BOLETÍN DE LA SOCIEDAD GEOLÓGICA MEXICANA

Vol 61, Núm. 3, 2009, P. 499-503.

http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2009v61n3a14

NOTA TÉCNICA

Descubrimiento de vivianita en la mina La Caridad, Sonora, México

Discovery of vivianite in the La Caridad mine, Sonora, Mexico

Efrén Pérez–Segura1,*, Enrique Espinoza–Medina2, Abraham Mendoza–Córdova1 y Jesús Vidal–Solano1

1Departamento de Geología Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, 83000, Sonora.
2 Mexicana de Cananea, S.A. de C.V. Nacozari de García, Sonora.

* This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Abstract

The La Caridad mine is located in Sonora and it is the largest mine in Mexico. This is a porphyry type ore deposit dated at 54 Ma. Beautiful green centimetric size crystals of vivianite (Fe3(PO4)2·8H2O) have been discovered at Mercator coordinates 638232 N and 3354816 E, and between benches 1305 and 1410. The identification was confrmed using X ray diffraction and fuorescence. The mineral is in the core of the orebody in the potassic hydrothermal alteration zone, but in the transition from the supergene enrichment to the primary sulfde zone. The origin of the vivianite is probably meteoric, during supergene enrichment. The La Caridad mine is the second locality in Mexico where the presence of vivianite has been reported.

Key words: vivianite, La Caridad, phosphate, porphyry copper, Sonora.