GY 412 ORE MICROSCOPY

PART II

ORE MINERAL TEXTURES

Ore microscopy deals not only with microscopic identification of ore minerals but
also the interpretation of ore mineral textures, i.e. the geometrical interrelationships
of mineral grains in ore rocks or mineral assemblages.

 Ore textures may provide useful information regarding the processes involved
in primary ore deposition, and post-depositional history of an ore.

 Textural information is also important in mineral processing, i.e. milling and

beneficiation of ores.

Some ore minerals are very refractory and tend to retain primary composition and
textural features (e.g. oxides, arsenides, disulfides, sphalerite, molybdenite). Others
re-equilibrate rather rapidly upon cooling (e.g. pyrrhotite, Cu-Fe sulfides, sulfosalts,
native metals). During mineral re-equilibration primary ore textures may be lost and
replaced by secondary textures.

In this section we are going to examine/review only a few examples of common ore
textures and the principles involved in textural interpretation.

I. Primary Textures of Magmatic Origin

Early-formed crystals in silicate melts/magmas commonly show well-developed

crystal faces/outlines because there is little obstruction to the growth of the faces.
Such crystals occur in euhderal or subhedral crystals, e.g. magnetite, chromite,
platinum group minerals (PGM).

Rapid cooling of basaltic magmas often gives rise to development of skeletal crystals
during solidification of the magmas.

Enclosure of early-formed minerals within subsequently crystallizing phases results in

Poikilitic texture in oxides or silicates, whereas oxide minerals occur as inclusions in
silicates or silicates as inclusions in oxides.

II. Open-space Filling Textures

Deposition of minerals in open spaces (voids, cavities, fractures) by ore fluids often
result in special mineral textures, commonly known as open-space filling textures.
Open-space deposition results in the formation of euhedral to subhedral crystals that
may grow from the walls of the voids towards the center, thus leading to comb
textures, concentric growth zonation, colloform banding, radial growth. These
textures are a product of unobstructed growth of minerals into fluid-filled voids or
cavities and other open spaces.

Banding seen in zoned minerals is a result of changes in physico-chemical conditions

of the ore-fluids with time.

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Deposition from hydrothermal ore fluids in open fissures or fractures can result in
comb structures and symmetrically or rhythmically crustified veins.
Cu-Pb-Zn sulfide vein deposits and carbonate hosted Pb-Zn sulfide ores often exhibit
open-space deposition textures.

III. Replacement Textures

These are textures resulting from the replacement of one mineral by another mineral.
Initial replacement may take place along fractures, cleavage and grain boundaries.

Replacement consumes some of the original phase and tends to produce a rounding
off of irregular surfaces, whereas infilling leaves the original fractured surface intact.

Replacement produces unmatching faces on either side of a fracture, whereas in

infilling the surfaces still match.

Replacement may also be manifested by the presence of islands/relics of replaced

phases in the replacing phase with same optical continuity or orientation.

Replacement structures include:

 Atoll structure, which results from selective replacement of intergrown or
compositionally zoned crystals.
 Boxwork textures, consisting cellular crisscross laths of goethite, hematite +
pyrite in gossans.

IV. Secondary Textures Resulting from Cooling

Textural effects resulting from cooling include:

 Recrystallization – accompanying re-equilibration of ores on cooling from
high to low temperature, in order to minimize surface areas of grains and
reduce interfacial tension through the development of roughly equant grains
intercifial angles close to 120o.

 Exsolution – in exsolution, one phase is expelled from another; often in a

characteristic pattern. See Table 7-1, Craig & Vaughan (1981), for ore
minerals showing exsolution textures. e.g. Po-Pn, where pyrrhotite (Po) is the
host phase and pentlandite (Pn) exsolved phase; Pn occurs as lamellae or
flames in Po and along grain boundaries.

Other examples of ore minerals showing exsolution textures include:

Hematite- ilmenite, chalcopyrite-cubanite, magnetite-ilmenite, chalcopyrite-bornite,
sphalerite-pyrrhotite, etc.

Terms that are often used to describe exsolution textures include lamellae, lenslike,
blebs, rods, stars etc.

Minerals showing extensive solid solution (SS) at high temperature have low or
limited SS at low temperature, and hence the dissolved or minor phase is expelled
from the host upon cooling to low temperature.

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 (After Craig & Vaughan, 1981)

V. Secondary textures from deformation

Several ores show textural evidence of deformation, ranging from pressure induced
twinning to complete brecciation or cataclasis.

Deformation twinning occurs as uniformly thick lamellae, commonly associated with

bending, cataclasis and incipient recrystallization.

Deformation is often indicated by the curvature or offset of normally linear or planar

features such as crystal faces, cleavages, fractures, twins, exsolution lamellae and
primary mineral layering. The curvature of triangular cleavage pits in galena is a good
example of deformation of structural features in ore minerals.

The curvature of exsolution laths, rows of blebs or inclusions, flames or rods is often
indicative of deformation.

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Folding or offset of mineral banding or layering is a common feature in deformed
ores. In sulfide assemblages, some ore minerals show ductile flow e.g. Cpy, gn, po,
while others show brittle behaviour (i.e brecciation) e.g. py, aspy, mg, during
deformation.

