Magnetic mineralogy of the Hongqiling Cu-Ni sulphide deposit: Implications for ore genesis

Pyrrhotite is one of the common ore minerals in Cu-Ni sulphide deposits, but only monoclinic pyrrhotite is ferromagnetic at room temperature. X-ray and EPA analyses reveal that most pyrrhotite forming sideronitic texture in the Hongqiling Cu-Ni sulphide deposit is monoclinic, but that in the massive ore is a mixture of monoclinic and hexagonal pyrrhotites. Differential thermal and magnetic-thermogravimetric analyses of massive ore indicate a magnetic transition and heat absorption at 323 degrees C, suggesting that this temperature is the thermomagnetic and phase transition point of pyrrhotite. For massive pyrrhotite ores heated at 400 degrees C for 30 h and then quenched by cool water, the monoclinic pyrrhotite (mpo) transforms completely into the hexagonal pyrrhotite (hpo). However, all the pyrrhotites resulting from stow cooling of the sample in air are mpo. These results indicate that transformation between hpo and mpo depends upon the cooling rate. Therefore, massive ores in this deposit might have been formed via rapid cooling of ore melts. On the other hand, it is significant to study the effect of the ratio of the magnetite in total ores on the genesis of magmatic Cu-Ni suphide deposits.