Geology and Mineral Chemistry of Uranium- and Thorium-bearing Minerals in Rare-Metal (NYF) Pegmatites of Um Solimate, South Eastern Desert, Egypt
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The authors are grateful to express their deepest gratitude and acknowledgments to Prof. Elena Gennadievna Panova, Prof. of Geochemistry, doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences, Saint Petersburg University for her assistance with the electron microprobe at the Geomodel Research Center, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia. We are grateful to Prof. Mabrouk Sami and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive suggestions and comments, and Dr. Susan Turner, Brisbane, who assisted with English language and to the Editor-in-Chief Zengqian Hou, and Hongcai Fei for their help in improving the quality of this manuscript.

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    Abstract:

    The garnet muscovite granitic pegmatite of Um Solimate, in southern Egypt, represents a promising asset for strategic and economic metals, especially Bi–Ni–Ag–Nb–Ta as well as U and Th. The ore bodies occur as large masses, pockets and/or veins of very coarse-grained pegmatites, which consist mainly of K-feldspar, quartz and albite with subordinate muscovite, garnet, and biotite. Radiometric data revealed that eU- and eTh-contents of the pegmatites reach up to 39 ppm and 82 ppm, respectively. The studied pegmatites are enriched in primary U and Th minerals (uraninite, coffinite, thorianite and uranothorite) as well as Hf-rich zircon and monazite, which give rise to anomalous radioactive zones. Niobium-tantalium-bearing minerals (i.e. ferrocolumbite, microlite and uranopyrochlore), xenotime, barite, galena, fluorite, and apatite are ubiquitous, and, consequently, the studied pegmatites belong tothe Niobium–Yttrium–Fluorine-type (NYF) family. The noble metal mineralization includes argentite (Ag2S), native Ni and Bi as well as bismite and bismoclite. In addition, beryl and tourmaline are observed in pegmatites near the contact with metasediments and ultramafic bodies. The observed compositional variations of Ta/(Ta+Nb) and Mn/(Mn+Fe) ratios in columbite (0.08–0.45 and 0.11–0.57, respectively) and Hf contents in zircon (3.54–6.46 wt%) may reflectan extreme degree of magmatic fractionation leading to formation of the pegmatite orebody.

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Mohamed A. ALI, Ahmed E. ABDEL GAWAD, Mohamed M. GHONEIM.2021. Geology and Mineral Chemistry of Uranium- and Thorium-bearing Minerals in Rare-Metal (NYF) Pegmatites of Um Solimate, South Eastern Desert, Egypt[J]. Acta Geologica Sinica(),95(5):1568-1582

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History
  • Received:June 30,2020
  • Revised:December 26,2020
  • Adopted:
  • Online: October 27,2021
  • Published: