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are-element granitic pegmatites are well recognized for the diversity ZrO2, 1800 ppm Nb2O5, and 800
and concentrations of metal ores that they host. The supply of some ppm BeO (www.questrareminerals.
com; accessed December 2011).
of these elements is of concern, and the European Commission recently
designated metals such as tantalum and niobium as critical materials or STRATEGIC METALS
strategic resources. Field relationships, mineral chemistry, and experimental AS COMMODITIES
constraints indicate that these elements are concentrated dominantly by The uses of strategic metals are
magmatic processes. The granitic melts involved in these processes are very not widely known to the general
public, but these metals play a vital
unusual because they contain high concentrations of fl uxing compounds, role in society. Tantalum capaci-
which play a key role at both the primary magmatic and metasomatic tors are utilized in computers,
stages. In particular, the latter may involve highly fluxed melts rather than smart phones, and automobiles
(e.g. ABS and airbag-activation
aqueous fluids.
devices). Technical-grade lithium
KEYWORDS : strategic, rare element, fractionation, metasomatism, ore genesis is used in ceramics and glasses,
whereas chemical-grade Li is
INTRODUCTION used in lubricants and is a major
component of rechargeable batteries in, for example, elec-
Strategic elements, generally metals, are those that are
tric vehicles. Cesium formate is fabricated for applications
of greatest risk to supply disruptions or are important
in high-pressure and high-temperature drilling in petro-
to a countrys economy or defence. The list varies with
leum exploration. Because of its photoemissive properties,
country but includes Ta, Nb, Be, Sb, W, rare earth elements
Cs is also used in solar photovoltaic cells. Beryllium and
(REEs), and Co. Rare-element pegmatites are enriched in
copper alloys are in components of aerospace, automotive,
incompatible elements (high-field-strength and large-ion
and electronic devices.
lithophile elements), and many of these elements are also
strategic metals. A particularly important class of rare- Tantalum is not a publicly traded commodity, and infor-
element pegmatites is the complex-type pegmatites of mation on production and prices is difficult to obtain.
the LCT (LiCsTa) family (Cern
and Ercit 2005; Cern However, Schwela (2010) presents a most likely resource
et al. 2012 this issue). This type of pegmatite contains base: South America has reserves of approximately 130,000
extremely high concentrations of Rb, Cs, Be, Ta, Nb, and tonnes of Ta 2 O5 (40% of the known global resource),
Sn, as well as elevated levels of fluxing components (Li, P, F, followed by Australia (21%), China and Southeast Asia
and B). For example ores in the Tanco pegmatite (Manitoba, (10%), Russia and the Middle East (10%), and Central Africa
Canada) contain up to 13,900 ppm Li, 236,000 ppm Cs, and (10%). The rest of Africa, North America, and Europe make
28,900 ppm Rb, as well as >360 ppm Be and >1200 ppm Ta up the fi nal 10%. Currently exploited pegmatites of note
(Stilling et al. 2006). These values contrast with the bulk are the Mibra operation in Brazil, Kenticha in Ethiopia,
continental crust, which contains 16 ppm Li, 2 ppm Cs, and Marropino in Mozambique. Historically much of
49 ppm Rb, 1.9 ppm Be, and 0.7 ppm Ta (Rudnick and the worlds Ta production has come from complex-type
Gao 2004); that is, some enrichment factors are greater pegmatites (e.g. Tanco, Canada; Greenbushes, Australia;
than 100,000. One of the greatest challenges in the study Altai #3, Mongolia; Bikita, Zimbabwe), albite-type pegma-
of pegmatites is to explain how such extreme elemental tites (Wodgina, Australia), and albitespodumene pegma-
enrichment occurs. A different family of pegmatites, tites (Mt. Cassiterite, Australia) (Cern and Ercit 2005). A
the NYF pegmatites, is enriched in Nb, Y, and F. Their geopolitical concern specific to tantalum is the mining of
current economic importance is much less than that of columbitetantalite (termed coltan) from Central Africa,
the LCT family, but these pegmatites may produce rare particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo; this
earth and other strategic metals in the future; an example tantalum has been sold by illegal militias implicated in
is the Strange Lake deposit, Canada, which contains 140.3 human rights abuses to fund a civil war. The U.S. govern-
million tonnes grading 9330 ppm total REEs, 19,300 ppm ment signed the Financial Stability Act into law in 2010
to stem the trade of confl ict tantalum, and a system that
includes mineral chemistry, geochronology, and mineral-
1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario liberation analysis is being developed to trace the origin
ON N6A 5B6, Canada of coltan ore (Melcher et al. 2008).
