Geology and mineralogy of the Alakha spodumene granite porphyry deposit, Gorny Altai, Russia

Abstract

The Alakha lithium–tantalum deposit in the southern Altai, Russia, is represented by a stock of spodumene-bearing granite porphyry localized in the Kalba–Narym–Koktogai lithium–tantalum rare-metal granitic belt, unique in extent (more than 1000 km). This belt is a part of the Altai accretionary–collisional system. Judging from forecasting, the Alakha deposit can be regarded as an uneroded proxy of a pegmatite body both in dimensions and mean Li2O and Ta2O5 contents (0.98 wt % and 114 ppm, respectively); however, the oregenerating potential of this deposit remains insufficiently studied and had not yet been claimed. In this paper, we attempt to fill this gap with a detailed mineralogical study, which allows us to provide insights into the crystallization of Li-bearing high-silicic magma and redistribution of components during magmatic and postmagmatic processes. Accessory mineral assemblages in muscovite–spodumene–K-feldspar granite porphyry and muscovite albitite—the main petrographic rock varieties of the Alakha stock—turned out to be almost identical. A significant similarity in the chemistry of major rock-forming minerals is established for spodumene granite porphyry of the Alakha stock and spodumene pegmatites from large deposits, which makes it possible to suggest that they are close in the petrogenetic mechanism of their formation. The mineral assemblages of muscovite albitite in the apical portion of the Alakha stock are connected by gradual transition with those of spodumene granite porphyry. Such a transition is caused by postmagmatic metasomatic alteration of the latter.