Name: Ramos, Keirvin Cloi D.

Week 5 Worksheet 4

Crystal Chemistry

A. Determining Elemental Content

Determine the Cu content in the given minerals. Show all pertinent solutions and steps you
used in filling up the table. Show all pertinent solutions and assumptions used (if any).

Chrysocolla Malachite Cuprite Chalcocite

Stoichiometric Cu1.75Al0.25H1.75Si2O5(OH)4
. 0.25(H O) Cu₂CO₃(OH)₂ Cu2O Cu2S
Formula 2
%Cu 33.86% 57.48% 88.82% 79.85%
How much
mineral if Cu
2.95% 1.74% 1.13% 1.25%
head grade is
1%

Table 1: Summary of %Cu present in different minerals and the amount of minerals assuming
Cu head grade of 1%

Figure 1: Computations for the %Cu present in each mineral

Table 1 and Figure 1 shows the computations and summary of the % Cu present in each
mineral given. Assuming the minerals are pure, the values we have computed are consistent with
the %Cu presented in literatures [1]-[3]. All stoichiometric formulas are obtained from
Barthelmy’s Mineral Database [1]. For the third row, we compute the amount of mineral present
in an ore, assuming the ore is composed purely of the mineral and Cu head grade is only 1%, using:

% 𝐶𝑢 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙
𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 =
%𝐶𝑢 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒

Figure 2: Computations for the amount of mineral, assuming 1% Cu head grade

 B. Mineral Composition of Copper Ore
Determine the final mineral composition of the ore given the following information.
Elemental Assay: 3% Cu, 15% Fe, 2% Pb, and 9% S. Show all pertinent solutions and
assumptions used (if any).
Minerals present (XRD analysis): Galena, Chalcopyrite, and a mixture of non-sulphide
gangue
Mineral
Cu percent S percent Fe percent Pb percent
Components
Chalcopyrite 29.1 % 40.5% 30.4% -
Pyrite - 56.8% - 43.2%
Non-sulphide
- - Unknown Unknown
gangue
Table 2: Mineral Component Assay

Figure 3: Steps and Computations in determining the final mineral composition of copper ore

Here, the Pyrite assay is determined using the remaining sulfur content (S in Pyrite) as
traces of Pb is frequently present in non-sulphide gangue, in this case, by an unknown amount.
C. Chemical Formula Prediction
Given the following chemical analysis, determine the chemical formula for an olivine
crystal. Show all pertinent solutions and assumptions used (if any).

Oxide Weight Percent

MgO 31.58
FeO 31.65
SiO2 36.77

Table 3: Mineral Chemical Assay of Olivine

Figure 4: Summary of values used in the determination of the chemical formula of Olivine

Figure 5: Steps and computations of the necessary values

References:
[1] Wikipedia, “List of Copper ores,” webmineral.com, September 5, 2012. [Online]. Available:
http://webmineral.com/. [Accessed October 25, 2020].
[2] D. Barthelmy, “Mineralogy Database,” Wikepedia.org, August 6, 2020. [Online]. Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_copper_ores. [Accessed October 25, 2020].
[1] H. Foll, “Copper ores,” tf.uni-kiel.de.html, n.d. [Online]. Available: https://www.tf.uni-
kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_a/advanced/ta_1_4.html. [Accessed October 25, 2020].