Emilia Yu. Dokuchits, Shao-Yong Jiang, Suo-Fei Xiong, Aleksandr Stepanov, Irina Zhukova, Wen-Tian Li
{"title":"Fluid and mineral inclusions of charoitite deposit in the Murun alkaline-carbonatite complex, Eastern Siberia, Russia","authors":"Emilia Yu. Dokuchits, Shao-Yong Jiang, Suo-Fei Xiong, Aleksandr Stepanov, Irina Zhukova, Wen-Tian Li","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107735","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107735","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Murun alkaline‑carbonatite complex in Eastern Siberia, Russia, is known as a unique <em>gem</em> deposit of scenic purple charoitite rocks that consist of up to fifty different minerals, most of which are rare in nature. Charoitites occur in the rocks, which were identified as fenites. Rock-forming minerals of charoitites include charoite, pyroxene, K-feldspar, amphibole, and quartz; various (Ca)-(K)-(Na) silicates often present in large amounts. Apatite, carbonate minerals (mainly strontianite and barytocalcite), baryte, steacyite, dalyite, and various sulfides are typical accessory minerals in charoitites. Several transparent minerals from charoitites were studied in this paper, with special attention given to fluid and mineral inclusions. Fluid inclusions (FIs) are observed in quartz, apatite, tinaksite, dalyite, amphibole, pyroxene, and K-feldspar, including monophase [V (vapor) and L (liquid)], two-phase [L + V (liquid+vapor) and V + L (vapor+liquid)], multicomponent (L + V + S), and solid crystalline inclusions, which are represented by both single grain and composite mineral inclusions. The Raman spectra showed that most two-phase FIs are aqueous with minor N<sub>2</sub> and sometimes contain abundant CH<sub>4</sub> in the vapor phase. Using Raman spectroscopy, the daughter phases in multiphase inclusions were identified as sulfates (baryte and thenardite) and carbonates (witherite and calcite). The following crystalline phases in mineral inclusions were recorded: carbonates (witherite, calcite, barytocalcite, burbankite), sulfates (baryte), sulfides (sphalerite, galena and others), and silicates (quartz, aegirine, amphibole, and some Ca-(K)-(Na) silicate minerals). High-temperature polyphase melt inclusions were found in K-feldspar and tinaksite; however, only partial dissolution was achieved, and total homogenization could not be measured due to decrepitation. The studied fluid inclusions record a complex post-magmatic history, which includes the trapping of an aqueous fluid. The measured total homogenization temperatures (<em>T</em><sub>h</sub>) of FIs in quartz (180–441 °C), apatite (152–364 °C), tinaksite (218–404 °C) and dalyite (264 °C) suggest a secondary origin for all two-phased FIs, while the high-temperature fluid and melt inclusions (<em>T</em><sub>h</sub> > 400–460 °C) recorded in these minerals formed during the magmatic stage. The coexistence of different types of fluid inclusions in transparent minerals associated with charoite, as well as wide ranges of homogenization temperatures, could be evidence of boiling occurring during the formation of charoitites. Fluid evidence and petrographic observations indicate that both magmatic and hydrothermal processes contributed to the formation of the Sirenevyi Kamen charoite deposit.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"274 ","pages":"Article 107735"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143561718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A high-performance extreme gradient boosting outlier detection framework for integrating the outputs of diverse anomaly detectors for detecting mineralization-related geochemical anomalies","authors":"Sheng He, Yongliang Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107741","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107741","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In geochemical exploration, the geochemical anomalies identified in the same area by different unsupervised anomaly detection models are often quite divergent. How to combine these divergent geochemical anomalies into reliable mineral prospecting targets is a problem worth studying. In this regard, the extreme gradient boosting outlier detection (XGBOD) framework was adopted to integrate the anomaly scores produced by diverse unsupervised anomaly detection models to construct a high-performance semi-supervised anomaly detection ensemble for detecting mineralization-related geochemical anomalies. In the XGBOD framework, various unsupervised anomaly detection models are built and used to transform input variables into the transformed outlier scores (TOSs), and the important TOSs are then selected and added into the original input data to train the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) model, and a high-performance semi-supervised XGBoost model is established finally for detecting mineralization-related geochemical anomalies. The superiority of the XGBOD framework was demonstrated by a case study implemented in the Baishan area (Jilin, China). The <em>K</em>-nearest neighbor, local outlier factor, histogram-based outlier score, one-class support vector machine and isolation forest were used to transform element concentrations to TOSs, and the TOSs were