Brecciation, cataclasis and durchbewegung textures are among deformation textures

encountered in ore, apart from folding.

Durchbewegung texture – penetrative deformation involving both ore and gangue

minerals to form intensely crushed or smeared out irregular mass.

VI. Secondary textures from annealing

Annealing textures result from slow cooling after ore deposition or slow heating
during metamorphism. Annealing involves recrystallization to minimize surface
tension or interfacial tension, by formation of more or less equant grains with grain
contacts around 120o. In the case of monomineralic assemblage, annealing results in
the formation of triple junctions between the grains. Annealing commonly results in
the resorption of smaller grains at the expense of large grains.

Interfacial angles of some equilibrated pairs of common sulfide minerals include

galena-sphalerite (103-134o), cpy-sph (106-108o), po-sph (107-108o).

VII. Other special textures

Framboidal texture – resulting from primary deposition of aggregates of spherical

particles, eg. pyrite, uraninite.

Oolitic texture – resulting from deposition of spherical or rounded particles with

concentric shells or layers in the interior. Commonly found in carbonate rocks, iron
and manganese ores.

Martitization – special secondary texture resulting from replacement of magnetite by

hematite along cleavage directions (111). It is a product of oxidation. (see Fig. 7-23,
Craig & Vaughan).

In summary, ore textural studies provide useful information regarding the origin and
post-depositional history of an ore.

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 ORE MINERAL PARAGENESIS

The order of formation (in time and space) of associated minerals is called mineral
paragenesis. Ore mineral paragenesis is essentially a sequential formation or
deposition of minerals from ore fluids.

Paragenetic studies are not only important for extraction and exploitation of ores but
also important in revealing the geological history of the ore and may be of value in
exploration and correlation of various parts of the orebodies.

Paragenetic determination requires detailed studies of polished sections to identify ore

phases and their diagnostic features. The main objective is to decipher or determine
the sequence of mineral formation in a given orebody or mineral assemblage.

Doubly polished thin sections provide more useful information than standard polished
sections for paragenetic studies. They permit study of gangue and ore minerals in the
same sample and of internal structures in some ore minerals e.g. sphalerite, not readily
seen in standard thin sections or polished sections.

Criteria for Determining/Deciphering Mineral Paragenesis

a) Crystal shape and grain boundary relationships

The shapes of individual crystals and the nature of contacts between adjacent mineral
grains may provide useful information on the mineral paragenesis.
 For example, euhedral crystals commonly grow early during cooling and
crystallization of magmas or during open-space deposition of ores.
 Grains with primary convex faces are considered to have formed earlier than
those with concave faces, except in replacement ores.

b) Colloform banding and growth zoning

Colloform banding, i.e. a concentric botryoidal overgrowth of fine radiating crystals,

is a texture commonly encountered in open-space filling ores. The colloform
structures grow from a substrate outward, with sequential growth periods indicated by
overlying bands. Individual bands can be easily distinguished by the inter-layers of
other minerals, by change in the size, shape, or orientation of crystals,or by colour
zoning. Hydrothermal vein minerals may show distinct colour bands or zonation.

Growth zoning is also encountered in single or individual crystals, for example in

chromite, magnetite and other ore minerals.

Cathodoluminescence (using electron beam bombardment) and fluorescence (using UV light

irradiation) techniques may be used in to enhance and reveal fine growth zonation that
otherwise cannot visible under transmitted or reflected light microscopy.

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c) Cross-cutting relationship

The veinlet or other feature that cross-cut another is younger than that which it cuts
across, except where the older phase has been replaced, or where both features result
from metamorphic remobilization.

d) Replacement

The mineral being replaced is older or pre-dates the one replacing it. The replacement
usually proceeds from inward from crystal boundaries or along fractures.
During advanced replacement the replacing phase possesses convex boundaries;
whereas the replaced phase possesses concave boundaries and may remain as relics
or islands within the matrix of the later phase.

e) Twinning

 Growth twinning in grains of specific mineral may help in distinguishing

different generations of that mineral.
 Inversion twinning if could be identified is indicative of the initial formation
of a high temperature phase followed by re-equilibration on cooling.
 Deformation twinning can serve as an indicator of deformation during ore
forming episodes. May occur only in early-formed minerals/crystals or after
ore deposition – if it occurs in the ore minerals of all stages.

f) Exsolution

Exsolution is common in some ores and may be useful in deciphering paragenetic

history. For example, exsolution lamellae or flames of pentlandite in pyrrhotite
indicate that pentlandite is a phase formed later than the pyrrhotite.

During formation of Fe-Cu-Ni sulfide ores in ultramafic rocks, nickel (Ni) remain
incorporated within (Fe, Ni)1-xS monosulfide solid solution from 1000-900o C until
the ores cool below 400o C. Then much of Ni exsolves as oriented lamellae of
pentlandite in pyrrhotite.

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ORE MINERAL TEXTURES - PHOTOMICROGRAPHS

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 (From Craig & Vaughan, 1981)

/JRI /GY 412

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