Name- AVINASH UPADHYAY

class- M.SC. 3RD SEM.

roll no.- 04
sub.- ore geology
session- 2019-2021
year- 2021

TOPIC-
MAGMATIC
CONCENTRATES
 MAGMATIC CONCENTRATIONS
Introduction
Magmatic ore deposits, also known as orthomagmatic ore deposits,
are deposits within igneous rocks or along their contacts in which ore
minerals crystallised from a melt or were transported in a melt. Ore
deposits that form in and around igneous rock units as a result of
mineral precipitation from aqueous solutions or hydrothermal fluids
are hydrothermal ore deposits.

PROCESSES OF MAGMATIC ORE DEPOSITS

In the case of more massive ores, there are three primary means of
concentrating minerals of value during the formation of these deposits:
· gravitational settling
· differentiation
· immiscible separations
The process of gravitational settling causes early-formed minerals to
sink to the bottom of a magma chamber. This process is best
exemplified in magmas with ultramafic and mafic compositions, and
the best examples are chromite deposits. Chromite is a very high
temperature mineral which is also quite heavy. As a result, in some
situations it will tend to sink and form layers of massive ore in the
bottom of a magma chamber. The intrusion itself tends to be layered,
with rocks like dunite (massive olivine) forming the lowest layers,
overlain by gabbro layers, overlain by norite (plagioclase-rich rock).
These intrusions are often funnel-shaped, with the neck forming a
feeder system. Large magmatic deposits of this type are located at
Stillwater, Montana, in south Africa, and in Manitoba. Differentiation
causes a concentrating effect resulting in a concentration of selected
elements in the residual magma. These elements are the ones which
did not fit well inside of common rock forming minerals. Instead, they
become included in the final liquid present, which forms “pegmatite”.
Pegmatites are very coarse grained rocks and form at the very last
stage of crystallization. The final fluids tend to have a very high water
content, which also contributes to forming large crystals. Pegmatites
also contain accessory minerals of special interest because they trap
the rare elements in their crystal structure. Because of the rarity of
some of these elements, the accessory minerals in the pegmatite can
be be quite valuable and constitute an ore deposit. Immiscibility is a
physical separation of a portion of a magma. Immiscible melts form
irregular shaped segregations or may be injected as a dike into
previously crystallized material. Where the immiscible melt material
consists of massive chromite or sulfide ore which will probably migrate
downward with gravity, due to the abnormally high specific gravity.
The famous nickel, platinum and sulfide ores of Sudbury, Ontario are
prime examples. Another important deposit type which is classified as
magmatic “diamond-bearing kimberlite”. Kimberlites are rocks of
ultramafic composition which are generally finegrained. Diamonds
occur as accessory minerals in the kimberlite, which is frequently highly
altered. Kimberlites are thought to represent mantle rocks emplace
near the surface by forceful, possibly explosive, intrusion. The shapes
are often like a vertical pipe, and some occur as apophyes connected to
larger dike structures at depth. The world’s most famous diamond-
bearing kimberlite deposits occur in South Africa; many also occur in
central and eastern Canada.

MECHANISM OF MAGMATIC ORE FORMATION

Five processes of ore formation are distinguished in magmatic systems:

(1) concentration of ore elements as a result of very low degrees of
partial melting

(2) accumulation and concentration of ore minerals in magma

chambers during progressive crystallisation of magmas

(3) separation of two immiscible melts in a magma

(4) extreme fractionation during progressive crystallisation of a magma

(5) incorporation of a mineral that occurs at a specific depth in the

Earth.

(1) Concentration of ore elements as a result of very low degrees of

partial melting Partial melting can be a process of ore formation
because the concentrations of incompatible elements will be
higher in the melt relative to the source rock. The smaller the
percentage of partial melting, the more enriched the melt is in
incompatible elements. In the mantle, incompatible elements
are those that do not substitute into the crystal structure of any
of the major minerals of the mantle (olivine, clinopyroxene,
orthopyroxene and, depending on depth, plagioclase, spinel or
garnet) and are those elements that have significantly different
ion radii or charges than the essential components of these
minerals (Mg, Fe, Si and Al,).

