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https://hdl.handle.net/2440/123577
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Type: | Journal article |
Title: | REE-, Sr-, Ca-aluminum-phosphate-sulfate minerals of the alunite supergroup and their role as hosts for radionuclides |
Author: | Owen, N.D. Cook, N.J. Rollog, M. Ehrig, K.J. Schmandt, D.S. Ram, R. Brugger, J. Ciobanu, C.L. Wade, B. Guagliardo, P. |
Citation: | American Mineralogist: an international journal of earth and planetary materials, 2019; 104(12):1806-1819 |
Publisher: | Mineralogical Society of America |
Issue Date: | 2019 |
ISSN: | 0003-004X 1945-3027 |
Statement of Responsibility: | Nicholas D. Owen, Nigel J. Cook, Mark Rollog, Kathy J. Ehrig, Danielle S. Schmandt, Rahul Ram, Joël Brugger, Cristiana L. Ciobanu, Benjamin Wade and Paul Guagliardo |
Abstract: | Aluminum-phosphate-sulfate (APS) minerals of the alunite supergroup are minor components of uranium-bearing copper ores from the Olympic Dam deposit, South Australia. They typically represent a family of paragenetically late replacement phases after pre-existing REE-bearing phosphates (fluorapatite, monazite, and xenotime). Characterization with respect to textures and composition allows two groups to be distinguished: Ca-Sr-dominant APS minerals that fall within the woodhouseite and svanbergite compositional fields; and a second REE- and phosphate-dominant group closer to florencite in composition. All phases nevertheless display extensive solid solution among end-members in the broader APS clan and show extensive compositional zoning at the grain-scale. Samples representative of the deposit (flotation concentrate and tailings), as well as those that have been chemically altered during the processing cycle (acid leached concentrate), were studied for comparison. NanoSIMS isotope mapping provides evidence that the APS minerals preferentially scavenge and incorporate daughter radionuclides of the ²³⁸U decay chain, notably ²²⁶Ra and ²¹⁰Pb, both over geological time within the deposit and during ore processing. These data highlight the role played by minor phases as hosts for geologically mobile deleterious components in ores as well as during mineral processing. Moreover, Sr-Ca-dominant APS minerals exhibit preferential sorption of Pb from fluid sources, in the form of both common Pb and ²¹⁰Pb, for the first time revealing potential pathways for ²¹⁰Pb elimination and reduction from ore processing streams. |
Keywords: | Alunite supergroup; aluminum-phosphate-sulfates; Olympic Dam; ²³⁸U decay series radionuclides; mineral processing |
Rights: | Copyright Status Unknown |
DOI: | 10.2138/am-2019-7116 |
Grant ID: | ARC |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.2138/am-2019-7116 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest 4 Chemical Engineering publications |
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