Investigating the role of hydrothermal fluids for critical mineral depositions in the Lemitar Mountains carbonatites

Graduate students (Willa Obringer and Yerko Figueroa) from the Ore Deposits and Critical Minerals research group at the NMBGMR went to Lemitar Mountains with Economic Geologist and Associate Prof. Alex Gysi (NMBGMR) and Assistant Prof. Nicole Hurtig (EES department) to investigate the distribution of carbonatites and the extent of alteration to understand how hydrothermal fluids can transport and mineralize critical elements such as the rare earth elements, niobium, titanium and zirconium. Carbonatites are igneous rocks principally composed of carbonates such as calcite and dolomite. The Lemitar Mountains carbonatite also contain the phosphate mineral apatite and the iron oxide magnetite.

This project is part of an NSF CAREER grant, and involved a four-day sampling and mapping trip to further unravel contacts, faults, and metasomatism around carbonatite dikes hosted in older Proterozoic metamorphic rocks. The next step will be to study the samples in thin sections to reveal vein relationships and different alteration stages.