Material Constitution of Apatite-Nepheline Ore from the Khibiny Massif and Prediction of Its Relationship to Ore Dressability
V. V. Marchevskaya1, A. A. Kompanchenko2, A. A. Telezhkin3
1Mining Institute, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Apatity, Russia
2Geological Institute, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Apatity, Russia
3Kirovsk Branch of JSC Apatit, Kirovsk, Russia
Keywords: Phosphate minerals, apatite-nepheline ore, hypergenically altered ore, fluorapatite, nepheline, secondary minerals, mineralogical and ore processing studies, ore dressability
Abstract
As the scope of apatite-nepheline ore extraction expands, the diversity and quantity of complex ores, particularly those from fracture zones, are steadily increasing, which adversely affects ore processing. Research into apatite-nepheline ore revealed differences in the mineral constitution of deposits located in two distinct sections of the main ring-shaped foidolite structure. These differences stem from varying degrees of hydrothermal alteration, specifically in the ore from the Apatity Circus and Rasvumchorr Plateau deposits compared to the Kukisvumchorr and Yukspor deposits, and also from different amounts of finely dispersed secondary minerals, such as zeolites, clay minerals, and hydromicas. Petrographic and electron-microscopic analyses demonstrate that fluorapatite within zones of intense nepheline zeolitization has undergone partial dissolution, recrystallization, and redeposition, resulting in the formation of fine- to very fine-grained aggregates and complex intergrowths with zeolites. Based on these mineralogical and processing characteristics, the apatite-nepheline ore from the Apatity Circus and Rasvumchorr Plateau deposits is predicted to be more rebellious.
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