical of non-metasomatised ophiolite mantle, to moderately high in dunite (TiO2 < 1.10 wt. %) characterizing a rock/melt interactions. The high variability of TiO2, accompanied by similar patterns of Cr# and Mg# is observed, in a fractal pattern, at all scales of investigation, from the whole channel scale to the single thin section, where it affects even single grain zonings. Our results suggest that the over 150 m thick dunite channel here investigated was formed by coalescence of different scale melt channels and reaction zones with different sizes, confirming the published structural model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Deposits Related to Mantle Rocks)
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18 pages, 3902 KiB  
Article
Olivine–Spinel Diffusivity Patterns in Chromitites and Dunites from the Finero Phlogopite-Peridotite (Ivrea-Verbano Zone, Southern Alps): Implications for the Thermal History of the Massif
by Micol Bussolesi, Giovanni Grieco and Evangelos Tzamos
Minerals 2019, 9(2), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9020075 - 27 Jan 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3303
Abstract
The study of Mg–Fe2+ subsolidus exchange between olivine and spinel is a powerful tool to unravel the thermal history of ultramafic rocks. We have implemented such a study using olivine–spinel diffusivity patterns in fresh mineralogical samples from the Finero mafic-ultramafic Complex in [...] Read more.
The study of Mg–Fe2+ subsolidus exchange between olivine and spinel is a powerful tool to unravel the thermal history of ultramafic rocks. We have implemented such a study using olivine–spinel diffusivity patterns in fresh mineralogical samples from the Finero mafic-ultramafic Complex in the Ivrea-Verbano zone of Northern Italy. Our analytical suite includes chromitites and dunites of the Phlogopite-Peridotite Unit from the core of the Complex. Primary and re-equilibrated olivine and spinel compositions were derived from diffusivity curves calculated by fitting data via an exponential function. Resulting XMg (Mg/(Mg + Fe2+) values were then used for geothermometry. Samples are found to demonstrate a maximum temperature of 849 °C and a minimum temperature of 656 °C; these temperatures coincide with the limits of elemental exchange in this mineralogic system. We were unable to identify primary olivine/spinel compositions related to the original formation of the dunite–chromitite suite during Early Permian metasomatic activity. Temperature of 849 °C is ascribed to the Late Triassic re-heating event dated at 208 ± 2 Ma. Continuous cooling followed this event at rates of 10−4 and 10−2 °C/yr until cessation of elemental exchange activity at ~656 °C. A rapid cooling rate is associated with the uplift and subsequent decrease of geothermal gradient during the early stages of the opening of the Piemont ocean basin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Deposits Related to Mantle Rocks)
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Review

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23 pages, 4647 KiB  
Review
Low-Sulfide Platinum–Palladium Deposits of the Paleoproterozoic Fedorova–Pana Layered Complex, Kola Region, Russia
by Nikolay Yu. Groshev, Tatyana V. Rundkvist, Bartosz T. Karykowski, Wolfgang D. Maier, Aleksey U. Korchagin, Anton N. Ivanov and Malte Junge
Minerals 2019, 9(12), 764; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9120764 - 10 Dec 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5876
Abstract
Several deposits of low-sulfide Pt–Pd ores have been discovered in recent decades in the Paleoproterozoic Fedorova–Pana Layered Complex located in the Kola Region (Murmansk Oblast) of Russia. The deposits are divided into two types: reef-style, associated with the layered central portions of intrusions, [...] Read more.
Several deposits of low-sulfide Pt–Pd ores have been discovered in recent decades in the Paleoproterozoic Fedorova–Pana Layered Complex located in the Kola Region (Murmansk Oblast) of Russia. The deposits are divided into two types: reef-style, associated with the layered central portions of intrusions, and contact-style, localized in the lower parts of intrusions near the contact with the Archean basement. The Kievey and the North Kamennik deposits represent the first ore type and are confined to the North PGE Reef located 600–800 m above the base of the West Pana Intrusion. The reef is associated with a horizon of cyclically interlayered orthopyroxenite, gabbronorite and anorthosite. The average contents of Au, Pt and Pd in the Kievey ore are 0.15, 0.53 and 3.32 ppm, respectively. The North Kamennik deposit has similar contents of noble metals. The Fedorova Tundra deposit belongs to the second ore type and has been explored in two sites in the lower part of the Fedorova intrusion. Mineralization is mainly associated mainly with taxitic or varied-textured gabbronorites, forming a matrix of intrusive breccia with fragments of barren orthopyroxenite. The ores contain an average of 0.08 ppm Au, 0.29 ppm Pt and 1.20 ppm Pd. In terms of PGE resources, the Fedorova Tundra is the largest deposit in Europe, hosting more than 300 tons of noble metals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Deposits Related to Mantle Rocks)
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