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Weathered Serpentinites
Charles R. M. Butt1 and Dominique Cluzel2
1811-5209/13/0009-0123$2.50
DOI: 10.2113/gselements.9.2.123
ickel laterite ores account for over 60% of global nickel supply. They
are the product of intensive deep weathering of serpentinites under
humid tropical conditions. Nickel is concentrated to over 1.0 wt%
and is hosted in a variety of secondary oxides, hydrous Mg silicates and
smectites. The formation, mineralogy and grade of the deposits are controlled
by the interplay of lithology, tectonics, climate and geomorphology. Most
deposits have a multi-phase development, evolving as their climatic and/or
topographic environment change. The richest deposits (>3 wt% Ni) formed
where oxide-rich regoliths were uplifted and Ni leached downwards to concentrate in neo-formed silicates in the saprolite.
KEYWORDS : weathering, regolith, Ni laterite, secondary ore
serpentinite, geomorphology, landscape evolution
INTRODUCTION
Nickel laterites are intensely weathered regoliths with one or
more horizons containing exploitable reserves of nickel (Ni),
commonly, cobalt (Co) and, rarely, scandium (Sc). They are
defined by economic, rather than geological, criteria, namely
that the NiCo grades and tonnages are sufficient for them
to be mined, processed and rehabilitated with financial (and
social) benefit. Nickel laterites are formed on serpentinites
and, for those on partially or unserpentinized ultramafic
rocks, serpentine minerals are commonly some of the earliest
weathering products. Their global distribution is shown in
FIGURE 1.
DEPOSIT CHARACTERISTICS
Lateritic Regolith
Oxide Deposits
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FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
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TABLE 1
OXIDE ORE
Bedrock Geology
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4
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Goethite
Oxide
-(Fe3+)O(OH)
2% Ni, 0.2% Co
Asbolane
Oxide
(Ni2+,Co3+)xMn4+(O,OH)4.nH2O
Lithiophorite
Oxide
(Al,Li)Mn4+O2(OH)2
1% Ni, ~7% Co
Ni lizardite npouite
Serpentine
(Mg,Ni)3Si2O5(OH)4
7 garnierite
Serpentine
15% Ni
Nimite
Chlorite
(Ni5Al)(Si3Al)O10(OH)8
17% Ni
14 garnierite
Chlorite
Falcondoite
Sepiolite
(Ni,Mg)4Si6O15(OH)2.6H2O
Kerolite-willemseite
Talc
(Ni,Mg)3Si4O10(OH)2
10 garnierite
Talc
633% Ni
3% Ni
24% Ni
1627% Ni
20% Ni
Smectite
Na0.3Fe23+(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2.nH2O
~4% Ni
Smectite
(Ca/2,Na)0.3(Mg,Fe2+)3(Si,Al)4O10
(OH2).4H2O
~3% Ni
FIGURE 5
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Climate
Most Ni laterite deposits occur in the present humid tropics
(FIG. 1). Many of the Indonesian deposits (e.g. Soroako,
Weda Bay) and some in West Africa (Sipolou, Conakry) and
South America (Ona, Puma, Vermelho, Cerro Matoso) have
rainforest climates characterized by >1800 mm of rain per
year and dry seasons of less than 2 months. Most deposits,
however, including those in New Caledonia, Philippines,
northeastern Australia, the Caribbean, Burundi and many
in Brazil, are situated in seasonally humid wet savannas
(summer rainfall of 9001800 mm and a 25-month winter
dry season). Thorne et al. (2012) calculated that Ni laterites
develop where rainfall exceeds 1000 mm/y and mean
monthly temperatures range between 2231 C (summer)
and 1527 C (winter).
There are also many deposits in warm, semi-arid to arid
climates in central and southwestern Australia and in more
humid Mediterranean to temperate regions in the USA
(Oregon and California), the Balkans, Turkey and the Urals.
