Influencia de los minerales accesorios en las tierras raras de pizarras Ordovícicas (Fm. Luarca, Sinclinal de Truchas, León, España)
- Alba Lozano 1
- Luis González-Menéndez 2
- Fernando Gómez Fernández 1
- Ignacio González-Álvarez 3
- Pablo Caldevilla 1
- Porfirio García de Arriba 1
- 1 Área de Prospección en Investigación Minera, ESTIM, Universidad de León, León
- 2 Investigación, Universidad de Barcelona, Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes, 585, 08007, Barcelona, España. alozl@unileon.es 3 CN-IGME-CSIC, Unidad de León. León
- 3 CSIRO, Mineral Resources, Discovery Program, Kensington, Australia
ISSN: 0213-683X
Year of publication: 2023
Issue: 74
Pages: 39-42
Type: Article
More publications in: Geogaceta
Abstract
This work investigates the distribution of rare earth elements (REE), critical elements of economic interest, in accessory minerals of Ordovician slates of the Truchas Syncline (Luarca Fm., Central-Iberian Zone, León). The mineralogy of these shales consists of quartz, muscovite and chlorite (± albite) and various accessory minerals: monazite (partly syn-metamorphic), xenotime, allanite, zircon, apatite, oxides (rutile and magnetite) and sulfides (pyrite-pyrrhotine, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite and pentlandite). Multiple linear regressions were performed between the average REE composition of the studied slates and different accessory minerals from the literature. The results show that the combination of monazite and xenotime, with modal abundances of 0.046% and 0.013%, respectively, satisfactorily explains the REE patterns of the whole rock, in agreement with the scanning electron microscope observations. These results improve the understanding of the mineralogical control of REE geochemistry in these Ordovician slates. In addition, the reporting of sin-metamorphic monazite is of interest due to its geochronology potential.