X-ray diffraction and magnetic studies of altered ilmenite and pseudorutile

Abstract

SynopsisIT was not until 1966 that pseudorutile was first defined. Earlier, its X-ray diffraction spectrum had been confused with that of futile and, to a lesser degree, with those of hematite and ilmenite. Subsequent work has shown that pseudorutile has a world-wide distribution in detrital ilmenite-bearing heavy mineral deposits. The present work has confirmed its magnetic susceptibility and density. In addition pseudorutile is shown to be a magnetic spin glass with a peak susceptibility at 23 °K.Altered ilmenites, in which pseudorutile occurs as a secondary alteration product, display a range of chemical composition and magnetic susceptibility. The most highly magnetic fractions are not necessarily those containing the least-altered ilmenite, and in material from Capel, Western Australia, the most highly magnetic fractions were those containing grains of ferrimagnetic ferrian ilmenite.Quantitative X-ray diffraction has shown that West Australian altered ilmenite contains significant amounts of amorphous ilmenite, pseudorutile, and rutile. The magnetic susceptibility of paramagnetic fractions of altered ilmenite from Capel, Western Australia, can be calculated from normative compositions based on chemical analyses.