Micro-Raman and SEM Analysis of Minerals from the Darhib Mine, Egypt

Giuliana Gatto Rotondo, Larysa Darchuk, Marcel Swaenen, René Van Grieken

Academy for Mineralogy, Antwerp, Belgium.
Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp.
Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein, Antwerp, Belgium.

DOI: 10.4236/jasmi.2012.21009                

Abstract

The Darhib mine is one of the several talc deposits in the Hamata area of southeastern Egypt. Several specimens of minerals coming from this mine were subjected to complementary investigation by micro-Raman spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy. The difficulty in their identification is the appearance of most of them: they are all very small and only visible under the mineral binocular microscope(×10 - ×40). They appear as small crystals in fissures and holes and a visual determination on colour and crystal gives only a guess of what kind of mineral it could be. Therefore, only after analyzing them by micro-Raman and scanning electron microscopy it was possible to identify their structure and they can be divided in three main groups: one is quite generic and several minerals of different species were identified, such as quartz, talc, mottramite and chrysocolla, very common in the talc mine (these ones are Si-based minerals); the other one is constituted by four samples which are Zn and/or Cu rich, which means minerals of the rosasite or aurichalcite groups; the last group is constituted by two samples containing mainly Pb..

Keywords

Minerals; Micro-Raman; SEM; Talc Mines

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	J. Schlüter and T. Malcherek, “Haydeeite, Cu3Mg(OH)6Cl2, a New Mineral from the Haydee Mine, Salar Grande, Atacama Desert, Chile,” Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie—Abhandlungen, Vol. 184, No. 1, 2007, pp. 39-43.
[2]	R. H. Coleman, A. Sinclair and A. S. Wills, “Comparisons between Haydeeite, α-Cu3Mg(OD)6Cl2, and Kapellasite, α-Cu3Zn(OD)6Cl2, Isostructural S=1/2 Kagome Magnets,” Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 22, No. 20, 2010, pp. 5774-5779.
[3]	http://rruff.inf
[4]	B. E. Heetz and W. B. White, “Vibrational Spectra of the Alkaline Earth Double Carbonates,” American Mineralogist, Vol. 62, 1977, pp. 36-50.
[5]	C. Fredericci, E. D. Zanotto and E. C. Ziemath, “Crystallization Mechanism and Properties of a Blast Furnace Slag Glass,” Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Vol. 273, No. 1-3, 2000, pp. 64-75. doi:10.1016/S0022-3093(00)00145-9
[6]	R. L. Frost, “A Raman Spectroscopic Study of Selected Minerals of the Rosasite Group,” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, Vol. 37, No. 9, 2006, pp. 910-921. doi:10.1002/jrs.1521
[7]	R. L. Frost et al., “Aurichalcite—An SEM and Raman Spectroscopic Study,” Polyhedron, Vol. 26, No. 13, 2007, pp. 3291-3300. doi:10.1016/j.poly.2007.03.003
[8]	R. L. Frost, A. J. Locke and W. N. Martens, “Synthesis and Raman Spectroscopic Characterisation of the Oxalate Mineral Wheatleyite Na2Cu2+(C2O4)2?2H2O,” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, Vol. 39, No. 7, 2008, pp. 901-908. doi:10.1002/jrs.1932
[9]	G. Jovanovski and O. Grupce, “Vibrational Study and Spectra-Structure Correlations in Mercury(II) Chlorasaccharinate,” Bulletin of the Chemists and Technologists of Macedonia, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2002, pp. 117-124.
[10]	K. Osterrothova and J. Jehlicka, “Raman Spectroscopic Identification of Usnic Acid in Hydrothermal Minerals as a Potential Martian Analogue,” Spectrochimica Acta Part A, Vol. 73, No. 3, 2009, pp. 576-580. doi:10.1016/j.saa.2008.09.005
[11]	H. G. M. Edwards, D. W. Farwell, R. Jenkins and M. R. D. Seaward, “Vibrational Raman Spectroscopic Studies of Calcium Oxalate Monohydrate and Dihydrate in Lichen Encrustations on Renaissance Frescoes,” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, Vol. 23, No. 3, 1992, 185-189. doi:10.1002/jrs.1250230310
[12]	B. J. Short and J. C. Carter, “Ultraviolet Resonant Raman, Enhancements in the Detection of Explosives,” Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Report LLNL-TH-413751, 2009.
[13]	B. N. Mavrin, M. V. Koldaeva, R. M. Zakalukin and T. N. Turskaya, “Fourier-Raman Spectra of Alkali Metal and Thallium Hydrogen Phthalate Single Crystals,” 2005. http://arxiv.org/ftp/cond-mat/papers/0504/0504521.pdf
[14]	V. L. Furer, I. I. Vandyukovab, A. E. Vandyukov, S. Fuchs, J. P. Majoral, A. M. Caminade and V. I. Kovalenko, “DFT Calculations of Structure and Vibrational Spectra of Dendron Built of Cyclotriphosphazene Core with Terminal Carbamate and Ester Groups,” Vibrational Spectroscopy, Vol. 54, No. 1, 2010, pp. 21-29. doi:10.1016/j.vibspec.2010.05.003