Tapira

Producer in Minas Gerais, Brazil with commodities Phosphorus-Phosphates, Niobium (Columbium), Titanium, Metal, REE, Iron, Manganese, Barium-Barite, Vermiculite
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Production statistics
  17. Reserves and resources
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10107260
MRDS ID W001064
Record type Site
Current site name Tapira
Alternate or previous names Valep

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -46.86568, -19.89751 (WGS84)
Elevation 1200
Relative position 50 KM. SOUTH OF ARAXA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Minas Gerais(province)

Brazil(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Brazil Minas Gerais

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Phosphorus-Phosphates Primary
Niobium (Columbium) Critical Primary
Titanium, Metal Critical Secondary
REE Critical Secondary
Iron Tertiary
Manganese Critical Tertiary
Barium-Barite Critical Tertiary
Vermiculite Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • LARGE RESOURCES OF NB AND PROBABLY VERY LARGE RESOURCE OF TI

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Anatase Ore
Apatite Ore
Pyrochlore Ore
Wavellite Ore
Barite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Phlogopite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Vermiculite Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 24
USGS model code 10
Deposit model name Carbonatite

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Volcanic Breccia (Agglomerate)
    Rock unit name Alkaline Rocks, Carbonatite
    Rock description Alkaline Rocks, Carbonatite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Trachyte
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Carbonatite, Intrusive
    Rock unit name Araxa Group (Minas), Metasediments
    Rock description Araxa Group (Minas), Metasediments

Nearby scientific data

(1) -46.86568, -19.89751

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ring Complex
Type of structure Local
Structure description Domed Alkaline Pipe Intrusive

Ore body information

  • General form PIPE
    Dip VERT
    Length 1800M
    Width 1000M
    Depth to top 65M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Domed Structure Alkaline Rocks In Proterozoic Shield Rocks

Comments on the geologic information

  • PRIMARY ROCKS OF MAGMATIC PIPE (BREAKDOWN ESTIMATED): 80% ULTRAMAFITITES, 5% TRACHYTES & SYENITES, 5% CARBONATITE, 10% OTHER. ; MAJOR.UNITS: MINAS GROUP(ARAXA)-PROTEROZOIC ; GEOL.DESC: ALKALINE INTRUSIVE PIPE WITH ASSOCIATED CALCAREOUS ROCKS, CARBONATITE

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1956
Discoverer Benedito Paulo Alves-Departamento Nacional Da Producao Mineral (Dnpm) And (In 1972) By Dema Of Araxa
Year of first production 1979
Year of last production 1974

Mining district

District name Salitre District, Sacramento

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Mineracao Vale Do Paranaiba, S. A. (Valep)

Production statistics

  • Year 1980
    Material P CONC.
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^36% P2o5 Or 78.7% Bpl
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    P2O5 Conc. Phosphorus-Phosphates Phosphorus 36wt-pct
    Conc. Boron-Borates Boron 79wt-pct
  • Year 1980
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^8.6% P2o5 Or 18.9% Bpl
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Boron-Borates Boron 19wt-pct
    P2O5 Ore Phosphorus-Phosphates Phosphorus 9wt-pct

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1986
    Total resources 10997000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Niobium (Columbium) Nb2o5 0.45 wt-pct Niobium (Columbium) Major 1986
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1984
    Measured 318000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Phosphorus-Phosphates P2O5 8.3 wt-pct Phosphorus Major 1984
    Niobium (Columbium) Nb2o5 1.2 wt-pct Niobium (Columbium) Major 1984
    Titanium, Metal TiO2 15 wt-pct Titanium Minor 1984
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1978
    Measured 318901000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Phosphorus-Phosphates Bpl 18.9 wt-pct Phosphorus Major 1978

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • RESERVES MEASURED TO DEPTH OF 4 METERS-BY PITTING.
  • LARGE RESERVES OF FULLER'S EARTH IN DISTRICT.
  • ASSUMING GRADE HOLDS TO DEPTH OF 16 METERS

