MINERALOGICAL AND INERALLURGICAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF SAMARSKITE–Y,
COLUMBITE AND ZIRCON FROM STREAM SEDIMENTS OF THE RAS BAROUD AREA, CENTRAL EASTERN DESERT, EGYPT
Mohamed Fahmy RASLAN
A unique occurrence of a samarskite–Y variety was recorded in the stream sediments surrounding the Ras Baroud younger granite pluton, Cenral Eastern Desert of Egypt. This mineral variety was found associated with columbite, zircon, magnetite, garnet, goethite, ilmenite, hematite and mica. In the representative composite sample of these sediments, samarskite–Y was found to assay 1.5% by weight. Both microscopic examination and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were used to identify and describe the studied mineral variety, while the electron microprobe analysis was applied to determine its empirical formula. Size analysis of the epresentative samarskite-Y stream sample revealed its wide distribution in almost all size fractions with an increased tendency to concentrate in the small sizes. The investigated mineral variety is moderately aramagnetic and its magnetic susceptibility is lower than that of the associated columbite. Accordingly, it would be possible to obtain a rich samarskite concentrate using both gravity and magnetic separation techniques.
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