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Trace element geochemistry by laser ablation ICP-MS of micas associated with Ta mineralization in the Tanco pegmatite, Manitoba, Canada

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Abstract

In the Tanco pegmatite, one of the world’s major Ta deposits, tantalum mineralization shows a complexity that reflects the complex petrogenesis of its host pegmatite. Micas are common in most of the pegmatite units and are intimately associated with the successive stages of Ta mineralization, from the wall zone to the central zones where micaceous replacement is pervasive. Different generations of micas, both primary and secondary, associated with Ta oxides, were selected for electron microprobe and laser ablation ICP-MS investigation. Their chemical trends are used to constrain the magmatic versus hydrothermal processes that played a role in their crystallization and their associated Ta mineralization. Micas range from dioctahedral muscovite to trioctahedral lepidolite through Al↔Li substitution. Unexpectedly, the most evolved compositions (low K/Rb ratios and high Li contents) occur in the wall zone; they are interpreted to reflect nonequilibrium crystallization from an undercooled melt, with or without boundary layer effects. In the central zones, the fine-grained mica–quartz assemblage hosts some coarser-grained Li-muscovite, which has the highest Ta contents (up to 400 ppm). These Li–F–a-rich micas are interpreted to originate from a magmatic metasomatic event, which was also at the origin of the MQM-style Ta mineralization at Tanco. However, the Li–Ta-poor, muscovite end-member compositions of fine-grained alteration micas suggest crystallization from an aqueous fluid, during a metasomatic (hydrothermal) event involving late pegmatitic fluids. The low Ta concentrations (around 50 ppm) of this fine-grained muscovite suggest that this fluid transported at least small amounts of Ta.

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Acknowledgments

Electron microprobe analyses were performed using the facilities of the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France, and of the Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Germany. We are particularly indebted to Philippe de Parseval (Toulouse) and Jerzy Lodziak (Hannover) for their help during microprobe data acquisition. LA-ICP-MS analyses were performed at the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, with the collaboration of Rémi Freydier and Frédéric Candaudap. This research was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant to R.L. Linnen. Access to the Tanco pegmatite, sampling of drill core and underground workings, and access to assay information by the Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada is gratefully appreciated, particularly the assistance provided by Bill Ferguson, Peter Vanstone, Cary Galeschuk, Cliff Duke and Shane Moran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Stilleweg 2, 30665, Hannover, Germany

    Marieke Van Lichtervelde

  2. CNRS-UMR5562. Dynamique Terrestre et Planétaire, Observatoire Midi Pyrénées, Université Paul Sabatier, 14 av. E. Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Michel Grégoire

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Robert L. Linnen

  4. CNRS-UMR5563. Laboratoire des Mécanismes de Transfert en Géologie, Observatoire Midi Pyrénées, Université Paul Sabatier, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Didier Béziat & Stefano Salvi

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  1. Marieke Van Lichtervelde
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  2. Michel Grégoire
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Correspondence to Michel Grégoire.

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Communicated by J. Hoefs.

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Van Lichtervelde, M., Grégoire, M., Linnen, R.L. et al. Trace element geochemistry by laser ablation ICP-MS of micas associated with Ta mineralization in the Tanco pegmatite, Manitoba, Canada. Contrib Mineral Petrol 155, 791–806 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-007-0271-z

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