Research in quantitative mineralogy: Examples from diverse applications

Abstract

Developed for the mining industry and applied to oil and gas projects, quantitative mineralogy also has enormous potential as a research tool. The Advanced Mineralogy Research Center at Colorado School of Mines was developed for this purpose, and several representative ongoing research projects using QEMSCAN ® techniques are described herein. Geomet applications relate mineralogy and geology to potential processing attributes such as hardness and grind characteristics. For kimberlite exploration and development, and diamond petrogenesis, quantitative mineralogy reveals the complex secondary silicate mineralogy in volcanic and mantle materials, and provides a means of viewing garnets from exploration samples. In Carlin-type gold deposits, the distribution of arsenian-pyrite can serve as a proxy for the distribution of gold. Monzonites from porphyry copper deposits reveal pervasive potassic alteration and quartz veining, which may impact the behavior of the materials during processing. A new view of feldspar zoning in granites not only has broad implications for understanding the petrogenetic evolution of magmatic systems, but is of relevance in processing feldspar-bearing materials. Environmental and biological applications include soil mineralogy, the effect of soil chemistry on vegetation, and studies of mammalian tissues. These examples illustrate how automated mineralogy allows researchers a means of quantifying mineralogical relationships in a wide variety of materials.