X.

Zeolites, layered and porous materials LECTURE

The use of automated mineralogical analysis to complement

oedometer and desintegraion tests to evaluate geometallurgical
implications of laumontite altered rock
A. Bravo1, O. Jerez1, U. Kelm1*, M. Pincheira1, M. Poblete2
1
Instituto de Geologa Econmica Aplicada (GEA), Universidad de Concepcin,
Casilla 160-C, Concepcin 3, Chile
2
Departamento de Ingeniera Civil, Universidad Catlica de la Santsima
Concepcin, Concepcin, Chile
*
Corresponding author: ukelm@udec.cl

Keywords: laumontite, andesite, geometallurgy, expansion pressure

The reversible hydration of leonhardite to laumontite and its concomitant

expansion of the crystal lattice are known since the 1950s. Its deleterious effects on
concrete stability, in particular in humid and saline environments have been
documented by the cement industry and civil engineering publications. In Chile,
laumontite bearing rocks are widespread associated with very low grade
metamorphic or hydrothermally altered volcanic or subvolcanic rocks some of
which host major ore deposits. This presentation combines a mineralogical study of
a laumontite rich rock sequence by optical microscopy, semiquantitative X-ray
diffraction, automated mineralogy and the monitoring of free and confined
expansion by modified standard oedometer tests, as well as monitoring of rock
disintegration in water and ethylene glycol. Automated mineralogical microanalysis
allows the observation of laumontite distribution and its directionality in the rock,
however, it is not possible to differentiate very fine grained groundmass laumontite
from feldspar compositions, thus resulting in lower laumontite percentages when
compared to semiquantitative X-ray diffractions. An initial challenge is the
adjustment of the microchemical reference database with analyses of pure
laumontite; here best large specimens for repeated microchemical analysis are
obtained from vesicular fillings of basaltic rocks and not from pervasive altered
andesites. Adequate monitoring of directionality may require scanning of multiple
thin sections for one sample or core section thus increasing counting times and cost.
For the studied rocks, semiquantitative X-ray diffraction proved to the most
economic mineralogical analysis. To test expansion pressure, standard soil
oedometer tests can be adapted for use with finely crushed rock aggregate. Due to
the small size of the zeolite channels in laumontite, ethylene glycol exposure will
not reveal the presence of this expandable phase; submerging the rock in water for
several day will reveal the instability of the rock, in particular when overburden is
added at the end of the experiment. It is recommended to include laumontite in the
mineral check list, when expansion, long term humid stability are important in
mineral processing or laumontite rock may be incorporated as aggregate in concrete
that will be submerged or exposed to high humidity in processing instalations.

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