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Research of the Uranium, Niobium, and Tantalum Behavior in the Granite Melt–Chloride Fluid System at 750°C and 1000 Bar

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Abstract—

The major objective of the study investigation was to find the physicochemical conditions for U, Nb, and Ta mobilization into the solution from acidic melts similar in composition to rhyolitic inclusions in quartz at the unique Streltsovka Mo–U field (Eastern Transbaikalia). The experiments were performed with model homogeneous leucogranite glass (wt %): 72.18 SiO2, 12.19 Al2O3, 1.02 FeO, 0.2 MgO, 0.33 CaO, 4.78 Na2O, 3.82 K2O, 1.44 Li2O, and 2.4 F (LiF, NaF, KF, CaF2, and MgF2); synthetic uranium dioxide; and natural columbite in solutions containing from 1 to 8 mol kg–1 chlorides (Na, K, and Li) at 750°C, 1000 bar, with an O2 (H2) fugacity set by the Ni–NiO buffer. The selected T–P parameters and solutions corresponded to the homogeneous and fluid immiscibility regions in the NaCl–KCl–H2O solutions. The Nb and Ta contents in the Cl–F solutions in equilibrium with F-bearing melts are very low. The U content is much higher and reaches about 1 × 10–4 wt % in the low-density fluid phase and n × 10–3 wt % in the dense aqueous saline phase (brine). The U content in the glass was tenths of a percent. Despite the very high chlorine content in the studied solutions, its content did not exceed 0.5 wt % in the glass. In the course of the experiments, columbite dissolved incongruently in the glass melt to form F- and U-bearing pyrochlores. According to the investigation results, the predominantly chloride fluid with the studied T–P parameters should not be considered an active medium for mobilization of U from Li–F granite melts in the formation of unique hydrothermal U (Mo–U) deposits.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank T.N. Shuriga (Fedorovsky All-Russian Research Institute of Mineral Resources) for the columbite, I.P. Petrov (Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences) for the high-purity acids kindly placed at our disposal for analytical studies, A.A. Mukhanova (Institute of Experimental Mineralogy, Russian Academy of Sciences) for help in the X-ray spectral analysis of solid phases using VEGA TS 5130MM equipment, L.T. Dmitrenko and M.V. Fokeev for successful experiments using high hydrothermal and gas pressure equipment, A.R. Kotelnikov for discussion of the work and useful advice on the immiscibility of aqueous saline systems, and the referee for his attention to the paper and valuable comments that were taken into account in the final edition.

Funding

The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project nos. 07-05-00662а, 18-05-01001а, 20-05-00307а) and the Program of the Department of Earth Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, and Fundamental Scientific Research of the State Academies of Sciences (project no. АААА-А18-118020590151-3).

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  1. Korzhinskii Institute of Experimental Mineralogy, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142432, Chernogolovka, Moscow oblast, Russia

    A. F. Redkin

  2. Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119117, Moscow, Russia

    V. I. Velichkin

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Translated by E. Maslennikova

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Redkin, A.F., Velichkin, V.I. Research of the Uranium, Niobium, and Tantalum Behavior in the Granite Melt–Chloride Fluid System at 750°C and 1000 Bar. Geol. Ore Deposits 62, 372–382 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075701520050074

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