A laboratory procedure for separating micas from quartz in clay-sized materials
Reference:
Acta Mineralogica-Petrographica, Szeged 2004, Vol. 45/1, pp. 133–139
Szerző:
G. Weiszburg Tamás
Nagy Tibor
Tóth Erzsébet
Mizák József
Varga Zsuzsa
A. Lovas György
Váczi Tamás
Abstract:
This paper is dedicated to the memory of Lívia Rudnyánszky.
In this paper, a new laboratory procedure is presented for the separation of micas from quartz in clay-sized materials. The key part of the procedure consists of centrifuging the clay-sized material in a non-reactive, high-viscosity medium (2% solution of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose). As a result of the centrifugation, platy clay minerals stay in suspension while quartz grains settle down. After centrifugation, the water-soluble carboxymethyl cellulose can be easily washed out of the clay mineral separate.
The procedure was tested on the mixed clay-sized material of the Úrkút manganese carbonate ore (Weiszburg et al., 2004), with the phyllosilicate-quartz separation being the last step in a three-step separation process. The separation was monitored by X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and full chemical analysis, justifying that the separation medium is really non-reactive and celadonite, the colour-giving green mica of the Úrkút manganese carbonate ore remained practically unchanged.
The possible effect of quartz impurities on the chemical formula (calculated from full chemical analysis) of micas, and consequently, on the classification of micas is also tested on the Úrkút celadonite.
acta2004, clay-sized materials, mica, quartz, separation, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose
