Vanadium-Titanium-Bearing Mixed-Layered Clay from Potash Sulphur Springs, Arkansas

Abstract

Abstraet--A unique vanadium-titanium-bearing mixed-layered clay is currently being mined as an ore of vanadium at Potash Sulphur Springs, AR. The clay contains 80% expandable portion and has both a 14.22 and 18.24/~ hydration state in addition to the 9.49/~ dehydrated state; ethylene glycol expands this material to 16.69 A. The 060 reflection for all hydration states is between 1.50 and 1.51 ]k indicating the material is dioctahedral. The "mean chemical formula" calculates as (Cao.o8 Ko.o2 Nao.os)o.13 (A10.11 Vo.~0 TioA9 Feo.~ Mgo.~4)l.as (Si3.79 Alo.204 O10 (OH)2"nH20.

Mineralogical and chemical composition of samples from the Christy vanadium-titanium deposit, Hot Spring County, Arkansas

“…This analysis indicates that the clay is dominantly smectite (80%) with a small amount of mixed-layering. Overall the XRD results are similar to those obtained by McCormick (1978) for a sample from a vanadium deposit near the Potash Sulfur Springs intrusive complex, which is 7 miles west of the Christy deposit. McCormick concluded that the positions of the (001) reflections were not rational (Moore and Reynolds, 1989) as a result of a small amount of mixed-layering.…”

The Composition and Origin of Vanadium-Rich Clay Minerals in Colorado Plateau Jurassic Sandstones

“…Clay minerals containing a substantial amount of vanadium have been described in various geologic environments: sedimentary (Foster, 1959;Hathaway, 1959;Guven and Hower, 1979;Whitney and Northrop, 1986;Parnell, 1988;Forbes, 1989;Hofman, 1990), metamorphic (Snetsinger, 1966;McCormick, 1978;Schade et al, 1986;Oh and Trichet, 1990;Pan and Fleet, 1992), and hydrothermal (Yoshimura and Momoi, 1964;Hofman, 1990;Johan and Povondra, 1987). In sandstones from the Colorado Plateau, vanadium clays are produced by the mineralization processes that form uranium deposits .…”

Minerals of the Wilson Springs Vanadium Mines

“…McCormick (1978) described a unique vanadium-titanium mixed-layer clay as the ore from this site. Milton (1978) was unable to confirm Mumpton (1965) and McCormick's (1978) hypothesis that hydrothermally precipitated montmorillonite-illite was the major ore mineral. Instead he discovered that an extremely fine-grained aggregate of complex mineralogy forming at least half of the rock (the gangue of the macroscopically observable vanadium minerals) may be the major vanadium carrier.…”