Magnetic susceptibility and gamma-ray spectrometry on drill core: Lithotype characterization and 3D ore modeling of the morro do padre niobium deposit, goiás, Brazil

Abstract

The Morro do Padre niobium Deposit, in the Late-Cretaceous Catalão 2 alkaline-carbonatite complex, central Brazil, consists of stockworks of nelsonite and carbonatite dykes intruded into Precambrian phyllites, quartzites, and amphibolites. A gamma-ray spectrometry and magnetic susceptibility petrophysical survey was conducted on the cores of 73 drill holes in fresh-rock, producing a total of 1295 geophysical samples. Nelsonite, the host rock of the niobium mineralization in the Morro do Padre Deposit, has a characteristic geophysical signature, with higher gamma-ray spectrometry counting rates and magnetic susceptibility values, compared to other rock-types. The studied nelsonites may be divided into N1 and N2 types. N2 nelsonite is richer in K, U and Th than N1. Carbonatites are divided into magnetic (C1) and nonmagnetic (C2) varieties. The nonmagnetic carbonatites can be subdivided into C2a and C2b. The C2a carbonatite is richer in K, U and Th than C2b, which is consistent with the presence of apatite and/or monazite in the former. The geophysical 3Dmodeling has shown that the main mineralized body is elongated in the E-W direction. It is about 100 m wide and 300 m long with a maximum depth of approximately 850 m reached by drilling.