Heterogenite

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Heterogenite
Heterogenite-Chrysocolla-131666.jpg
General
Category Mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)		CoO(OH)
IMA symbol Htg [1]
Strunz classification 04.FE.20
Dana classification06.01.04.02
Crystal system Trigonal or Hexagonal
Identification
ColorBlack, reddish, blackish-brown
Cleavage {0001}
Mohs scale hardness4–5
Density 4.13 – 4.47, Average = 4.3
Common impuritiesMn, Ni, Zn, Cu, Fe

Heterogenite is a natural tri-valent cobalt oxyhydroxide mineral. [2] It is the most abundant oxidised cobalt mineral in the Katanga Copperbelt, a region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [3] About 70% of known heterogenite is located in the DRC. [4]

Contents

The name heterogenite came from Greek, "of another kind", as the mineral differs in composition from similar minerals. [5] Its formation is likely related to the weathering of carrollite (CuCo2S4). [6] In nature it is found coexisting with other minerals like smaltite, pharmacosiderite, calcite, linnaeite, sphaerocobaltite, malachite and cuprite. [2]

Composition

Heterogenite has an average grade of 64.1% cobalt, one of the highest rates among cobalt-containing minerals. [7]

Similar to most oxyhydroxides, heterogenite acts as a chemical 'sponge', trapping many trace elements such as Ni, Zn, V, As, Mo, and Pb. Amongst these trace elements is also uranium, whose concentration in the mineral can be as high as a few percent. [8]

Heterogenite contains cobalt in both Co2+ and Co3+ oxidation states. [6]

Occurrence

Heterogenite is formed by the oxidation of cobalt-sulfides and accumulated as residual deposits during a Pliocene weathering event. [6] Many studies highlight that heterogenite was formed in oxidizing conditions under the surface. [9] In several locations, primary sulfides have been oxidised due to surface weathering down to about 100 meters below the surface, which resulted in significant cobalt enrichment and transformation to oxidic ore minerals, such as heterogenite. [10]

Treatment

The preferred concentration technique for treating heterogenite is surface sulfidation followed by flotation. Sulfidation typically requires sodium sulfide (Na2S), ammonium sulfide (NH4)2S), or sodium sulfydrate (NaSH) in order to make heterogenite suitable for collection with sulfydryl-type collectors [9]

Related Research Articles

Bioleaching is the extraction or liberation of metals from their ores through the use of living organisms. Bioleaching is one of several applications within biohydrometallurgy and several methods are used to treat ores or concentrates containing copper, zinc, lead, arsenic, antimony, nickel, molybdenum, gold, silver, and cobalt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ore</span> Rock with valuable metals, minerals and elements

Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals concentrated above background levels, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit. The grade of ore refers to the concentration of the desired material it contains. The value of the metals or minerals a rock contains must be weighed against the cost of extraction to determine whether it is of sufficiently high grade to be worth mining and is therefore considered an ore. A complex ore is one containing more than one valuable mineral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limonite</span> Hydrated iron oxide mineral

Limonite is an iron ore consisting of a mixture of hydrated iron(III) oxide-hydroxides in varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO(OH)·nH2O, although this is not entirely accurate as the ratio of oxide to hydroxide can vary quite widely. Limonite is one of the three principal iron ores, the others being hematite and magnetite, and has been mined for the production of iron since at least 2500 BP.

<i>Union Minière du Haut-Katanga</i> Belgian mining company

The Union Minière du Haut-Katanga was a Belgian mining company which controlled and operated the mining industry in the copperbelt region in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1906 and 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copperbelt</span> Mining region in Central Africa

The Copperbelt is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron(III) oxide-hydroxide</span> Hydrous ferric oxide (HFO)

Iron(III) oxide-hydroxide or ferric oxyhydroxide is the chemical compound of iron, oxygen, and hydrogen with formula FeO(OH).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shinkolobwe</span> Former mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Shinkolobwe, or Kasolo, or Chinkolobew, or Shainkolobwe, was a radium and uranium mine in the Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), located 20 km (12.4 mi) west of Likasi, 20 km (12.4 mi) south of Kambove, and about 145 km (90.1 mi) northwest of Lubumbashi.

In ore deposit geology, supergene processes or enrichment are those that occur relatively near the surface as opposed to deep hypogene processes. Supergene processes include the predominance of meteoric water circulation (i.e. water derived from precipitation) with concomitant oxidation and chemical weathering. The descending meteoric waters oxidize the primary (hypogene) sulfide ore minerals and redistribute the metallic ore elements. Supergene enrichment occurs at the base of the oxidized portion of an ore deposit. Metals that have been leached from the oxidized ore are carried downward by percolating groundwater, and react with hypogene sulfides at the supergene-hypogene boundary. The reaction produces secondary sulfides with metal contents higher than those of the primary ore. This is particularly noted in copper ore deposits where the copper sulfide minerals chalcocite (Cu2S), covellite (CuS), digenite (Cu18S10), and djurleite (Cu31S16) are deposited by the descending surface waters.

