Trace element composition of iron oxide ores from the El Laco magnetite-apatite deposit, northern Chile

Trabajo presentado en el 14th Biennial Meeting: Mineral Resources to Discover, celebrado en Québec (Canadá), del 20 al 23 de agosto de 2017The trace element geochemistry of six representative types of iron oxide mineralization from the El Laco magnetite-apatite deposit, located in northern Chile, are compared to each other and to magnetite from the unaltered host rock andesite. Two groups of results correspond to the two types of magnetite that formed with relatively constant Ti contents, and successive depletion of other minor and trace elements. These two types likely correspond to two separate stages of magnetite formation; e.g., magmatic and hydrothermal crystallization. Dominant unzoned and monotonous, relatively Ti-rich, magnetite is interpreted as magmatic while only the magnetite coating vesicle pipes as sub- to euhedral crystals and showing finescale zoning is interpreted as precipitated directly from the exsolving hydrothermal fluids.The study was funded by a NSERC Discovery Grant to JMH. The contribution of FT and FV is within the project SEIDI 2014-55949-R (Spain). We are thankful to CompañíaMinera del Pacífico (CMP) for permission forsample collecting at El Laco.Peer reviewe