X‐ray fluorescence analysis applied to geochemistry of quartz in Argentina

Abstract

The growing demand for high-purity quartz in the international market led to the systematic investigation of the geochemical quality of this mineral in deposits Argentina. This study is a contribution to the scarce information on the geochemistry of quartz in Argentina. A total of 525 multielemental chemical analyses were performed with XRF spectrometry in less than 3 months. SiO2 concentration was calculated by difference from XRF impurity determinations. As a result of this study, 36 sites over 141 sampled deposits were identied as being of desirable quality. Low-Z oxides, considered critical impurities for quartz, were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry, only in samples of these selected sites, because of high XRF detection limits. The analytical results allowed the classication of the quality of quartz according to its environment and geological genesis. It could be determined that better purity quartz corresponds to veins far away from the Achala and Alpa Corral batholith and occurs in metamorphic rocks, followed by pegmatitic quartz from inside the batholith and lastly by quartz of well-known hydrothermal origin.