Saturday, March 29, 2008

Zimbabwe

Pegmatites:

Prior to the imposition by the United Nations of economic sanctions against Rhodesia, Bikita Minerals was the dominant source of lithium minerals for direct use in glass, glass ceramics and enamels because of the low iron content of the minerals.

The deposit has an exceptionally high grade and comprises a classic zoned pegmatite at its southern end passing northwards into a complex mixture of petalite, quartz-spodumene intergrowth and small quantities of eucryptite. The lepidolite in the zoned section provided the feed for the production of about 30% of the United States Atomic Energy Commission’s lithium hydroxide stockpile. The deposit was initially evaluated on the basis that products would be hand-picked at +75mm and +25mm so all ore with smaller crystal sizes were ignored. Thus long sections of the strike length of the main pegmatite and a parallel spodumene pegmatite were not evaluated. Currently, the different minerals are separated by a heavy medium system with stockpiles of undersized material from earlier picking as the principal source.

Proved, probable and possible resources (grading 1.4% Li) were estimated by the Panel at 56,700 tonnes Li.

There is considerable upside potential in this figure and numerous petalite-containing pegmatites are known in Zimbabwe and there is no published data on reserves at the large Kamitivi tin-spodumene deposit located in the northwest of the country.

4 comments:

jon said...

Hope the govt. situation changes for the better.

Daniela said...

Interesting post. I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for posting. I’ll likely be coming back to your blog. Keep up great writing.

Travel News | Free Song Lyric | A Love to Kill | Learn Indonesia Language | cari rumah | jual rumah | rumah dijual | Laptop Price List | New Blackberry | Health & Jewerly

Anonymous said...

Great post! I’m searching for this information for long time and I have found it here. I’m a lucky man and honestly It’ really important to me. Very smart, thanks for kindly sharing it with us. Very well done indeed.Download and Watch Naruto Shippuuden Episode | Download Mp3 Ello Ipang Berry(st.Loco)Lala – Buka Semangat Baru | Download Mp3 Gratis | Belajar Sulap | Mio Soul | Tokyo Blogger | SNMPTN Online 2010 | Free Movie Download

Unknown said...

I am a young Zimbabwean Geologist who just acquired a prospecting license for Lithium and Chrome.If you want to know more on the investment opportunities on the ground in natural resources ,let me know. willynyangani@gmail.com