25 2.

2 Types of magmatic ore deposits

P Ta,Nb
+5
HFSE
Hf
TiW Zr Pb UTh
Ionic charge +4
Si
Cr Sc Lu Lu La La REE
+3
Al Fe Co, Zn
Ni Cu Mn Mn EuSrPb Ba
+2 transition-row LILE
elements Mg Fe Mg Fe Ca
Li Na K Rb Cs
+1

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Ionic radius (pm)
Figure 2.2 Classifications of cations based on ionic charge and ionic radii. HFSE ¼ high-field-
strength elements; LILE ¼ large-ion lithophile elements; REE ¼ rare-earth elements. The
REEs form a homologous series from light (La) to heavy (Lu) which are not plotted separately
but fall along the horizontal single and double lines on the diagram. The major elements in
mantle silicate minerals are plotted with large solid symbols, trace elements with open
symbols. The underlined elements are those lithophile elements which are extracted or may
in the future be extracted from carbonatites (see Section 2.2.1). These are all HFSEs with ionic
radii significantly larger than those of major elements of the same charge. Radii are Shannon
ionic radii (Shannon, 1976, Acta Crystallographica A32, 751–767). Squares are radii of ions in
eight-fold or higher coordination; circles are radii of ions in six-fold coordination and triangles
are radii of ions in four-fold coordination. Radii of both six-fold and eight-fold coordination
are shown for the REEs.

concentrations in igneous rocks range from about 50 ppm in average ultramafic rocks,
through around 100 ppm in mafic rocks to 25 ppm in felsic granites and rhyolites. Specific
magmatic processes in specific geological environments concentrate elements so as to
form ore.
Five processes of ore formation are distinguished in magmatic systems: (1) concen-
tration of ore elements as a result of very low degrees of partial melting, (2) accumulation
and concentration of ore minerals in magma chambers during progressive crystallisation
of magmas, (3) separation of two immiscible melts in a magma, (4) extreme fractionation
during progressive crystallisation of a magma, and (5) incorporation of a mineral that
occurs at a specific depth in the Earth. The first four processes can be related to the
sequence of steps of magma evolution from melting in the mantle to final crystallisation in
the crust as shown in Figure 2.1. At each of these steps, chemical partitioning of elements
between phases is central to ore formation. Each process is introduced below and is
discussed in more detail in the following sections.

(1) Concentration of ore elements as a result of very low degrees of partial melting
Partial melting can be a process of ore formation because the concentrations of incompat-
ible elements will be higher in the melt relative to the source rock. The smaller the

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26 Magmatic ore deposits

percentage of partial melting, the more enriched the melt is in incompatible elements. In
the mantle, incompatible elements are those that do not substitute into the crystal structure
of any of the major minerals of the mantle (olivine, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and,
depending on depth, plagioclase, spinel or garnet) and are those elements that have
significantly different ion radii or charges than the essential components of these min-
erals (Mg, Fe, Si and Al, see Figure 2.2). The strong concentration of incompatible
elements into small-percentage partial melts is central to the formation of ores of a
number of trace elements in rare and unusual magmatic rocks, particularly in
carbonatites, as described in Section 2.2.1. It is also important in the formation of ores
in strongly alkaline silicate igneous rocks such as in the Kola alkaline province of the
Russian Federation (see Petrov, 2004).

(2) Accumulation and concentration of ore minerals in magma chambers during

progressive crystallisation of magmas
There are a small number of ore minerals which accumulate directly from silicate
magmas during fractional crystallisation in a magma chamber, including chromite as a
source of chromium, and magnetite as a source of vanadium. Both of these minerals
typically occur as minor or accessory phases disseminated through commonly occurring
igneous rocks, including mafic and ultramafic cumulates. However, given specific
conditions, concentrated accumulations of these ore minerals do occur, for instance in
almost monomineralic thin layers in cumulate piles of thick layered intrusions. These
unusual accumulations are discussed in Section 2.2.2 and can be explained by cumulate
processes in combination with specific additional physical and chemical processes in
magma chambers.

