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The Mineralogy of Iron and Manganese Ores of the Ushkatyn-III Deposit in Central Kazakhstan

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Abstract

The Ushkatyn-III in Central Kazakhstan is a weakly metamorphosed hydrothermal–sedimentary ore deposit of the Atasu type. For such objects, an assemblage of stratiform bodies of iron–manganese and polymetallic (lead–zinc and barite–lead) ores is typical. At the Ushkatyn-III deposit, there are iron, manganese, and barite–lead ores located in the Upper Devonian limestones. Iron and manganese ore have been the study objects. Iron ores are composed of hematite, calcite, and quartz. Two mineralogical types of manganese ores are distinguished: hausmannite and braunite. Hausmannite ores are composed of hausmannite, rhodochrosite, calcite, tephroite, sonolite, alleghanyite, and friedelite. Braunite ores include braunite, calcite, quartz, albite, rhodonite, friedelite, and rhodochrosite. The mineral composition of these ores was formed during transformation of metalliferous deposits that initially accumulated iron and manganese in form of oxides and hydroxides of Fe3+ and Mn3+/Mn4+ at T ≈ 250° and P ≈ 2 kbar. The organic matter content in the rocks controlled postdepositional processes. Braunite ores were formed under oxidizing conditions, while hausmannite ores were formed under reducing ones. Hydrated silicates, such as caryopilite, friedelite, pennantite, clinochlore, chamosite, and parsettensite, are indicators of low temperatures of metamorphism. There are a large number of accessory minerals found in iron and manganese ores. Among them, minerals containing B, F, S, V, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Ag, Sb, Te, Ba, Hb, Pb and rare-earth elements, including Mn–Zn and Mn–Pb phases – zinc-bearing hausmannite and jacobsite, hetaerolite, kentrolite, and pyrobelonite—are widely distributed. The spatial–age relationships between the minerals indicate the synchronous accumulation of Fe, Mn, Zn, As, Ba, Pb, and other elements in the primary metalliferous sediments and their subsequent local redistribution during metamorphism, which led to crystallization of their phases. Presence of minerals of nonferrous metals and barium makes manganese ores related to barite–lead ores occurring in their immediate vicinity. Both ore types were likely formed simultaneously as products of the evolution of the single hydrothermal system.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to Сhairman of the AO Zhairem Mining and Concentrating Complex (town of Zhairem, Kazakhstan) A.Yu. Burkovskii and the geologists of this company V.A. Volkov, O.A. Muratov, A.N. Abdel’manova, Zh.Zh. Akimeev, K.A. Akshalova, A.S. Burkhanov, R.B. Ivakova, and G.K. Turlynova for their assistance in performing the fieldwork. Studies were conducted using the analytical potential of the resource centers at St. Petersburg State University: Center for X-ray Diffraction Studies, Center for Microscopy and Microanalysis, and Center for Geo-Environmental Research and Modeling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Petersburg State University, Department of Mineralogy, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. I. Brusnitsyn, E. N. Perova & O. S. Vereshchagin

  2. St. Petersburg State University, Department of Crystallography, St. Petersburg, Russia

    S. N. Britvin

  3. Research Center for X-ray Diffraction Studies, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N. V. Platonova

  4. Research Center for Geo-Environmental Research and Modeling, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    V. V. Shilovskhikh

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  1. A. I. Brusnitsyn
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Translated by L. Mukhortova

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Brusnitsyn, A.I., Perova, E.N., Vereshchagin, O.S. et al. The Mineralogy of Iron and Manganese Ores of the Ushkatyn-III Deposit in Central Kazakhstan. Geol. Ore Deposits 63, 772–792 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075701521080031

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