Silicate profiles characterization in lateritic nickel deposit of Punta Gorda, Moa, Cuba
Keywords:
ferrous, nickeliferous laterites, nickel ores, weathering crusts, Punta Gorda deposit, kaolinite, chlorites, smectite, goethite, smectitesAbstract
Although the lateritic profiles of Punta Gorda deposit, Moa municipality have been classified as oxidized, studies related to the quality of nickel ore have revealed within the deposit, sectors with clayey and smectite type profiles. This prompted the mineralogical characterization of the saprolitic horizons of the lateritic profiles in the O-48 block of the deposit, with X-ray diffraction and ICP-AES spectroscopy techniques. Lateritic profiles constituted by clay horizons (with predominance of kaolinite) associated with smectitic-chloritic horizons were distinguished. Smectite are Fe- saponite and montmorillonite type and the chlorites of the clinochlorite type, enriched in Fe. The paragenesis of the smectite (Sm)-chloritic (Chl) component is interpreted as a process of progressive weathering from Sm to Chl. In the O-48 sector of the Punta Gorda deposit, the smectitic-chloritic saprolite are the carriers of highest amount of nickel, with contents from 1.07 % to 1.59 % NiO, while the kaolinite ones are poor in this metal (less than 0.69 % NiO).Downloads
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