Vol 9, No 2 (2023)

The paper describes mineralogy of apatite-aegirine-mesoperthite pegmatites, which are located in a fenite halo at the southeastern contact of the Selyankino syenite block (Ilmeny State Reserve, South Urals). Two pegmatite veins are exposed by mines. The pegmatites differ from the known veins of the Ilmeny State Reserve in a high amount of apatite and the presence of the best collection aegirine druses. The pegmatites contain albite, microcline, aegirine, hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite, calcite, titanite, chevkinite-(Ce), magnetite, ilmenite, hematite, rutile, Fe and Mn hydroxides, monazite-(Ce), rhabdophane-(Ce), rhabdophane-(La), and dalnegorskite.

The paper presents the results of study of mineralogy of copper slags from the Sysert iron-working plant, which has been operated from 1733 to 1930 and became the basis for the origination of modern town of Sysert in Sverdlovsk district. The slags are composed of a fayalite-hedenbergite aggregate with a significant amount of sulfides (troilite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite and unknown Cu-Fe phases), as well as magnetite, glass and native copper. The slags formed as a result of blast-furnace copper production of oxidized iron ores with a high Cu content, which were extracted at the Gumeshka mine near the town of Polevskoy. According to experimental data on melting of troilite, the formation temperature of slags is estimated at ~ 1200 °C.

The ore hand specimens and technological ore samples from the Porokhovskoe and Yugo-Konevskoe W greisen deposits in the South Urals are studied. The major W minerals of primary ores at both deposits include hübnerite and scheelite. The secondary and accessory minerals are pyrite, chalcopyrite and molybdenite, rare minerals include sphalerite, galena, bismuthinite, aikinite, unidentified chalcogenides and sulfosalts, magnetite, rutile, ilmenite, titanite and columbite. The veins are mainly composed of quartz and muscovite with subordinate calcite, dolomite and fluorite, rare chlorite and amphibole and accessory zircon, apatite and uraninite. No zonation in the distribution of wolframite with various Fe content is identified relative to the Yugo-Konevsky granite pluton, however, wolframite of the Northern area of the Porokhovskoe deposit is enriched in Fe compared to that of the Central area and Yugo-Konevskoe deposit. In addition to veined wolframite and scheelite, the oxidized ores also contain Fe and Mn oxyhydroxides, malachite, pyromorphite and bromargyrite. Tungsten is part of Mn and Fe oxyhydroxides, which replace wolframite and less often sulfides. The WO₃ content of pseudomorphic Mn and Fe oxyhydroxides after hübnerite reaches 18 wt. %. Single grains of stolzite and russellite are found. According to the results of phase chemical analysis of technological samples, the amount of tungstite in oxidized ores is minor, therefore all ores of both deposits were ascribed to primary type.

Ontogenic modeling of the origin of coarse garnet of the Polyakov log occurrence (South Urals) in a fine-grained schist sequence allowed the authors to conclude on its metasomatic growth with the replacement of chlorite aggregates. Muscovite, ilmenite, epidote, quartz and apatite remain preserved in the primary schist orientation of individuals. Accessory andesine, cobaltite, pentlandite, pyrrhotite and zircon crystallized together with garnet. The formation of coarse garnet crystals is probably related to fluctuations of supersaturation relative to garnet in areas of schists with abundant chlorite. This allows us to expect the presence of coarse garnet areas in adjacent parts of the schist sequence.