Belen

Producer in Azuay, Ecuador with commodity Kaolin
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Controls for ore emplacement
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Ownership information
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10023499
MRDS ID I000492
Record type Site
Current site name Belen

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.0498, -3.41491 (WGS84)
Relative position 56 KM SOUTH OF CUENCA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Azuay(province)

Ecuador(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Ecuador Azuay

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Kaolin Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Halloysite Ore
Cristobalite Gangue
Mica Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Kaolinisation

Analytical data

Result THE MINERAL ASSEMBLAGE CONTAINS 80-85% KAOLIN MINERALS, 10% QUARTZ + CRISTOBALITE, AND 5% OTHER MINERALS. A REPRESENTATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE KAOLIN IS: 51.7% SIO2, 0.7% TIO2, 31.4% AL2O3, 2.0% FE2O3, 0.1% MGO, 0.1% CAO, 0.1% NA2O, 0.2% K2O, AND 13.5% LOI.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff
    Rock unit name Tarqui Formation
    Rock description Tarqui Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pleistocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pleistocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.0498, -3.41491

Economic information

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Weathering

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Ceramic Andina
  • Type Owner
    Owner Ceramica Andina

Comments on development

  • THIS IS THE LARGEST KAOLIN DEPOSIT IN ECUADOR.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MUFF, ROLF, AND FIEDERLING-KAPTEINAT, HANS-GEORG, 1988, ECUADOR'S CERAMIC RAW MATERIAL--DEPOSITS, PRODUCTS, FUTURE ASPECTS: INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, NO. 253, P. 55-63.

  • Deposit

    MUFF, ROLF, 1990, ALTERATION OF ANDESITIC ROCKS TO KAOLIN IN THE ECUADORIAN ANDES: GEOCHEMICAL, STATISTICAL AND MINERALOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS: GEOLOGISCHES JAHRBUCH, REIHE D, V. 96, P. 3-23.

  • Deposit

    INEMIN INSTITUTO ECUATORIANO MINERALIA, 1987, MAPA CATASTRAL MINERO ECUATORIANO.

  • Deposit

    ROBERTSON, A., 1992, THE MINING JOURNAL ATLAS OF THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN MINERAL INDUSTRY, MINING JOURNAL BOOKS LTD, LONDON, 161 P.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SMALL LENSES AND BLANKETS OF KAOLIN ARE OVERLAIN BY ABOUT 1 M OF SOIL. THE KAOLIN GRADES DOWNWARD INTO PARENT ROCK AND ITS THICKNESS RARELY EXCEEDS 10 M.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1990 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAR-1993 Lopez, Tony U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.