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THE MAIN FACTORS INFLUENCING OF MINOR INTRUSIONS ON THE FORMATION OF NICKELIFEROUS WEATHERING CRUST ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE SAKHARA AND THE ELOV DEPOSITS (URALS)

Е. А. Николаева

Abstract

During the last century, nickel industry of the Urals was based on numerous supergene oxide?silicate ore deposits, which supplied raw material to the Yuzhuralnikel and Ufaleinikel metallurgical plants, as well as Rezh and Buruktal mills. New metallurgical plants are under active construction at present on the basis of the lateritic nickel ores of such type (>70% of the world?s nickel reserves) in Australia, New Caledonia, Cuba, Indonesia, Samoa_New Guinea, Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, and other countries. In terms of mineral composition, and, partially, geological position, the Uralian ores are similar to the Ni_bearing lateritic ores in the Earth?s modern tropical belt, but they are not their complete analogs. The majority of the Uralian deposits mainly contain low_grade ores with the Ni content of 0,7?1,0%. The wide compositional diversity of their ore and non_ore rock_forming minerals significantly affects the technology of nickel processing. The main Ni_carriers in the ores are Mg_ silicates (serpentines, chlorites, and nontronites), with the minor contribution of iron and manganese hydroxides. The Ni content in these minerals is 1?3%, increasing in some chlorite and serpentine species to 7?12% or more. The extremely complex geological structure of the substrate of the Elov deposit (the Nothern Ural) and the Sakhara deposit (the Sothern Ural), the large variety of source rocks, the long development period of various weathering processes occurring in different geological eras and different climatic conditions caused a very complex structure of the deposits' weathering crust and a huge variety of weathering residues of the source rocks, the majority of which is nickel-containing with industrial concentrations of useful components in them. The article is dedicated to the research of role of minor intrusions presence on the Sakhara and the Elov deposits. The structural and geochemical factors which affect nickel rocks ore beneficiation in the weathering crusts are described. Theoretical data confirming conclusions about the influence of minor intrusions on the high nickel concentrations in these deposits is presented.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2019/1.1/s01.077

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