E-mail: rlinnen@uwo.ca
Lithium is mined from brine deposits in Chile and
2 IDR, UR 234, GET, 14 avenue E. Belin, F-31400 Toulouse, France
Argentina, granites in China, and pegmatites in Australia,
3 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba China, and Zimbabwe. An important aspect of the lithium
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
RARE-ELEMENT PEGMATITES
Fractionation Trends
The LCT pegmatites are typically associated with late-
tectonic peraluminous granites, and their emplacement
is controlled at least in part by shear zones (FIG. 1; Cern
1989; London 2008). Quartz and feldspars are the domi- FIGURE 1 Idealized zoned pegmatite field around a source
granite. The maximum distance of pegmatites from
nant minerals that crystallize from granitic melts, and the the source granite is on the order of kilometers or, at most, tens
rare elements are highly incompatible in these minerals. of kilometers. M ODIFIED FROM CERN (1989)
Thus, extreme fractionation resulting from extended crys-
tallization of quartz and feldspars can generate very high Exploration and Evaluation
concentrations of rare elements in residual melts. Similarly, A useful feature of large and chemically evolved LCT
individual pegmatites also consist largely of quartz and pegmatites is that the wallrocks around these pegmatites
feldspar, and the rare elements are concentrated in small are metasomatized (i.e. metamorphosed via an influx of
volumes (Stilling et al. 2006). Cesium is highly incompat- pegmatite-derived components), and the dispersion of
ible because of its very large ionic radius, except in micas, alkali rare elements in the metasomatic aureoles around
feldspars, and cordierite, where it is moderately incom- pegmatites is used as an exploration tool. Lithium anoma-
patible. Rubidium behaves similarly, except that its ionic lies defi ne the widest halos adjacent to pegmatites, which
radius is closer to that of K, and is compatible in micas can be in excess of 100 m, but the dispersion of Rb and
and alkali feldspar. The ionic radius of Li is much smaller
Cs is more restricted (Cern 1989; London 2008). Alkali
than that of the other alkali metals, and Li partitions into metasomatism is a consequence of relatively high fluid
micas, cordierite, and amphiboles via coupled substitution melt partition coefficients for Li, Rb, and Cs (London 2005).
reactions (London 2005). These elements are commonly In fact, brine fluid inclusions from the Ehrenfriedersdorf
interrelated in minerals; for example, LiRbCs-rich micas pegmatite, Germany, contain thousands of parts per
are also fluorine rich. Beryllium is normally incompatible million (ppm) Li and weight percent levels of Rb and Cs;
because of its small ionic radius, but is compatible in cordi- however, importantly, Ta is below the detection limit
erite and muscovite (London 2005). Partition coefficients (Borisova et al. 2012). Biotite is an abundant metamorphic/
will change with the various substitutions; therefore it is metasomatic mineral in the country rocks that surround
Cern P (1989) Exploration strategy and ites, pegmatites and rhyolites. In: Linnen RL,
methods for pegmatite deposits of Samson IM (eds) Rare Element Geochemistry Thomas R, Davidson P, Beurlen H (2011)
tantalum. In: Mller P, Cern P, Saup F Tantalite-(Mn) from the Borborema Pegmatite
and Mineral Deposits. Geological Association
(eds) Lanthanides, Tantalum and Niobium. of Canada Short Course Notes 17, pp 17-43 Province, northeastern Brazil: conditions
Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, pp 274-310 of formation and melt and fluid-inclusion
London D (2008) Pegmatites. Canadian constraints on experimental studies.
Cern P (2005) The Tanco rare-element pegma- Mineralogist Special Publication 10, 347 pp Mineralium Deposita 46: 749-759
tite deposit, Manitoba: Regional context,
internal anatomy, and global compari- London D, Evensen JM (2003) Beryllium Van Lichtervelde M, Salvi S, Beziat D, Linnen
sons. In: Linnen RL, Samson IM (eds) Rare in silicic magmas and the origin of beryl- RL (2007) Textural features and chemical
Element Geochemistry and Mineral Deposits. bearing pegmatites. Reviews in Mineralogy evolution in tantalum oxides: Magmatic
Geological Association of Canada Short & Geochemistry 50: 445-486 versus hydrothermal origins for Ta miner-
Course Notes 17, pp 127-158 alization in the Tanco Lower Pegmatite,
London D, Morgan GB VI (2012) The pegmatite Manitoba, Canada. Economic Geology 102:
Cern P, Ercit TS, Smeds S-A, Groat LA, bite-tantalite (coltan) ores. SGA News 23: zircon and hafnon in highly fluxed peral-
Chapman R (2007) Zirconium and hafnium 1-14 kaline to peraluminous pegmatitic melts.
in minerals of the columbite and wodginite Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
groups from granitic pegmatites. Canadian Rudnick RL, Gao S (2004) Composition of
the continental crust. In: Rudnick RL (ed) 160: 17-32
Mineralogist 45: 185-202
Treatise on Geochemistry 3, pp 1-64 Webber KL, Simmons WB, Falster AU Foord