The Lateritic Bauxite Deposit of Rondon Do Pará: A New Giant Deposit in the Amazon Region, Northern Brazil

Oliveira, Saulo B. de; Costa, Marcondes Lima da; Filho, Hélcio José dos Prazeres

doi:10.2113/econgeo.111.5.1277

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Lateritization events affected the Amazon region during the Cenozoic, resulting in the formation of extensive bauxite-bearing lateritic covers (Costa 1991, Théveniaut and Freissynet 2002, Vasconcelos et al 2015, including the large deposits of Trombetas, Paragominas, Juruti and Rondon do Pará, which make up one of the largest bauxite provinces in the world (Boulangé and Carvalho 1997, Lucas 1997, Kotschoubey et al 2005, Costa et al 2014, Oliveira et al 2016, Lima 2018. Three of them are currently being exploited (Trombetas, Paragominas and Juruti) and supply the alumina refinery in Barcarena, Pará.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From 1974 to 1980, the Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio conducted the first exploration program in Rondon do Pará (Pará, Eastern Amazon). In 2005, Votorantim Metais (now NEXA Resources) restarted mineral prospecting in this area and identified large deposits with available Al 2 O 3 contents ranging from 39.9 to 52.4%; 14.8 to 35.1% of Fe 2 O 3 ; and 3.1 to 4.3% of reactive SiO 2 (Oliveira et al 2016). In addition, three pilot open-pit mines named Ciriaco, Branco and Décio were excavated in order to enable metallurgical testing, providing new outcrops of bauxite-bearing lateritic profiles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mineralogy, geochemistry and parent rock of Décio bauxite-bearing lateritic profile (Rondon do Pará, Eastern Amazon)

Santos

Costa

2021

Braz. J. Geol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cenozoic world-class bauxite deposits developed on sedimentary sequences of the Parnaíba and Amazon Basins. The Décio pilot mine, excavated in the Rondon do Pará bauxite deposit, exposes a 3 m thick bauxite-bearing lateritic profile on the top of a 350 m high plateau.From the base to the top, this profile is composed of clayey bauxite; porous microcrystalline bauxite; spherulitic ferro-aluminous duricrust, fragmentary on the top; as well as loose ferro-aluminous spherulites and nodules, embedded in clay. The lower horizons represent a classic lateritic succession, while the top of the profile was produced through post-lateritic reworking. During this process, Ga, Cr, Mo, As, Pb, Hg, Sb, Zn, V and Sc were captured by the iron oxi-hydroxides; and REE, Hf, Nb, Ta, Y remained carried by relict zircon. Isocon diagram and mass balance demonstrate the affinity of the bauxite with claystone from Itapecuru Formation.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mineralogy, geochemistry and parent rock of Décio bauxite-bearing lateritic profile (Rondon do Pará, Eastern Amazon)

Santos

Costa

2021

Braz. J. Geol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Around 97% of the Brazilian reserves are concentrated in the Amazon region, mostly on siliciclastic rocks (Lucas, 1997). Such reserves constitute important deposits, some in operation, as at Trombetas, Juruti and Paragominas (Costa et al , 2014) with others under investigation such as at Rondon do Pará (Oliveira et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An application of the Rietveld refinement method to the mineralogy of a bauxite-bearing regolith in the Lower Amazon

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A comparison of Rietveld refinement results for a bauxite-bearing regolith and its clayey cover in the Amazon region was made with stoichiometric calculations from chemical analysis and partly from thermogravimetric results. For this investigation a profile in the bauxite-bearing regolith occurrence in the ALCOA bauxite mine at Juruti, Brazil was studied. The different minerals, their compositions and their low crystallinity in the different horizons were investigated and the contents determined. It is evident that some minerals show several generations and some chemical composition changes that must be included in the Rietveld refinement. Al-rich hematites and goethites are common along the bauxite profile. Amorphous contents were determined with rutile added as an internal standard and shown to have gibbsite- or kaolinite-like composition. The minerals could be quantified in the different horizons and the difficulties were mainly related to variable crystalline aspects of the phases. Rietveld refinement can be a powerful tool in bauxite prospecting, quality control and during mining and beneficiation of ore minerals using the adapted refinement strategies.

show abstract

“…The mineralogy of the BTC involves the same mineral species of the laterite-bauxite profile (Oliveira et al 2016), differing only in their respective proportions. This composition is fast homogeneous in every BTC package, but varies close to the contact with the underlying lateritic profile, reinforcing the affinity between them, having the laterite-bauxite profile certainly as source material.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The intensified research on bauxites in the Eastern Amazon, led to the "rediscovery" (Prazeres Filho et al 2015) of what has been considered one of the seven largest world-class bauxite deposits (Oliveira et al 2016), located in Rondon do Pará. The company Votorantim Metais developed three pilot mines for ore evaluation, exposing up to 13 m thick of BTC over the bauxites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Belterra Clay on the bauxite deposits of Rondon do Pará, Eastern Amazon

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bauxite deposits in the Amazon region are commonly covered by yellowish clays which can reach up to 25m thick, known as Belterra Clay (BTC). In Rondon do Pará, Eastern Amazon, BTC is 13m thick and covers world-class bauxite reserves. Three pilot bauxite mines were investigated in Rondon do Pará for an initial characterization of the local BTC. In discordant contact with the lateritic profile, the BTC has reddish brown colors at its base to ocher tones towards the top. It has a massive structure with silt-clayey texture and nodular bauxitic fragments at its base. Rietveld mineral quantification of the material attests that it is dominated by kaolinite, with goethite, gibbsite, hematite, anatase and residual quartz. The thermal behavior of the material also confirms its mineralogical composition. Kaolinite is of low structural order, which was considered the main difficulty in the application of the Rietveld method. Goethite has up to 33 mol% of Al. As observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the minerals represent pseudo-hexagonal crystals measuring from 150 to 700 nm. The BTC in the studied area is correlated to BTC on others bauxitic deposits of the Amazon region, suggesting this material experienced the same genesis and geological evolution, probably during the Pliocene.

show abstract

The Lateritic Bauxite Deposit of Rondon Do Pará: A New Giant Deposit in the Amazon Region, Northern Brazil

Cited by 18 publications

References 20 publications

Mineralogy, geochemistry and parent rock of Décio bauxite-bearing lateritic profile (Rondon do Pará, Eastern Amazon)

Mineralogy, geochemistry and parent rock of Décio bauxite-bearing lateritic profile (Rondon do Pará, Eastern Amazon)

An application of the Rietveld refinement method to the mineralogy of a bauxite-bearing regolith in the Lower Amazon

The Belterra Clay on the bauxite deposits of Rondon do Pará, Eastern Amazon

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About