used as the input data of the XGBoost model together with the original input element concentration data. The XGBoost model was finally established to detect mineralization-related geochemical anomalies. The results show that the semi-supervised XGBoost model performs significantly better than the five unsupervised anomaly detection models. Therefore, the XGBOD framework is a viable tool for combining diverse anomaly scores produced by various anomaly detectors to build a high-performance semi-supervised ensemble for detecting mineralization-related geochemical anomalies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"273 ","pages":"Article 107741"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143508828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The use of EDTA leaching method to predict arsenic and antimony Neutral Mine Drainage from the Eleonore tailings","authors":"Vincent Marmier , Benoît Plante , Isabelle Demers , Mostafa Benzaazoua","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107734","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107734","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The prediction of neutral mine drainage (NMD) is difficult using classical kinetic techniques due to the sorption and precipitation processes that retain the contaminant within the material, hiding the actual geochemical behaviour. A method for NMD prediction using sorption experiments and modified kinetic experiments with a complexing agent such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was developed to predict metal leaching in mine waste. The objective of this study was to assess the applicability of the leaching procedure to oxyanions such as As and Sb as well as the evolution of the risk of Eleonore mine tailings towards As and Sb leaching in the long-term. The study found that the Eleonore tailings contained 527 mg/kg of As and 59 mg/kg of Sb, mostly found within löllingite and arsenopyrite. The leaching of As and Sb through complexation with EDTA was found to be effective in kinetic experiments for prediction purposes, despite EDTA's classification as a cation complexing agent. The tailings sorption capacity for As was estimated to be between 43 and 76 mg/kg. By comparing the sorption capacity and the metalloid content, the ratio sorption/metalloid content was found to be below 1 (0.07–0.13), indicating a high risk towards NMD. Furthermore, no notable change in sorption capacity was observed over the course of the column experiments, suggesting that sorption is unlikely to influence the As leaching dynamic. However, it is probable that As retention in the tailings is not primarily driven by sorption; given the high iron (Fe) loadings, coprecipitation may be the dominant mechanism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"273 ","pages":"Article 107734"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143511212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Krzysztof Kupczak , Rafał Warchulski , Vojtěch Ettler , Martin Mihaljevič
{"title":"The impact of buried historical copper slags on contemporary soil contamination","authors":"Krzysztof Kupczak , Rafał Warchulski , Vojtěch Ettler , Martin Mihaljevič","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107743","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107743","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study focuses on the impact of historical metallurgical slags on contemporary soil and soil pore water contamination, and potential phytoavailibility of metal(loid)s based on the example of the former smelter (16th–18th century) in Miedziana Góra (Holy Cross Mountains, Poland). The slags buried in soil exhibit elevated concentrations of Pb (57,400 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>), Zn (9000 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>), Cu (8890 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>), and As (325 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>). Mineralogical analysis reveals that the main carriers of these metal(loid)s are sulfides (Cu, As), metallic phases (Cu), and glass (Pb, Zn). Based on leaching tests using deionized water, it was found that the metal(loid)s contained in the slags are hardly mobilized. Similarly, the pH-static leaching tests indicate that, under natural soil pH conditions (~ 6.5), contaminants leaching from slag is limited, with metals stabilizing primarily in secondary phases, mainly in the form of oxides, carbonates, and phosphates. Despite the limited mobility, surrounding soils show high concentrations of Pb (up to 31,200 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>), Cu (up to 13,900 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>), Zn (up to 11,800 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>), and As (up to 985 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>). Leaching tests on soil samples using CaCl<sub>2</sub> as a leaching agent reveal mobilized concentrations up to 19.1 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup> Zn, 7.20 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup> Cu, and 6.40 mg·kg<sup>−1</sup> Pb, with Sb (1.81 % of the total) and Cd (1.56 % of the total) showing the highest mobility. A Pb concentration exceeding 100 μg·l<sup>−1</sup> in the tested pore water sample indicates poor water quality, underscoring the significant environmental impact of historical metallurgy on present ecosystem.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"273 ","pages":"Article 107743"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143511216","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yue Hou , Huan Li , Thomas J. Algeo , Jianjun Liu , Zhekai Zhou , Zhaoyang Luo , Weidong Ren
{"title":"Ore genesis of the Baishizhang Mo(-W) deposit in the Nanling Range, South China: Constraints from wolframite geochronology and chemical composition","authors":"Yue Hou , Huan Li , Thomas J. Algeo , Jianjun Liu , Zhekai Zhou , Zhaoyang Luo , Weidong Ren","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107733","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107733","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The South China Block (SCB), as one of the most important molybdenum metallogenic provinces in China, contains >40 Mo deposits including porphyry, skarn, and quartz-vein systems. In this work, we examine the ore geology and wolframite chemistry of the Baishizhang (BSZ) quartz vein-type Mo(-W) deposit in the Nanling Metallogenic Belt, using in-situ laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometric (LA-ICP-MS) analysis of U-Pb isotopes and trace elements. The hydrothermal history of the BSZ deposit can be divided into three stages (i.e., quartz-wolframite, sulfide, and calcite), the first two of which are the two main mineralization stages and wolframite shows petrological evidence for these two stages. Wol(I) yielded a U-Pb age of 154.0 ± 1.2 Ma (1σ; <em>n</em> = 20; MSWD = 0.86) and Wol(II) ages of 150.8 ± 0.5 Ma (Wol(II-1);1σ; <em>n</em> = 19; MSWD = 1.0) and 146.1 ± 2.3 Ma (Wol(II-2); 1σ; <em>n</em> = 12; MSWD = 2.6), bracketing the transition from the quartz-wolframite stage to the sulfide stage. The Wol(II-1) mineralization may be genetically related to emplacement of biotite K-feldspar granite (150.3 ± 1.1 Ma), and the large-scale Mo mineralization may be related to deep concealed granites at BSZ. Our results show that the composition of wolframite was constrained by both crystallochemical effects and the composition of the mineralizing fluid, and that the substitution mechanisms controlling the chemical compositions of Wol(I) and Wol(II) were different. Wol(II) exhibits changes in composition and Eu anomaly from the core to the rim, likely reflecting the influence of an external reducing fluid enriched in Sn and Mo from concealed granites that caused Mo mineralization. A metallogenic model of the BSZ deposit can be applied to better interpret the various formation processes of the two main mineralization stages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"273 ","pages":"Article 107733"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143488407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mi Tian , Chao Wu , Xueqiu Wang , Binbin Sun , Jian Zhou , Qinghai Hu , Wei Wang , Hanliang Liu , Baoyun Zhang , Yu Qiao
{"title":"Spatial heterogeneity and driving factors of temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (Q10) at national scale","authors":"Mi Tian , Chao Wu , Xueqiu Wang , Binbin Sun , Jian Zhou , Qinghai Hu , Wei Wang , Hanliang Liu , Baoyun Zhang , Yu Qiao","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107742","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107742","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (Q10) plays an important role in terrestrial soil carbon-climate feedback. However, Q10 exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity on a large scale, and the factors influencing its spatial variability are not yet fully understood. In this research, we collected Q10 values from 236 field studies in China to explore the spatial heterogeneity and controlling factors of Q10 values at national scale. The relative importance of different climate factors such as annual average temperature (MAT), annual average temperature (MAP) and evapotranspiration (ET), soil geochemical factors including pH, soil organic carbon, soil total nitrogen, C/N, metal oxides, vegetation types and geological backgrounds in predicting Q10 values were explored using a random forest model. The study found that the range of Q10 values in China is 1.17–5.51, with a median of 2.3 and a mean of 2.47. The main influencing factors of the spatial variation of temperature sensitivity of soil respiration Q10 at the national scale are the supply and quality of soil respiration substrates. The more soil organic carbon content, the bigger the Q10. The more difficult it is to decompose (the more complex the molecular structure presented by correlations between Q10 and C/N, and the more mineral-bounded organic carbon presented by correlations between Q10 and FeO), the stronger the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. In comparison, the influence of climate factors on Q10 is less important and complex, Q10 increases nonlinearly with the increase of ET and decreases with the increase of temperature. The Q10 value is higher when the precipitation is moderate (800-1200 mm), and decreases when there is excessive or insufficient rainfall. In summary, the interaction between soil geochemical factors and climate controls the storage and turnover of soil organic carbon, and soil geochemistry plays the most important role. The results of this study are helpful for accurately assessing the global soil organic carbon storage and spatiotemporal changes, and are of great significance for studying the feedback mechanism of organic carbon under the background of global carbon cycle and global warming.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"273 ","pages":"Article 107742"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143562392","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Diego Arán , Adelaida Patrasc-Lungu , Amaia Nogales , Maria Manuela Abreu , Erika S. Santos
