Boron the brandy cream
Photograph A: Banded boron ore, Dalnegorsk, Russia.
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Sample: Banded boron ore
Locality: Dalnegorsk, Russia Primary Commodity: Boron Deposit Type: Boron skarn Professionally, the twin loves of most geologists are: ‘fieldwork’ and ‘talking rocks with fellow geologists.’ These two loves are parents to the sample in photograph A.
The Museum’s Dr Reimar Seltmann organised a geology field conference on mineral deposits of the Russian Far East and that’s how the ore collection attained this sample. It comes from Russia’s largest boron deposit, Dalnegorsk. |
Boron
The sample alternates between the green coloured mineral, hedenbergite (CaFeSi2O6) and the cream coloured mineral, datolite [CaBSiO4(OH)]. This rhythmic zoning was caused by pulsating changes in the pressure, temperature and element saturation of the ore-forming fluids at the time of the deposit’s formation. Boron, in this instance, is associated with the cream coloured mineral, datolite.
The element itself has many end uses – more than 300 – but the top three consumers of boron are the glass, ceramics and agriculture industries (USGS, 2012).
Multiple benefits
Dr Seltmann’s fieldtrip attracted 30 geologists from around the world – including the Museum’s Dr Chris Stanley and Dr Alla Dolgopolova. The fieldtrip introduced them to some of the most remote ore deposits on the planet (Seltmann et. al., 1998). The geologists involved in the fieldtrip benefitted professionally and the Museum’s ore’s collection was enhanced by the acquisition of some world class specimens.
Visit window fifteen and window twenty three to view more samples collected while on fieldwork.
References
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The sample alternates between the green coloured mineral, hedenbergite (CaFeSi2O6) and the cream coloured mineral, datolite [CaBSiO4(OH)]. This rhythmic zoning was caused by pulsating changes in the pressure, temperature and element saturation of the ore-forming fluids at the time of the deposit’s formation. Boron, in this instance, is associated with the cream coloured mineral, datolite.
The element itself has many end uses – more than 300 – but the top three consumers of boron are the glass, ceramics and agriculture industries (USGS, 2012).
Multiple benefits
Dr Seltmann’s fieldtrip attracted 30 geologists from around the world – including the Museum’s Dr Chris Stanley and Dr Alla Dolgopolova. The fieldtrip introduced them to some of the most remote ore deposits on the planet (Seltmann et. al., 1998). The geologists involved in the fieldtrip benefitted professionally and the Museum’s ore’s collection was enhanced by the acquisition of some world class specimens.
Visit window fifteen and window twenty three to view more samples collected while on fieldwork.
References
- United States Geological Survey. 2012. Boron. Minerals Yearbook. pg.1-9.
- Seltmann, R., Gonevchuk, G. & A. Khanchuk (1998) Anatomy and textures of ore-bearing granitoids of Sikhote Alin (Primorye region, Russia) and related mineralization. Excursion guidebook and Extended Abstracts of international field conference in Vladivostok, 1-12 September 1998. GFZ Potsdam 1998
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