(3) Separation of two immiscible melts in magma

This process is most important for the development of concentrations of sulfide minerals
in igneous rocks (Sections 2.2.3 and 2.2.4). Sulfide minerals are a minor component of
most rocks, including those of the mantle. On partial melting, sulfide minerals dissolve
into the silicate melt up to the limits of sulfide solubility, which in silicate magma is
typically a few hundred ppm. As the silicate magma migrates and evolves the limits of
saturation change, and some of the dissolved sulfide may become immiscible and
separate out as droplets. These droplets may segregate to form a separate sulfide melt
phase that will crystallise on cooling. Chalcophile and siderophile elements, particularly
Cu, Ni, Pt and related elements, are markedly more compatible in solution in sulfide
melt than in silicate melt, and will thus be strongly concentrated in an immiscible
sulfide melt.
Ore may be also formed more rarely in other immiscible melt–melt pairs. Immiscible
separation of iron oxide-rich melt from aluminous felsic and anorthositic silicate magmas
has been suggested as the mechanism for the formation of some magnetite–ilmenite Fe–Ti
ores in intrusions in some cases known as nelsonites which are mined at Tellnes in
Norway as a source of titanium minerals (e.g. Charlier et al., 2006), and immiscible
separation of phosphorous-rich melts from carbonatite magmas to form an apatite-rich
igneous rock called phoscorite at zoned alkaline intrusions such as in the Kola alkaline
province (Petrov, 2004).

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27 2.2 Types of magmatic ore deposits

(4) Extreme fractionation during progressive crystallisation of magma

As a melt progressively crystallises, the concentration of incompatible elements which are
not partitioned into crystallising minerals increases. Enrichment of incompatible trace
elements by orders of magnitude is possible in the last remaining few per cent or less of
melt. These elements may be major components of rare minerals that crystallise from the
last remaining melt
This is the process proposed for the genesis of many granitic pegmatites (Section
2.2.5). Pegmatites are ores for many so-called rare metals, for instance, Li, Be, Nb, Ta,
Sn and U, all of which are incompatible in common rock-forming minerals but are
essential components of one or more rare minerals that can crystallise from a melt, and
also for gem minerals which include an incompatible element in their structure, such as
emerald (with Be) and topaz (with F).

(5) Incorporation of a mineral that occurs at a specific depth in the Earth

This is the case of diamond deposits in kimberlite and lamproite which form from
magmas that are generated below the depth of the graphite–diamond transition in the
mantle.
Diamond deposits are a special case of ore deposit because the critical factor in their
formation is not concentration of diamonds but is rather carriage of relatively low
concentrations from depth of greater than about 140 km in the mantle, where diamond
is a stable mineral, to the surface (see Section 2.2.6).

2.2.1 Deposits formed from small-fraction partial melts: light rare-earth

element (LREE) ores in carbonatites
Carbonatites are rare igneous rocks which are composed of more than 50% primary
carbonate minerals, generally mixtures of calcite, dolomite and siderite. About 500
carbonatite intrusions and a small number of localities of extrusive carbonatites are
known worldwide.
Many carbonatite intrusions host one or more separate ore bodies, containing different
combinations of incompatible trace elements, and in some cases also of some major
elements. Important examples of carbonatite-hosted deposits include: ores of LREEs, Nb
and Fe at Bayan Obo, Inner Mongolia, China (Yang et al., 2011); resources of Ti and Th
at Powderhorn (Iron Hill), Colorado, USA (Van Gosen, 2009); ores of LREEs at Moun-
tain Pass, California, USA (Haxel, 2005; Long et al., 2010); ores of Cu, Co, Zr, Hf, Fe,
apatite, and vermiculite, and also by-products Au, Ag, Ni and Pt at Palabora, South Africa
(Palabora Mining Company staff, 1976); and of LREEs and Nb at Mt Weld, Western
Australia (Lottermoser, 1995). Tantalum is present at ore grade in some carbonatites.
Carbonatites and genetically related rocks are the primary global source of the LREEs.

Geochemical nature of LREEs

Many of the trace elements which are extracted from carbonatites and from strongly
alkaline silicate igneous rocks are HFSEs. These are trace metals which have a large
ionic charge (þ3 to þ5) and relatively small ionic radius, and are consequently incom-
patible in common silicate minerals in the mantle (Figure 2.2). The REEs are the row of

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