Browsing by Subject "Terrafame"

Cobalt is a strategic metal whose production is dominated by a handful of countries and mines. The Terrafame (formerly known as Talvivaara) black-shale hosted Ni-Cu-Zn-Co deposit in North-Eastern Finland is a globally significant deposit for cobalt containing 1 453 Mt of ore averaging 0.02% Co. The enrichment of cobalt has likely taken place during multiple phases throughout the geological history of the deposit with both the depositional phase and the orogeny phase having a key effect on concentrating cobalt. Scanning electron microscope based automated mineralogy (SEM-AM) and electron probe microanalyses (EPMA) were applied to study the mineralogy of 15 thin sections from Kuusilampi ore body. The results from SEM-AM were further enhanced by applying a python programming language-based data processing procedure that was created specifically for this study. The main Co-containing sulfide minerals at Terrafame are pyrite, pyrrhotite and pentlandite. The Co concentration in pyrite is controlled by the grain type, with pyrites that exsolved from the monosulfide solid solution having the highest average Co concentration. The Co concentration in pentlandite appears to be controlled by the host rock with Mn-rich calc-silicate rocks having an average of 2.77 wt.% Co and black shales 0.47 wt.% Co in pentlandite. Co-rich, with up to 27 wt.% Co sulfarsenide group minerals also occur in the deposit, but their abundances were calculated to be too low to be considered a major contributor to the bulk cobalt concentration at the Terrafame deposit.