Minerals 2012, 2(4), 426-434; doi:10.3390/min2040426
Indium-Carrier Minerals in Polymetallic Sulphide Ore Deposits: A Crystal Chemical Insight into an Indium Binding State Supported by X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Data
1
Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon, Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
2
National Laboratory for Energy and Geology (LNEG), Unit of Mineral Resources and Geophysics, Apartado 7586, 2610-999 Amadora, Portugal
3
Department of Petrology and Economic Geology, Nationale Geologiske Undersøgelser for Danmark og Grønland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 København K, Denmark
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 28 August 2012 / Revised: 17 October 2012 / Accepted: 18 October 2012 / Published: 6 November 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Economic Minerals)
Abstract
Indium is a typical chalcophile element of the Earth’s crust, with a very low average content that seldom forms specific minerals, occurring mainly as dispersed in polymetallic sulphides. Indium recovery is based primarily on zinc extraction from sphalerite, the prototype of so-called tetrahedral sulphides, wherein metal ions fill half of the available tetrahedral sites within the cubic closest packing of sulphur anions, leaving interstices accessible for further in-filling. Ascertaining the tendency towards the establishment of In-In interactions through an x-ray absorption spectroscopy approach would efficiently contribute to understanding the behavior of indium in the carrier mineral. The successful results of applying such a near-edge absorption (XANES) study at In L3-edge to samples collected at the Lagoa Salgada polymetallic orebody in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) are described and the crystal chemistry of indium is re-evaluated, disclosing a potential clue for the metal binding state in polymetallic sulphides. View Full-TextKeywords:
indium; carrier minerals; polymetallic sulphide deposits; Iberian Pyrite Belt; crystal chemistry; XANES
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Figueiredo, M.-O.; Silva, T.P.; Oliveira, D.D.; Rosa, D. Indium-Carrier Minerals in Polymetallic Sulphide Ore Deposits: A Crystal Chemical Insight into an Indium Binding State Supported by X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Data. Minerals 2012, 2, 426-434.
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