Mineral Systems, Their Types, and Distributions in Nature: 3. Otto Mountain (USA) and El Dragon (Bolivia) Deposits

Abstract

It was found that in minerals, 27 chemical elements are essential species-defining constituents in all tellurium-bearing mineral species known up to 2018 (166). The number of minerals containing these leading elements were calculated as follows (parentheses): O (85), H (47), Cu (42), Pb (39), Bi (30), S (26), Fe (20), Ag (18), Pd (15), Cl (13); Zn Au (11 minerals each); Ca, Se (7 minerals each); Mg, Mn, Sb, As (6 minerals each); Ni, Hg (5 minerals each); U (4), Ir (3); Al, K, C, Sn, Pt (2 minerals each). It has been revealed that the majority of species-defining elements show a normal distribution in terms of mineral systems. A comparative analysis of the mineral species distribution based on various systems was carried out for the Otto Mountain (USA) and El Dragon (Potosi, Bolivia) deposits, as well as comparison of these objects based on the distribution of these species-defining elements. It was found that Cu, Pb, Au, S, C are “abundant” species-defining elements in minerals of both deposits, and Si, Ca, K, Al are deficient, “scarce” elements in both cases. Minerals containing Te, Cr, Cl, Ag, I, As, Mo, P, Sr, V, U, Na, and F are present only in the Otto Mountain mine, and minerals with Mg, Ba, Ni, Hg, and Co were detected only in El Dragon. The amount of O, H, Si, Pb-bearing minerals is substantially higher in Otto Mountain ores than in El Dragon ores.