{"title":"Valorization of sulfide rich tailings with nature-based solutions for pasture lands","authors":"Diego Arán , Adelaida Patrasc-Lungu , Amaia Nogales , Maria Manuela Abreu , Erika S. Santos","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107731","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107731","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil degradation caused by the mining activities is one of the major impacts and challenges for society. Nature-based solutions, such as Technosols, are an alternative for their recovery, which can be accelerated by the use of microorganisms. The objective of this study was to evaluate the viability of implementing risk-free grazing land on sulfide-rich tailings recovered with a Tecnosol with/without a fungal inoculum (<em>Rhizoglomus irregulare</em> and <em>Trichoderma</em> sp.). A mesocosm assay was carried out, under greenhouse and controlled conditions, with sulfide-rich tailings from the Aznalcóllar mine and a Technosol designed with alkaline and eutrophic properties for eight months. Three treatments were established (Tailing + Technosol with fungal inoculation (YM), Tailing + Technosol without fungal inoculation (NM), and Tailing with fungal inoculation (Control)) and a commercial pasture was sown. Several parameters related to the materials collected in each treatment, plant development and multielemental composition of the shoots in two growth cycles were determined. The single application of the fungal inoculum was not sufficient to improve the sulfide-rich tailings and to allow plant germination. Independently of the inoculum application, the Technosol improved the physico-chemical characteristics of the tailings (e.g., increased pH, fertility and decreased the availability of potentially toxic elements). Shoots from the YM and NM treatments showed no significant differences in yield and development and no any risk to animal consumption. The results confirmed that sulfide-rich tailings can be environmentally recovered and socio-economically valorized through the application of a Technosol and pasture land.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"273 ","pages":"Article 107731"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143508830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shaofeng Xie , Zhankun Liu , Xiancheng Mao , Cheng Wang , Longbo Li
{"title":"Ore-forming simulation of the Axi low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposit, Western China: Genetic implications on mineralization pattern","authors":"Shaofeng Xie , Zhankun Liu , Xiancheng Mao , Cheng Wang , Longbo Li","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107740","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107740","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Improving the understanding of fluid migration and mineralization localization within epithermal gold systems is of utmost significance for mineral exploration. In this study, a series of numerical simulation experiments were carried out at the Axi low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposit in western China under variable stress conditions by employing the FLAC<sup>3D</sup> software. The objective was to explore the fluid migration process during the ore-forming period. The results demonstrate that the extensional deformation and fluid migration patterns of simple compressive or tensional model cannot yield the known mineralization distribution, while the corrected 30° tension model leads to sinistral strike-slip, resulting in the current gold mineralization pattern. The NE-trending fault extension zone associated with the deformation setting is inferred as the migration pathway of the deep-seated ore-forming fluids. Several deep fluid migration pathways beneath the known mineralization are determined. Numerical simulation of the metallogenic process reveals that the fault structure controls the scale and extent of fluid migration. The gold distribution in the Axi deposit can be ascribed to shear strain localization, the development of dilation, and the focusing of fluids into the dilatant fault. By means of thermo-fluid-mechanical coupling, the models have generated several potential gold mineralization targets in the southern and northern segments. This case study emphasizes that the mineralization of the Axi gold deposit is predominantly controlled by fault geometry associated with specific stress directions and demonstrates that numerical modeling is a robust tool for identifying potential mineralization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"273 ","pages":"Article 107740"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143549609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anicia Henne , Ellishia Schmidtke , Ryan R.P. Noble , Dave Craw , Michael Verrall , Mario Iglesias-Martinez , Robert Thorne
