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Crystallization of chromite from nickel-iron sulphide melts

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Abstract

An experiment, in which an iron-nickel-copper sulphide melt was heated with synthetic chromite and then cooled, showed that substantial quantities of chromite had dissolved in the melt and had then recrystallized as euhedral crystals rimmed with magnetite. This experiment suggests that the unusual chromite (low in Mg and Al) which is associated with the sulphide phase in Western Australian nickel ores may have formed in a similar way.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Mineralogy, CSIRO, 6014, Wembley, Western Australia

    W. E. Ewers, J. Graham & D. R. Hudson

  2. Environmental Project Unit, Queensland Inst. of Technology, 4000, North Quay, Queensland

    J. M. Rolls

Authors
  1. W. E. Ewers
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  2. J. Graham
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  3. D. R. Hudson
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  4. J. M. Rolls
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Additional information

J.M.R. carried out the experimental part of this investigation as a post-graduate student at Flinders University, South Australia, working under a CSIRO extramural grant.

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Ewers, W.E., Graham, J., Hudson, D.R. et al. Crystallization of chromite from nickel-iron sulphide melts. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 54, 61–64 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00370872

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00370872

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