Mass balance analysis of mineralization in talc deposits from different origin

Abstract

Typically, the talc is subdivided into two types of deposit: 1) dolomite type deposits, 2) ultramafic type deposits. In South Korea, the first type deposits are mainly founded in near Chungju area and the other type deposits are mainly founded in Yesan area. In the processes of forming talc deposits from original rock, the gain and loss of element is occurred. In this study, the isocon mass-balance method is applied to determine the differences of elemental behavior between talc orebodies of different origin and to investigate the usefulness of mass-balance method for tracing the origin of host rock. For researching the behavior of major and trace element in the talc deposit and comparing the elemental behavior between each type of talc deposits, four talc deposits (Gapyeong and Yoogoo deposit – serpentinite type, Dongyang and Poongjeon deposit – dolomite type) are studied in this paper. The isocon diagram and calculated concentration changes of each talc deposits indicate that the elemental behavior is mainly affected by mineral assemblages of each alteration stage and tremolite, phlogopite, diopside, and chlorite are generally composed of mineral assemblage as accessory minerals. In case of comparing two different type deposits derived from end-member data, the total mass change and behavior of SiO2, CaO, and Sr show the distinct differences during overall alteration stage and Co and Ni are considered as immobile element in almost alteration stage.