(2) Accumulation and concentration of ore minerals in magma

chambers during progressive crystallisation of magmas
There are a small number of ore minerals which accumulate directly
from silicate magmas during fractional crystallisation in a magma
chamber, including chromite as a source of chromium, and magnetite
as a source of vanadium. Both of these minerals
typically occur as minor or accessory phases disseminated through
commonly occurring igneous rocks, including mafic and ultramafic
cumulates. However, given specific conditions, concentrated
accumulations of these ore minerals do occur, for instance in almost
monomineralic thin layers in cumulate piles of thick layered intrusions.
These unusual accumulations are discussed in and can be explained by
cumulate
processes in combination with specific additional physical and chemical
processes in magma chambers.
(3) Separation of two immiscible melts in magma This process is most
important for the development of concentrations of sulfide minerals in
igneous rocks. Sulfide minerals are a minor component of most rocks,
including those of the mantle. On partial melting, sulfide minerals
dissolve into the silicate melt up to the limits of sulfide solubility, which
in silicate magma is
typically a few hundred ppm. As the silicate magma migrates and
evolves the limits of saturation change, and some of the dissolved
sulfide may become immiscible and separate out as droplets. These
droplets may segregate to form a separate sulfide melt phase that will
crystallise on cooling. Chalcophile and siderophile elements,
particularly Cu, Ni, Pt and related elements, are markedly more
compatible in solution in sulphide melt than in silicate melt, and will
thus be strongly concentrated in an immiscible sulfide melt. Ore may
be also formed more rarely in other immiscible melt–melt pairs.
Immiscible separation of iron oxide-rich melt from aluminous felsic and
anorthositic silicate magmas has been suggested as the mechanism for
the formation of some magnetite–ilmenite Fe–Ti ores in intrusions in
some cases known as nelsonites which are mined at Tellnes in
Norway as a source of titanium minerals (e.g. Charlier et al., 2006), and
immiscible separation of phosphorous-rich melts from carbonatite
magmas to form an apatite-rich igneous rock called phoscorite at
zoned alkaline intrusions such as in the Kola alkaline province.

(4) Extreme fractionation during progressive crystallisation of magma

As a melt progressively crystallises, the concentration of incompatible
elements which are not partitioned into crystallising minerals
increases. Enrichment of incompatible trace elements by orders of
magnitude is possible in the last remaining few per cent or less of melt.
These elements may be major components of rare minerals that
crystallise from the last remaining melt
This is the process proposed for the genesis of many granitic
pegmatites. Pegmatites are ores for many so-called rare metals, for
instance, Li, Be, Nb, Ta,Sn and U, all of which are incompatible in
common rock-forming minerals but are essential components of one or
more rare minerals that can crystallise from a melt, and also for gem
minerals which include an incompatible element in their structure,
such as emerald (with Be) and topaz (with F).

(5) Incorporation of a mineral that occurs at a specific depth in the

Earth This is the case of diamond deposits in kimberlite and lamproite
which form from magmas that are generated below the depth of the
graphite–diamond transition in the mantle.Diamond deposits are a
special case of ore deposit because the critical factor in their formation
is not concentration of diamonds but is rather carriage of relatively low
concentrations from depth of greater than about 140 km in the mantle,
where diamond
is a stable mineral, to the surface.

Concentration of elements in different ore

deposits
CLASSIFICATION OF ORE MINERAL DEPOSITS
EARLY MAGMATIC DEPOSITS
▪ Ore minerals crystallizes earlier than that of rock
silicates
▪ Also known as orthotectic & orthomagnetic
▪ Forms simultaneously with the host rocks
▪ Result of :
o Simple crystallization without concentration
o Segregation of early formed crystals
o Injection of material concentrated elsewhere
by differentiation
LATE MAGMATIC DEPOSITS
▪ Ore minerals crystallizes later than that of
rock silicates
▪ Formed towards the close of magmatic period
▪ Always associated with mafic igneous rocks
▪ Result of:
o Variation of crystallization differentiation
o Gravitative accumulation of heavy residual
liquids
o Liquid separation of sulphide deposits

EARLY MAGMATIC DEPOSITS

Dissimination
Crystallization without concentrating the whole rock
mass, deposits occurs as phenocrysts
Large body; dyke, pipe shaped
Diamond pipes of south Africa
Corundum in nepheline-syenite
Disseminated deposits of diamond pipe of
Panna, MP.
Segregation
Early formed heavy crystals sinks to the lower part of
the chamber and segregate in bodies of sufficient size
Deposits are lenticular, pod shaped lenses, stringers ,
bunches and are smaller in size.
Layered anorthosite segregated deposits in sittampundi
complex, Salem, Tamil nadu
Partly layered anorthosite in saltora in Bankura, west
Bengal.

Late magmatic deposits

Residual liquid segregation:
In certain mafic magmas residual liquid gets enriched in Fe,Ti and
volatiles and settle at the bottom of the magma chamber or crystallize in
the interstices of the early formed crystal.

Residual liquid injection:

The iron-rich residual liquid accumulated in the above manner may be
subjected to movement because of:
a. Gentle tilting (causing lateral movement).
b. Pressure and be squirted out to places of lesser pressure.
In both cases it may be injected into adjacent rocks and even in the
earlier consolidated parent silicate mass.
Examples: Titanomagnetite Deposits, Adirondack Region, New York;
Allard Lake Deposits; Magnetite Deposits of Kiruna, Sweden.
Immiscible liquid segration:
Sometimes magma of an ore-and-silicate composition breaks down
during cooling into two immiscible fractions which accumulate to form
liquid segregation deposits.
e.g. Sulphide minerals usually associated with platinum, gold, silver
copper etc.

Immiscible liquid injection:

The immiscible liquid accumulations before consolidation when
subjected to disturbances, get injected into the surrounding rocks,
forming immiscible liquid injection.
eg. Nickeliferous Sulphide Deposit of Sudbury (U.S.A.).