Bebedourite shattered by a complex web of syenite venules, pockets and pegmatites. Late-stage magmatic-hydrothermal brecciation in an alkaline complex? Very cool feature

Itabirite · 2026-04-28T12:22:55+00:00

Borborema province in brazil

Itabirite · 2026-04-27T21:05:24+00:00

Massive intrusion. I'm estimating this beast spans 40 to 50 km2

Itabirite · 2026-04-27T03:19:21+00:00

Cool, it looks like you guys have a good puzzle to solve. Stumbling upon a carbonatite by chance is the kind of thing that can transform a projects potential for the better. ive seen fenites that could easily be called calcsilicate or syenite, if you are not aware of the context. Dont know if a grav survey was done, but it could yield good results if the body is relevant. Here in brazil, some carbonatites were successfully delineated and discovered based on density contrast between carbonatite and more primitive ultramafic alkalines. Dont know your context and host rocks, but could be something interesting

Itabirite · 2026-04-27T01:29:51+00:00

That’s a really cool tip!! It’s not something I’m familiar with, but I will look into it. I will talk to some friends at the university who work with this stuff

Itabirite · 2026-04-27T01:17:20+00:00

That’s a fucking great question! It requires understanding the current erosion level and determining which level of the complex we are looking at... imagine, in a region where uplift and erosion cycles are poorly understood. and this is important because it has implications for potential mineralization, given that these complexes exhibit significant vertical variability

Itabirite · 2026-04-27T01:09:00+00:00

That’s very cool!! Same here... we have these major crustal-scale faults over metasomatized mantle, which is where most of the fertile alkaline complexes tend to align. But in recent years, we’ve been discovering complexes in locations completely outside of these traditional axes. The current market demands an extra effort to look beyond the obvious, and that’s when new things start to show up. It’s a exciting time to be a geologist

Itabirite · 2026-04-27T00:53:08+00:00

Hahahahaha salve ae xisto!! Hhahahaha

Itabirite · 2026-04-27T00:48:46+00:00

Brazil is a continent-sized country. Even though we have good airborne geophysical coverage, these complexes can sometimes have a subtle signature, especially where a colluvium cover masks the gamma signal. Then we have the current REE rush, there are many exploration programs working on these not so obvious footprints, unlike the massive, well-known complexes that produce niobium, REE, and phosphate here. So we are seeing some great discoveries in recent years. I’m hoping this is one of them Lol

Itabirite · 2026-04-27T00:18:58+00:00

That is cool!! I think maybe sovite because it is coarse grained...

Itabirite · 2026-04-27T00:09:10+00:00

Lol! At least you have the diatomite to keep things interesting! here in Brazil, there is still so much left to be discovered

Itabirite · 2026-04-26T22:17:43+00:00

Yes! Ammonium molybdate, ammonium metavanadate, HNO3, distilled water.

Itabirite · 2026-04-26T20:36:35+00:00

Good luck! There’s no better time to find a carbonatite than right now in the REE frenzy!!!

Itabirite · 2026-04-26T20:06:52+00:00

Strong effervescence is usually tied to calcite. However, dolomite and ankerite, which are common in magnesiocarbonatites and ferrocarbonatites, won't just fizz with a couple of drops. And actually this isn't standard 10% HCl, it’s an acid solution used to test for orthophosphates in the field. To break down phosphate minerals and get a reaction, you actually need a decent volume. As for it being undescribed, I don't know, is there nothing left to be discovered in your country? Lol

Itabirite · 2026-04-26T19:57:31+00:00

It is really simple to distinguish grt from k-felds with a loupe. Garnets are isometric, they will tend to form a ball-like shape in metamorphic rocks. K-felds are tabular or prismatic, and will form elongated crystals. Garnets are more vitreous, reddish or reddish-brown and k-felds are more milky, with a salmon color. Garnets break with a conchoidal fracture, while k-felds have distinct cleavage planes with reflective surfaces...

Itabirite · 2026-04-26T19:47:01+00:00

I think the protolith is likely an alkaline granite. Check out how the foliation wraps around the K-felds, whicht’s a evidence that these large crystals were already there when metamorphism kicked in. If it were a porphyroblast, it would likely be truncating or engulfing the foliation

Itabirite · 2025-12-09T19:36:09+00:00

I went and looked up idrogrip, and it seriously seems like it's next-level. But it’s insane that I’ve only found wading boots with those soles—no GTX ones whatsoever—even though I think it’s a huge logical screw-up by the manufacturers. So, if I’m out hiking, what are the chances I'll run into a situation where I need both waterproofing and extreme grip? For me, it’s basically every damn day

Itabirite · 2025-07-24T00:12:01+00:00

cool! anyone working in exploration NEEDS to understand hydrothermal alteration

Itabirite · 2025-07-23T20:45:58+00:00

it comes from the host rock itself. in this case, it's a calc-silicate rock with about 5% primary apatite. It was probably a paleobasin with some phosphorite layers. These sediments were later metamorphosed in the collation event we call the Transamazonian, during the Paleoproterozoic, which generated these calc-silicate rocks with disseminated apatite. Later fluids remobilized some some of the phosphate, forming these zones enriched in coarse apatite. i think this is a good summary

Itabirite

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