{"title":"Implications of mineralogy, textures and landscape context on surface exploration of rare earth elements: A comparison of soil analytical methods near Esperance, Western Australia","authors":"Anicia Henne , Ellishia Schmidtke , Ryan R.P. Noble , Dave Craw , Michael Verrall , Mario Iglesias-Martinez , Robert Thorne","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107732","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107732","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the rising interest in rare earth element (REE) exploration in Australia and beyond, the focus of many greenfields exploration campaigns is on identifying the best methods for recovery of REE from soils to better define exploration targets. In this study, we compared analyses of the ultrafine (<2 μm) fraction of soils with more traditional soil alkaline fusion analysis of the bulk soil fraction at two regolith-hosted REE prospects near Esperance, Western Australia. We complement this data with sequential leaching and scanning electron microscopy on soils to establish where REE are hosted within the samples and to investigate the potential causes for differences in REE abundancies recovered via the two soil analytical methods. At both sites, the majority of REE in mineralised downhole samples were hosted in REE-bearing phosphates. The primary REE sources have been altered within the regolith via oxidation and re-precipitation. Altered and disaggregated primary and secondary REE-minerals are now hosted in clays and altered micas, and <1 % of REE are ionically bound to the clays in soils. Recovery of REE from the ultrafine fraction of soils was generally higher than via alkaline fusion. Correlation between the two methods was only moderate because of the “nugget effect” of particles >5 μm. Soils have been physically transported downslope and REE occur as detrital mineral particles, some of which are encapsulated in other detrital minerals. By excluding the larger REE ‘nuggets’ the ultrafine fraction results return more consistent results of the detrital fraction in transported soils. Our study highlights the importance of understanding landscape context for analysis and interpretation of exploration soil samples.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"274 ","pages":"Article 107732"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143580757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jun Liu , Wenchang Li , Qing Zhou , Tongzhu Li , Huihua Zhang , Yanpei Dai , Zhihui Dai , Zhanwu Shen , Dan Chen
{"title":"Occurrence, source, and enrichment process of cobalt from the Heiniudong metasedimentary rock-hosted stratiform Cu-Co polymetallic deposit, western Sichuan, China","authors":"Jun Liu , Wenchang Li , Qing Zhou , Tongzhu Li , Huihua Zhang , Yanpei Dai , Zhihui Dai , Zhanwu Shen , Dan Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107739","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gexplo.2025.107739","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Metasedimentary rock-hosted stratiform Cu-Co (MSC) deposits are one of the important types of Co deposits. Previous research has primarily concentrated on Cu mineralization, while the occurrence, source, and enrichment process of Co remain poorly understood. In this study, we conducted LA-ICP-MS elemental analysis of the primary sulfides (pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite) from the Heiniudong MSC deposit, the largest of its kind in western Sichuan, China. The results indicate that Co in Heiniudong primarily exists as isomorphic substitutions within pyrrhotite (393–1222 ppm) and sphalerite (162–393 ppm), with a possible substitution mechanism of Co<sup>2+</sup> ↔ (Fe, Zn)<sup>2+</sup>. Additionally, Co is occasionally present as costibite and micro- to nano-inclusions within chalcopyrite. The Cu and Co elements in the Heiniudong deposit exhibit homologous relationships, primarily originating from the Liwu Group during the early stages of mineralization. Furthermore, contributions from other geological end-members may also be present during this main mineralization stage. The Co enrichment observed in the Heiniudong deposit can be attributed to complex multi-stage geological processes, mainly including (1) initial Co enrichment during the sedimentary-diagenetic stage, (2) early activation induced by tectonic and metamorphic events, and (3) re-enrichment following hydrothermal superposition and transformation events. Owing to its unique properties, Co exhibits a remarkable tendency to progressively accumulate in recrystallized sulfides of the Heiniudong deposit over geological time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16336,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geochemical Exploration","volume":"273 ","pages":"Article 107739"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143508829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}