Abstract:
The Casa de Pedra mine, located in the southwestern portion of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero (Iron Quadrangle), Minas Gerais state, Brazil, was subject to a detailed structural investigation, allowing the characterization of its tectonic evolution. The main goal of the study was to check in what extent tectonic structures control the iron ore properties such as mineralogical composition, porosity, grain size and texture. We obtained the following results: rocks units exposed in the mine and surrounding areas underwent three deformational events; the Western and Main ore bodies of the Casa de Pedra mine are located in distinct structural domains, which exhibit different mineralogical attributes; iron ores from Western body tends to be richer in specularite and goethite, and show 17% porosity, whist the Main body is made up mainly of granular hematite and magnetite, with 20% porosity. We concluded that tectonic structures indeed exert a significant control on mineralogical composition, textures and microstructures of the iron ores.
Keywords:
iron ore; Iron Quadrangle; structural geology; microtectonics