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CHARACTERIZATION OF CHRYSOTILE SAMPLES FOR THE PRESENCE OF AMPHIBOLES: THE CAREY CANADIAN DEPOSIT, SOUTHEASTERN QUEBEC, CANADA

Mickey E. Gunter, Matthew S. Sanchez and Thomas J. Williams

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844-3022, USA

E-mail address: mgunter{at}uidaho.edu

Samples were collected from the former chrysotile-producing mine operated by Carey Canadian Mines, located approximately 30 km northeast of Thetford Mines, Quebec, in the Eastern Townships mining district, and analyzed to determine if they contained amphiboles. A total of ten samples, six of ore, two in-place rock samples, and two tailings samples, were first analyzed by routine PLM (polarized light microscopy) dispersion staining and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. One sample was found to contain trace amounts of an amphibole. Quantitative XRD methods were developed and showed this one sample contains between 500 to 1000 ppm amphibole; the detection limit of this new XRD method was between 100 to 500 ppm for tremolite mixed into a chrysotile ore. A chemical method was also developed to relate the calcium content of the samples and their possible maximum content of tremolite, assuming that all the Ca in the sample is in tremolite. This method showed that the single amphibole-containing sample could contain no more than 0.213% or 2130 ppm tremolite by weight. The same chemical predictor was applied to the other nine samples and showed ranges of maximum tremolite from 50 to 120 ppm; however, this method clearly overestimates the tremolite content. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and PLM analyses of amphiboles in the one amphibole-containing sample revealed nonasbestiform amphiboles with approximately 50% anthophyllite and the remainder actinolite, plotting close to the tremolite–actinolite boundary as determined by SEM–EDS (energy-dispersive spectroscopy).

Keywords: chrysotile, amphibole, amphibole asbestos, powder X-ray diffraction, Carey Canadian deposit, Quebec.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. E. Gunter, E. Belluso, and A. Mottana Amphiboles: Environmental and Health Concerns Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, October 1, 2007; 67(1): 453 - 516. [Full Text] [PDF]