Each of these regions, however, is considered to have had
warmer, humid climates (Scotese 2000; Thorne et al. 2012)
when the deposits formed, even though at high latitudes
(e.g. southwestern Australia). Modification of the deposits
under the later climates has generally been minor, such as
precipitation of magnesite and silica under semi-arid to arid
conditions in Australia.
No clear relationship exists between the present climate and
ore type (FIG. 1), grade or size. Although hydrous Mg silicates
are most abundant in the present tropics and clay silicates
in semi-arid areas, this distribution is due largely to their
tectonic, structural and geomorphological settings, which
affect drainage status and vulnerability to erosion.
Geomorphology
Age of Weathering
Because most Ni laterite deposits, and the landscapes in
which they occur, formed and evolved over long periods
under different weathering regimes, we can only estimate
the period(s) of most intense weathering, rather than ascribe
specific times of formation. Direct dating of regolith has
only been done in a few regions and rarely of Ni laterites
themselves.
The oldest deposits occur on cratons, parts of which may
have been exposed to subaerial weathering for much of the
Phanerozoic. On the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia,
palaeomagnetic dating at Murrin Murrin and sites near Cawse
and Bulong give some Palaeozoic ages, indicating a very early
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FIGURE 6
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FIGURE 7
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REFERENCES
Anand RR, Paine M (2002) Regolith
geology of the Yilgarn Craton, Western
Australia: implications for exploration. Australian Journal of Earth
Sciences 49: 3-162
Berger VI, Singer DA, Bliss JD, Moring
BC (2011) Ni-Co Laterite Deposits of
the WorldDatabase and Grade and
Tonnage Models. USGS Open-File report
2011-1058, 26 pp, http://pubs.usgs.gov/
of/2011/1058/ and http://mrdata.usgs.
gov/laterite (accessed January 2013)
Brand NW, Butt CRM, Elias M (1998)
Nickel laterites: classification and
features. AGSO Journal of Australian
Geology and Geophysics 17: 81-88
Butt CRM, Zeegers H (eds) (1992) Regolith
Exploration Geochemistry in Tropical
and Subtropical Terrains. Handbook of
Exploration Geochemistry 4, Elsevier,
Amsterdam, 607 pp
Chevillotte V, Chardon D, Beauvais
A, Maurizot P, Colin F (2006)
Long-term tropical morphogenesis of New Caledonia (Southwest
Pacific): Importance of positive
epeirogeny and climate change.
Geomorphology 81: 361-375
Cluzel D, Vigier B (2008) Syntectonic
mobility of supergene nickel ores of New
Caledonia (Southwest Pacific): Evidence
from garnierite veins and faulted
regolith. Resource Geology 58: 161-170
Eggleton RA (2001) The Regolith
Glossary. Cooperative Research Centre
for Landscape Evolution and Mineral
Exploration, Perth, 144 pp, www.
crcleme.org.au/Pubs/monographs.
html#books (accessed December 2012)
Elias M (2002) Nickel laterite
deposits a geological overview,
resources and exploitation. Centre
for Ore Deposit Research, University
of Tasmania, Hobart, Special
Publication 4, pp 205-220
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CONCLUSIONS
The formation of Ni laterites involves the interaction of
numerous geological and environmental factors. It starts
with the emplacement and serpentinization of the ultramafic protore, followed by exposure to a humid tropical
climate and the development of a deep, intensely weathered
regolith. During this phase, Ni is concentrated in goethite
and/or smectite and enrichment is largely residual, due to
the loss of Mg and Si. Subsequently, most deposits have
been subjected to tectonic and/or climatic changes. Where
these caused little erosion, led to burial or, with more arid
climates, reduced the rate of weathering, the deposits were
preserved with only minor modification. Where uplift was
significant, loss by erosion increased, but, under humid
climates, this is offset, economically at least, by continued
weathering and enrichment of Ni in neo-formed hydrous
Mg silicates in the surviving regolith.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Martin Wells, Georges Calas and Richard Herrington are
thanked for their constructive comments on the manuscript.
The figures were drafted by Travis Naughton.
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