Pampean_Pegmatite_Province
The Pampean Pegmatite Province (Spanish: Provincia Pegmatítica Pampeana) is a geological area in central and northwestern Argentina rich in pegmatites. The province has the shape of a north-south belt located east of the Andes.[1] Most of the pegmatites crop out in the Sierras Pampeanas.[1] These pegmatites have been mined for ores of niobium, tantalum, lithium, bismuth, uranium as well as for the minerals of beryl, mica, feldspar and quartz.[2] The pegmatites cut through metamorphic rocks of medium grade and medium pressure.[2]
In terms of economic resources the province hosts valuable lithium resources. It is estimated to have a total of at least 200,000 tons of spodumene with lithium oxide (Li2O) grades varying between 5 and 8 wt.%.[1]
Some pegmatites of the province are thought to have been mined at the earliest in the late 19th century.[2] Significant small-scale mining began in the 1930s peaking between the 1960s and 1980s before declining.[1][2]
Geologist Miguel Angel Galliski lists twenty districts in the province:[2]
- Centenario
- Cerro Blanco
- El Quemado
- Quilmes
- Calchaquí
- Ambato
- La Pampa-Unquillo
- Vilismán
- El Taco
- Santa Bárbara
- Sierra Brava
- Velazco
- Valle Fértil
- Alto Gracia
- Punilla
- Comechingones
- Altautina
- La Estanzuela
- Conlara
- Totoral