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Fe–Ni-bearing serpentines from the saprolite horizon of Caribbean Ni-laterite deposits: new insights from thermodynamic calculations

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Abstract

Fe–Ni-bearing serpentine from the saprolite horizon is the main Ni ores in hydrous silicate-type Ni laterites and formed by chemical weathering of partially serpentinized ultramafic rocks under tropical conditions. During lateritization, Mg, Si, and Ni are leached from the surface and transported downwards. Fe2+ is oxidized to Fe3+ and fixed as insoluble Fe-oxyhydroxides (mostly goethite) that incorporate Ni. This Ni is later leached from goethite and incorporated in secondary serpentine and garnierite. As a result, a serpentine-dominated saprolite horizon forms over the ultramafic protolith, overlapped by a Fe-oxyhydroxide-dominated limonite horizon. The serpentine from the protolith (serpentine I) is of hydrothermal origin and yields similar Ni (0.10–0.62 wt.% NiO) and lower Fe (mostly 1.37–5.81 wt.% FeO) concentrations than the primary olivine. In contrast, Fe–Ni-bearing serpentine from the saprolite (serpentine II) shows significantly higher and variable Fe and Ni contents, typically ranging from 2.23 to 15.59 wt.% Fe2O3 and from 1.30 to 7.67 wt.% NiO, suggesting that serpentine get enriched in Fe and Ni under supergene conditions. This study presents detailed mineralogical, textural, and chemical data on this serpentine II, as well as new insights by thermodynamic calculations assuming ideal solution between Fe-, Ni- and Mg-pure serpentines. The aim is to assess if at atmospheric pressure and temperature Fe–Ni-bearing serpentine can be formed by precipitation. Results indicate that the formation of serpentine II under atmospheric pressure and temperature is thermodynamically supported, and pH, Eh, and the equilibrium constant of the reaction are the parameters that affect the results more significantly.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been financially supported by FEDER Funds, the Spanish projects CGL2009-10924 and CGL2012-36263, and Catalan project 2014-SGR-1661 and a PhD grant to Cristina Villanova-de-Benavent sponsored by the Ministerio de Educación (Spain). The help and hospitality extended by the staff at Falcondo Xstrata mine are also gratefully acknowledged. The authors also thank Dr. Thomas Aiglsperger for the comments on the paper prior to submission and Prof. J.P. Golightly, Editor-in-Chief Georges Beaudoin, Associate Editor Beate Orberger and two anonymous reviewers for their accurate revisions and constructive suggestions that highly improved the quality of the manuscript.

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  1. Departament de Mineralogia, Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada, Facultat de Geologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), C/ Martí i Franquès, s/n -08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Cristina Villanova-de-Benavent, Cristina Domènech, Esperança Tauler, Salvador Galí & Joaquín A. Proenza

  2. Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile

    Santiago Tassara

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  1. Cristina Villanova-de-Benavent
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  2. Cristina Domènech
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  3. Esperança Tauler
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  4. Salvador Galí
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  5. Santiago Tassara
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  6. Joaquín A. Proenza
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Correspondence to Cristina Villanova-de-Benavent.

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Villanova-de-Benavent, C., Domènech, C., Tauler, E. et al. Fe–Ni-bearing serpentines from the saprolite horizon of Caribbean Ni-laterite deposits: new insights from thermodynamic calculations. Miner Deposita 52, 979–992 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-016-0683-7

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