Lateritic nickel deposits of Brazil

Abstract

Many nickel deposits are known in Brazil, accounting for about 350 · 106 tons of ore with an average of 1.5% Ni. All are of the lateritic type. These deposits are scattered throughout the country, being rarer in the Northeastern Region and in the South, below 25 °S latitude. They are mainly associated with mafic-ultramafic massifs of large dimensions and ultramafic alkaline complexes, and occur in climatic regions of contrasting seasons. The weathering profile developed over the fresh rock consists, from bottom to top, of the following horizons: altered rock, coarse saprolite, argillaceous saprolite, ferruginous saprolite and lateritic overburden. The thickness of each horizon varies from one deposit to another, the whole profile generally exceeding 20 m. The saprolitic horizons with inherited minerals (serpentine, chlorite) or neoformed minerals (smectites) constitute the silicated nickel ore and are thicker were climatic conditions are drier; the ferruginous upper horizons made up of iron oxide-hydroxides are more developed in more humid regions. In Brazil, the silicated ore generally prevails over the oxidized ore. The main Ni-bearing minerals are serpentine, smectite, garnierite and goethite. The lateritic nickel deposits of Brazil may be correlated with two erosion surfaces, corresponding to the Sul Americano (Lower Tertiary) and Velhas (Upper Tertiary) levelling cycles. The degree of dismantling of the higher and more ancient surface and the consequent development of the Velhas Surface control the position of the nickel accumulation in the landscape. Thus, the deposits may be found either in the lowlands or in the highlands, where they are always covered by a silcrete layer. The alteration profiles in the Brazilian lateritic nickel deposits are broadly similar to those described elsewhere in the world. However, they present two characteristic features: the silicated ore prevails over the oxidized ore, and a silicified layer covers the profies developed on the highlands.