Main minerals of the Araxá alkali-carbonatite complex, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Abstract

The Araxá alkali-carbonatitic complex is a significant source of niobium and phosphate and accounts for approximately 75% of global niobium production. The complex contains magmatic niobium ore minerals, such as natrium-pyrochlore and calcium-pyrochlore, and hydrothermal niobium ore minerals in the form of kenopyrochlore and natrium-pyrochlore. The magmatic micas in the complex are tetraferriphlogopites that exhibit Mg-rich cores surrounded by one or two rims of tetraferriphlogopites formed by hydrothermal alteration. These rims have lower IVAl and Mg apfu (atom per formula unit) values but higher IVFe3+ and Fe2+ contents than the original phlogopite. Microphlogopitite dikes that formed during several episodes of magmatism between 83.48 and 77.4 Ma contain tetraferriphlogopites, phlogopite, eastonite, biotite, and annite-siderophyllite. These micas exhibit variations in Mg2+ and Fe2+ concentrations owing to the magmatic differentiation and subsequent hydrothermal alteration, resulting in rims with higher Mg and lower Fe2+ concentrations than the mica core. The Araxá complex also contains magmatic magnetite that has been further altered by hydrothermal processes, resulting in the formation of ilmenite and the oxidation and crystallization of titaniferous hematite. Magnetite within the microphlogopitites displays variations in the concentrations of Fe3+ and Ti, likely owing to the timing of the intrusion of the microphlogopitites into the Araxá complex. The degree of oxidation of the oxidized ilmenite of the Araxá complex varies based on the intrusions, which occurred before or during hydrothermal activity. Apatite is concentrated in carbonatites, which form a ring around the core of the complex, and disseminated in phlogopite-rich rocks hosting norsethite carbonatite veins in the center of the complex. The apatite in the core rocks exhibits complex zonation with unexpected changes in Ca, P, and Sr concentrations. Apatite in the carbonatite ring was generated during the differentiation of the carbonatite magma, whereas that in the core rocks exsolved from the phosphorus-saturated carbonatite magma (in press). The carbonate minerals dolomite, norsethite, and calcite exhibit compositions grouped around their end-members, suggesting that they formed during different stages of magmatic source differentiation. Strontium differentiation occurs in the magmas corresponding to each endmember, and carbocernaite is exsolved from the Sr-saturated crystals, thus forming micro-inclusions in some carbonate crystals that have been displaced by late-magmatic hydrothermal fluids.