Li-Co–Ni-Mn-(REE) veins of the Western Erzgebirge, Germany—a potential source of battery raw materials

Abstract

Situated in the western Erzgebirge metallogenetic province (Vogtland, Germany), the Eichigt prospect is associated with several quartz-Mn-Fe-oxyhydroxide veins that are exposed at surface. Bulk-rock geochemical assays of vein material yield high concentrations of Li (0.6–4.1 kg/t), Co (0.6–14.7 kg/t), and Ni (0.2–2.8 kg/t), as well as significant quantities of Mn, Cu, and light rare earth elements, a very unusual metal tenor closely resembling the mixture of raw materials needed for Li-ion battery production. This study reports on the results of a first detailed investigation of this rather unique polymetallic mineralization style, including detailed petrographic and mineralogical studies complemented by bulk rock geochemistry, electron microprobe analyses, and laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry. The mineralized material comprises an oxide assemblage of goethite hematite, hollandite, and lithiophorite that together cement angular fragments of vein quartz. Lithiophorite is the predominant host of Li (3.6–11.1 kg/t), Co (2.5–54.5 kg/t), and Ni (0.2–8.9 kg/t); Cu is contained in similar amounts in hollandite and lithiophorite whereas light rare earth elements (LREE) are mainly hosted in microcrystalline rhabdophane and florencite, which are finely intergrown with the Mn-Fe-oxyhydroxides. 40Ar/39Ar ages (~ 40–34 Ma) of coronadite group minerals coincide with tectonic activity related to the Cenozoic Eger Graben rifting. A low-temperature hydrothermal overprint of pre-existing base metal sulfide-quartz mineralization on fault structures that were reactivated during continental rifting is proposed as the most likely origin of the polymetallic oxyhydroxide mineralization at Eichigt. However, tectonically enhanced deep-reaching fracture-controlled supergene weathering cannot be completely ruled out as the origin of the mineralization.

Vein intersection zones and host rock composition as controlling factors in polymetallic ore shoots genesis: insights from the Southern Arburèse five-element (Ni-Co-As-Bi-Ag) vein system (SW Sardinia)

“…The five-element veins of the Arburèse district show many features in common with similar occurrences in other districts of Central-Western Europe (e.g., Southern Germany: Burisch et al, 2017Burisch et al, , 2021. Similar mineral assemblages, origin from comparable low-temperature and highly-saline fluids and a probable post-Variscan age indicated by geological constraints (Deidda et al, 2021), suggest that they are probably related to the same largescale geological frame (breakup of the supercontinent Pangea: Burisch et al, 2022).…”

Overview of the Morphology and Chemistry of Diagenetic Features in the Clay‐Rich Glen Torridon Unit of Gale Crater, Mars

“…This missing component likely includes Ni, Cl, and H (as water or OH groups) (see Section 3.6), all of which are challenging to quantify in ChemCam LIBS data. Typically, Fe and Mn rich veins form on Earth due to hydrothermal alteration of large ore bodies (Burisch et al., 2021; Madondo et al., 2020; Nadoll et al., 2014), alteration of existing magnetite‐rich igneous intrusions (Ovalle et al., 2018), or via hydrothermal alteration of pegmatite and ophiolites, associated with serpentinization (Gahlan et al., 2006; Hodel et al., 2017). However, each of these three options is difficult to explain in Gale crater.…”

Ambient seismic noise analysis of LARGE-N data for mineral exploration in the Central Erzgebirge, Germany

“…Sovacool et al, 2020), has led to renewed exploration activity in the Erzgebirge metallogenic belt (e.g. Dittrich et al, 2020;Burisch et al, 2021), which is well-endowed with high-tech metals such as Sn, W, Zn, In, Ge, Bi and Li (Štemprok and Seltmann, 1994). The study area in the Geyer-Ehrenfriedersdorf mining district (Central Erzgebirge) was selected given the local occurrence of greisen and vein deposits with significant potential for future ore discoveries.…”