Comments on the workings information

  • DEPOSIT EXPLORED BY PITTING TO DEPTH OF 4 METERS

Comments on development

  • THIS DEPOSIT HAS A RESOURCE POTENTIAL FOR BOTH NB AND TI ; ECON.COM: NB DEPOSIT CLOSE TO 3.5% DEPOSIT AT ARAXA
  • ECON.COM: OVERBURDEN-TRANSPORTATION-QUALITY OF CLAY.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    WRITTEN COMMUNICATION FROM M.G. WHITE.

  • Deposit

    LETTER OF 1-3-72 FROM GERALDO MELCHER TO MAX WHITE.

  • Deposit

    KRAUSS AND OTHERS, 1984: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 930-C, 41 P.

  • Deposit

    CESAR, P. DE A.B., 1984, PRINCIPAIS DEPOSITOS MINERAIS: CONCEITOS, METODOLOGIA E LISTAGEM, CAPITULO IX, IN SCHOBBENHAUS, C., CAMPOS, D. DE A., DERZE, G.R., ASMUS, H.E., EDS., GEOLOGIA DO BRASIL: DEPARTAMENTO NACIONAL DA PRODUCAO MINERAL, P. 359-419.

  • Deposit

    BRITISH SULPHUR CORP. LTD., 1980: WORLD SURVEY OF PHOSPHATE DEPOSITS, 4TH ED., LONDON

  • Deposit

    CAVALCANTI DE ALBUQUERQUE, G.S.C., AND GIANNERINI, J.F., 1981, APERCU SUR L'INDUSTRIE DU PHOSPHATE AU BRESIL: INDUSTRIE MINERALE, V. 63, NO. 10, P. 589-591.

  • Deposit

    MINERACAO METALURGIA, 1978, VALEP COMECA COM 900 MIL TON/ANO DE CONCENTRADO FOSFATICO: ANO XLII, NO. 45, DECEMBRO, P. 6-18.

  • Deposit

    1956 DIREXPL DNPM-BOL. 10

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Production

    BOL. 108 OF DNPM

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit PROBLEM ARISING FROM PROCESSING ANATASE AS PRIMARY TITANIUM MINERAL IN PRESENCE OF IMPURITIES AS FE, CR AND PEROVSKITE. 30 M ORE CONTAINING ABOUT 19% BPL IS BENEFICIATED TO GIVE A 79% BPL CONCENTRATE. THIS RECORD CONTAINS DATA FROM DUPLICATE RECORD ISM0392 WHICH HAS BEEN DELETED FROM MAIN MRDS.
Deposit THIS RECORD CONTAINS DATA FROM DUPLICATE RECORD ISM0392 WHICH HAS BEEN DELETED FROM MAIN MRDS.
Deposit ABOVE THE PRIMARY MAGMATIC ROCKS 4 ALTERATION ZONES HAVE BEEN DISTINGUISHED (TOP TO BOTTOM): LATERITE ZONE, ANATASE ZONE, MIXED ZONE, AND APATITE ZONE. FOR PHOSPHATE MINING, MIXED ZONE AND APATITE ZONE ARE OF PRIMARY INTEREST. UPPER ORE ZONES: APATITE, SECONDARY PHOSPHATES (CRANDALLITE, GORCEIXITE, WAVELLITE), ANATASE, LIMONITE, MICA, MAGNETITE, ARGILLACEOUS MATTER. LOWER ORE ZONES: APATITE, ANATASE, PEROWSKITE, DIOPSIDE, MAGNETITE, VERMICULITE, PHLOGOPITE, BIOTITE, QUARTZ, AMORPHOUS SILICA.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-1974 Warfle, Thomas M. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-NOV-1987 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-SEP-1982 Krauss, Ulrich H. Bundesanstalt Fuer Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffee (Germany)

Beyond USGS

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