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Formation of Intermediate Compounds and Poly- and Disulfide Ions during the Pressure Oxidation of Pyrrhotite

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Abstract—Proposed intermediate phases and their thermal decomposition are discussed on the basis of the diagram of low-temperature phase relations and iron sulfide transformations. The formation of pyrite during pyrrhotite oxidation is refined using chemical reactions involving iron and sulfur ions in the thermal decomposition of greigite and iron trisulfide. The further oxidation reactions of disulfide ions of pyrite with the formation of polysufide ions are presented. A relationship between the composition of the nonequilibrium nonstoichiometric layer on the pyrrhotite surface during oxidation and intermediate phases is found. Detailed mineralogical–geochemical data on the hydrothermal sulfide aggregates of “black smokers” are given. Early pyrrhotite is found to form pyrite fringes on the surface at first, and then the pyrrhotite is almost completely substituted by pyrite and/or marcasite.

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Notes

  1. The schemes of reactions (9)–(12) are taken from original papers.

  2. AO Polyarnaya Morskaya Geologorazvedochnaya Ekspeditsiya (Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    A. G. Kitai & V. A. Bryukvin

  2. Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    I. F. Gablina & A. D. Lyutkevich

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  1. A. G. Kitai
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  2. I. F. Gablina
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  3. A. D. Lyutkevich
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  4. V. A. Bryukvin
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Correspondence to A. G. Kitai.

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Translated by E. Yablonskaya

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Kitai, A.G., Gablina, I.F., Lyutkevich, A.D. et al. Formation of Intermediate Compounds and Poly- and Disulfide Ions during the Pressure Oxidation of Pyrrhotite. Russ. Metall. 2022, 1354–1368 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0036029522110064

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