The Phosphate mineral assemblages from La Viquita Pegmatite, San Luis, Argentina

Abstract

La Viquita is a rare-element pegmatite of LCT signature, REL-Li subclass, spodumene subtype, that shows Fe > Mn mineral paragenesis instead of Mn > Fe, which is more common in the rare-element pegmatite population of the San Luis ranges. The phosphate mineral association of this pegmatite can be subdivided into (1) primary, with dendritic triphylite [(Fe/(Fe + Mn) = 0.72] and montebrasite–amblygonite as main phases; (2) metasomatic, with subsolidus replacement of triphylite by ferrisicklerite and heterosite; and (3) hydrothermal, with secondary growth of alluaudite at the expense of heterosite and wardite from montebrasite caused by Na-metasomatism. A Ca-rich influx under oxidizing conditions produced childrenite–eosphorite–ernstite, jahnsite-(CaMnFe), and kingsmountite. Apatite-group minerals are present throughout the processes. Very late-stage solutions formed millimetric crystals of hydroxylherderite associated with hydroxylapatite in cavities in K-feldspar.