Abstract

CHANG-RODRIGUEZ, Alfonso  and  ROJAS-PURON, Arturo L.. Geochemical mobility and weathering degree of San Felipe deposit in Camagüey, Cuba. Min. Geol. [online]. 2018, vol.34, n.2, pp. 126-139. ISSN 1993-8012.

San Felipe is a distinctive residual deposit of crust weathering due to its high silica content. Determining the weathering indexes and the coefficients of geochemical mobility in the weathering crust was the aim of this work. The accumulation and extraction of the main components (SiO2, MgO, FeO, Fe2O3, and Al2O3) was calculated by using the weathering coefficients of Ginsburg (1946) and Rudnik (1966). The weathering indexes analysis and the extraction-accumulation degree allowed to evaluate the mobility, concentration, and distribution of the elements and clarifying the mechanism of migration and evacuating of nickel. The mass balance showed how the reduction of the most movable components (magnesium, silica) and the increase of the cumulative (iron, aluminum) occurs, showing that the silica content exceeds the attributable values to a process of weathering.

Keywords : degree of weathering; weathering index; laterites; geochemical mobility; nickel; silica; San Felipe deposit.

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