Violarite (Fe2+Ni23+S4) is a supergene sulfide mineral associated with the weathering and oxidation of primary pentlandite nickel sulfide ore minerals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo produces copper, diamonds, tantalum, tin, gold, and more than 63% of global cobalt production. Minerals and petroleum are central to the DRC's economy, making up more than 95% of the value of its exports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cattierite</span>

Cattierite (CoS2) is a cobalt sulfide mineral found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was discovered together with the nickel sulfide vaesite by Johannes F. Vaes, a Belgian mineralogist and named after Felicien Cattier, who was chairman of the board of the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cobalt</span> Chemical element, symbol Co and atomic number 27

Cobalt is a chemical element; it has symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silvery metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saprolite</span> Chemically weathered rock

Saprolite is a chemically weathered rock. Saprolites form in the lower zones of soil profiles and represent deep weathering of the bedrock surface. In most outcrops, its color comes from ferric compounds. Deeply weathered profiles are widespread on the continental landmasses between latitudes 35°N and 35°S.

Kinsevere is an open pit mine and Heavy Media Separation plant with an electric arc furnace formerly operated by Anvil Mining, and now operated by Minerals and Metals Group. It is located 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Lubumbashi, Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Copper mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo mainly takes place in the Copper Belt of the southern Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musonoi Mine</span> Mine near Kolwezi, DRC

The Musonoi mine is a set of open-cut pits near Kolwezi from which copper and other metals have been extracted since the 1940s. The mining complex is located in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kolwezi is about 320 kilometres (200 mi) northwest from Lubumbashi, the provincial capital.

Mutoshi Mine is a copper mine in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. As of 2011 it was 70% owned by Anvil Mining and 30% by the state-owned Gécamines. The mine was placed on care and maintenance in late 2008.

The Etoile Mine is an open-pit copper mine on the outskirts of Lubumbashi in Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Chemaf owns the license. Chemaf is 95% owned by Shalina Resources and 5% by the DRC government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickel mine</span>

A nickel mine is a mine that produces nickel. Some mines produce nickel primarily, while some mines produce nickel as a side-product of some other metal that has a higher concentration in the ore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The geology of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely old, on the order of several billion years for many rocks. The country spans the Congo Craton: a stable section of ancient continental crust, deformed and influenced by several different mountain building orogeny events, sedimentation, volcanism and the geologically recent effects of the East Africa Rift System in the east. The country's complicated tectonic past have yielded large deposits of gold, diamonds, coltan and other valuable minerals.

References

  1. ↑ Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi: 10.1180/mgm.2021.43 . S2CID   235729616.
  2. 1 2 Heterogenite (PDF). Mineral Data Publishing. 2001–2005.
  3. ↑ Gunn, Gus, ed. (2014-01-06). Critical Metals Handbook (1 ed.). Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781118755341. ISBN   978-0-470-67171-9.
  4. ↑ "Mineral commodity summaries 2021". Mineral Commodity Summaries. 2021. doi: 10.3133/mcs2021 .
  5. ↑ "Heterogenite". mindat.org. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  6. 1 2 3 Decrée, Sophie; Pourret, Olivier; Baele, Jean-Marc (2015). "Rare earth element fractionation in heterogenite (CoOOH): implication for cobalt oxidized ore in the Katanga Copperbelt (Democratic Republic of Congo)". Journal of Geochemical Exploration. 159: 290–301. doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2015.10.005. ISSN   0375-6742.
  7. ↑ Anthony, J. W., Bideaux, R. A., Bladh, K. W., & Nichols, M. C. (2001). Handbook of mineralogy, mineralogical society of America. Chantilly, VA20151-1110. USA.
  8. ↑ De Putter, T., Decrée, S., Banza, C. L. N., & Nemery, B. (2011). Mining the Katanga (DRC) Copperbelt: geological aspects and impacts on public health and the environment–towards a holistic approach. In Mining and the Environment in Africa. Proceedings of the Inaugural Workshop, IGCP/SIDA (No. 594, pp. 14-17).
  9. 1 2 Shengo, Michel Lutandula; Kime, Meschac-Bill; Mambwe, Matanda Pascal; Nyembo, Trésor Kilwa (2019-11-01). "A review of the beneficiation of copper-cobalt-bearing minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo". Journal of Sustainable Mining. 18 (4): 226–246. doi: 10.1016/j.jsm.2019.08.001 . ISSN   2300-3960.
  10. ↑ Horn, S.; Gunn, A. G.; Petavratzi, E.; Shaw, R. A.; Eilu, P.; Törmänen, T.; Bjerkgård, T.; Sandstad, J. S.; Jonsson, E.; Kountourelis, S.; Wall, F. (2021-03-01). "Cobalt resources in Europe and the potential for new discoveries". Ore Geology Reviews. 130: 103915. doi: 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103915 . ISSN   0169-1368.
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