The Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Green Giant Vanadium-graphite Deposit, S.W. Madagascar

• Main Author: Cecco, Veronica Di
• Other Authors: Spooner, Edward, Geology
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Subjects: Vanadium; Geology; Mineralogy; Geochemistry; Madagascar; 0372; 0411; 0996; karelia*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/42814

The purpose of this project was to determine the vanadium bearing ore minerals present at the Green Giant vanadium-graphite deposit in the S.W. of Madagascar owned by Toronto based Energizer Resources Inc. The rocks are mainly quartzofeldspathic gneiss, with alternating bands of hornblende biotite gneiss, marble, granitoid, and amphibolite. Using X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe analysis, and Raman spectroscopy, the vanadium bearing minerals were identified as vanadium bearing rutile, schreyerite, berdesinskiite, karelianite, a member of the karelianite-eskolaite solid solution, V-bearing phlogopite, V-bearing pyrrhotite, V-bearing pyrite, goldmanite, dravite, uvite, actinolite, and unidentified V-sulphide 1, V-sulphide 2, and V-silicate 1. The mineral assemblage present at Green Giant deposit is quite similar to that at Lake Baikal, Russia. Vanadium-bearing phlogopite is primary vanadium host in the deposit, although V-bearing oxides contribute substantially to the total V concentration, even where present in very trace amounts. MAST